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Poultry Culture. 
 
 HOW TO 
 
 Raise, Manage, Mate and Judge 
 
 Thoroughbred Fowls. 
 
 BY 
 
 Natick, Massachusetts. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 W. H. HARRISON, Jr. 
 

 
 COPYRIGHT BY 
 
 W. H. HARRISON, Jr. 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I.— POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Poultry culture as a farm product — Census of 1870 — 
 Mr. Mansfield's Experiment — Poultry and egg 
 production a source of wealth to the people — 
 Statistics presented to the Chicago Convention, 
 1878 — Startling Facts — France — Belgium 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF FAVORITE BREEDS. 
 
 Light Brahmas — Plymouth Rocks — Wyandottes — 
 Brown Leghorns — Langshans — Silver-Spangled 
 Hamburgs — Black Spanish — Houdans — Par- 
 tridge-Cochins — Black-breasted Red Games, etc. 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TYPE IN BREEDING AND STRAINS OF LIGHT BRAHMAS. 
 
 Americans lovers of beauty — The well bred form a ' 
 line of '''' good ones " — We like strong blood — Con- 
 stitution and vital force — The Strains of Light 
 Brahmas — The Burnham Strain — The Rankin 
 Strain — The Philadelphia Strain — The Autocrat 
 Strain — Duke of York — The Chamberlin Strain, 
 now widely known as the " Felch Strain " 37 
 
^^' 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. • 
 
 DISCUSSION OF MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OF 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Secretary Flint, Mr. Felch, Mr. Hersey and Mr. 
 Cheever discuss the whole question of Poultry 
 Culture 67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON THE TREATMENT OF BREEDING-STOCK. 
 
 The necessity of watchfulness — The best hatching 
 time from May 20 to June 10 — Cockerels safest 
 for winter breeding — The influence of feed on 
 color — We can assist nature very materially 83 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LOCATION. 
 
 The location healthy for man will generally be so for 
 poultry — Light soils good — The land needs cul- 
 tivating — The early bird catching the worm — If 
 the land be poor keep the horse-hoe at work — 
 Poultry culture requires eternal vigilance 91 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BUILDINGS AND FURNISHINGS. 
 
 An open shed protected from storm and wind — Plan 
 of building suggested — Special provision of tar 
 felting for cold sections — Avoid box-nests — 
 Roosts longwise — Nail kegs useful — Model coop 
 far twenty chickens — Coops for Village use — , 
 Buildings for incubation set apart — Hatching 
 chickens — Chicken-house — Brooder — Every cor- 
 ner a death trap 97 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FEED AND CARE OF FOWLS. 
 
 The kind of food suitable — Foraging by the flocks — 
 Be careful to maintain an even animal heat — 
 Good food preserves the plumage — Great need 
 of ventilation 125 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FROM SHELL TO GRIDDLE. 
 
 Importance of regularity in feeding — Bill of fare — 
 Corn — Wheat — Barley — Oats — Beans — Excelsior 
 meal — Keep the food sweet — Milk is a whole food 
 — Beware of distemper — Have some clover 129 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 
 
 Artificial Incubation first successful in 1884 — The 
 " Year " — The " Machine " — The Incubator needs 
 careful operation — Careful study required — Incu- 
 bators cannot be made self-regulating — Monarch 
 Incubator — Mr. Rankin's experiment — 3,000 ducks 
 raised — Mr. Buffington's experiment 140 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 DISEASES OF FOWLS. 
 
 Their medical treatment — Fungus in the blood — Dis- 
 temper — Roup — Chicken-pox — Diphtheria — The 
 red spider louse — Diarrhoea — Treatment 149 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART II.— MATING. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THOROUGHBRED FOWLS. 
 
 Their proper mating — Rev. W. H. H. Murray- 
 Color — The dam — Breast and body — Mating of 
 the sexes — Light Brahmas — Dark Brahmas — Par- 
 tridge-Cochins — Buff Cochins — The mating — 
 The Black-Breasted Red Game — Royal mating 
 No. I — Brown-Breasted Red Games — Red-Pyle 
 Games — Golden Duckwing Games — Silver Duck- 
 wing Games — To mate solid black or white fowls — 
 Black Hamburgs — The Houdan — Plymouth Rocks 
 - — Brown Leghorns — Wyandottes — Silver-gray 
 Dorkings — Golden-Spangled Hamburgs — Silver- 
 Spangled Hamburgs — Silver-Penciled Hamburgs 
 — riolden-Penciled Hamburgs — Silver-Spangled 
 Polish — Golden-Spangled Polish — Silver-laced 
 Sebright Baniams — Golden-laced Sebright Ban- 
 tams — Game Bantams 165 
 
 PART III.— JUDGING FOWLS. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 ON "THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE." 
 
 The American Poultry Association's " Standard of 
 Excellence " — Symmetry — Color — " The survival 
 of the fittest " — " Like begets like " — Never 
 forget the ancestry 265 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 JUDGING THE VARIOUS BREEDS. 
 
 Symmetry — Light Brahmas — " Phi Beta II, . No. 
 5876 " — Pullet taken to score — Dark Brahmas — 
 Pullet "Juanetta" — Buff Cochins — Buff Cochin 
 cock — Buff Cochin pullet — Partridge-Cochins — 
 Cock "King" — Pullets — White Cochins — Lang- 
 shans — Black Cochin pullet — Black fowls — 
 Black-Breasted Red Games — Black Red Game 
 pullets — Black Red Game cock — Brown Red "^ 
 Games — Cockerel No. i — Brown-Red Game pul- 
 lets and hens — Duckwing Games — Cockerel — 
 Game Bantams — Silver-Spangled Hamburgs — A 
 cockerel — Golden-Spangled Hamburg — The 
 hen — Brown Leghorn — White Leghorns — Cock- 
 erel — Plymouth Rocks — Cockerel — Plymouth 
 Rock pullet No. i — Wyandottes — Cockerel — 
 Wyandotte cock — White Crested Black Polish — 
 Cockerel — White Crested Black Polish pullet — 
 Houdans — Houdan pullet — Black Javas — Java 
 hen — Pullet — Silky fowls — Japanese Bantams... 271 
 
 PART IV.— TURKEYS, DUCKS AND GEESE. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 TURKEYS. 
 
 Turkeys fond of corners — These places dangerous — 
 Bronze turkeys — Narragansett turkeys — How to 
 judge turkeys 381 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DUCKS. 
 
 Rouen Ducks — Judging of Rouen ducks — Ayles- 
 bury and Pekin ducks — The Call duck 393 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GEESE. 
 
 Embdem geese — Toulouse geese — " My geese are 
 ganders " — Judging of these two varieties — Chi- 
 nese geese — The Brown China — White Chinese 
 geese — African geese 404 
 
 GLEANINGS AND COMMENTS. 
 
 Cleanliness in feeding — The cramming process — 
 Open judging — The right of protest 417 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Frontispiece, I. K. Felch. 
 
 Bantams: Page. 
 
 Black-Breasted Red Game 327 
 
 Golden-laced Sebright 263 
 
 Japanese 375 
 
 Red-Pyle Game 262 
 
 Black Spanish 30, 155 
 
 Brahmas: 
 
 Dark 191 
 
 Dark Brahma Cock 281 
 
 Dark Brahma Hen 285 
 
 Light Brahmas 23, 185 
 
 Light Brahmas, Felch Strain 57 
 
 Light Brahma Cock ' 277 
 
 Light Brahma Hen . . . 50 
 
 Brooder 118 
 
 Chicken House , 119 
 
 Ground Plan 118 
 
 Cochins: 
 
 Black 139 
 
 Buff 201 
 
 Buff Cochin Cock 289 
 
 Buff Cochin Pullet 293 
 
 Partridge 32, 197 
 
 Partridge-Cochin Cock 297 
 
 Partridge-Cochin Pullet 301 
 
 White 305 
 
 Coop: 
 
 The Model Coop for Twenty Chickens 107 
 
 Dorkings: 
 
 Colored 249 
 
 9 
 
10 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Ducks: 
 
 Pekin 401 
 
 Rouen 395 
 
 Games: 
 
 Black-Breasted Red 33, 207 
 
 Silver Duck wing 215 
 
 Geese: 
 
 Ennbden 406 
 
 Toulouse 409 
 
 Hamburgs: 
 
 Black , 218 
 
 Silver Penciled 257 
 
 Silver Spangled 29, 128, 253 
 
 HOUDANS 31, 221 
 
 Incubator, The " Monarch " 145 
 
 Javas: 
 
 Black 365 
 
 Langshans 27, 309 
 
 Leghorns: 
 
 Brown 26, 233 
 
 Rose-comb Brown ; 85 
 
 White 173 
 
 White Leghorn Cock 335 
 
 Plymouth Rock 24, 225 
 
 Cock 339 
 
 Pullet 347 
 
 Polish: 
 
 White Crested Black 75, 356 
 
 Poultry House 99 
 
 Silky Fowls 373 
 
 Turkeys: 
 
 Bronze Gobbler 387 
 
 Wyandottes 25, 66, 239 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 NOT long ago I took a journey with an old friend 
 through the eastern portion of Massachusetts. 
 The main purpose of our trip was to find out a suitable 
 place for the establishment of poultry breeding on a 
 very extensive scale. One day, in the course of conver- 
 sation, my friend said to me : " Mr. Felch, if you will 
 write a poultry book, telling what you know about the 
 management of chickens from shell to griddle, giving a 
 bill of fare, and showing how to care for them each and 
 every day till they are four months old, taking nothing 
 for granted, but giving the results of your own experi- 
 ence and observation, your book would be invaluable 
 to every poultryman and breeder in the land." 
 
 In addition to this flattering opinion I received 
 about the same time a letter from a publisher asking 
 me to furnish the subject-matter for a work on poultry 
 culture. After due consideration I have resolved to 
 
13 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 undertake the task, and I hereby dedicate this work to 
 that friend and to the publisher, and I hope that some 
 good, at least, may come of the venture. 
 
 It is a very grave consideration that there are eleven 
 lions of families in America whose sons are growing 
 lo find the avenues of trade and manufacture more 
 and more crowded every day. If some of these should 
 turn their attention to the business of poultry breeding 
 and culture, they might find the occupation both pleas- 
 ant and profitable. But it should be remembered that 
 this business needs to be carefully learned, and it is my 
 purpose to make this a thoroughly reliable hand-book 
 for poultrymen everywhere. The work does not affect to 
 be one of great literary brilliancy: my chief purpose has 
 been to give the results of a life-long experience and 
 observation with the feathered pets of the poultry- 
 yard, I. K. FELCH. 
 Natick, Mass., September 17, 1885. 
 
 .* Wfi>Ni4l\>Wi«?ll 
 
PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IN 1873 we made our maiden speech on " POULTRY 
 Culture as a Farm Product." We shall never 
 forget the look of incredulity and surprise depicted 
 on the faces of the four hundred farmers who listened 
 to us on that occasion. The following is the substance 
 of that speech : 
 
 Although the poultry interest of the nation has 
 been considered of minor importance, yet when we in- 
 vestigate we find the egg and poultry product to be 
 much larger than any other agricultural product or 
 industry, and we become amazed at the amount of 
 wealth annually accumulated by practical poultry keep- 
 ing. 
 
 The census for 1870 informs us that the cotton crop 
 was 3,011,996 bales ; the corn crop, 761,000,000 bushels; 
 the wheat crop, 288,000,000 bushels; the value of all the 
 cattle, sheep, and swine slaughtered or sold to be slaugh- 
 tered was $398,956,376; the hay crop, 28,000,000 tons, 
 valued at $14 (a high estimate), was $384,000,000. 
 
 The assertion that the egg and poultry produce of 
 the States exceeds either of these large products is 
 
 13 
 
14 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 met with derision ; yet it is true, and the produce finds 
 no rival save in the entire meat and dairy products com- 
 bined. 
 
 Compute the nine miUions of famiHes in the States 
 as consuming but two dozen eggs per week, and twenty 
 dollars' worth of poultry per year, and we have (com- 
 puting eggs at twenty-five cents per dozen) over $405,- 
 000,000. Nor is this all. Large as it is, to it must be 
 added the consumption by the saloons, restaurants, 
 confectionery establishments, our thousands of hotels, 
 together with the medicinal and chemical and exporta- 
 tion demands, which will swell the amount to not less 
 than five hundred millions of dollars as the annual prod- 
 uct^ of the United States; an interest worthy of our 
 considerate investigation. When we commence to 
 make figures, we become surprised at their magnitude ; 
 and that you may not underrate the hotel consumption, 
 you have only to consult the encyclopedias to learn 
 that the hotels consumed sixty-two millions four hun- 
 dred and eighty-three thousand dollars' worth of eggs 
 and poultry for the year 1879. There must, of course, 
 have been a great increase since that time. 
 
 The consumption of meat to each guest per day at 
 the Grand Pacific, the proprietor of the hotel informs 
 us, is $2.50, and two-thirds of that amount is for poult- 
 ry, game and eggs. Another item should be consid- 
 ered in this connection, and that is, thousands of prairie 
 farmers, who live so remote as to make the running of 
 meat-wagons unprofitable, are obliged to rely on their 
 farms for fresh meat, and it is a fact that two-thirds of 
 it is poultry and eggs. It is the custom with them in 
 early winter to kill and pack in snow and ice the sup- 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 15 
 
 plies of poultry for home use. This, with the richer 
 third of the population who consume far more than the 
 estimate offered, will more than make up for the poor 
 of our eastern cities, who consider poultry a luxury 
 and seldom indulge in its use. With these items as 
 data, we claim our estimate of five hundred millions to 
 be far less, rather than more, than the actual yearly 
 product, which, as we have said, makes the industry of 
 poultry breeding and keeping one of the largest in 
 which our farmers are interested. Like in comparison 
 as the giant oak to its acorn origin is this large product, 
 made up from the small collections from the small flocks 
 of fowls seen about the doors of the hamlet and farmhouse 
 in numbers of twelve, twenty, thirty and fifty, and wh£re 
 a larger number is seen so rarely that they become the 
 exception. These flocks pay a large profit on their 
 cost of production, as may be seen by consulting the 
 different societies' reports. In 1858, we see that thirty- 
 eight fowls, kept in small yards, under unfavorable 
 circumstances, with a market at thirty-eight cents for 
 corn, sixteen and two-thirds cents for eggs, and fifteen 
 cents per pound for poultry, yielded a net profit of 
 $1.38 per head. In 1861, Mr. Mansfield's experiment 
 with one hundred hens, having a free range of the 
 farm, consuming but ninety-three bushels of corn or its 
 equivalent, produced one hundred and forty-seven eggs 
 each (no chickens being raised that year), and yielded a 
 net profit on eggs alone of $1.35 per head ; to which, 
 had the value of the guano been added, the figures 
 would have reached the sum of $1.60. These and 
 other statements are to be found in the Middlesex 
 South Society's reports, of $2, $2.25 and $2,50 per head 
 
16 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 profit per annum ; and last, but not least, the banner 
 statement of Mr. Whitman in 1873. With fifty-one 
 Leghorns, which laid two hundred and seven eggs each, 
 which he sold for thirty-one cents per dozen, the cost 
 of keeping the fowls being $1.13 each, he shows a profit 
 of $4.04 per head, proving conclusively that these 
 small flocks pay much better with' care than do other 
 farm stock. 
 
 We have no reason to change our opinion, for 
 the amount must be increasing each year. We as 
 a nation are consuming more poultry and eggs every 
 year. We are not alone in our belief of the magnitude 
 or in our faith in the future of this immense in- 
 terest or industry, and we subjoin from the pen of the 
 able writer, Captain J. E. White, an article on the 
 future capabilities of the country in poultry breeding 
 as compared with other countries. 
 
 POULTRY AND EGG PRODUCTION — A SOURCE OF 
 WEALTH TO THE PEOPLE. 
 
 France is, perhaps, the only nation that recognizes 
 the poultry and egg trade as a source of wealth to its 
 people, and protects and encourages it as it would any 
 other business which brings a revenue to, and betters 
 the financial condition of, its citizens. Under this fos- 
 tering care the poultry and egg trade of that country 
 has grown year by year until it has reached gigantic 
 proportions — not only meeting the demands made 
 upon it for home consumption, but also supplying 
 English markets with more than $13,000,000 worth of 
 this class of food annually. The value of eggs and 
 poultry sold in home markets and consumed by the 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 17 
 
 French people is estimated at $110,000,000; add to 
 this the exports to England and we have $123,000,000, 
 which represents an industry that is looked upon by 
 too many of our farmers and business men as being 
 "too insignificant to merit consideration." It must be 
 borne in mind that this $123,000,000 represents only 
 the eggs and poultry consumed annually— it does not 
 include the stock carried over to begin -business upon 
 the following year. The value of the stock on hand — 
 which is carried over for the purpose mentioned — is 
 estimated at about $45,000,000, thus showing that the 
 annual poultry and egg production of France amounts 
 to $168,000,000. 
 
 Doubtless most of those who may read this article 
 will conclude — when they reach this point — that no 
 other nation is as productive in this particular as the 
 French, but the facts, supported by reasonable estimates, 
 demonstrate that the United States are vastly more so. 
 "In 1878 a convention of butter, cheese and egg pro- 
 ducers was held in Chicago ; the most careful and relia- 
 ble statistical reports that could be gathered relating 
 to these products were placed before this convention ; 
 from them we find that the annual production of eggs 
 was valued at $180,000,000, and poultry sold at $70, 
 000,000." Thus, according to this report, which I shall 
 presently show to be incorrect, $250,000,000 were 
 annually realized from a business " too insignificant to 
 merit consideration." To some it will sound like one of 
 Munchausen's stories, but to those who are in the busi- 
 ness and understand something of its magnitude, it 
 seems like a too modest tale ; it does not tell half the 
 story. The population of the United States is more 
 2 
 
18 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 than fifty millions. If each one of this population were 
 to eat an egg to-day there would be consumed in eggs 
 alone, at the present market price, $1,000,000; and if 
 each one were to eat an egg each day for a year, the 
 consumption of this one article of food would amount 
 in the aggregate to $365,000,000; add to this the value 
 of the poultry consumed, Avhich is estimated at $121,- 
 666,648, and it- will be seen that the eggs and poultry 
 consumed in the United States annually represent a 
 money value of $486,666,648 ; add to this $45,000,000, 
 the value of the stock carried over, and to this the 
 sum realized from sales of fancy fowls and eggs, which 
 is not less than $500,000 annually, and you have the 
 enormous sum of $532,166,648, which is $32,000,000 
 more than the value of the corn crop of the United 
 States for 1879, ^md $189842,857 more than the wheat 
 crop of the same year. But some " doubting Thomas" 
 will say that there are thousands of our people who do 
 not eat an egg each day. Granting this to be true, we 
 must face the fact that many other thousands eat from 
 two to four daily, and that eggs enter very largely into 
 the composition of many articles of food which we con- 
 sume each day, such as cakes, pies, salads, coffee, 
 custards and puddings ; and we must not neglect to 
 include in our account the eggs used in saloons, and for 
 medicinal and chemical purposes. 
 
