Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1912-02-07
COMMON POULTRY VS.. STANDARD
In Answer to Article Why Eggs Cost
So Much"
Communicates.

valued paper Of February first. 1912
showed go much ignorance Of the cues
tion involved that ] feel Il my duty to
answer it not alone for the purpose of
eniightening your Cumberland cores
| Dondent. as from his views of the sub
jeet there is little hope that be can IN
oerstand a subject evidently beyond
his comprehension but for the purpose
of placing the subject before the pub
lie in its proper light. The article is
thoroughly misleading and damaging to
one of the most progressive Industries
of our country-the Billion Dollar Poul-
try Industry of America.
First. to what does your correspond
ent refer when ne says, ''the common
breed. = surely not the Jungle Fowl of
Africa which lays about one dozen
eggs in 365 days? These are the only
original wild. or. common fowl on rec
ord. Perhaps he would answer that
he refers to the, white, black. speckIed
or yellow hen of the barn yard, but
where do these hens come from origi
nally? Not the Jungle. for their col
ors denote otherwise; then where do
they originate? From Standard breeds
and crosses made from them. THIS,
then explains why they are here, and
further explains why they possess ANY
utility qualities; such as size. egg pro
huction and vitality. Ii is the few
drops of THOROUGH BRED BLOOD
that is bound To show itself. even
though retarded by the injudicious care
and careless attention to breeding given
by the average farmer.
Second, do mongrels, or common
poultry. lay more eggs than Standard
bred fowls? Here, will ask the
thoughtful reader, does a farm horse
troJ faster than STANDARDIZED race
horse does the average farm herd of
cattle yield more and better milk than
the Standard bred dairy herd which has
been bred solely for that purpose?
No, most emphatically. no. nor does
the common barn yard fowl lay more
eggs than the Standard bred fowl
which is bred for that purpose.
Statistics and authentic records from
Government egg laying contests proves
this assertion beyond the shadow of a
doubt Private records no not have to
be accepted upon these questions, no
more than the performance record of
any line of Standard bred live stock.
There is plenty of authenticity in the
claims made for each, and every va
riety of Standrd- bred poultry.
Third, the misinformed writer goes
on to state 1.-THE fancy bred chicken
is diseased" and later states; that
"gapes" in baby chicks is not dis
ease. The latter statement can prob
ably be explained, from the fact that,
as the common barn yard fowl, as well
as any other kind of fowl, is subject to
'gapes =" just as the common fowl is
subject to all the diseases that poultry
of all varieties contract under like con-
dtions which produce it. Probably as
nothing is mentioned in the article re-
garding chicken cholera. (Which an
nually carries off thousands of the barn
yard fowls) caused by unsanitary con
ditions; we should therefore not con-
slider it a disease, as according to the
Cumberland writer common poultry"
are immune from disease. On the
other hand, it is rare occurrence for
poultry fancier breeding many thous-
and high class birds. to have an out
break of this dreaded germ disease,
and why? Because he is too well
versed in the proper care of valuable
live stock, and has the subject too
we'll in hand to permit the cause to
exist. Fanciers breed for health and
vitality first, then utility and fancy
points in their proper order. For the
reason. that undersiz ID. rundown
birds cannot lay eggs be a marketable
product; nor reproduce themselves.
therefore. the fanciers after all are the
ones that make the poultry industry
possible today.
The farmers method of running the
poultry business is simply this: he
turns out a flock of birds in the spring
when probably have not laid an egg
for the entire season this flock is com
posed of any kind of birds, those too
,ta hG4
veloped. those without vitality. or
those with it. they all go in. From
these fowls he sets his eggs and raises
his chicks, as soon as the chicks begin
to reach marketable age, he selects
eacn week the largest from each brood
and takes them to market, the next
week he does the same, and so on IN
til nothing remains but the dwarfs
which failed to grow as fast as their
brothers, then as the market gets low
he decides to- keep the rest over" for
his winter layers and future breeders.
Perhaps he thinks the next spring he is
in need of new blood to breed to these
weaklings, so he buys rooster
from his neighbor farmer who has been
carefully breeding along the same
lines. Thus, he keeps on inbreedlng
scrubs" until he happens to become
enough enlightened, to buy Standard
bred cockerel from some poultry fan
cier and then kicks vigorously because
he has to pay 81. for it. Then for sea
son or two he has better stock until It
runs down again by his method Of
Survival of the Poorest. Where,
indeed would the farmer be at these
times if it were not for the fanciers.
1t is not necessary for me to explain
the many uses of the trap-nest, the
winter laying qualities of fancy poul-
try, nor. IN fact dwell upon these sim
pie longer, which are so well known
and appreciated by the average intelli-
gent breeder Therefore, let me say,
in conclusion, as stated at the Begin
ming, felt that it was the duty of a
poultry fancier to set the matter prop
erly and unbiased before the public in
justice to one of the greatest live stock
industries of the world. High cost of
iced is the true cause of the high cost
of eggs, being more than double, yes,
and triple the price paid when eggs
sold at II and Is cents per dozen.
{Signed,)
AN ANNE ARUNDEL FANCIER.