The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1913-07-04
BACK K YARD ! | FARMER R
Interesting Pointers on Garden
ing for the City Man or !.
Suburbanite. :
WHAT TO PLANT AND WHEN
Advice by an Expert on Agricultural
Matters-Strain Counts in Chick
ens-The Tree Surqeon-Smat1
Fruit Pests.
BY PROF. JOHN WILLARD eoLTE.

BY PROF. JOHN WILLARD BOLTE.
What is the best breed of chickens ?
Easiest question in the world. Ask
your friends and every one of them
can answer right of hand, but each
one will name different breed or va
rlety and when you ask their reasons
for their choice, mighty few of said
reasons would hold in court.
The fact Of the matter is that there is
no one best breed" of chickens. There
are four or five "best Breeds" with
from two to seven best varieties" in
each breed. II you don't believe it,
glance through the files of any poultry
journal and see the number of best
breeds" mentioned in their free read
ing notices.
One man proves that the White Or
pingtons are the best breed" because
he got Nine. Paderewski to admit she
paid $4,000 for five of his chickens.
Another man clinches the pennant for
the White Plymouth Rocks by saying
that pen of 30 hens earned $500
for him last year, their eggs selling
for $50 setting. And 50 it goes. Ask
ing a poultry man to name the best
kind of chickens is like asking an au-
tomobile man to name the best auto
mobile.
AS far as the city or suburban poul-
try keeper Is concerned, he can make
his choice of chickens entirely upon
sentimental grounds.
Remember that the breed deter
mines the size and shape of the fowl,
and the variety determines the color
choose the shape and color that you
think is prettiest and you will have
the best breed for you.
Now, however, comes the really i'm
portant problem of the individual
strain Of blood within the variety. The
difference between profit and loss,
eggs and no eggs lies in the individual
and not in the breed or variety. There
is no marked difference in the produc-
ton, growth and hardness Of five or
six of the principal breeds, and there
is the same similarity between their
established varieties, but there is a
tremendous difference between differ
ent f1ocks or individuals of the same
variety. A poultry man who under
stands his business can take an or
binary flock Of any standard variety
and he can beat any similar flock of
the same or any other variety, which
Is handled by an inexperienced or
careless person.
Inheritance of profitable qualities is
Of the greatest Importance. For this
reason scrub or cross-bred fowls are
worthless for breeding, because their
offspring cannot possibly improve in
size or productivity for any length of
time and practically never hold their
own. Never use anything but pure
bred chickens. Get setting of eggs
or a pair of young birds from the
heaviest laying hen you can find in
the variety you elect to keep, and
build up your flock from the start. We
have known two pullets of the White
Wyandottes, one of which laid II
eggs in a year and the other laid 243.
You could not tell them apart by
looks, either Three of the good hens
daughters laid over 200 eggs each in
year. That's why strain counts
more than breed.