 Perhaps there are few of our professional men, 
 clerks and merchants, who, when they run like wild 
 men to a restaurant and order a cup of coffee and a 
 piece of pie, stop to think that when they have finished 
 their lunch they have rendered unfit for incubation two 
 or three eggs ; but such is the fact. Then we are not 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 19 
 
 SO certain that there are many thousands of our people 
 who do not consume eggs or poultry in some form 
 daily. We might jump to the conclusion that our 
 poorer classes could not afford it ; but it would be a 
 jump in the wrong direction, for whoever has traveled 
 and been ordinarily observant has noticed that the poor 
 almost always keep poultry. This estimate is based 
 upon the supposition that the average price of eggs, 
 the year round, is but twenty-four cents per dozen ; and 
 this supposition, I venture to say, is not sustained by 
 the facts, because at most times in the year — during 
 the winter, fall and latter part of summer — they bring, 
 in our own markets, from thirty-five to fifty cents per 
 dozen, and in eastern markets from fifty to sixty-five 
 cents, the price, of course, depending upon the supply 
 and demand. Many of the eastern hotels make con- 
 tracts with those who keep large flocks of fowls to 
 furnish them so many dozen of eggs and so many 
 pounds of dressed poultry daily, and pay for these eggs, 
 in consideration of their being fresh laid, from forty to 
 sixty cents per dozen. 
 
 STARTLING FACTS. 
 
 We are further indebted to Mr. James E. White for 
 the following array of facts, which will be read with 
 great interest : 
 
 If France, with an area of 204,147 square miles, of 
 which only 98,460 is capable of cultivation, realizes 
 more than $200,000,000 annually from her poultry in- 
 terests, it can easily be seen that the United States, 
 with an area of 3,587,681 square miles, of which 1,700,- 
 000 is capable of cultivation, should with the same care 
 
20 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 and labor realize from the same source $3,264,000,000 
 annually. But, of course, in order to make the con- 
 ditions equal, it would be necessary for the United 
 States to be as densely populated as France. 
 
 The present population of that country is 38,905,- 
 788, which would give each individual — if an equal 
 division of the land was made — two acres of soil 
 capable of cultivation ; whereas, the population of the 
 United States is 55,000,000, which, under the same 
 allotment, would give about twenty acres of good land 
 to each inhabitant ; hence, this country is as capable of 
 sustaining a population of 550,000,000 as France is of 
 sustaining her present population, and if the produc- 
 tion per capita only equals that of France, the sum 
 total annually would be $3,264,000,000. But it has 
 been shown that the production and consumption of 
 this class of food is much larger per capita than it is in 
 France, and if each citizen of the United States con- 
 sumes as much of this food when our population 
 reaches 550,000,000 as they now do, the annual value of 
 this industry will not be less than $5,596,000,000. 
 
 It will be remarked by those who have not given 
 the food supply of this country thoughtful consider- 
 ation, or the ultimate population and productiveness 
 that attention which it deserves, that the writer of this 
 article is visionary and enthusiastic ; but, my friends, if 
 you look over the figures carefully you will see that the 
 probable extent of this industry, when this country is 
 fully developed, is capable of a correct mathematical 
 solution, and is made on the basis that if 55,000,000 
 people eat so much in one year, how much will 550,- 
 000,000 eat in the same time ? 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 21 
 
 Belgium is one of the smallest powers in Europe ; 
 its area is 11,373 square miles, and its population is 
 about 5,253,821. It is the most densely populated 
 country in the whole world, and about 60 per cent of 
 its area is under the most exhaustive cultivation, that 
 being all of it that is capable of producing good crops. 
 In order that the extent of the country may be more 
 fully understood, it may be well to mention, the fact 
 that it is not nearly as large as the state of Georgia, 
 while its population is more than three times greater ; 
 and tnis little country produces annually, as shown in the 
 statistics of that country, "274,967,824 eggs — or forty- 
 eight eggs for each man, woman and child in Belgium ; 
 and this is accomplished in a country " where the most 
 persistent effort is made to cause the land to produce the 
 food necessary for home consumption, and where a vast 
 amount of labor and money is expended in the cultiva- 
 tion of the soil." 
 
 If such results are obtained under such unfavorable 
 circumstances, what may not be accomplished in a 
 country as favorably situated as ours ? 
 
 It is the duty of all men who have the development 
 of this country at heart to encourage the greatest 
 possible production of every commodity that we can 
 produce with profit, and among other industries the 
 poultry and egg business must not be neglected. The 
 farmers must be made to understand that the thorough- 
 bred fowls are as much superior to the barn-yard fowls 
 as the Herefords, Jerseys and Anguses are to the com- 
 mon cattle that roam over our prairies ; and when they 
 understand this, they will improve their fowls. 
 
22 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Much more could be quoted to show the magnitude 
 and the need of the development of this industry as a 
 source of wealth to the nation, but above all this, 
 farmers of America, remember that poultry keeping 
 has more than a money value for you. Interest your 
 boys in it, for thereby they learn many of the princi- 
 ples that underlie the successful breeding of stock, — 
 fitting them, when older, the better to manage cattle 
 and horses. The rapid production of chickens enables 
 them to try as many experiments in a few years as 
 would take a lifetime with stock. In the breeding of 
 fowls they learn that like produces like more surely, 
 and only, as a rule, where the stock is bred in line, and 
 that to produce chickens uniform in type and color 
 they must have, in both sire and dam, a preponderance 
 of the blood of the desired type ; they must mate kin- 
 dred blood judiciously, avoiding too close relationship, 
 — for by mating fowls of one blood for three genera- 
 tions we produce sterile eggs. They learn that pre- 
 potency of sire is more marked in the mating of 
 kindred blood, and in the offspring of dams of weak 
 constitution, and when appearing in the coupling of 
 radically different blood, that it is an exception and 
 not the rule. They learn that the blood mQst difficult 
 to subjugate, in the end has more lasting quality, and 
 does the flock the most good as a new infusion of 
 blood ; these interests, once awakened, cannot slumber; 
 the boys become thoughtful, and as they grow older 
 their assistance becomes much more valuable than any 
 help you can hire. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF FAVORITE BREEDS. 
 
 WHILE we show several experiments in our in- 
 troduction, we may affirm that all the different 
 breerls will pay a handsome profit, if furnished quarters 
 
 LIGHT BRAHMAS. 
 
 suitable for their condition, and properly cared for; 
 and, generally, it is best for the breeder to make a 
 specialty of the kind his taste shall dictate. But with 
 our thirty years' experience with all the so-called thor- 
 
24 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 oughbred varieties, we are led to advise, taking into 
 consideration the individual merit and associate worth, 
 the selection of Light Brahmas, Leghorns, Wyandottes 
 and Plymouth Rocks, for they will be found to pay 
 the best for extra care, for all practical uses. 
 
 The Brahma is a superior winter layer, producing the 
 larger number of her eggs from October to May. As 
 poultry, the chicks have to be killed quite young, — say 
 eight to ten weeks old, as broilers ; the most profitable 
 
 PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 
 
 time as roasters being at eight months. This makes 
 them late as poultry, but to make up for it in a meas- 
 ure, the virgin cocks are tender enough for roasting at 
 even twelve to thirteen months, more so than the 
 native at seven or eight months. If the males be sepa- 
 rated from the females when five months old and fed 
 through till March, when poultry meat invariably ad- 
 vances in price, the breeder will find them sought for 
 by hotel and restaurant keepers, to supply the place of 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 35 
 
 turkeys, and that they will sell at a price of only about 
 five cents per pound less than capons. 
 
 The Plymouth Rocks are good average layers, and 
 in them the poulterer finds an excellent breed from 
 which to produce broilers and summer roasters for our 
 seaside or all summer resorts. In round numbers, ten 
 dozen eggs per year is about what they will each lay, and 
 hatch and raise you a brood of chickens, and in this case 
 
 WYANDOTTES. 
 
 the brood is gratis, for they will lay less eggs, we think, 
 if deprived of the privilege of indulging in the natural 
 instinct of reproduction. 
 
 So long as the breeder of Plymouth Rocks will be 
 content 'to have them occupy this middle ground be- 
 tween the larger and smaller breeds, and endeavor to 
 increase by breeding to that end the production of 
 large eggs, they will hold their position of favor against 
 all rivals. 
 
26 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 The Wyandottes of late have come in for public 
 praise and patronage. They are in the same class with 
 Plymouth Rocks, and become their greatest com- 
 petitors. Their breeders claim for them par excellence 
 as broilers, and the merit of being better layers. In this 
 we would, perhaps, accept the fact that their eggs are 
 larger, but we fear they will not lay as many. What 
 they may develop into in the coming years cannot be 
 foretold. While we would admit them as equals, we 
 
 BROWN LEGHORNS. 
 
 are not yet ready to accept them as superior to their 
 blue rivals. They are shorter jointed, more blocky, in 
 some cases, and if they settle down to this as a uniform 
 type, and a close-feathered, fine-boned race, they cer- 
 tainly will deserve the boom they are at this writing 
 receiving. 
 
 The Leghorns are a non-sitting variety, and one of 
 the largest producers of eggs, being most prolific during 
 the warmer months. Their chickens make nice early, 
 
POULTRY CULTURE, 27 
 
 though small, broilers, and should be killed as such, for 
 as roasters their skin is tough and carcass too small, 
 their chief merit being in egg production alone. They 
 are very quick growers, many pullets commencing to 
 lay at four months and a-half old, and there are cases 
 on record in our own yard where they have laid at 
 three months and three weeks old. We have also 
 started with eggs and produced three generations in 
 three hundred and sixty-three days. This precocity 
 
 LANGSHANS. 
 
 enables one to raise his stock birds even after the sea- 
 son is too far advanced to rear successfully the larger 
 varieties. 
 
 Of the above we consider the Brahma the best of 
 all the Asiatic breeds. The Langshan will lay an egg 
 as large, and perhaps as many of them, and of the 
 same desirable color of shell, but their white skin 
 drives them into a second-rate poultry, as judged by 
 
28 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 the New England demand for golden yellow carcasses 
 when dressed. 
 
 The Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes, and we may 
 add possibly for purely practical use the Dominique, are 
 breeds to fill the middle ground, and from which to 
 look for the broiler supply, and the Leghorns to give us 
 the largest number of eggs in a year, and to produce 
 them in the larger numbers at the time our incubating 
 breeds are busy with the rearing of their chickens. 
 
 Thus you see how peculiarly adapted one to the 
 other the four breeds are, and all of them are hardy, 
 standing much neglect. With them the farmer easily 
 caters to the wants of the markets the year round. 
 
 With the above breeds as stock the yearly product 
 
 will average one hundred and fifty eggs and eight 
 
 chickens to each hen, which will sell (taking Natick 
 
 market for 1885 as a basis) as follows: 
 
 12^ dozen eggs, at 25 cents per dozen $3 12 
 
 4 pairs of chickens, 28 lbs. , at 25 cents per lb 7 00 
 
 American guano 25 
 
 Total $10 37 
 
 The cost of producing the same being : 
 
 Keeping of hen $1 15 
 
 15 eggs for incubation 38 
 
 Cost of growing 8 chicks to 35 lbs. live weight, at ()% cents 
 
 per pound — 3 32 
 
 Interest on investment and casualties 60 
 
 Total $545 
 
 These figures may seem high, but for the last ten 
 years the same market has averaged from 31 to 32^^ 
 cents per dozen for eggs, and grain has ruled very 
 much lower. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 29 
 
 To notice some of the other breeds, we will say " the 
 Hamburg family " is one of merit as egg producers, 
 yielding about one hundred and sixty-five eggs per 
 year, as a rule ; and there is a case on record where a 
 single hen of the Golden-Spangled variety laid one 
 hundred and fifty-one eggs in six months. As poultry, 
 the meat and bones are dark, so much so as not to be 
 desired by market-men. The race is delicate, and hard 
 to rear, but when six or eight months old seems to 
 have become quite hardy, except it be a predisposition 
 
 SILVER SPANGLED HAMBURGS. 
 
 to the disease called " black comb," but why the disease 
 should be so termed we cannot understand. To be 
 sure, the comb turns black, but the causes come from 
 derangement of the egg-producing organs. We have 
 seen them lie down, their combs become black, and 
 they, to all appearance, dead, when all at once they 
 would expelthe egg, and in a few moments be singing 
 about the yard as well as ever. 
 
 The different varieties of this family are Golden- 
 Spangle, Golden-Penciled, Silver-Spangle, Silver-Pen- 
 
30 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 ciled, — this last being the old-time Bolton Gray, under 
 which name it was first imported into this country. 
 The white and black varieties are of more recent date 
 than the first four named ; the black we think the 
 most hardy and prolific of them all. 
 
 The Spanish was long known as one of the best 
 layers, and in fact the old Minorcas were in every 
 respect equal to the Leghorns, but the breeding of the 
 white face upon this breed has resulted in the fact that 
 much of their merit has been sacrificed. Their eggs 
 
 BLACK SPANISH. 
 
 are larger than those of any other breed, but in num- 
 ber they fall much behind the average. They are 
 extremely delicate as chicks, but Avhen once matured 
 they seem reasonably hardy ; and the contrast of a pure 
 white face and ear-lobe with their metallic, green-black 
 plumage makes them much admired. As poultry, 
 here in America, we would not 'concede, perhaps, that 
 they were up to the average. Their dark legs and 
 white meat are not preferred by the masses. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 31 
 
 The Dominique is every way equal in merit as to 
 number of eggs, and in poultry equally as good, as the 
 Plymouth Rock; it being rather under size compels it 
 to take a second place. In all other points, what has 
 been said for the Plymouth Rocks would apply to the 
 Dominique. 
 
 The French class, comprising Houdans, LaFleche 
 and Creve Coeur, while highly appreciated in France, 
 have failed to give general satisfaction in New Eng- 
 land. But Mr. Aldrich, of Hyde Park, has been 
 
 successful with the Houdans, and claims for them all 
 that is excellent as table fowls, besides being a good 
 average producer of eggs ; they are more inclined to 
 non-sitting than otherwise. But the Houdan and 
 Creve Coeur require warm, dry quarters. They, like 
 the Polish, are inclined to roup if confined in damp 
 quarters. 
 
 The LaFleche are the most delicate to rear of the 
 whole class, and in our northern climate are much 
 
32 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 troubled with a weakness in their hmbs. A good 
 healthy hen of this breed, we believe, will lay more 
 eggs from March to October than any other breed, not 
 excepting the Leghorn. 
 
 The Cochins are, in England, much preferred. They 
 are good mothers, being covered with long, fluffy 
 feathers. They are hardy, and as layers in winter are 
 
 PARTRIDGE COCHINS. 
 
 hard to excel. Their eggs are furnished with a thick 
 shell, and in closely bred birds are extremely hard to 
 hatch. There are the Partridge, Buff, White, and 
 Black varieties, all having their admirers, the Partridge 
 being the most beautiful, while the Black has undoubt- 
 edly the most merit, for they are good layers and fine 
 
POULTRY culture! 33 
 
 poultry. For one dollar " The American Standard of 
 Excellence" can be obtained, which gives a full de- 
 scription of the different breeds. 
 
 We shall give special attention to description, as to 
 color and type, under the head of " Judging." 
 
 The game varieties find many admirers, and for a 
 juicy broiler or a roaster under six months old, and 
 as the mothers of chicks, they have no equal ; for the 
 latter, however, we think the cross of a game cock on 
 
 BLACK-BREASTED RED GAMES. 
 
 a Partridge-Cochin hen pretty and serviceable, as they 
 are more apt to receive all chicks given them to rear. 
 The pure game, while very jealous of the care of her 
 own, is death to all orphans or chickens not hatched by 
 her. The games cannot be said to be first-class layers, 
 as 128 eggs is all we can concede they will produce in 
 a year in small flocks, and if too much crowded they 
 will fall short of these figures. The Bantams, many of 
 
34 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 them, lay more and greater weight of eggs in proportion 
 to their own weight than do the larger breeds. Were 
 eggs sold by weight, as they should be, we believe the 
 Brahmas and the Bantams would be better appreciated 
 than now. These Lilliputian hens are nice mothers, 
 and pay to raise for this office alone. 
 
 Speaking of the weight of eggs reminds us of seeing 
 weighed the other day twelve taken from a basket of 
 Brahma eggs that weighed two pounds and two 
 ounces, and a dozen taken from a basket of them col- 
 lected from the native farm stock on the Cape that 
 weighed but one pound and two ounces, just one pound 
 difference. Wherein is the justice of selling them by 
 the dozen ? Bantam's eggs will weigh fifteen to the 
 pound, and twenty-two ounces is standard weight for 
 the Bantam hens themselves, while the Brahma pullet of 
 eight pounds was the producer of the two pounds two 
 ounce dozen. Bantam eggs are the smallest in the list, 
 yet they are the largest twice over in proportion to the 
 weight of the producers. It matters not what the 
 breeds are. One bushel of corn or its equivalent in 
 other flesh-growing foods, will produce nine to eleven 
 pounds of live weight in poultry, and one has only to 
 weigh his fowls to approximate their food cost, for 
 cost of care must be added. 
 
 When fowls are fed sparingly, being kept short, they 
 become a bill of expense, for there are no stocks that 
 pay so poorly if neglected. But if extra care be taken 
 to furnish them all that nature lavishes in her bounty 
 upon them, there are no creatures in the barn-yard will 
 pay you so well for that care. A greater profit will be 
 realized from all those breeds that hatch and rear their 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 35 
 
 own young if you allow them each to hatch and rear 
 one brood of chicks during the season, for the incubat- 
 ing season gives the laying functions rest, and you get 
 more eggs, we are confident, in the year, beside the 
 care of the brood of chicks gratis ; and as the chicks 
 will pay one hundred per cent profit on their cost, you 
 will find that many of the incubating breeds will pay 
 as well, and even better, than some of the non-sitting 
 varieties. In all breeds it will be found to pay to take 
 pains to make your selections from the best laying 
 families of the breed, for there is as much difference in 
 them as there is in the Shorthorn breed of cattle for 
 milk. 
 
 Whichever breed we may select to keep it will not 
 be found well to keep them beyond the second season, 
 as young stock do much better — such yearlings as 
 molt early. One had much better keep thus selecting 
 about a half to carry over into the third year; the bal- 
 ance of the fowls coming two years old should be sold 
 as poultry just before chickens come into market, when 
 they bring a much better price, and their value will re- 
 place them with young stock. If the young stock is 
 to be reared on the farm, it will necessitate the rearing 
 of as many chickens as the breeding stock number, for 
 chicks hatch nearly equal as to sex, which only enables 
 you to replace the two-year-old birds each year sent to 
 market. 
 
 In nearly all the cases where we find people breed- 
 ing in a practical way, we find them using only what 
 we call native or mongrel stock. This, we believe, is a 
 mistake, for the thoroughbred is worth as much, and 
 many of the breeds far more, for this practical work; 
 
36 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 and should all use the thoroughbred, killing, as they do 
 now, one-third for poultry, using the larger number left 
 to produce eggs for the market, using as breeders only 
 the best they raise, selling only for breeding purposes 
 when a fair price (say from two dollars and fifty cents 
 to ten dollars each) could be realized, they would in 
 this way raise the standard and come to learn that in 
 every twelve fowls they kept they had the value of a 
 cow, and caring for them as well they would find they 
 paid as well. 
 
