. The Eastern poultryman. Poultry Periodicals; Fruit Periodicals. 86 THE EASTERN POULTRYMAN. The Strain as Important as the Breed. Seven years diligent reading of the leading poultry papers has led me to the conclusion that while many poultry writ- ers lay great stress on the breed, but few lay emphasis on the importance of the strain. One frequently reads lists of the breeds accompanied by figures showing the an- nual number of eggs to be expected from them. Experience has convinced the writer that such lists are almost worthless. All Leghorns are not veritable egg ma- chines; all Wyandottes
. The Eastern poultryman. Poultry Periodicals; Fruit Periodicals. 86 THE EASTERN POULTRYMAN. The Strain as Important as the Breed. Seven years diligent reading of the leading poultry papers has led me to the conclusion that while many poultry writ- ers lay great stress on the breed, but few lay emphasis on the importance of the strain. One frequently reads lists of the breeds accompanied by figures showing the an- nual number of eggs to be expected from them. Experience has convinced the writer that such lists are almost worthless. All Leghorns are not veritable egg ma- chines; all Wyandottes do not carry an abundance of breast meat and make fine table poultry; all Brahmas and Cochins are not persistent sitters. Many a person has started to breed a certain kind of fowls, and after keeping them a short time has been disappointed in them, say in their egg yield, and has concluded that that particular breed of fowls is no good, and so disposed of them, and henceforth has been prejudiced against them. If one takes a fancy to a certain breed of fowls he should not hastily discard it because he finds that his stock is deficient in certain desirable qualities If his stock does not lay well, and he is convinced that he has done all that he can to make them lay, let him remember that others may have heavy laying strains of the same breed, and procure new blood from them; or if he is unwilling to do this let him se- lect his best layers and breed from them. He can do this by using trap nests, or by dividing up his stock in small breeding pens, using but two or three hens in a pen. A little time and observation will usually enable him to tell which hen laid the egg. There is individuality about eggs as about everything else. There was a time when the writer was tempted to quit breeding Light Brahmas because their egg yield was disappointing, but the introduction of new blood from a strain noted for its great laying, and a careful selection of the best layers as breeders preven
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