St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-04-20

contention in the choice of a breed for
poultry keeping seems to
be between White Leghorns kept for
egg production and Plymouth Rocks,
White Wyandottes- Rhode Island Reds
or other general purpose fowls. At the
present time the latter type of fowls
is more popular upon the general
farm. The Leghorns are gaining in
popularity, howeves. and will probably
continue TO do so as the use of incu-
bators and public hatcheries increase
The Leghorn has a much smaller
carcass. and hence there Is not so much
income from the sale of young cock
erels and old hens AS matter OF
fact. the smaller size of the Leghorn
fowl is not as much Of an argument
against the breed as is commonly sup
posed, for Leghorns eat less food, oc-
cupy less house room and when not
confined are better hustlers and secure
a larger portion of their living off the
range than do the larger breeds or
chickens. more important objection
to Leghorns is that artificial incubators
and brooders are necessary to keep up
the flock. Again, Leghorns are wild,
nervous and thinly feathered, and II
i'll treated and poorly housed the egg
yield, especially in winter, will be less
than that of the general purpose FOWL
Leghorns when kept in large numbers
by those who give careful attention to
poultry keeping can be made very
profitable, but for the reasons just Civ
en- the farmer or the beginner at poul-
try keeping should be slow in taking
up this breed.
Strain or Family Important.
In the mind of those who are not
experienced in animal breeding too
much stress is laid upon the breed and
not sufficient consideration given to
individuality of particular families or
strains of the breed The reason for
this will become clear when it Is eX-
planned that the majority of our COM
mon breeds of poultry have originated
in the last forty years and have been
selected chiefly for feathers rather
than for meat, egg yield or general
yigor This does not mean that pure
bred chickens will be any less prac-
teal as meat and egg producers than
mixed Dr. scrub chickens. On the 9TH
er hand, standard bred poultry are bet
ter from any viewpoint than scrub
chickens. but one strain of breed
may be vigorous growers and excel
lent LAYERS, while another flock of the
same breed whose ancestors have been
carelessly selected with regard to- rac-
teal points may be poor in these quail
tiles.
Egg laying tests of a few lots from
different breeds of fowls are OF little
value in determining the worth OF
breeds, for it is quite possible that q
good strain of the poor breed may ex
eel a poor lot of the best breed ano
the results of such tests be exactly op
posite to the real truth. For this rea
son | consider the majority of the
breed tests as published by poultry
papers and government experiment
stations as of little value.
In Australia. however, the govern
ment has conducted egg laying tests
on such a large scale and with pens
| entered from hundreds of differen
breeders that the average Of their re
| suits is worthy of more consideration
Inc ranking Oh Tic CuAOO iCdCAhe
| breeds in the Australian tests is Single
Comb White Leghorns, Black Orping
tons, Silver Wyandottes. 1t should b.
stated, however, that Barred Plymouth
Rocks, White Wyandottes and Rhod
Island Reds, the favorite general pur
pose American breeds, are PRACTICAL.
| unknown in Australia.
Principles of Breeding Simple.
The art of breeding fancy poultry /
less complicated than many old breed
ers would have us to believe. Va
rious so called systems of breeding
have been advertised and much talk
ed about, but any breeder having
thorough knowledge of the desirabl
points in the breed and who breed
from the best birds has about all tn
system necessary.
"Inbreeding'' means the mating O
individuals that are related. but be
cause of the analogy taken from ut
man relationship a deep seated popr
lar prejudice exists against this Gu:
tom. Inbreeding is the shortest an
quickest way of intensifying an
characteristic The reason for this
because outside qualities are nc
brought in to interfere with famil
traits; hence the inbreeding of foW
or other animals that have tendenc