 Show us a farmer who is conscious of capital invested 
 in his fowls and we will show you a farmer who makes 
 money out of them. The greater the number raised, 
 the higher the price you will be able to command for 
 the best individual specimens. This has proved true in 
 cattle. (See History of Shorthorn Cattle in America.) 
 It is every day proved in the case of fowls. Twenty-five 
 years ago we sold Light Brahmas at one dollar each, 
 and the price was considered a fair one, the native then 
 selling for thirty-three cents. When the price increased 
 to twenty-five dollars per trio, it became the town talk ; 
 but in the past three years, when we have sold cockerels 
 at one hundred dollars, and trios at one hundred and 
 fifty dollars, it has ceased to be a surprise, and really 
 it is not in keeping with bulls at seventeen thousand 
 dollars each. We expect to live to see specimens of 
 superior excellence sold as high as two hundred and 
 fifty dollars. Already, in England, five hundred dollars 
 a trio has been realized. 
 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 TYPE IN BREEDING, AND STRAINS OF LIGHT 
 BRAHMAS. 
 
 IN setting up your boys in the business of practical 
 poultry keeping, or for breeding thoroughbreds 
 for the market, it is well that they have a motive and 
 aim in view, — something that will interest and instruct 
 them as well as help them to make money. We will 
 therefore give a rule to secure uniform type and color 
 in breeding, or how to establish a strain of such blood, 
 hoping by interesting them in the theory to interest 
 them in the practical workings of it. 
 
 The American people are lovers of " beauty " in 
 everything; a beautiful horse, a beautiful cow, all de- 
 mand a price far above those of equal merit that fail in 
 symmetry. Then in breeding aim to attain : first, 
 beauty or symmetry ; second, color ; and both coupled 
 with merit as egg producers ; and as the first two are 
 to be transmitted in a greater degree by the male, it 
 becomes of great importance that he should possess 
 those desirable features. 
 
 In selecting a sire be sure that he is well-hred and 
 comes from a line of ^^ good ones" a bird which is the 
 counterpart of his sire, for then you have a double 
 guarantee that he will control the offspring. As a rule, 
 the offspring bred back to the grandsire — the sire and 
 grandsire being alike — :we start with almost a certainty 
 
 37 
 
38 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 of success, if we do our part in the mating. Having 
 made our selection, we must put our foot down and 
 stand firmly to the rule of breeding to no sires but this 
 one, or males of his get, and none of them that do not 
 assume the likeness of the sire, thus establishing aline, 
 or " strain of blood," which, in a single word, means 
 uniformity. 
 
 In the hen secure first, productiveness as to eggs ; 
 second, a robust constitution, coming from a long-lived 
 race ; third, color ; lastly, symmetry ; and from this 
 mating select the large pullets that most resemble the 
 sire, and breed them back to the sire. This second 
 crop of birds will be three-fourths the blood of the sire 
 you selected as the founder of your strain. 
 
 Now the more stubbornly the blood of the first -dam 
 gives up to the blood of the sire, the more good it will 
 do us when subjected properly to him. 
 
 Many select well bred hens of a weakly constitution 
 to make the first cross, for they assert, and truthfully, 
 that the sire, being so robust and strong, nearl)' all the 
 chicks favor the sire. This is all true, but it is also 
 true that the blood used in the hen is weak and will 
 fail in lasting quality. We like strong blood ; that 
 which in the first cross seems to fight for the breeding 
 influence ; that which has got to be bred back to the 
 strain desired, and the control given if only by a pre- 
 ponderance of blood. We then get a lasting good 
 from the cross. Constitution and vital force must 
 come from the dam, form and color from the sire; and 
 in all the matings the introduction of new blood must 
 be with a thought to that end. 
 
 The crossing of two well bred strains oftentimes pro- 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 39 
 
 duces a distinct and new type which is very beautiful. 
 To secure this new type (which is in itself a fact that 
 the two elements producing were of equal strength, as 
 neither controlled the breeding), and to perpetuate it, 
 it would in that case be wise to select a dam of delicate 
 though pure blood, thus giving the sire all the chance 
 possible to stamp his offspring ; then by breeding his 
 pullet back, to concentrate his breeding in his grand- 
 children, they also being his children ; then we could 
 go on, by selections of coarser or stronger dams for 
 new blood for the strain. The American breeder is of 
 a restless nature ; he wants something that is peculiar 
 to himself, something in which he can be identified. 
 You find them all over the country chopping up the 
 blood of their birds by the introduction of new sires, 
 first from one flock, then from another, hoping thereby 
 to have something different. They succeed ; but when 
 they have got it they are disappointed that no one else 
 wants it. They think the bottom has gone out of the 
 chicken business, and they curse the business and 
 retire. Of such we will say, the business is better off 
 when they do retire. Now there is but one way 
 to reach uniformity in breeding, no matter whether 
 it is horses, cattle or fowls, and that is by " in-breed- 
 ing," and like poison, it may kill or cure, just according 
 as we display good judgment in its use. 
 
 Whenever we introduce new dams to a strain, breed 
 their progeny back to the sire of the strain, and never 
 use sires from this new introduction of blood until the 
 blood has become thoroughly subjected to the strain. 
 
 To explain : If the chicks of the mating of the pul- 
 lets to sires of the strain are not all in type like the 
 
40 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 strain, then breed back again, and do not use a male as 
 a stock bird until the desired affinity of the blood has 
 been accomplished. As a rule, use no male with less 
 than seven-eighths of the blood of the strain, nor females 
 with less than three-fourths of the blood of your strain 
 as stock birds. 
 
 If all the breeders would adopt this plan of breed- 
 ing, and would keep a record, they would then see the 
 importance of pedigree, and how beautifully all these 
 things are governed by a natural law. We can mix the 
 blood of our birds as easily as we mix the paints 
 that give us different tints in color. By adhering to 
 this mode one breeder becomes of benefit to his neigh- 
 bor breeder, for by crossing strains the pullets become 
 of equal value to each ; each breeding back to his re- 
 spective strain makes the blood of his neighbors' strain 
 feed the blood of his own. When breeders learn this, 
 and work together, they will all be better ofT, and may 
 become founders of families in fowls, as now breeders of 
 Shorthorns become in cattle. We will follow out this 
 subject by considering 
 
 THE STRAINS OF LIGHT BRAHMAS. 
 
 We speak of fowls as being of such and such a per- 
 son's strain, but with no significance in the sense of 
 individuality. Fowls cannot be said to be of a strain 
 unless it can be shown by history or pedigree of blood 
 that they possess fifty per cent or more of the blood of 
 the strain. A type that reproduces itself is simply the 
 result of an established strain. 
 
 It is proper to speak of Williams', Oilman's, Buz- 
 zell's. Dibble's or Bacon's stock, but to speak of strains 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 41 
 
 of blood in this connection is all wrong, for there does 
 not exist, nor has there ever been more than four strains 
 of Brahma blood brought to the country, and we have 
 to number the birds Mr. Burnham calls Grey Shanghais, 
 to reach even that number. 
 
 If A purchase a cock of B, and the second year pur- 
 chase one of C, to follow it upon his flock, the chicks 
 cannot be called A's strain ; nor can it be called A's 
 stock, only in the sense of ownership, for the blood is 
 one-half C's, one-fourth B's, and only one-fourth the 
 original blood of A's stock, C's stock being the more 
 proper name, since it has twice as much blood of that 
 strain as either of the others. 
 
 The word strain implies, in breeding, a strict ad- 
 herence to the blood of a particular family or 
 Importation, admitting no more foreign blood than is 
 necessary to sustain the health and vigor of the race. 
 
 In this chapter it is our purpose to show what 
 strains have been received and to what extent they 
 have been retained, showing as far as possible what 
 the principal Light Brahmas of the country are made 
 up of ; for the time has come when information show- 
 ing that a recorded history of blood and breeding of 
 both sire and dam is needed. 
 
 One may have females of one strain and purchase a 
 male of another, and by in-breeding secure both in 
 their purity, for there is a constant waste going on in 
 the blood, which must be replaced ; and we think it 
 can be demonstrated that more than one-eighth of 
 foreign blood has to be introduced before the original 
 suffers any organic change, and that this one-eighth 
 is consumed by the original in supplying this waste 
 
43 ' POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 spoken of. To illustrate our position, we will mate 
 the strains as we would a pair of chicks of one strain, 
 and show that the same rule of in-breeding applies to 
 them as to the fowls of an established strain. We 
 mate a Felch sire to an Autocrat hen ; the first season 
 the progeny is one-half Autocrat and one-half Felch. 
 In the second year we mate these pullets to this same 
 sire, No. i Felch, and produce chicks that are three- 
 fourths Felch and one-fourth Autocrat. We also mate 
 a cockerel of the first cross to the Autocrat dam, and 
 produce progeny three-fourths Autocrat. The third 
 year we mate the three-fourths Felch pullets again to 
 the original sire, and we produce seven-eighths Felch 
 birds, while again mating a three-fourths Autocrat 
 cockerel to the original dam, we produce a progeny 
 seven-eighths Autocrat. We have now produced the 
 two strains from a single pair, and we claim them to be 
 in their purity, for the blood of each has been grad- 
 ually reduced in each family until entirely consumed. 
 Beyond the point named it will not do to go, as further 
 in-breading would result in sterility ; yet we can take 
 birds from each of these families of the third year's 
 breeding and repeat the same process " ad libitum." 
 
 We can vouch for this experiment up to this point 
 of seven-eighths. It is on this principle that we have 
 the pure Duchess and pure Princess cattle ; and al- 
 though we may say a cow is one one-hundred-and-t wenty- 
 eighth Old Favorite, yet is purely the blood of Old 
 Favorite of Shorthorn fame, we are consistent, for this 
 infusion of one-eighth new blood but supplies the 
 waste in the original ; consequently nothing is added, 
 and the blood remains pure. 
 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 43 
 
 Among horsemen the rule generally followed is to 
 breed out, as they term it, once, and breed in twice, by 
 which process they reach only the three-fourths rule, 
 which is hardly enough to secure against loss of type 
 and color in poultry , for we have demonstrated that 
 one-eighth is the amount actually consumed, and if we 
 do not breed in to that extent our flock gradually 
 changes in type and color. If with a strain once 
 established we make a cross, and breed back to sires of 
 the strain having out-crosses other than the ones we 
 have described above, we can breed in so far as to pro- 
 duce chicks sixty-one sixty-fourths of the blood of the 
 original strain. Males of such production are valuable, 
 but the females are generally poor layers and poor 
 breeders, producing small, tough-shelled eggs, which 
 seldom hatch. 
 
 The matings that produce birds three-fourths and 
 seven-eighths the blood of the original strain (this being 
 the prolific stage of in-breeding) have the most merit as 
 egg-producers and show-birds. Pride in one's strain, 
 and a desire to keep up the prepotency in the male 
 line, should be the only inducement to breed beyond 
 the seven-eighths cross. 
 
 To do this work of breeding, and the more easily to 
 control it, a record or pedigree should be kept by every 
 breeder ; and all males and pens of females used as 
 breeders be named, if for no other reason than to give 
 them an individuality, and to fix them in memory. 
 
 All breeders should keep a pedigree-book. The 
 time has come which compels us to do so for self-pro- 
 tection, for the prominent strains are becoming more 
 or less intermingled. The Standard by its influence 
 
44 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 is converting the different strains into one common 
 type and color. Since there is no outward indication 
 of difference of blood, one can see how essential a 
 pedigree is, so that in mating we may be sure of a cross 
 when we purchase a sire or dam. One hardly wishes 
 to send one thousand miles for specimens to put into 
 his flock and find them identical in blood with his own. 
 
 The cattle-breeder, in purchasing a bull to stand at 
 the head of his herd, looks up his pedigree, and by 
 that pedigree is enabled to select one that is bred in 
 line with his own stock, yet with a cross of blood 
 that will by its introduction improve his herd and be 
 consumed by it, without changing in any way the in- 
 dividuality of the strain of blood he takes pride in 
 breeding. 
 
 This introduction of new blood is but the feeding of 
 the strain, and it is of as vital importance to know 
 that we feed the blood as to know what we feed in the 
 manger to support the life of the organism. 
 
 A truthful record or pedigree would crush out the 
 existing jealousies and restore harmony, for it compels 
 breeders to stand or fall upon their own merits, and 
 makes the blood and the specimen of a strain worth as 
 much in one man's hands as in another's, as we now 
 see demonstrated in Shorthorn cattle. 
 
 None can fail to see what a benefit it would be if a 
 printed record or history of all the Light Brahmas now 
 bred in the States could be made as a basis — a founda- 
 tion-blood from which to obtain a pedigree, or to use in 
 mating, and what an influence it would have on the 
 same by bringing such strains and sub-strains into 
 notice, and as a result furnish a ready market. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 45 
 
 The real strains being once established, and the sit- 
 uation understood, the breeder would be relieved of 
 the annoyance of having inferior stock palmed off as 
 his strain by irresponsible parties, and the blunders in 
 mating made by purchasers would be prevented. The 
 pedigree discloses the breeder, and the assertion that 
 such are Felch, Autocrat or Philadelphia birds, if 
 proved by a pedigree, has a meaning, and protects the 
 honest breeder. We know many are opposed to pedi- 
 gree, for it prevents the selling of superannuated hens 
 as yearlings, and presents to the amateur too sure a 
 rule for breeding ; for the selfish say, " Let the begin- 
 ners do as we did, and work out the problem for 
 themselves by experience." 
 
 In looking over the winning birds for the past ten 
 years it is surprising to see how universally it is true 
 that they are the result of uniting two strains, and 
 breeding back to one of them. As we present the his- 
 tory of the different strains and sub-strains, or flocks 
 composed of two or more strains, with statistics as to 
 their breeding, the rule will be apparent. 
 
 THE BURNHAM STRAIN. 
 
 This strain was, as he affirms, and as we understand 
 the matter, the Gray Shanghai of 1849-50. From this 
 blood was produced the fowls presented to the Queen. 
 In 1866 the purest blood of this strain was found in 
 the possession of Mr. Phillips, and was known and 
 handled by Mr. Williams and Mr. Comey as Phillips 
 birds. Mr. Phillips, just before his death, in conversa- 
 tion with Mr. Comey, asserted that his flock was from 
 the birds sent to the Queen by Geo. P. Burnham, that 
 
46 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 he had bred them as closely as he could, using but one 
 or two top crosses, and breeding back in a general way. 
 He did not preserve the strain by any fixed rule of in- 
 breeding, yet he must have preserved to a large degree 
 the original blood, as his birds, to a large extent, come 
 with single combs. They were dark in blood, preserv- 
 ing the Chittagong characteristic of dark undercolor. 
 The blood of this Chinese strain has been used to a 
 considerable extent by breeders of other strains, as we 
 will show anon. Until 1856 or 1858 these birds were 
 known as Chittagongs, or Single-Combed Brahmas, as 
 was also the Rankin strain. 
 
 THE RANKIN STRAIN. 
 
 The original birds of this strain were from India. 
 This Mr. Rankin can clearly show. They were large 
 in frame, had low single combs, dark undercolor in 
 back, and large, lemon-colored legs with a prominent 
 greenish-blue vein down the inside. The last feature 
 seems to have followed the crosses of this strain with 
 other strains, and seems to have been transmitted more 
 readily than any other. Up to 1866 this strain or im- 
 portation was kept pure. About that time the differ- 
 ent exhibitions ceasing to give prizes to Single-Combed 
 Brahmas, Mr. Rankin was compelled to use top crosses 
 of pea-combed sires from the Chamberlin strain, and 
 other sub or mixed strains, to secure the engraftment 
 of the pea-comb on his strain ; and as breeding back so 
 as to retain the pea-comb would be too discouraging a 
 process to accomplish his purpose, it is more than 
 probable that the race hardly held its own as a strain, 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 47 
 
 for it would be obliged to retain fully fifty per cent of 
 
 the original blood to be called a strain now. 
 
 These birds, however, have been largely used by 
 
 the breeders of other strain's, for Mr. Rankin shipped 
 
 large numbers of them to v3onnecticut, and to and 
 
 about Philadelphia, which, with the Dr. Kerr birds, 
 
 have largely entered into, and, being subject to top 
 
 crosses of the Chamberlin strain, have become the 
 
 origin and foundation-blood of the Philadelphia (Tees) 
 
 strain. 
 
 THE PHILADELPHIA STRAIN. ' 
 
 The Philadelphia strain was known as Kensington 
 or Tees stock about 1867 and 1868. While these birds 
 can hardly be called a distinct strain, yet as such they 
 have been used, in connection with those of the Ran- 
 kin strain, by the breeders of the Autocrat and Cham- 
 berlin strains, and the crosses have proved of the very 
 best, and as auxiliaries deserve a notice in this connec- 
 tion. 
 
 This sub-strain (so to speak) which comprised the 
 Brahmas in and about Philadelphia in 1866, were the 
 winners in the Philadelphia and the New York exhi- 
 bitions in that year, and were called the " Tees " birds. 
 In conversation with Messrs. Henry, Tees, Sharpless 
 and Herstine, we learned that the foundation-blood 
 was originally from India and the Dr. Kerr birds which 
 were from China. Whether they made allusion to the 
 birds sent to Philadelphia by Mr. Rankin or to birds 
 direct from Chittagong we cannot say, and it makes 
 but little difference, for, as they afTfirmed, they were 
 single-combed as a rule, and large of frame, with pale 
 yellow legs. 
 
48 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 From 1863 to 1868 these birds were converted into 
 pea-combed stock by top crosses of birds from Con- 
 necticut and New York, which were probably from the 
 ChamberHn strain or birds of hke origin. At least 
 we know this to be true in the case of the bird known 
 as the fourth-prize cock of New York, in 1868, at the 
 rink, he being from a cockerel bred by Mr. Pool, of 
 New York, and out of hens by Baron Sanborn 302, 
 bred by I. K. Felch. 
 
 We have spoken of the peculiar color and vein in the 
 leg of the Rankin strain, and the power with which the 
 race transmitted it. 
 
 The fact that this feature, though in a milder de- 
 gree, was apparent in the crosses of the Philadelphia 
 birds with those of the Felch, also with the crosses of 
 the Autocrat strain, seems to indicate that the Rankin 
 or similar blood entered largely into the foundation- 
 blood of the Philadelphia birds of that period, as the 
 parties we have alluded to affirm. Again, the birds 
 brought from Philadelphia in 1868 and 1869 had the 
 color of the ChamberHn leg, yet they still retained the 
 Rankin shape of bone, being more round in its forma- 
 tion than that of the ChamberHn stock. It will be 
 seen that all the birds purchased of Mr. Williams from 
 his so-called " Favorite Stock " did not materially alter 
 the blood, for they were but the result of mingling the 
 blood of the Rankin, Burnham (the Phillips Stock), and 
 the ChamberHn strains, which is like the blood of the 
 Philadelphia strains, for Burnham's and the Dr. Kerr 
 birds they affirm were alike and from China. 
 
 These birds were quite short in the back as com- 
 pared to the Autocrat or ChamberHn strains. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 49 
 
 One fact worthy of note here is, that the old hen 
 exhibited by Charles Tees in 1867, then eleven years 
 old, was as fine a Light Brahma hen in color and size 
 as has been shown since, and her beautiful pea-comb 
 shows that there were pea-combs and bluish under- 
 colored specimens bred in 1856. She weighed fourteen 
 pounds and four ounces, a larger weight for a Brahma 
 hen than has since been bred, thirteen pounds and 
 fifteen ounces, and fourteen pounds being the best 
 weight for a Felch bird, and fourteen pounds, and two 
 ounces the largest Autocrat hen on record. The writer 
 fails to see that the Almighty has suffered man to in- 
 crease the size beyond that of the original. 
 
