As the varieties of bantams are pretty thoroughly mixed, it is no simple matter to breed birds fit for exhibition. But after all there is so much fun for boys and girls in growing any sort of pigmy chickens and such a good market for both eggs and pairs for pets that I wonder that more young people do not go into the business. Bantams take less room than ordinary chickens which is an advantage on a small place. Care should be taken to save for setting eggs of none but the smallest and most perfect members of the flock, and to dispose of any which are larger than the standard or poor in shape or colour or in any characteristics peculiar to bantams. If you start with eggs of some fine breed, try to keep your stock pure, and improve it by selecting the best individuals for breeding. In matters of housing, feeding, cleanliness, and care, bantams should be treated just like other chickens. The young of some varieties are exceedingly delicate and cannot stand the least neglect. These are more like little wild things, partridges or quail, than like domestic fowls. Other varieties are as hardy as Plymouth Rocks, but any one who has tried it knows that raising Plymouth Rocks is no mere joke, especially in a cold, damp spring. If your father objects to your going into the bantam business instead of raising standard size fowls bring these arguments to bear upon him: Bantams occupy one fourth the space. Their food costs one fifth as much. Their eggs are two thirds as big. Pairs can easily be sold without expensive advertising. FANCY FOWLS If you want to make the neighbour boys open their eyes, and the passers-by stand still to admire, try the experiment of raising fancy fowls. Growing them for exhibition purposes is such a separate and distinct department of the poultry business and demands familiarity with many "show standards," "tricks of the trade," and special practices in breeding and grooming to bring a fowl up to a high score, that it may be best not to undertake to compete with more experienced breeders. A visit to a fancy poultry exhibition is like a trip to Wonderland. Just looking at the pictures of the prize winners, and studying the alluring advertisements arouses enthusiasm. But to read the accounts of the fanciers, or to hear them talk about the merits of their favourites makes a chicken lover fairly thrill with ardour. How to decide upon which variety to try is a hard problem. Take a lot of things into consideration. Discount what the enthusiasts say about the one they have for sale; they mean every word of it, but they are prejudiced. Don't be influenced to select one breed when you really prefer another. Here is a department where personal preference should cast the deciding vote; the one you like best is the best one for you.