RESULT OF CROSSING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3576, 23 September 1905, Page 4

RESULT OF CROSSING.

Th# V** of Scroll* tie a Foundation Has n*carded WsiertTtr it liA;> i/v; ii 'irled. Any farmer who v.a use scrub hens and begin '.Uh them as a foumiatica for Improvemeiit iv,;. ■■■>> a year or Iwo by gouoing/a:-. he e. ■■a i'c-v.-Jr.or eggs of pure breeds a~. sue ; mail cost, that it will be ready extra • 'l to retain the scrubs. Mo»i .s been made iu Jrajwdving t,crub i'o i -Tan with large stocVbut’ aoliutig e tuportance has been gaibeil tuereby. On the contrary, ths us# of scrubs as a foundation has retarded progress. The farmers must first get rid of the supposition that crossing breeds is an advantage. It' they should judiciously cross, knowing .tjjJhftb tb«y are doing, they might probably (accomplish something, but as it is they do Vers harr y c: ossixig than is expected, Wr ;n. • .e, iet the farms have two b. cum— i i. oath Hocks and Hamburga. The first, he finds an excellent market fowi, well up to the average as layers, hardy and adapted to . nearly all climates. The Hamburgs will lay more eggs than the Plymouth Itocks (mostly in summer), but are small and not hardy in winter. Now, if we can combine the productive capacity of the Hamburgs with the hardiness of the Plymouth Hocks, the farmer considers that he will have a superb cross. He does not stop to consider (hat the breeders have crossed in every possible manner to get the same results, and that th >, pure breeds are themselves ( .crosses that have been fixed ia charae- ’ (eristics;’ nor does the farmer consider (hat 50 farmers in every 100 have done just what he is about to do. So he makes his cross, and gets birds that do not lay as well as the Hamburgs, are not equal to the Plymouth Rocks in any respect, will not endure severe winters, and which are of all colors and sizes. Then he ceases, ns he makes no careful note of the cross, neg' ;cls the birds'because they have beem e scrubs, his interest in pure breedr, has passed, and he is on the down g.; .le to ruin, so far as keeping poultry fi,; the best results is concerned.—Farm id Fireside.