 There were several breeders of these Philadelphia 
 birds of 1868, and if they have kept a record of the 
 top crosses used since that time that have been of a 
 different strain, it will be of much interest to others ; 
 for, as breeders, we are compelled to breed to that 
 form and color defined in the Standard of Excellence, 
 and our strains constantly needing blood-food, it makes 
 it necessary that the blood of each strain be different, 
 and thereby does it become more valuable. 
 
 All the strains are dependent one upon the other 
 for this blood-food, and not only is it a personal inter- 
 est to preserve these distinct types of blood, but it 
 becomes a general necessity, for a strain that is iso- 
 lated soon runs out ; the loss of color and vitality soon 
 works its own ruin. 
 
 The top cross of Beauty Duke upon the Philadel- 
 phia birds, as Mr. Wade and the writer understands 
 the matter, was simply adding a new top cross to the 
 amount of one-fourth the blood of the Chamberlin 
 
50 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 derived from the cross of the fourth-prize cock of New 
 York, 1868, with Felch hens. But if, as it has been 
 claimed, he was the progeny of a son of Duke of York 
 and a Philadelphia hen, upon a Felch and Philadelphia 
 hen, then he carried into his Philadelphia harem one- 
 eighth the blood of Old Autocrat and one-eighth 
 Chamberlin blood, as a top cross upon the Philadelphia 
 birds of i< 
 
 
 LIGHT BRAHMA HEN. 
 
 THE AUTOCRAT STRAIN. 
 The history of this bird. Autocrat, is Avell known. 
 Mr. Estes purchased the bird in Fulton Market, New 
 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 51 
 
 York, the seller avowing that he was imported. The 
 subsequent history of this bird, his strong breeding 
 quahties, the fact that when the blood was crossed 
 with other strains it produced new types, this, with the 
 pearl eye so different from the prevailing bay eye in 
 other Brahmas, to our mind presents grounds for be- 
 lieving the assertion that he was imported, although 
 there is no proof to that effect. 
 
 This bird was bred one season to females whose 
 foundation-blood was the George P. Burnham birds, 
 being the progeny of the stock sent to the Queen by 
 that gentleman, the birds being " Phillips Stock," so 
 called by Mr. Williams, who sent them to Mr. Estes. 
 In 1866 Mr. Estes presented Autocrat to Mr. Williams, 
 who bred him to the best birds he could procure from 
 several sources. 
 
 The better to understand the advantages received 
 by the breeders of Light Brahmas through the advent 
 of " Old Autocrat " it is necessary to say that before 
 the war Mr. Williams' stock of Light Brahmas con- 
 sisted of the Chamberlin blood, through purchases of 
 them at Valley Falls, the Burnham blood and the 
 blood of the Rankin importation. When Mr. Williams 
 returned from the war, his old love clinging to him, he 
 commenced again by purchasing the best stock he 
 could procure in his locality, the same being descend- 
 ants from stock he bred before going south ; also birds 
 of Mr. Strout, of Framingham, that were from a cock 
 purchased in Abington, mated to a Felch hen by a son 
 of Baron Sanborn 302 ; also, hens of H. G. White, 
 which were pure Felch, by Baron Sanborn 302. Birds 
 bred from these elements were the foundation-blood in 
 
52 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Mr. Williams' yards, and out of which came his " Fav- 
 orite Stock," and the same were in his possession when 
 Old Autocrat appeared on the stage. Autocrat was 
 mated to the best birds to be found in all these 
 elements, and the male produce was Autocrat 3d, 
 Eaton's Autocrat, Lord Berkeley and two other sons. 
 
 Old Autocrat died early in the season. Lord 
 Berkeley was a dark-plumaged bird, and as he bred 
 very dark he was sold to go west. 
 
 Autocrat 3d was a very large bird, but did not prove 
 a good sire, many of his chicks coming single-combed. 
 The greenish-blue vein was prominent in the leg, which 
 strongly indicated a Rankin cross in his dam. He was 
 lost by sickness, and his place filled by Eaton's Auto- 
 crat, who proved a good sire, but the plumage of his 
 chicks was dark. Li all these Autocrat crosses the 
 dark undercolor prevailed. 
 
 One of the other sons was sent to Mr. Estes, of 
 North Carolina, where he was bred to birds of the year 
 previous, out of the Phillips birds by Old Autocrat, 
 producing the birds Colossus, Apollo and Triumph, all 
 of which were purchased by Mr. Williams. That the 
 blood of old Autocrat was radically different from 
 other established strains is apparent in the fact that 
 whenever crosses were made with it they proved good, 
 showing increased size and producing new types, which 
 had equal strength in breeding with other established 
 strains. 
 
 The friends of the old bird express a regret that he 
 could not have lived, and his progeny bred back to 
 him, thinking that the results would have been aston- 
 ishing, and they consider his death a misfortune. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 53 
 
 Now we do not concur in this opinion, although 
 friendly to Old Autocrat, for his progeny bred too dark. 
 It may be said that this fault of the progeny was de- 
 rived from the Phillips hens. To this we cannot assent, 
 for to admit this is to concede the merit of breeding to 
 the Phillips stock, and to admit that Old Autocrat was 
 weak in breeding qualities, and as all breeding tends 
 to grow lighter it is this very dark breeding that has 
 made his blood so valuable to breeders of other strains. 
 The whole rank of breeding within two years will hail 
 the advent of another such bird with joy. To prove 
 that this dark blood and breeding is the work of Old 
 Autocrat we will say that all the crosses of the old 
 bird with the Felch stock resulted in dark-plumage 
 birds. The progeny of Autocrat 3d, whose breeding 
 indicated so strongly the Rankin descent, bred even 
 darker than the others ; the cross of Son of Colossus 
 with the Felch hen Penelope was also dark. A son 
 of Duke of York out of a Tees hen, even-mated to 
 Felch hen, bred dark ; yet the Rankin blood bred to 
 Felch did not breed dark, nor did the Tees hen bred to 
 Natick, the Felch cock, prove dark. We could cite 
 other cases of like breeding, all of which goes to prove 
 Old Autocrat to have been dark in blood, and in our 
 judgment, had he lived to have been bred to his own 
 progeny, they would have been so dark that he and 
 his descendants would have been abandoned. As it is, 
 he and his blood have proved a blessing, and where 
 breeders of other strains have had the patience to wait 
 and breed back have been very much appreciated. 
 The fact that the hens he was bred to in Mr. Williams' 
 hands were of a mixed strain of blood made his prog- 
 
54 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 eny of far more value, for it gave the power of breeding 
 more readily to his influence, and they being thus made 
 up, gave the preponderance of blood to Old Autocrat, 
 which with this great strength of breeding which we 
 have shown entitles the blood to the name of a 
 "strain." One thing is certain, his blood has been the 
 only competitor the Chamberlin-Felch strain has ever 
 had, and surely the Felch and the Autocrat birds have 
 done more to make the interest in light Brahmas what 
 it is in America than all other causes combined. 
 
 So thoroughly has Mr. Williams become identified 
 with this strain that to a great extent it is quoted as 
 Williams stock. But there are others in a like manner 
 quoted, which makes it fair to state that Mr, Comey, 
 of Quincy, Mass., as well as Mr, Williams, its principal, 
 is breeding the Autocrat strain, fed by the blood of the 
 Felch and the Philadelphia strains, and that of other 
 sub-strains, to maintain its vitality, 
 
 DUKE OF YORK, 
 
 Mr, Comey 's Duke of York was a grandson of Old 
 Autocrat in a double sense, for both his sire and dam 
 were the progeny of Old Autocrat out of the Phillips 
 hens, bred by Mr. Estes. The Phillips hens, as we have 
 described above, were in foundation-blood the same as 
 the stock sent to the Queen by Mr. Burnham. The 
 Duke of York was a vigorous bird, and lived to be bred 
 to his own progeny, and also to the Philadelphia hens 
 purchased of Chas. Tees by Mr. Comey, and to this 
 mating we believe should be given the credit of bring- 
 ing out in its best form the breeding qualities of the 
 Duke, for sons by the Duke out of his daughter, mated 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 65 
 
 with the pullets by him out of the Philadelphia hens, 
 proved excellent birds ; but the first cross with the 
 Philadelphia hen developed poor combs, as did the 
 Philadelphia stock with the Felch hens. 
 
 It may be asked by the friends of Philadelphia stock 
 where the progeny of Colossus got their faulty combs. 
 We will say, just where the Tees stock got them, — from 
 the Rankin. The blood was there, and large birds 
 could not be forced without its development. 
 
 Mr. Comey made crosses of the Rankin strain, which, 
 as he informs us, he abandoned, as it with the York 
 blood developed nothing desirable but size. Since 
 1869^ Mr. Comey has confined himself principally to 
 different Autocrat crosses, as can be seen in the Duke 
 of Norfolk, Duke of Springfield, etc., descendants of 
 Colossus, Apollo, and Triumph. He has adhered more 
 closely to in-breeding than most other friends of the 
 strain. 
 
 In closing our remarks upon the blood of Autocrat 
 we will say that, so far as they allude to Mr. Williams, 
 they were submitted to him, and after examination by 
 that gentleman we received the following : 
 
 Mr. Felch : 
 
 I have your manuscript, and have carefully read it. I cannot see 
 that you have made any mistakes or said anything that is not true ; 
 neither could I add anything that would make the history more com- 
 plete. Wishing you success, I am, Yours truly, 
 
 P. WILLIAMS. 
 
56 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 THE CHAMBERLIN STRAIN, NOW SO WIDELY KNOWN 
 AS THE " FELCH STRAIN." 
 
 This strain is well known as coming from the birds 
 that were found by Mr. Knox in the India ship in New 
 York city in 1847. The first to breed these birds were 
 Mr. Chamberlin and Mr. Cornish, of Connecticut, and 
 Mr. Smith and Mr. Childs, of Rhode Island, the last- 
 named individual winning the Albany and Barnum ex- 
 hibitions of New York. The strain was in but very 
 few hands up to 1852, at which time at Boston it 
 created the sensation which gave to the breed an iden- 
 tity and a name. For several years it went by the 
 name of Brahmas or Short-Legged Chittagongs, the 
 breeders clinging to the then good reputation of the 
 Chittagong. But from 1857 to 1865 we see the Chitta- 
 gong conceding the palm to the Brahma, by returning 
 the compliment and being exhibited as Single-Combed 
 Brahmas; and finally, in 1865 we find them discarded 
 altogether as a race — the edict that all Brahmas should 
 have a pea-comb sending them into oblivion. 
 
 This Chamberlin strain from its advent has bred, as 
 a rule, pea-combs and orange-yellow legs. The early 
 specimens being creamy white, and the prevailing un- 
 dercolor bluish-white, it has been a struggle to keep 
 this bluish undercolor, for all strains grow lighter, and 
 at the present writing, with all the care to retain it, 
 one-half of the specimens will come white in under- 
 color. To secure fine neck-hackles and dark tails and 
 wings, this bluish-white undercolor is absolutely neces- 
 sary; and in introducing new blood into a strain one can 
 see how important it is that a dark specimen be chosen. 
 
Felch Light Brahmas. 
 
 57 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 59 
 
 FELCH PEDIGREE STRAIN. 
 
 From the original birds bred by Mr. Chamberlin 
 came the cock Imperial 300 (the male that has been face- 
 tiously mentioned as the bird Mr. Felch bought for a 
 dollar or two out of a hen-cart), the founder of the well- 
 known Felch strain of Light Brahmas. The female to 
 which Imperial 300 was mated came from eggs bought 
 from Mr. Childs (alluded to above), and were from Virgil 
 Cornish, being in blood the same, and the name of Cham- 
 berlin strain would be far more appropriate as indicative 
 of its origin ; but as the breeding world has seen fit in its 
 generosity to know the strain by the name of the writer 
 of this work, he can only accept the situation. 
 
 The writer is well aware that but for his love for 
 the breed during the lull in the chicken fancy, from 
 1855 to 1864, when nearly all the fanciers allowed their 
 fowls to run out, so to speak, and accidental good luck 
 in the way of an egg laid by Old Princess, out of which 
 Honest Abe 307 was hatched, he too would have lost 
 his interest, and with it would have been lost the pedi- 
 gree and proof of blood that has preserved the identity 
 of the strain. 
 
 The writer would prefer that the strain should be 
 known by the name of its original founder rather than 
 to have it as it is, for he is now made responsible for 
 the breeding of the strain, it matters not who mates 
 them nor how far they are removed from his breeding, 
 for then he could stand or fall on his own merits as a 
 breeder, and his reputation would only be affected by 
 the specimens bred by him and sold by himself. 
 In speaking of the management of the strain, we will 
 do so in the first person, submitting the following : 
 
60 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Since the purchase of Imperial 300 and the egg out 
 of which I produced the hen Lady Childs, I have kept 
 a true record of blood and breeding of all the families 
 of the strain. This discloses all the introductions of 
 new blood, and from what source it has come. These 
 introductions of new blood have been m^ade on the 
 principle that all animal life is suffering a continual 
 waste, and is in as constant need of blood-food in a re- 
 productive sense as it is of daily food to supply the 
 waste in the individual, and experience teaches that no 
 strain can be sustained without this supply. 
 
 The blood used to vitalize the strain in my hands 
 has been: First the blood in the old Nanturier hen, as 
 seen in the use of Duchess, in 1858, being used as 
 stock in my pedigree fowls in the hen Princess 362, 
 which was one-eighth Nanturier blood. The next 
 cross was Lady Mills 364, she being three-fourths 
 Chamberlin and one-fourth Burnham blood, her one- 
 fourth foreign blood being derived from the then 
 so-called Chittagong or Gray Shanghai, from the 
 Burnham Queen strain. Since 1865 all new blood has 
 been drawn from the Autocrat strain, as seen in the 
 following birds (see my pedigrees in the World's Pedi- 
 gree Book): 
 
 Autocrat Belle 392, Eaton Belle 407, Lady Ips- 
 wich 1022, and Maud Williams 4146, and the cocks 
 Experiment 337 and Ned Williams 4145, a brother 
 to Duke of Springfield, The crosses from the Phila- 
 delphia birds being Chicago Belle 382, Mrs. Strout 404 
 and the cockerel fourth-prize cock of New York, 1868. 
 
 By the tracing of these pedigrees it will be seen just 
 how much blood other than the Chamberlin (the orig- 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 61 
 
 inal blood) is now represented in the Felch birds, or 
 strain now bred by me. I will speak of some of the 
 characteristics developed by these crosses. 
 
 While it was asserted at the 1852 Exhibition at Bos- 
 ton that this was a breed that would never run out, 
 and although there has never been a breed so severely 
 in-bred, yet all this introduction of blood was necessary 
 to preserve the original type and color, for if contin- 
 ually in-bred a loss of constitution, a change of type, 
 and a reversion to white in color would have followed, 
 while the third in-breeding" of new blood to a strain 
 will invariably result in fine specimens. 
 
 In the early crosses of Autocrat blood with the 
 Felch the progeny was invariably too dark in plumage, 
 and although oftentimes developing new types, the 
 first in-breeding would restore three-fourths of the 
 progeny, while a portion of the males would revert to 
 light color, as in the case of Moses 327. The third in- 
 breeding to the strain was necessary to a full restora- 
 tion to the Felch type and color. (For my reason for 
 that, see notes in history of Old Autocrat.) 
 
 The cross of Experiment 347 (Autocrat) with Co- 
 lumbia 386 (Felch) produced chicks of the same char- 
 acter, which took two in-breedings to restore. 
 
 The cross of Son of Colossus (Autocrat) to Penelope 
 1019 (Felch) presented the same feature, but the third 
 in-breeding to the strain produced birds scaling 92 to 
 94 points, and many won first prizes. I think that had 
 Old Autocrat lived to have been bred to his own prog- 
 eny, his blood, so highly prized by breeders of other 
 strains as new blood, would have been discarded. As 
 it is, I presume Mr. Williams and myself have often- 
 
62 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 times been censured, or at least the stock has been, for 
 this very virtue — strength of breeding — by those striv- 
 ing to cross the strains, and many a good bird aban- 
 doned, which, had it been bred back to either strain, 
 would have developed fine stock. 
 
 The tendency to breed dark when the Autocrat and 
 Felch crosses are made still exists. The cross of Phi 
 Beta 5876, with Juno III 5879, produces a fine 
 lot of females, but males too dark in some cases. 
 These pullets known as Juanetta 5994, mated to the 
 Felch cock Daniel Webster II 5999, continued to breed 
 dark enough to produce fully eight per cent of the chicks 
 with slate-colored backs. These birds are generally 
 males, and grow up to have fine hackles, wings and 
 tails, with quite dark undercolor to backs, and when 
 they prove females they are, as a rule, too dark for 
 exhibition purposes. While this is on the dark ex- 
 treme, it is better than to have all hatch absolutely 
 white, for then there is more or less loss for want of 
 color in neck, wings and tail. One such cross is, how- 
 ever, worth three times a cross that resulted in all 
 chicks hatching pure white. 
 
 The believers in dark undercolor, with myself, would 
 approve, while those so strenuous in their belief in the 
 white undercolor of back in breeding stock would con- 
 demn. 
 
 The early crosses of the Philadelphia birds with the 
 Felch invariably produced lopped combs, and many 
 that maintained their upright position had the middle 
 division much too high. This and the development of 
 the greenish-blue vein on the leg show clearly the India 
 cross in the blood of the Philadelphia birds. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 63 
 
 The color was easily controlled, and although there 
 was seemingly no difference in the size, yet the prog- 
 eny were much larger in the first cross, and were 
 longer in arriving at maturity. Chicago Belle 382 
 weighed twelve pounds at twelve months old. This 
 cross, as developed in Prince 321 by Honest Abe 307, 
 proved a very desirable one, as can be proved by H. S. 
 Ball, T. L. Sturtevant, and Mark Pitman, all of whom 
 used him in breeding. Again Tees Duke (Philadelphia 
 blood) bred to Lady Fay (Felch) by a son of Honest Abe 
 307 produced the sire and dam of the two hens known 
 as Sturtevant hens, each weighing thirteen and one- 
 fouith pounds, which were never exhibited without win- 
 ning a prize. Their sire and dam were not large, as Mr. 
 Strout, of Framingham, Mass., their breeder, can testify. 
 
 The fourth-prize cock of New York for 1868 was 
 one half Philadelphia, one-fourth Felch, and one-fourth 
 the blood of fowls bred by Mr. Pool, of New York. 
 This cock bred to Felch pullets, daughters of Honest 
 Abe 307 produced Lady Rice 405, out of which, by a 
 son of Honest Abe 307 (Optimus 3 1 5) was bred Coeur de 
 Leon 326, one of the best Light Brahma cocks ever bred 
 in America, and the sire of many prize chicks, among 
 which was PoqonnuckgQQ, Ben Lidi 2777, Coeur de Leon 
 VI, Leo 2776, and others, selling from $25 to $100 each, 
 producing $1,425 worth of chicks in a single season. 
 All these crosses of Philadelphia blood were controlled 
 in color, which leads me to consider the top crosses of 
 the Philadelphia birds to be Chamberlin blood, or that 
 of a kindred nature. I speak of these crosses to show 
 how dependent the breeder of one strain is upon those 
 breeding another, and that whenever new blood is 
 
64 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 taken into any strain of well-bred birds, when it is re- 
 duced by in-breeding to that quantity which will soon 
 be consumed by the strain, the best results are reached. 
 This constant feeding of the blood is necessary, and 
 without it no strain can long survive. By one system- 
 atic rule we can keep repeating results year after year. 
 
 Science tells us that we are changing constantly ; 
 the waste in our blood is renewed by new blood, yet 
 the blood in breeding type is the same. So is it with 
 strains. The new blood by in-breeding becomes the 
 weaker and the prey of the original blood that con- 
 sumes it, constantly invigorating the original and not 
 changing it in the least in type and color. 
 
 The stock known as the " Sturtevant birds" were 
 in the main Felch blood, and after the first year's 
 breeding remained three-fourths Honest Abe blood 
 and one-fourth that of the fourth-prize cock of New 
 York in 1868, the former being Felch, the latter one- 
 half Philadelphia, one-fourth Felch, and one-fourth 
 Pool blood. Coeur de Leon 326 was bred by T. L. 
 Sturtevant, thirteen-sixteenths Felch blood, and as I 
 have said, was one of the best birds ever bred in Amer- 
 ica. Mr. Sturtevant did not appreciate him, always 
 supposing his best birds came from a bird which has 
 many times won at the Boston Exhibitions. That Mr. 
 Sturtevant was honest in his belief is apparent in the 
 fact that he loaned Cceur de Leon to H. F. Felch for 
 the season of 1874, with the results previously described. 
 
 The cross of the Philadelphia blood with the Felch, 
 as developed in the breeding through Prince 321 and 
 Coeur de Leon 326 in the yard of Thos. L. Sturtevant, 
 and later in the mating of Coeur de Leon 326 with 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 65 
 
 Parepa 395 by Moses 327, by H. F. Felch in 1874, was 
 no doubt the best coupling of two strains ever made. 
 Had Mr. Sturtevant's zeal for poultry culture been as 
 lasting as it was fervent at times he would have led the 
 van. But his greater love for his dog and gun, and the 
 pressure of business, have led him to abandon the breed- 
 ing of poultry for the present. 
 
 To review the subject of strains, we come to this 
 fact : that there are but very few strains and very few 
 marked specimens from which originality of type has 
 been established ; and when we indulge in top crosses 
 we destroy the strain, unless we resort to in-breeding 
 to secure the benefit of the cross, and to insure the 
 type of the strain. 
 
 We find also that all the strains or subdivisions of 
 strains were, in their origin, dark in undercolor, and 
 that with age they grow lighter, and if left to them- 
 selves they may lose their original type, change being 
 written on all, and only by persistent effort can these 
 original types be retained. We should feel that as 
 long as we deliver up into other hands these strains as 
 good as we receive them, we have been equal to the 
 task of breeding them, and should be considered breed- 
 ers ; and that if we can improve a breed, surely we 
 deserve praise. I am one of the few that say there are 
 no better specimens exhibited to-day than were exhib- 
 ited years ago. But I do believe the general average 
 is far better. The excellence of the few is controlled 
 by a fixed law, viz.: The eternal fitness of things, which 
 says, " Thus far canst thou go, O man, and no farther." 
 We are not endowed with the infinite, and our matings 
 are sometimes blunders. 
 
WYANDOTTES. 
 
 66 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DISCUSSION OF MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OF 
 
 AGRICULTURE AT THE CLOSE OF THE 
 
 ESSAY ALLUDED TO IN OUR 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 SECRETARY FLINT: I have been exceedingly 
 interested in the paper which has been read by- 
 Mr. Felch. I am sure he has come up to the expec- 
 tations of those who had so much confidence, when 
 they invited him to prepare this paper. Mr. Felch has 
 had many years of thorough and careful experience 
 and accurate observation, and I am sure the principles 
 which he has enunciated in his paper will be of great 
 interest and great value to the large number of poultry 
 breeders in this state. 
 
 I should very much like to hear the experience and 
 observation of those who are now engaged practically, 
 every day, in poultry breeding. There are a great many 
 questions, I know, that many persons wish to hear dis- 
 cussed, and there are others here who can discuss them 
 better than I can. I have been a somewhat extensive 
 poultry breeder in the course of my life. I have kept 
 a great variety of fowls ; too great a variety, 
 altogether, I am sure, for profit. I have generally come 
 to the conclusion that where profit, for poultry and 
 eggs together, is concerned, the Light Brahma is the 
 
 67 
 
68 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 best breed, but as egg producers the White Leghorn, 
 and perhaps one or two other breeds, greatly surpass 
 them. 
 
 So far as the feeding of poultry is concerned I am 
 pretty well satisfied that farmers and those who keep 
 poultry are inclined to feed too much corn. Corn, as 
 you all know, will induce fat, and when poultry are to be 
 fatted for market they can be fatted probably 
 quicker and more economically upon corn or cornmeal, 
 heated, than upon any other substance ; but as far as 
 my experience has gone, it is not advisable to feed 
 corn if you wish to get the largest number of eggs ; it 
 induces too great fat, especially if the hens are kept in 
 some confinement. Hens that are allowed the whole 
 range of the farm may be fed upon almost anything. 
 They run off what little extra fat they get, perhaps, 
 by eating too much corn ; but poultry that are con- 
 fined, or partially confined, ought not to be fed too 
 much upon corn. Oats, or any of the smaller grains, 
 and vegetables, potatoes, fish, and that class of food, 
 it seems to me, are very much better. 
 
 As far as the feeding of fresh or cured rowen or 
 young clover is concerned, I have no doubt that what 
 Mr. Felch has said is correct. 
 
 Question, Is there any danger of making White 
 Leghorns so fat by feeding them on corn that they 
 cannot fly? 
 
 Mr. Felch: I don't think you can give them any- 
 thing that will fat them so that they cannot run or fly. 
 But as egg producers there is no question that the 
 White Leghorn family is the best. They will forage 
 for themselves^ and pretty thoroughly, and they are 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 69 
 
 stronger in their feet than the Asiatic breeds, if we are 
 to judge by the damage they will do in the garden. 
 
 Question, Do you have bottoms to your coops ? 
 
 Mr. Felch: I do not. I have simply platforms 
 for early spring, on which to place the coops, in the 
 summer allowing them to set upon the ground. 
 
 Question. How do you feed the clover rowen ? 
 
 Mr, Felch: After curing it becomes brittle ; sim- 
 ply feed in a rick, as to stock. If it is cut up too fine, 
 and fed carelessly, they will waste it. 
 
 Question. Which is the best, the Brown or White 
 Leghorn ? 
 
 Mr. FelcH: I would not say one was better than 
 the other. 
 
 Question, Do you have any difficulty in hatch- 
 ing chickens from the eggs that are laid by the 
 Asiatics ? 
 
 Mr. Felch: That is the danger of the whole busi- 
 ness. They sometimes become so very fat that it 
 will be almost impossible to hatch an egg from them. 
 Turn them right out and give them food that will not 
 fat them, and you will find that the eggs will hatch well, 
 
 Mr, Hersey, of Hingham: Mr. Felch says that 
 close breeding in-and-in tends to sterility, I would 
 like to inquire if he has had any actual tests of this, 
 and if so, w'hat difficulties he has encountered? 
 
 Mr. Felch: What I mean by in-and-in breeding 
 is breeding birds of the same blood or pedigree to- 
 gether. I always take pains when I am breeding in 
 line, ** breeding in," as I term it, to so mate that there 
 will be a change of blood, and secure the chick in 
 blood different from sire and dam. It is always better 
 
70 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 to breed back to the sire than to breed the chicks to- 
 gether. When introducing a new element of blood, I 
 find oftentimes that this works well. This is a rule I 
 have followed for twenty years. I believe I was one 
 of the first to adopt this course. I never buy a male 
 bird, and consequently I have been obliged to make 
 this new blood for scores of others ; and when I buy 
 a new bird, I treat it in that way, breeding the pullets 
 of the first cross right back to a sire of that strain, and 
 never use a male bird until I have reduced the foreign 
 blood to one-fourth or one-eighth. Now if you breed 
 in-and-in for three generations, that is, breed brothers 
 and sisters, in three generations, it will be almost im- 
 possible to hatch an egg. 
 
 Mr. Hersey: Have you had any actual tests of it? 
 
 Mr. Felch: Yes sir ; I believe, as a rule, the state- 
 ment I make will hold good. There may be excep- 
 tions ; there are exceptions to all rules. But I think if 
 any one follows that rule, so that he will know exactly 
 what he is doing, he will find that I am correct. But 
 the fact is, a great many do not know. They will have 
 a flock of birds, and they will save a young cockerel 
 from them and breed from them, thinking they are all 
 of one blood. If they will start from one single dam and 
 breed her chickens together, and their chickens and 
 then a third lot, I am quite sure they will reach a point 
 where the eggs will not hatch. Unless you have a 
 flock of hens in one enclosure you can see how easily 
 you lose track of them. You cannot get uniformity 
 unless you breed your line of sires to the same strain of 
 blood. I think any one who has tried it will agree 
 with me in what I have said on that subject. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 71 
 
 Mr. HerseY: I suppose we meet together here to 
 gather facts, and whatever the result of our experi- 
 ments may be, it is for our interest to know about 
 them. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago I started for the purpose of 
 demonstrating, one way or another, whether we should 
 be able to breed in-and-in or not. I took a white 
 native, and from that white native I have bred for twen- 
 ty-five years, and still the eggs hatch. During the 
 twenty-five years only three times have I introduced 
 anything different, and those three times it was done 
 by eggs and eggs only, and the male birds were not 
 kept, only the females. But during the last two years 
 no new blood has been introduced into my flock, and I 
 have bred in-and-in as closely as possible. My poultry 
 yard is so situated, and so fenced in, that no other 
 poultry can come near them. Now the result is that 
 my eggs hatch a great deal better than my neighbors'. 
 Three years ago (which was the last year I had the care 
 of them myself) I set four sittings of thirteen eggs 
 each, and every one of them hatched ; and of four 
 others, eleven hatched. I think there was not a single 
 sitting that year that gave less than six chickens from 
 thirteen eggs. 
 
 Now I admit that I have been careful in breeding 
 to take only those fowls which were physically strong 
 and perfectly healthy. I think that this is a point to 
 which we must look carefully. I believe that healthy 
 birds will bring healthy offspring. But perhaps I 
 ought not to say what I believe. I only rose to state 
 these facts. It is an isolated case, covering a period of 
 about twenty-five years. If there were twenty-five 
 
72 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 other individuals here who could stand up and say that 
 they had tried the same thing, with the same result, we 
 might be able to come to some correct conclusion. 
 Perhaps a single experiment is not sufficient. 
 
 Now if other people have tried the experiment of 
 in-and-in breeding, and failed, — if they have really 
 tried it, and not guessed at it, — of course that must 
 count against the experiment which I have made. But 
 I hope that if this Board shall meet in this or any 
 other hall ten years from this time there will be many 
 individuals, who will be able to rise up and say, " I 
 know from practical tests what the result is of breeding 
 in-and-in." 
 
 Mr. Felch: The gentleman who has just taken 
 his seat says that the introduction of blood was by 
 eggs, saving the females. That does not meet the case, 
 for he put half a dozen new elements into his stock 
 every time he introduced the eggs, which might have 
 helped him out. I do not see that his case touches 
 the point which I advanced, for one introduction of six 
 pullets would have carried him through the whole 
 twenty-five years, and the eggs would have hatched 
 well. 
 
 Mr. Bill, of Paxton: I have had some experience 
 in keeping hens, but I rise chiefly to add a word to 
 what was said on one point by the gentleman who 
 gave us the very instructive and interesting essay, and 
 that point is this. He spoke of hen-houses in the 
 sides of hills, near our farm buildings, so that the fowls 
 might forage in the pasture with the cattle. Now he 
 did not state what breed of hen would be the best for 
 that purpose, but I judge from my own experience that 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 73 
 
 a kind of hen not much in favor, perhaps, with most 
 hen fanciers, — I mean the Black Red Game, — is the 
 one best adapted to that purpose. 
 
 There is an impression abroad among hen dealers, 
 and those who have not inquired into the matter, that 
 the Black Red Game, or Game hens, are of little value 
 except for their fighting qualities, but with all my 
 keeping of the Games, I never have seen one fight but 
 once, and that was with a White Leghorn, and he got 
 awfully thrashed, so I am not keeping him for that 
 purpose. But I find that in the pastures the Games 
 have the foraging quality, and that is the point I rose 
 to make. I know tolerably well four or five kinds of 
 Game birds, and any of them will walk off and feed by 
 themselves several hundred rods, — almost a quarter of 
 a mile. 
 
 Another notion that is prevalent about them is that 
 they are quite wild. That comes partly from the 
 name — Game. But I find that the Games are as gentle, 
 if you treat them gently, as any hens I ever had any- 
 thing to do with. As to their laying qualities, I have 
 kept them several years and I am confident that they 
 do lay well. I would not say that they are as good 
 layers as the White Leghorn or the Brown Leghorn, 
 but I do not know any other family, except the Leg- 
 horns, that excels the Game in laying qualities. 
 
 Another point about the Game is, that their eggs 
 are from a quarter to a third larger than the Light 
 Brahmas', or than almost any of the pure-blooded 
 hens with which I have had anything to do, except the 
 Leghorn. 
 
 I would like to ask a question about the Black 
 
74 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 Spanish. What does Mr. Felch know about them, as 
 to their laying quahties, constitution, etc.? 
 
 Mr. Felch: The Black Spanish, before the Leg- 
 horn came into notice, was considered the best laying 
 fowl. They lay large eggs, but they do not lay a large 
 number of them. I think that a full-bred Black Span- 
 ish will lay about one hundred and twenty-eight eggs 
 in a year, — about what our native fowls will do. Prob- 
 ably there is not half a dozen eggs a year difference in 
 what the Black Spanish, the Game and native fowls will 
 lay, and as a rule the Game eggs are much smaller than 
 the Brahma. 
 
 Question. How do the Black Spanish stand the 
 cold weather in the winter? 
 
 Mr. Felch: Poorly. A Black Spanish chicken is 
 a miserable thing while growing, but when once grown 
 the fowl seems to be quite hardy. It is a beautiful bird 
 to look at — there is no question about that. If a man 
 does not care how much it costs him to produce and 
 keep a flock of Black Spanish birds he can have them 
 and they will do very well, but they are not profitable 
 managed in a practical way. I tried to find the breed 
 that a person with the least experience could do the 
 best with, everything considered, and that is why I 
 selected the Leghorn, Plymouth Rock and Light 
 Brahma ; and here let me say that no matter what the 
 breed is, the Almighty has so fixed that thing that they 
 will all pay a profit, if properly managed. A man wants 
 to take the breed that pleases him, and if he does that 
 he will be likely to take good care of it and make a 
 profit. One man likes the Black Red Game, another 
 the Brown Leghorn, and another the Brahma. I do 
 
75 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 77 
 
 not agree with those who say that the Buff Cochin is 
 the best bird of the lot. The Buff Cochin is a splen- 
 did hen to raise chickens, and they are handy to have 
 for that purpose. They look large, but they are not 
 really so. They are very full feathered, and their 
 feathers make them look large. 
 
 Mr. Vincent: The Black Spanish do not want to 
 sit. 
 
 Mr. FelcH: No ; but they are of weak constitu- 
 tion. Still, I can hardly say that, because, when once 
 grown, they seem to be hardy, if you can keep them 
 away from the frost. Their wattles and combs are 
 easily chilled, and that seems to take all the life out of 
 them until spring. 
 
 Question. What do you consider the best cross? 
 
 Mr. Felch: I consider the best cross in the 
 world is the cross of a White Leghorn cock on a Light 
 Brahma hen. I say a White Leghorn, because that 
 cross will produce a uniform white color. There will 
 be no parti-colored feathers, which is an advantage in 
 preparing poultry for the market. 
 
 Question. -What would be the quantity of eggs 
 produced by that cross ? 
 
 Mr. Felch: They will produce as much as either 
 of the thoroughbreds. I have birds in my family of 
 Brahmas that have laid for twenty-three successive 
 months without' sitting ; but that is unnatural. I have 
 received several letters this season from parties to 
 whom I have sent birds of this family stating that 
 their birds have laid the entire season without wanting 
 to sit. The Brahmas, both Dark and Light, do not lay 
 in that way as a rule. 
 
78 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 The Leghorn I call a hardy bird. The Black Span- 
 ish I call a delicate bird, because they are predisposed 
 to disease. The whole Spanish class must have dry, 
 warm quarters, or they will have the roup. They will 
 have catarrh in the head, and roup follows, and all the 
 attendant diseases. You cannot put them in a damp 
 place with impunity. 
 
 Mr. Cheever: Is there any limit to the number 
 of eggs that any one of the breeds of hens can lay? I 
 think I have seen it stated in some paper, — from a 
 French authority, — that the ovaries are limited. Do 
 you know anything about that ? 
 
 Mr. Felch: I do not feel competent to answer 
 that question. I have seen it stated that a hen will 
 not lay after she gets to be four or five years old. But 
 two years ago there was a light Brahma hen at the. 
 Exhibition in Boston that was twelve years and three 
 months old, and she laid three days out of the week. 
 I have had a Light Brahma in my yard this year 
 eight years old, and she laid some forty-odd eggs. I 
 believe, therefore, that hens will lay until they are 
 pretty old. I do not believe, as some do, that they 
 will cease laying at four or five years of age, but as a 
 rule, birds after they are three years old begin to fall 
 off in the production of eggs. 
 
 Question. Are not pullets the most economical 
 kind to keep for eggs ? 
 
 Mr. Felch: The second year appears to be the 
 year of greatest profit. You may raise two chickens, — 
 a pullet and cockerel, — and the day they are twelve 
 months old the pullet will have supported herself and 
 the cockerel, and if sold at the end of twelve months 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 79 
 
 that cockerel is net profit. You may base your calcu- 
 lations ,of profits upon that and you will find it to be 
 true. A Leghorn, when she commences to lay, will 
 lay usually until she molts, and generally will not 
 commence to lay again until the next spring. But you 
 get the start of a year, or longer, before it comes to 
 that, if she has good blood in her. 
 
 Question. If you were only keeping a few hens 
 for eggs, what kind would you select ? 
 
 Mr. Felch: If I were keeping hens for eggs 
 alone, I should most certainly keep the Leghorn breed 
 in preference to any other. Keep the pullets up to the 
 time of molting, and then sell them and replace them. 
 
 Question. Have you had any experience in regard 
 to the laying qualities of the Hamburg? 
 
 Mr. Felch: The Hamburg family will lay as many 
 eggs, probably, as the Leghorn. They are handsome 
 birds, and if any one has an eye for beauty, and wants 
 a few handsome birds for eggs alone, I should recom- 
 mend the Hamburg family. They are a little tender 
 in raising, but like the Black Spanish they seem to 
 become hardy afterward. They lay well. I have had 
 Hamburgs that laid one hundred and fifty-one eggs in 
 six months. That is recorded in the report of the Mid- 
 dlesex South Agricultural Society for the year 1858, 
 and it is also reported, I think, in the State Agricult- 
 ural Report of that year. The Black Hamburg is, I 
 believe, the best of the family, for their chickens are 
 easily reared, and that, perhaps, is attributable to a 
 cross. I think there is a Black Spanish cross that went 
 into the original Golden Hamburg, that produced the 
 Black Hamburg. The other varieties of the Hamburg 
 
80 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 family are the Silver and Golden- Spangled and the 
 Silver and Golden-Penciled. The white and black are 
 two varieties of that class produced within my recollec- 
 tion. 
 
 Question. How long do you allow your chicks to 
 run with the hen ? Do you have many deformed, one- 
 sided chickens? I am troubled that way. 
 
 Mr. Felch: I do not take the hen away until she 
 weans the chicks herself ; yet it is as well to remove 
 her to the laying house when the chicks are from five 
 to seven weeks old, according to the season. I have 
 the partings, or slats of my chicken coops, three inches 
 apart, and when my Brahma chicks raise one or both 
 wings to go in or out of the coop, I leave the door 
 open, for in squeezing in and out through the openings 
 between the slats they easily slip their hips down, thus 
 making them one-sided, or deformed, as you have 
 spoken of. I have seen an entire brood ruined by 
 being reared beside a picket fence of one and one-half 
 inch spaces. 
 
 The foregoing discussion clearly shows the interest 
 the farmers of the country are taking in this great 
 question of poultry culture. They look upon it from a 
 money point of view. They want to know how many 
 eggs can be produced, and at what cost, and demand 
 practical worth with exhibition excellence. 
 
 The rule with all breeds should be to kill all the in- 
 ferior specimens, whether they be male or female, and 
 demand that the beautiful specimens be so in a double 
 sense, " Handsome is as handsome does." 
 
 If we breed from none but the most prolific layers 
 we shall the more surely improve our stock, in laying 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 81 
 
 qualities. The policy of keeping all the females is a bad 
 one ; they should be weeded out if they are poor layers. 
 
 While the results quoted in the essay have been 
 accomplished, and can be again, we can cut down the 
 figures to a net profit of one dollar per head, and the 
 margins are then even better than can be realized upon 
 cattle or horses. 
 
 There is no danger of over-stocking the market, for 
 poultry seems to be a. necessity. Our southern breth- 
 ren are in a large measure dependent upon it in warm 
 weather. In all seasons it is to be preferred to beef or 
 mutton and it always rules higher in the market. 
 
 So long as beef, mutton and pork remain at their 
 present prices, and when (as is the fact) a pound of 
 poultry can be raised for the same price per pound, we 
 see no reason why it will not be a profitable business. 
 Even in this season of low prices in other provisions 
 we find fresh eggs quoted at twenty-seven to thirty 
 cents per dozen, in August, and corn but seventy-five 
 cents per bushel at retail. 
 
 A bushel and one peck of corn, or its equivalent, 
 will support a laying hen one year, and if she produces 
 but eleven dozen of eggs, no more than is obtained 
 from the unimproved sort, it will leave a margin of two 
 dollars and thirty-six cents per head for the care of the 
 flock, which would pay, we opine, as well as the major- 
 ity of the professions. 
 
 We would not counsel the use of mongrel stock, as 
 breeders, under any circumstances, nor the use of de- 
 formed specimens, only in the case of necessity. Even 
 deformity caused by accident may have so shocked the 
 nervous system as to affect the breeding. 
 
83 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 We know of a case where a hen had her foot 
 caught in a steel trap and, being in it some time 
 before being hberated, had her nervous system so 
 shocked that after the toes were amputated five-sixths 
 of the chicks hatched from her eggs the following 
 season were club-footed in the limb corresponding 
 to the one mutilated on the dam. We know not all, 
 nor even a small number, of like accidents would pro- 
 duce a similar effect, but we cite the case to show that 
 if an accident can affect the breeding how much more 
 an hereditary deformity would affect it. 
 
 Cross-bred fowls are, in the majority of cases, far 
 more prolific as egg producers than the native, or even 
 the thoroughbreds from which they were bred, and in 
 all animal or vegetable life this will be found true. 
 Therefore we must always produce them from the two 
 thoroughbreds, for to breed from the cross will be to 
 deteriorate. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON THE TREATMENT OF BREEDING-STOCK. 
 
 A FEW general remarks as to repairing diseased or 
 broken plumage, etc., may not come amiss. 
 
 If in white birds, or in the white in parti-colored 
 specimens, colored feathers appear, especially if black 
 feathers appear in white, they will oftentimes, if 
 pulled, be replaced by feathers true to the color of the 
 breed. 
 
 Young cockerels are often attacked by older birds 
 and their plumage marred, in which case the feathers 
 so injured grow slim and longer than the others. We 
 have seen sickle feathers, corrugated along the quill and 
 white in a black tail, removed, and afterward replaced 
 by a perfectly black pair. We should not despair of 
 an otherwise exhibition bird till we had removed^ these 
 diseased and faulty feathers and given time for them 
 to grow anew, for the majority of cases prove their 
 restoration true to color. 
 
 The only way we can keep our stock in presentable 
 plumage during the breeding season is by watchfulness, 
 and by removing all diseased and broken feathers, which 
 will be replaced by new ones ; otherwise the fowls 
 must wear their broken plumage till the molting season, 
 and look badly. 
 
 83 
 
84 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 A Light Brahma having say from two to twenty 
 black-tainted feathers in the back, if they are pulled, 
 will often replace them with white ones. The process 
 can be repeated till all are secured true to color. 
 
 The best time to hatch the breeding-stock we be- 
 lieve to be from May 20 to June 10. Such birds 
 come in the time of year when they do not suffer from 
 cold, and they grow rapidly and continually till mature. 
 
 Cold weather comes on just in time to check their 
 laying, and generally they will not have laid more than 
 ten or twelve eggs before we are ready to use them, 
 and we get them vigorous from the freshness of young 
 productive life. Again, the adult fowls molt and rest, 
 and generally have laid but few eggs before their eggs 
 are needed for incubation. From such pullets, and 
 these rested hens, we believe the best eggs for incuba- 
 tion are procured. Early pullets that commence lay- 
 ing in the fall, and lay through to March, sustaining a 
 strain of six months' laying, we do not consider as good 
 for the breeding-pen as the pullets named above. We 
 believe the time and the way which approaches nearest 
 nature's fitness of things the best to produce our breed- 
 ing stock. 
 
 The first forty eggs laid by a hen after molting, 
 or the eleventh to the fiftieth egg laid by a pullet, are 
 better, and the chicks from them prove larger and finer, 
 than those laid afterward during the same breeding- 
 season. 
 
 Cockerels are the safest for winter breeding. A 
 good plan is to use a cockerel till April i, and then 
 turn the harem over to a young male coming two years 
 old, from which to raise your breeding-stock, thus pro- 
 

 
 ROSfe COMB BROWN LEGHORNS. 
 
 85 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 87 
 
 ducing them in the time of year nature intended. Such 
 birds generally have more symmetry and merit than 
 those unnaturally produced. 
 
 There can be no definite rule for number of females 
 to one male ; this the breeder's good sense must deter- 
 mine. There must be enough so that copulation will 
 not be accompanied with coercion. This number will 
 be found to be in Asiatics, from eight to fifteen ; in 
 Plymouth Rocks, ten to twenty; Houdans from ten to 
 fifteen, and in Leghorns the number can still be in- 
 creased. Where less numbers are kept the male should 
 not be allowed to run with the females constantly. 
 
 Experience teaches that twenty are better than two. 
 Two years ago we had birds penned in numbers rang- 
 ing from six to eighteen, and in every case the eggs 
 from the larger number hatched the best. In one pen 
 they utterly failed, and when we increased the number 
 to fifteen birds nearly all the eggs hatched, and the 
 progeny were largely female. 
 
 The feed while the plumage is growing, both in 
 chicks and molting fowls, has much to do with its 
 color. Writers affirm that the reason wild birds are so 
 stereotyped in color is because of their freedom to select 
 just what food they need. We do not think it so much 
 the kind as the supply of it, and protection from the 
 injurious effects of the sun, that controls the color ; nor 
 do we acknowledge that the wild partridge is any more 
 stereotyped in color and form than Partridge-Cochins. 
 This question was raised at the Connecticut Poultry 
 Exhibition, when H. F. Felch and H. S. Ball re- 
 tired to the market and plucked feathers from different 
 partridges and brought the same to compare with the 
 
88 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Cochins then on exhibition, which showed them to be 
 no nearer uniform in plumage ; another fact, the part- 
 ridges had both smooth and feathered legs. 
 
 If a chick be starved, it will not only be dwarfed in 
 stature but will fail in color. We have seen speckled 
 half-starved Light Brahmas when put on generous diet 
 slough their objectionable coats and grow plumage true 
 to their kind. 
 
 The finest specimens are those that do not cease to 
 grow from the time they hatch till full maturity. A 
 chick that suffers a severe check in its growth while 
 young seldom proves a prize bird, and when hatched 
 in winter provision should be made for producing 
 green vegetable food in the way of green oats, to carry 
 them through till the grass comes in the spring. 
 
 The care of the flock does not consist entirely in 
 furnishing it enough to eat, but watchful oversight, 
 seeing to it that they do not huddle in large numbers 
 in one place at night. We used to think that it was 
 injurious to allow them to roost before six months of 
 age, but we have altered our opinion and recommend 
 it at the age of sixteen weeks. They should be induced 
 to occupy low perches two inches wide, for there will 
 not be one-half the injury arising from this as from the 
 poisonous influences of their exhalations when crowded 
 into small coops. 
 
 If we take pains to cover the chicks whose weaning 
 comes in a cold season of the year by throwing a 
 blanket over the coop to keep off the cold night air, or 
 to coop the broods in the afternoon when cold east 
 winds are blowing, we many times secure the season's 
 success. By these little attentions at just the right 
 
'POfrLTRY CULTURE. 89 
 
 time we enhance our chances of winning at the winter 
 exhibitions. 
 
 We can assist nature to do her work perfectly. 
 We do not consider it a sin to straighten a hare-Hp or 
 crossed eyes in our children, or, if the muscle of the 
 leg be contracted, to use the knife, that they may walk 
 without limping the remainder of their lives, nor do 
 we consider these things injurious to reproduction. 
 And taking this care of our own offspring wherein is 
 the sin if by judicious means we secure perfect devel- 
 opment in our chicks ? In nine cases in ten chicks 
 hatch with a perfect organism ; now is not any work 
 legitimate that secures its perfect development ? 
 Should a chick hatch web-footed the web should be 
 cut back to its proper structure, thus liberating the 
 toes to grow in their legitimate angles. While the 
 comb in Light Brahma chicks will hatch perfect, its 
 peculiar shape makes it less likely to develop properly 
 than a single comb. In many cases bad combs can be 
 prevented by proper treatment. 
 
 The first thing that nature does in case of a wound 
 is to repair it. Therefore, if the middle division is 
 seen to be growing too rapidly, the serrations of this 
 division should be pricked with a sharp instrument so 
 as to make them bleed. This process will check the 
 growth of this division and allow the side divisions to 
 grow into proportion with it. If the middle and one 
 side seem to be growing faster than the other side, the 
 same process of treatment appHed to both will allow 
 the weaker division to grow into proportion with them. 
 An old cock may give a chick a severe peck on one 
 side of the comb so as to turn it to one side. A cor- 
 
90 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 responding wound on the other side will maintain it in 
 its proper position. By this means we succeed in mak- 
 ing the comb grow into proper shape. Is it not better 
 to do so than to let it grow into an irregular, de- 
 formed mass, and then turn butcher and cut and slash 
 the comb, making a bad job of it, and receive the just 
 censure of our fellow-breeders? Three-fourths of all 
 the bad combs are the result of external causes and 
 unnatural feeding to produce very large birds. 
 
 The leg-feathering can be wonderfully assisted in 
 its growth, and many a crooked toe saved, by pulling 
 all foul feathers. The skin of the foot and leg is tough 
 and the f-eathers oftentimes grow along under it from 
 one-fourth to one-half an inch before penetrating the 
 skin, thus causing the toe to turn in. We have pulled 
 these feathers four times before succeeding in making 
 them grow properly. 
 
 The breeders and amateurs as a rule are too lazy 
 to attend to all this minutiae (and the writer is as 
 guilty as any one he knows, yet a guide-board may 
 tell the way, if it does not go itself). 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LOCATION. 
 
 WE have in our introduction endeavored to show 
 the magnitude, and create an interest, in the 
 poultry culture of our country. To such as intend to 
 make it a life business the selection of a location be- 
 comes one of vast importance. Where man finds a 
 healthy abode poultry may be expected to thrive. 
 Yet a clay subsoil, unless the land be very rolling and 
 all surface drainage complete, should be shunned; when 
 flat and marshy, with no retreat from it, will always 
 bring failure. A clay subsoil, if it be a slope to the 
 southeast, south or southwest, terminating in a meadow 
 lot through which a stream may run if underdrained, 
 becomes one of the very best of situations upon which 
 to raise poultry. All houses upon such land should be 
 floored over, leaving an air space between it and the 
 ground. At the very top of the elevation, if the land 
 be trenched for i8 inches in depth beneath the under- 
 pining, the same terminating in a drain, would enable 
 you to dispense with the floor. Yet safety upon such 
 soil demands a floor to all roosting and laying depart- 
 ments. Such underdrained lands are strong, producing 
 heavy crops of grass. Therefore they will support much 
 larger numbers to the acre, and their heavy grass crops, 
 
 91 
 
93 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 while they furnish the forage for the fowls, consume 
 more completely the dropping as plant food, and secure 
 a healthy condition of things. A constant supply of 
 grass does much more to keep the egg-basket full than 
 many are willing to concede. 
 
 Light soils are good, but demand far more work in 
 cultivation, or the number kept upon the acre must be 
 far less. We believe it far better to keep no more upon 
 the land than it will furnish green food to than to con- 
 fine large numbers and furnish the feed from other 
 lands. If the land be light, oats must be cultivated for 
 green food (we say oats, believing them best for this 
 reason: they contain twenty-two per cent of muscle and 
 three per cent of bone). 
 
 The land needs cultivating also by the use of the 
 horse-hoe to keep the surface fresh and clean from the 
 collection of the dropping. This hoeing should be done 
 regularly. When the vegetation fails to assimilate the 
 dropping it generally kills out all vegetation. The sur- 
 face becomes hard and sour. Cut into it and you dis- 
 cover a thin green crust. Long confinement of fowls 
 on such inclosures is fatal to a healthy condition and a 
 high state of productiveness, and eggs laid by these 
 fowls are to a large extent infertile. 
 
 The old idea that any land is good enough to raise 
 chickens on is a fallacy. Let one flock be grown on a 
 rich soil, abundant in honeysuckle clover, and note the 
 health and prime condition of plumage, the molting 
 always complete. In contrast to this, see the occupants 
 of a sandy hillside, where the grass crop is meager and 
 sorrel abounds, in their faded spotted plumage, which 
 indicates incomplete molting and light, thin condition. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 93 
 
 In the one case they get insect life and vegetable food 
 in abundance. In the other they depend upon their at- 
 tendants to furnish it, which in many instances is not 
 forthcoming. If this difference is discernible in the 
 plumage, there will be equal difference in muscle also. 
 We know this difference exists, and following it one 
 gets less eggs by full twenty per cent from fowls grown 
 on poor sandy soil. Land that will produce three 
 tons of hay to the acre will support four times as many 
 fowls as will an acre that produces but one ton. Land 
 on which water stands should not be used except for 
 geese and ducks. For them even a meadow lot, where 
 the water does not reach the magnitude of a pond, is 
 far better, for constant indulgence in water is by no 
 means advantageous to ducks till six weeks old. When 
 nature gives us a hillside of loam with gravel subsoil, 
 inclining south to heavy soil, and terminating in a 
 meadow lot there, in such we have the best of all loca- 
 tions, for in such we have instant drainage from about 
 our buildings, yet a soil that brings to the surface the 
 earthworms every night, and as the season advances, 
 even in summer, the fowls find in the meadow a cool 
 forage ground rich in slugs and insect life. 
 
 Have any of my readers watched from their chamber 
 windows the chickens as they come from their coops 
 at half past three in the morning, and deploy out into 
 a skirmish line that sometimes covers acres, leav- 
 ing the feed laid out for them the night before? See 
 them return to the coop and a short season of brooding 
 under the mother-wing, and wait the daylight to come 
 out to their breakfast of grain. Why do they do 
 this? Take your lantern some morning and take a 
 
94 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 stroll with them, and see on your walk the earthworms 
 laying at full length on the surface, also the insects, the 
 beetles, the grasshoppers, cold and stiff in the cold dew, 
 at the mercy of your flock of chicks. Kill some morning 
 a cockerel that has taken this morning walk and you will 
 find his crop well filled, and you will have the solution of 
 the mystery and the origin of the old saw that " the 
 early bird catches the worm." Again, watch just at 
 twilight, after the chickens have eaten their evening 
 meal of grain. All go on a grazing expedition, feeding 
 upon grass as regularly as possible in your pasture lot. 
 With these things before your very eyes you no longer 
 hesitate as between rich and poor land as a location. 
 
 If compelled to raise on poor land, then keep the 
 horse-hoe at work. Sow the oats for green food, fur- 
 nish fish and flesh and grain in abundance. Fowls will 
 consume what is equivalent to twenty pounds of hay 
 a year, and the acre that produces three tons, with the 
 fall feed taken into account, will support four hundred 
 fowls and keep green. Such luxuriant growth would con- 
 sume all the dropping and save a vast amount of labor in 
 cultivation of a soil so light as to support one hun- 
 dred fowls only. To keep fowls without cultivation 
 involves much more labor in the distribution of the 
 food, for to feed ten thousand fowls on one hundred 
 acres, or on twenty-five acres, will make quite an item 
 in the labor account. Yet there are locations where a 
 loam soil, having a subsoil of gravel, with sand be- 
 neath all, would admit of houses as described below, — 
 these houses the ends and back of which could be made 
 with cement. 
 
 In most of our pastures there are dry knolls and 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 95 
 
 southern sloping hillsides, in which excavations could 
 be made fifteen by twenty-five feet, the ends and north 
 sides walled up, leaving but the one side of the laying 
 room and roof to be built of lumber; even the roof 
 could be thatched, or earth-covered. All of which 
 could be home-constructed, or by the employment of 
 cheap labor. These habitations would be warmer in 
 winter and cooler in summer. These quarters, located 
 far enough apart to save the expense of fencing for 
 yards, would save the labor of forage crops and all 
 meat-food till the frost cut off the natural supply. 
 
 No farmer should be excused from utilizing all 
 such facilities adjacent to his building, which, with the 
 barn-cellar and orchard, would in most cases enable 
 him to keep at least two hundred and fifty fowls, all of 
 which could be cared for by the younger members of 
 the family, and the profits would secure older and 
 abler help for the heavier work of the farm, while 
 many a boy would be made a thinking, practical farmer, 
 happy in his lot, who is now chafing under his hard 
 home-life, waiting only for age to liberate him. 
 
 The effect of geographical location we should not 
 forget in this connection. He who thinks to succeed 
 in poultry culture without almost eternal vigilance, 
 and the practical application of the doctrine that pre- 
 vention is far better than cure, had better never com- 
 mence. Yet one who will put the same care and 
 study, the same close attention and watchful business 
 energy, into this calling as are employed by our mer- 
 chant princes or bank presidents in their calling will 
 surely succeed. He who trusts to luck in the majority 
 of cases fails. We therefore do well to consider the 
 
96 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 fact that the northern, middle and New England 
 states are exempt from cholera, but that her cold, flat, 
 wet lands engender roup and catarrhal affections. That 
 along the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans cholera 
 is the exception and not the rule, and that there high 
 lands are exempt in a large measure from roup. 
 Where cleanliness in the quarters is maintained the 
 salt sea breezes seem to have a salutary effect. The 
 short intervals of snow in these reigons all help in the 
 preservation of health and profits of the business. The 
 balance of the states being not free from chicken 
 cholera the breeders have to watch and strive for 
 health by greater care, by keeping fewer fowls to- 
 gether, and by more cultivation and the feeding of less 
 corn, and free use of sulphur, to fight the competition 
 of the other states having only the longer seasons, 
 whereby to compete successfully. In fever and ague 
 districts, fowls are more liable to suffer from cholera 
 than in sections of the same county even that are free 
 from it. Thus to him who would make poultry cult- 
 ure a business the question of location becomes one of 
 the greatest importance, and failing in a perfect loca- 
 tion we must by artificial means and man's device con- 
 vert it into such to a certain degree before we can 
 hope to be successful. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BUILDINGS AND FURNISHINGS. 
 
 IT is no part of our purpose to present plans which 
 we would not use ourselves, but rather to present that 
 one which we deem the best for all practical purposes. 
 All buildings must in a measure conform to the neces- 
 sities of the locations upon which they are reared. 
 Therefore we can only present our theory, and leave 
 the reader to use it as best he may, by remodeling his 
 old houses or using our plan in his new structures. It 
 has become a necessity that fowls must have exercise 
 in the open air each and every day if we would be cer- 
 tain their eggs will hatch in the winter months. And 
 all broilers for the months of February to July must 
 be hatched in the cold months of the year. One-half 
 of the cause of eggs hatching poorly in March and 
 April is the fact that the fowls have been housed 
 closely all winter. 
 
 Our cut represents the best and only plan so far 
 published in which with the least trouble, in the warm 
 portion of each day a sun and dust bath in the open 
 air can be enjoyed by the fowls, and the balance of the 
 day the same space can become additional house room. 
 An open shed protected from wind and storm is the 
 place of all others a fowl will select for the purpose. 
 The cut we take by permission of the Ferris Publishing 
 
 97 
 
98 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Co., from their work, the Wyandotte Fowl, it being our 
 original idea. These open sheds, having a southern ex- 
 posure protected from wind and storm, enable the 
 fowls to enjoy the open air each day, by the attendant 
 at lo A. M. opening the front by swinging it inward, 
 and thereby completing the partition which makes 
 the inclosure of the laying and roosting room, while 
 the balance of the house becomes an open shed, 
 which as such the fowls enjoy until the sun begins to 
 get into the west and the air becomes too cold, 
 when the keeper returns the partition to the front, and 
 our building becomes a house entire. In mild weather the 
 partition can stand ajar, the better to air out the whole 
 building. 
 
 This plan represents a building 13x25, which, so far 
 as the laying room goes, having the two-foot projec- 
 tion, makes that room 15x15, and a shed 10x13. The 
 front posts 7 feet, rear posts 5 feet, front roof 8^ feet, 
 rear \i]4 feet, the smaller door being hinged to the 
 swinging front, the two covering ten feet, leaving three 
 feet of stationary partition, which completes, with the 
 door, the partition, when the building is divided into 
 shed and house. This arrangement saves a vast 
 amount of labor in shoveling snow or littering down in 
 front of the ordinary fowl houses, and the fowls may 
 enjoy the air, for they will not travel on snow if they 
 can avoid it. 
 
 Fowls may be housed closely all winter, and by high 
 keeping be made to lay a large average number of 
 eggs, but not one of them will hatch. This is why we 
 urge this plan. If you are in the egg trade it will save 
 you hundreds of disappointed purchasers. It will 
 
99 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. " 101 
 
 insure you a larger brood of chickens from the eggs 
 you set at honie. This is but tlie repetition of advice 
 given ten years ago. In severe cold weather the plan 
 gives us the whole in enlarged quarters made secure 
 from the weather. In heavy rain storms the fowls are 
 no longer forced to take shelter in the fence corners or 
 under the cart, which only form a poor protection. 
 Again, this plan puts the breeder in a position to sell 
 eggs that will hatch all the winter through. There are 
 many inquiries for^ggs for the incubator trade during 
 the cold months. If you anticipate running incubators 
 yourself, to raise broilers by artificial means, then you 
 cannot do without such a building. 
 
 These houses can be built double, the whole being 
 15x50 feet, a solid partition in the middle making two 
 laying rooms 15x15 and a shed of 10x15 feet at each 
 end of the house. Such houses built in rows, with a 
 fence running from the front of the one to rear of the 
 other, would secure the fowls in colonies of fifty each; 
 the buildings being ten roods apart would secure 
 their returning to their own quarters to lay and roost, 
 — the plan we deem the best of all with which we are 
 acquainted. If you desire others, there are works at 
 twenty-five cents each in which you can have your 
 choice of a hundred styles in architecture. But we 
 present no other plan, for we know this will secure the 
 best results. 
 
 In the coldest sections of the country we would 
 recommend they be constructed and finished by tack- 
 ing tar felting on to the frame, then board in, and from 
 the inside tack the lapped edges of felt to the board- 
 ing. This would make it wind tight and warm enough 
 
102 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 to defy an arctic winter. Built of matched spruce, the 
 cost single is $85, and double $160 each. But as differ- 
 ent localities will vary in cost we refrain from giving 
 specifications ; each tenement will house fifty fowls in 
 health and productive condition. 
 
 The droppings from fowls are very poisonous, and 
 it is very essential that they have thorough ventilation. 
 At the same time we must not expose the flock to a 
 direct draught of air. Fowls left to themselves will 
 not stand in a draught, and when compelled to, they 
 take cold as easily as does the human family. 
 
 The ventilators should reach the floor. In winter, 
 ventilate from within three inches of the floor, and in 
 summer from both top and bottom of the room. The 
 bad air falls and is drawn off from the bottom, and 
 saves the heat made by the solar action by your glass 
 fronts, and as the warm air rises for the same reason 
 to ventilate from top we lower the temperature and 
 make the room cool and comfortable. In the winter, 
 when dull cold weather at times collects the congealed 
 respiration from the fowls in an anchor frost, this is 
 soon disposed of by burning a kerosene light for a 
 short time, and the opening for a short time of the 
 upper ventilation, and all that damp, chilly sense of 
 feeling when visiting the house will be disposed of. 
 Remember this and see to it in time to save you many 
 cases of roup, and thereby keep up the egg production. 
 A window 4x6 feet in the extension front and one 
 5x3^ in the swinging front, the sill eighteen inches 
 from the floor, will warm and light the rooms, dry out 
 the gravel loam, which will help in the work of deodor- 
 izing the dropping, enabling you to keep a larger num- 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 103 
 
 ber on the same space than otherwise. The plan of 
 having the whole front constructed of glass is bad, for 
 in that case the house becomes too warm in the day- 
 time and cools rapidly at night, making so much 
 change in the temperature as to work disastrously. 
 Even with the windows we recommend if in winter 
 shutters were used to close over them they would make 
 the house much warmer through the night. 
 
 Avoid all permanent or box-made nests, which be- 
 come harbors for lice. Avoid also the old plan of an 
 inclined plane for roosts, for all the fowls will strive to 
 occupy the highest perch, and many a fight and fall 
 will be the result, which will vastly increase the list of 
 casualties, while the low and level plan saves many 
 from lameness and internal injury; for while a hen will 
 walk up to her perch, if she has the chance she will in- 
 variably fly down. Roosting low makes them less 
 breachy ; even the smaller breeds, if reared on low 
 perches, will not require a fence more than four and a 
 half to five feet high to fence them in. The floor of 
 the house should be kept covered three to four inches 
 deep with a coarse-fine gravel, not so fine as to be 
 called sand, yet having a loam mixture in it. This will 
 deodorize all the filth and stench, besides making a 
 loose and soft substance to alight upon in descending 
 from the roosts 
 
 Across the rear of the laying room construct a plat- 
 form three and a-half feet wide, thirty inches from the 
 floor, and one foot above the same make the roosts by 
 having them extend from back to front across the plat- 
 form, eleven short roosts three and a third feet each. 
 This can be done by two stringers, one at the back, 
 
104 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 hinged to the house, the other thirty inches forward 
 furnished with legs one foot long, the whole to swing 
 up while cleansing the platform, which should be done 
 every morning where fifty fowls are kept in a flock, and 
 not be left till afternoon. 
 
 Why do I not have the roosts longwise ? A boy would 
 say " Because." I say so to, for fowls will crowd and 
 will roost very near the same place in the roost each 
 night. These short roosts will hold but five birds. If 
 two long roosts were put in longwise, they would all 
 crowd for the back roost, and the front one would be 
 used by those unable to get a foothold on the back 
 one. Can you not see that such a plan is best ? Fowls 
 are more sensitive than they are credited with being. 
 This crowding will effect the egg-basket. One of my 
 breeders who has bred Light Brahmas for me twelve years 
 says : " When you come over here leave the dog at 
 home, for the excitement caused by him among the 
 hens costs me a dozen eggs every time he comes, and 
 some soft-shell eggs laid at night upon the roost." So 
 everything about your building that will conduce to a 
 quiet and comfortable life means a gain for you in eggs. 
 The width of these roosts should be about two and a 
 half inches, the sharp corners rounded off. 
 
 Under the platform it would be well to construct a 
 rack to hold common nail kegs. Let them be laid on 
 their sides with a stringer three inches wide against 
 which the open end of the kegs may rest and face 
 inward, so that the fowls will approach the nest from 
 under the platform. The fifteen feet will enable you 
 to get in twelve kegs, or nests. Make holes in the bot- 
 tom large enough to admit the hand to gather the 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 105 
 
 eggs. The rack being portable the kegG can be re- 
 moved at will to be scalded or lime-washed, to prevent 
 lice from infesting them. The nests will be just high 
 enough to cause the fowls to take a short spring to 
 approach them, and as they step in they cover the 
 nest ; having laid, they jump down and are away from 
 them. Nests so low and easy of access that a fowl can 
 stand upon the floor and reach the egg are conducive 
 to egg-eating, while this plan, with one or two earthen 
 nest eggs kept in the nest, will seldom bring about 
 the evil. The plan gives a sense of security and 
 secrecy. If you have only a village lot, and are limited 
 in space, and the flock has from necessitj^ to be con- 
 fined upon the least possible amount of ground, each 
 house and shed should have two yards, that one may 
 be sowed with oats while the fowls occupy the other — 
 and when the oats are four to five inches high, let the 
 flock occupy this yard while the other is treated in like 
 manner, thus furnishing the raw vegetable food so 
 necessary to them. Besides, this treatment keeps the 
 yard clean and sweet. These fowls, so yarded, will eat 
 all, even scratching the roots out of the ground, giving 
 them a needed exercise. 
 
 Do not forget that if you would reap the best re- 
 sults in eggs, and eggs that will hatch, that the closer 
 you follow our advice in this matter the better you will 
 be off. If you sow these yards but once in a season 
 you may fairly calculate that your profit will be fifty 
 cents on the dollar, and the death rate in your flock 
 large. Go into a hen yard that is so small as to be 
 barren, and cut down with a spade, and for about an 
 inch of the crusted top you will find a dirty green mat- 
 
106 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 ter, full of poison to the fowls. Do you wonder that 
 they die of cholera or suffer from scurvy legs when 
 confined for months in such yards with no green food ? 
 Why should they be otherwise? And yet we keep 
 them there and eat the fowls so confined. 
 
 We are aware that small flocks give the owner a 
 greater individual yield in eggs, but when we are 
 building for their sole use, and catering for large 
 numbers of them as a business, we can best do this in 
 houses of two tenements for fifty each. Poultry-raising 
 must of necessity become of more and more import- 
 ance, and in view of all this we have recommended the 
 building to that end. If 5,000 fowls are to be kept, it 
 is an easy matter to construct fifty such houses. If 
 you wish to limit your operations to a home flock, then 
 build a small house on the same plan. 
 
 To build for the use of growing chickens on the 
 farm, or wherever the natural way is adhered to, which 
 is of course the best way, we have but one plan to 
 offer. We have to nearly grow the young stock to 
 replace the old before we are ready to kill off the old 
 fowls. These chickens from this necessity have to occupy 
 their chicken quarters into the fall of the year ; at least 
 it is most convenient for us that they should. Many a 
 breeder uses old three-cornered coops because they 
 used to do so in old times ; many know better, and are 
 aware that the extra growth and merit in one season's 
 crop of chickens would more than pay the cost of new 
 ones, yet he will keep on making them do, knowing 
 that the sooner he shall resort to comfortable quarters 
 that all subsequent seasons the change will bring him 
 a profit. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 107 
 
 Our plan is to hatch enough chickens at one time 
 that we may double up the broods and give twenty- 
 chicks to one hen to occupy the coops, as per cut 
 below, being three feet wide at the base and five feet 
 long, with thirty-inch posts, with a paling frame, the 
 paling being three inches apart, used in the front while 
 the hen is confined therein with her brood, the same 
 being removed at weaning time and three roosts put in, 
 
 MODEL COOP FOR TWENTY CHICKENS. 
 
 as indicated by the three dark spots. In this house 
 the twenty chickens can harbor till the fall. Five 
 such coops as these would serve a colony of one hundred 
 chickens if placed twenty-five feet apart, say upon 
 a square, 30x30, with the odd one in the center. When 
 the males are removed, at twelve weeks old, to be 
 shipped as broilers, two of the coops could be removed 
 to serve a later hatched colony, the three coops re- 
 maining would be sufficient to accommodate the 
 pullets till they were removed in the fall to the winter 
 quarters made vacant by the killing of the old stock. 
 
108 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 These quarters should be thoroughly cleansed with 
 lime-wash, and fresh gravel and loam supplied to the 
 floor to the depth of four inches, when they would soon 
 repay your outlay by discounting in the shape of eggs. 
 
 A single brood of chicks will thrive and take care 
 of themselves. With care, one hundred can be reared 
 in a flock, and all do well. But if more are to be 
 reared care should be taken to confine those of the 
 same age together — the February and March chickens 
 in one field, April and May chickens in another, and 
 those hatched later in a third. With such care each lot 
 will be found to do well ; but if running all together 
 the young ones will get trampled to death by the 
 older ones. One hundred chickens hatched the same 
 week, colonized upon one feeding lot, would all grow 
 up an even lot. These colonies could be located so as 
 to feed four hundred upon an acre of land, and the 
 result be good. 
 
 Smaller coops for village use, where one or two flocks 
 are reared for home use, can be made thirty inches 
 square, sides fifteen inches high, double roof, sides, end 
 and roof made of matched board, except the front end, 
 which may be palings three inches apart ; these will ac- 
 commodate twelve to fourteen chickens till the fall. 
 Many think anything will do for a chicken coop, and 
 stakes driven in front of a barrel are resorted to regard- 
 less as to how near one paling is to another. In confin- 
 ing hens with their chickens the distance between the 
 palings should be no nearer than to confine the hen, and 
 when she weans her brood the door to the coop should 
 be left open. The nailing on of the slats so near as to 
 make it difficult for the chickens to squeeze through 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 109 
 
 is the fruitful cause of so many crooked, ill-formed 
 fowls. We have seen an entire brood so deformed 
 from being reared beside a picket fence. It is pleasant 
 to see a bird grow up perfect. But this deformity 
 many times makes a difference of ten dollars in a man's 
 purse at show time. Keep this in mind, my amateur 
 reader, when building for the chickens. 
 
 In these larger coops it will be seen they are fash- 
 ioned with an awning front. The natural tendency of 
 the chickens to stand outside the palings to feed makes 
 this a necessity in wet weather, and it prevents the hot 
 sun from making the coops uncomfortable in hot 
 weather. He who looks out for these little comforts 
 in building does more than he thinks toward filling his 
 purse in the fall. It is the last point that wins the 
 prizes. In the use of the same coops spoken of, if they 
 can be placed under a shed it will pay. We may have 
 four birds to score ninety-two points and bring us ten 
 dollars each, but if by care and these little attentions 
 we bring one up to ninety-five points and win over all, 
 the price oftentimes reaches ten times that sum. One 
 such bird pays for this extra care and building for their 
 comfort. One thing is certain, we never reach this 
 excellence when we are careless of the well-being and 
 comfort of our growing stock. And it is fair to say 
 the whole flock is correspondingly better if your best 
 one has beaten in a fair competition your neighbor's 
 best. 
 
 We have no sympathy with the breeder who stands 
 under a sun umbrella and watches his hens with their 
 extended wings gasping for breath when he complains 
 of the death-rate in his flock. Watch at ten to eleven 
 
110 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 o'clock in a warm day and see the chickens and fowls 
 retire to a shady spot and remain till four o'clock in 
 the afternoon. If your yards are not furnished with 
 shade trees then provide for shade by building open 
 sheds. The expense will not be great and will prove 
 to be most economical in the long run. In all build- 
 ings for poultry it is not the question what a coop costs, 
 but what is the difference between what good coops 
 and the very best coop will cost. A coop is a necessity. 
 If the better one will secure you ten more eggs in a 
 year from each hen, then in building for fifty hens it is 
 policy to build the best one at an additional cost of 
 fifty dollars. For the investment brings a twenty per 
 cent income on the same. We believe the best is the 
 cheapest in the end. 
 
 A building set apart for incubation is one of im- 
 portance, yet it can be used for wintering males when 
 not in use for hatching chickens. This can be any size 
 one cares to make it, but it must be heated in winter 
 to sixty degrees if you are to reap the best results. 
 To build one convenient, and to accommodate the 
 largest number possible, 1 should build 18x36 feet, 
 with 7-foot posts, leaving a walk around the entire 
 room 2^ feet wide, and a 3-foot walk down the middle. 
 Between these walks I should build two tiers of setting 
 rooms, which would give me 120 feet in length and 5^ 
 feet in width. This would consist of a shelf on which 
 to set the nest, and yard or dust-room to each of 
 four feet. The room can be made in sections 4x4, in 
 which three hens can dust as they leave the nest 
 they occupy on the shelves spoken of, or one can 
 carry the plan further and by partitions make each 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. Ill 
 
 hen a dusting room of fifteen inches wide and four 
 feet long. Let the breeder do as he pleases in this. 
 The plan gives space for setting ninety-six hens at 
 one time. The lower tier can be upon the ground, 
 the tier over it, the platform could be covered by 
 earth four inches deep and by sprinkling down these 
 runs occasionally the heat of the room would preserve 
 a humid atmosphere. The nest boxes should be fifteen 
 inches square. Being portable, they can be taken away 
 at will to be cleansed and made up new. If the house be 
 nine-foot posted a third tier of these nest accommoda- 
 tions could be added. Let the building end to the south, 
 and glass four feet wide extend from sill to gable, the 
 door in the north end. For a short time each day open 
 door and window and have a draught of air through. 
 To air it out in summer they could be left open and the 
 room kept comfortable. In winter ventilate from the 
 bottom, your ventilations reaching from floor to cupola. 
 In heating this house let the temperature be forty at 
 the bottom and sixty at the height of a man's head, 
 which would be two feet above the second row of nests. 
 If three tiers were put in we would let the temperature 
 run down so that sixty degrees would register at the 
 height of the third row of nests. 
 
 If only the ground was used one could build the 
 rows by frames of wire eighteen inches high only, and 
 all in portable frames to hook together. So, also, can 
 the partition be portable, where two tiers are in use, 
 and when you had hatched all the chickens for the 
 season they could be taken down and packed away. 
 This house in winter is a necessity if broilers are to be 
 the business of the breeder. This house must be 
 
112 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 warmed. Why, there are not three hens in five that 
 show a disposition to set before April ist that will 
 hatch a chicken, for the reason they have not heat 
 enough to counteract the atmospheric influence and to 
 hatch the eggs. The warming of this room reduces 
 the atmospheric influence to summer heat, and leaves 
 the heat of the hen to do the work. Nature times the 
 incubating inclinations of the fowls and birds at a season 
 when sixty degrees of Fahrenheit heat is the average 
 temperature. This plan is the best as a saving of labor. 
 If you will carry it out to setting two hens in one yard, 
 dividing into thirty inch by four feet yards, there will 
 be no trouble, and when they come off with their broods, • 
 as a rule, will agree. We would heat the house by 
 means of a common hot-house boiler, running the 
 waterpipe around the entire room, the boiler being 
 stationed in the north end, at the door, and passing the 
 pipe down the west side and returning on the east. 
 
 These nests I would make up by a layer of carbolic 
 lime in the bottom and hay chaff above, with as Httle 
 hay or cut straw as would nicely form a nest, which 
 should be made flat on the bottom (and by watchful- 
 ness be kept so), the nest being large enough for 
 the eggs to lay without crowding, the shape to be as 
 near the shape of a well formed egg cut through from 
 end to end. If there is a raiser who does not compre- 
 hend my meaning, let him boil an egg hard and cut it 
 in two, longways, the flat side will be the shape of the 
 bottom of the nest, in miniature. If chaff cannot be 
 had, then fill the boxes up with sandy loam two inches, 
 and sprinkle the earth well with water, and spread a 
 handful of carbolic lime over it and build the nest of 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 113 
 
 hay or straw, not using a large amount. The heat will 
 draw the moisture — the moist heat so necessary for 
 success. 
 
 From November to March, even in these warmed 
 houses, put but eleven eggs under a hen, unless she be 
 of good size, when thirteen may be the number. After 
 April 1st thirteen may be the uniform number used. 
 Place all the nests on the outside, and feed from the 
 middle passage, water and feed arranged so they can 
 run their heads out through the slats to obtain it. 
 These birds will invariably feed and drink before nine 
 o'clock each morning, when all the droppings should be 
 raked off by means of a fine rake and taken away, and 
 the house have the airing out spoken of above. 
 
 After April ist the chicken houses designed for 
 twenty chickens (see cut) could be utilized by putting 
 in a row of three nests on the back side, making the 
 nests on the ground, and a portable yard for dusting 
 be attached, all being outdoors. When they hatch, the 
 house should be thoroughly whitewashed and one of 
 the hens left with twenty chickens, before spoken of. 
 
 A very good mode of setting hens is to sink a barrel 
 on its side one-third into the ground, filling up with 
 earth even with the earth on the outside, using a small 
 quantity of hay to form the nest, especially in early 
 spring. This, you see, will prevent the cold air from 
 reaching the eggs through the hay from the under side 
 and chilling them, while the earth in the barrel becomes 
 heated by the hen, which increases your chances for 
 an early brood. Place one of the small chicken-coops 
 described in the front of the barrel, and by the means of 
 a slide-door admit the hen to and from the nest. The 
 
114 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 coop becomes a feeding and dusting yard for her while 
 sitting, and a home for her and her brood when hatched, 
 besides preventing her from deserting her eggs. As 
 the season approaches June and July pour into the 
 barrel, before putting in the earth, a half-pailful of 
 water. The heat of the hen will draw the moisture up 
 and prevent too rapid evaporation in the eggs, and 
 secure for you a better hatch. 
 
 By setting an even number at a time and doubling 
 up the broods you can reset the hens thus released 
 (which generally do better the second time), by which 
 means you secure eighteen clutches of chickens from 
 twelve incubating hens, which will produce, as a rule, 
 about one hundred and twenty-five chickens that will 
 be marketable. The overplus will be found to not 
 more than make good the casualties and deformities. 
 
 This plan of hatching and rearing the chickens away 
 from your fowl-houses releases them from and pre- 
 vents the incubation of millions of lice, which are 
 generally produced by setting the hens where they are 
 in the habit of laying. If you wish to see every louse 
 and red-spider louse, which is the same as the bed-bug 
 for the human family, concentrated into twenty inches 
 square, just allow a few hens to incubate in the laying 
 room of your hen-houses. The day before the hens 
 are to hatch, let the place of setting them be what it 
 may, it will pay you to sprinkle the eggs and wet down 
 about the nest, and to make sure that the nest is per- 
 fectly flat. At this time the egg-shells are very brittle. 
 If the nest is hollow, so all the eggs press toward the 
 center, the chances are that there will be more or less 
 killed in the nest and more or less eggs will ,be- 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 115 
 
 come crushed in, and the chicken prevented from 
 liberating itself. The chicken first, by aid of a little 
 cone-shaped nib on the beak, presses against the shell 
 and chips a hole. Air begins then to inflate its 
 lungs, and he in his struggle begins to turn in the shell, 
 he all the time pressing this nib against the shell. In this 
 way he cuts a seam around the shell, and when this is 
 accomplished the shell falls in twain and the chicken 
 comes to the outside world independent of all else but 
 warmth and feed to secure its growth. 
 
 If these shells become crushed in, then the chicken 
 cannot turn in the shell, and it dies. The same is the 
 result if the hen has set too constantly, and the chicken 
 is dried in the shell, as it is called. The last is helped 
 by immersing the eg^ in warm water for a moment the 
 day before they are due to hatch. Sometimes breeders 
 chip a hole in the shell and thus remove the chicken. 
 When this occurs the keeper should break the shell 
 away from the opening, and if where the chicken has 
 broken through the inner lining looks dry for about a 
 circle of half an inch down then the chicken must be 
 liberated. This is best done by crumbling the large end 
 of the egg, then rupture the skin and roll it toward the 
 other end to prevent bleeding ; liberate the head only 
 and leave the chicken's body in the other half of the 
 shell and place it under the hen again. If the hen has 
 covered her eggs in a proper manner for twenty-one 
 days, the morning of the twenty-second they should be 
 examined and the shells broken, and if the chickens are 
 alive they should be helped out, but as a rule those 
 helped from the shell on or after the twenty-second day 
 seldom live to amount to anything. The hen as a 
 
116 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 rule will remain on the nest after the chickens are 
 hatched for twelve to twenty hours, or till the chickens 
 nearly all come out from under her and show a disposi- 
 tion to eat. Then she will leave her nest with her 
 brood. If the hen is to be reset the chickens should be 
 taken from her as fast as hatched and passed under the 
 hen we intend to rear them, for when a hen once calls 
 her brood from the nest she will seldom submit to be 
 reset. 
 
 Many rear their chickens artificially after hatching 
 them by the natural means, and make each hen set for 
 six to nine weeks, and even for twelve weeks has a hen 
 been induced to remain on the nest. Turkeys are easily 
 taught to do the work of incubation ; they are easily 
 managed for that length of time. We think that even 
 where artificial means are used no one should buy 
 an incubator till they have first learned the lesson 
 to rear artificially the chickens. This can be easily 
 done by taking care of a season's flock hatched by 
 hens, by the use of brooders, and buildings for their 
 use, and as the broiler business commences in October 
 one is ready for practical operation when chicken- 
 hatching by natural means has closed. 
 
 We have known of instances where hundreds of 
 chickens have been reared during a winter when the 
 only brooding facilities afforded them consisted of sev- 
 eral wooden boxes lined with flannel or woolen carpet 
 or old buffalo skin, the boxes being placed near a stove 
 at night and in severe weather. There are many farm- 
 ers who rear all their spring chickens in this way, 
 and some of them sell several hundred dollars' worth 
 every year. There is absolutely no obstacle to the 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 117 
 
 successful prosecution of this work, provided always 
 that the chickens are given the proper treatment. If 
 they have warmth, fresh air, cleanliness, freedom from 
 vermin, gravelly sand to run on, a variety of food and a 
 daily supply of either chopped grass, oats, cabbage or let- 
 tuce, they may be raised in any number desired. These 
 conditions are absolutely essential. 
 
 There can never be an artificial mother invented 
 that will equal the mother hen, and when we consider 
 the many failures of the hen to hatch her eggs in the 
 early part of the season we can see of what value an 
 incubator perfect in its work would be, for it makes 
 every hen, inclined to sit, of far more than double her 
 original value, for she can be furnished chicks to rear 
 of double the number she would be able to hatch, and 
 in cases of failure to hatch a full brood of twenty to 
 thirty chicks can be supplied for her to rear. There is 
 no artificial heat to compare with the breast and feath- 
 ers of the hen. Yet the farmer's plan awakens an in- 
 ventive genius for a brooder, and teaches us a lesson of 
 not relying too much upon the brooder itself. We are 
 aware that hens crush quite a percentage of the chick- 
 ens in the nest. To obviate this all hens that have 
 been sitting sixteen days on eggs can be relieved of 
 them and the eggs placed in the incubator during the 
 last three to five days of incubation, and that percent- 
 age saved, thus making a good incubator of far more 
 value as an auxiliary with the hens in this important 
 work of reproduction. Our plan for a chicken house is 
 different from all others we have examined, and our 
 brooders different. But Mr. Tribon, of Brockton, Mass., 
 has the same thing, to all intents and purposes, only he 
 
118 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 uses a plain sheet of zinc instead of the water pans, 
 relying on dry hot air, which we are not sure is just as 
 well in the winter as to secure the moist heat over hot 
 water, as per our plan of brooders. 
 
 1 
 
 5X (2 
 
 \/" V N^ V" V^ ^ ^ 
 
 5X12 
 
 5X12 
 
 5X12 
 
 5X 12 
 
 5X12 
 
 VWAWyVRAi^qA^[^lA.W^W.^ray 
 
 5X12 
 
 5X12 
 
 Hall Way 3 ft. wide -6 Inches lower than the Chicken Rooms 
 
 Fig. 2 
 GROUND PLAN FOR CHICKEN ROUSE. 
 
 Fig. 3 
 
 Fig. 4- 
 
 A BROODER. 
 
 Our chicken house is 15x40 feet in the main build- 
 ing, cut up into a hallway (see ground plan), 3x40 feet, 
 and six inches lower than the chicken rooms, eight in 
 number, matching the eight wire projections 5x4 in 
 front to enable the chicks to take the air at will. They 
 should be induced to take advantage of them by feed- 
 
t4 -^ 
 
 119 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 131 
 
 ing- them meat, exciting them to exercise while enjoy- 
 ing the tidbits of their noon meal. Each of the 5x12 
 foot rooms is furnished with a brooder (see Figs. 3 and 
 4), the base (Fig. 3) being made square in front with a 
 door to admit the lamp, the two sides and rear end 
 being cut mitering, so as to have a base nine inches 
 high. On this base rests a galvanized iron pan three- 
 fourths of an inch deep, the rear flange wide enough to 
 let through a tube of tin one and one-half inches in 
 diameter, that all smoke may escape from as well as 
 give draft to the lamp. Above the flange of the pan 
 (by which means it it is held in its position) a strip one- 
 half inch, or say three-fourths inches thick, and one 
 inch wide is nailed, except on each side and end is left 
 a gap of one inch, making an air-hole three-fourths by 
 one inch (see Fig. 3.), and upon this rim rests the 
 floor of the brooder one-half inch thick, thus leaving 
 between the floor and the water in the pan an air-space 
 one inch in height. In the center of brooder floor see 
 tube two inches high and one and one-half inches in 
 diameter that draws the hot air up from over the tank 
 as it becomes warmed in its passage from the sides 
 through the air-hole over the water, and it is radiated 
 out over the chicks and escapes through the fringe of 
 the brooder cover (Fig 4), the cover resting on the base 
 (Fig. 3), as indicated by dotted lines. The brooder is 
 heated by a kerosene lamp of the Diamond burner 
 style. The base of brooder is 45x48 inches when it 
 rests on the floor, and 30x36 on the floor of the 
 brooder, the cover being 22x30 inches long. On a 
 warm night the chicks will lay all round the cover on 
 the rim of the floor outside, and for this reason we 
 
122 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 make the cover smaller than the floor of the brooders. 
 By our ground plan you see from the hallway these 
 brooders (Fig. 2, A) are fitted into the chicken rooms 
 so the floor of the brooder only rises two inches above 
 the chick's earth floor ; this gives them easy access to 
 the brooder. This we believe the best and cheapest 
 brooder one can build, except Mr. Tribon's, of Brock- 
 ton, spoken of. In winter we see no reason why it 
 would not work as well, and come a trifle cheaper. 
 
 These conveniences with the house is sufificient to rear 
 four hundred chickens to four weeks old, when they can be 
 removed to a house of like dimensions, which may be 
 heated by a stove, and the chicks taught to go to roost 
 on low roosts, as we do not believe in the use of the 
 brooder more than four weeks. At the end of the four 
 weeks in their second house they can be removed to the 
 houses described before for growing stock and laying 
 hens, with three houses like the one illustrated, using 
 the brooder for four weeks in one only ; one has ac- 
 commodation for the growing of twelve hundred broil- 
 ers all the time, as at twelve weeks the males are ready 
 for market and the females should be taken to their 
 laying quarters. Fifty are kept in a colony through 
 all these stages of growth. 
 
 EVERY CORNER A DEATH TRAP. 
 
 Print this in large letters and post it up in every 
 house used for chicken raising. For this reason we 
 represent all the chicken rooms with rounded corners, 
 made so by sheet tin or straw board or leather-board or 
 tar felting. Let the circle be as large as the middle of 
 a flour-barrel. Chickens will huddle in a corner, and a 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 133 
 
 corner is a dangerous place to be crowded into ; being 
 unable to liberate themselves they go down and under, 
 being deprived of air, and many are trampled to death. 
 The care to dispose of the corners in these rearing de- 
 partments will save you many dollars in the course of 
 a year. 
 
 These brooders will not do all the work alone. The 
 house must be kept warm enough to keep the chickens 
 from crowding the brooders. When the house is cool 
 they will cling to the brooders. This cannot be a 
 healthy condition of things. A stove will answer all 
 purposes, for the brooders themselves will do much 
 toward heating the house if the ventilation be prop- 
 erly cared for. The house should be ventilated from 
 the hall-way, it being the lowest place ; yet it should 
 be furnished with ventilation at the roof in seasons of 
 wet, cold weather, that all dampness from roof by frost 
 may be carried off. Keep the house at fifty degrees 
 six inches from the floor. This would be sixty-five to 
 seventy degrees at the height of a man's head. Re- 
 member the chickens are compelled to stay on the 
 floor. If this is done they will not use the 
 brooders except as they come in from their out- 
 door noon runs and at night. Thus they escape the 
 unhealthy conditions that follow huddling, which is in- 
 creased by a cold house. Two houses such as we have 
 described, with an incubator of five hundred and sixty 
 egg capacity will enable a breeder to hatch and rear one 
 hundred chickens a week. This will give him four weeks 
 for each incubation, and only the hatching of about 
 seventy-two per cent of reasonably fertile eggs — those 
 that stand the tenth day test. This, it will be seen by 
 
124 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 our experiment in the foregoing chapters, will be far 
 below the work that others have accomplished, but a 
 reasonable average and about that of the natural way- 
 experienced by the fowls themselves. 
 
 All this care you must learn by experience, and, as 
 we have said, it will cost you less for this experience if 
 you furnish yourself with all these conveniences before 
 buying the incubator. This getting experience with 
 large numbers of chickens before we know how to 
 creep has driven three-fourths of all who have under- 
 taken it out of the business, and poultry culture has been 
 condemned by them when it was owing to their own 
 incapacity or want of experience that led to failure. 
 
 My reader, if you have no money to put into the 
 business, keep out of it, for poultry keeping is not a 
 business to be run successfully without capital. When 
 we say that poultry will pay the most for the amount 
 of capital invested we do not mean it to be understood 
 that you can make poultry pay with no capital. Con- 
 stant watchfulness does the work. We have catered for 
 fifty chickens in a brooder, because we think a woman 
 can take care of twice if not three times as many as 
 she can in larger broods, where five times that number 
 run together. We believe also that the chickens will 
 be larger. For the food consumed at the end of four 
 months of age, if the increase of weight should be but 
 one ounce each, how long will it take you to pay for 
 the extra cost of building? Take your pencil and 
 see what an item it will be to a man who rears but 
 five thousand chickens a year. Three hundred and 
 thirteen pounds of poultry meat per year will build quite 
 a village of breeding-houses in the course of ten years. 
 
/A-^ 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FEED AND CARE OF FOWLS. 
 
 IN the closing of a previous chapter we left our 
 reader with the chickens to be taken from the hatch- 
 ing quarters. But we go back a step to consider the 
 feed and care of the fowls to produce the eggs in the 
 shell fit for incubating. We have given you our plans 
 for houses. The fowls who occupy them may be fed 
 with boiled vegetables (purslane, cabbage, squash, seed- 
 cucumbers or potatoes), mashed with wheat-bran and 
 cornmeal while hot, feeding the same at the morning 
 meals in such quantities as will be eaten up by nine 
 o'clock, allowing the flock to forage till four or five o'clock, 
 when a full feed of small grain and a small portion of 
 corn may be given to them, adding to the morning 
 meal fresh ground scraps or meat in some form, three 
 days in each week. This will be found sufficient till 
 the frost prevents the further growing of forage crops ; 
 then change the feed to what soft food they will eat up 
 at the morning meal, — small grains, sunflower seed, 
 etc., at noon, and what corn they will eat at evening. 
 This will maintain the most even animal heat for the 
 twenty-four hours ; it being health and heat that pro- 
 duce the eggs, the hen being simply a machine which, 
 if carefully run, must produce the o.^^ or die. During 
 the winter months, feed chopped cabbage and turnips, 
 
 135 
 
126 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 and rowen hay. Rowen clover is an excellent substi- 
 tute for grass, and is the only thing we can find that 
 will produce eggs that will make the golden sponge- 
 cake in winter. 
 
 It also preserves the plumage in all the brightness 
 and beauty possible, and is a grand help toward pre- 
 serving the vitality of the eggs for incubating pur- 
 poses; nor must we forget to feed, during confinement, 
 in the soft feed, as often as once each week, sulphur in 
 doses of a dessertspoonful to ten hens. Pulverized 
 charcoal will be found an excellent thing to occasion- 
 ally feed with the soft food, or in a crushed form, for 
 the fowls to go to at will, — charred grain being the 
 very best form, but it is most expensive ; corn, roasted 
 like coffee, being a nice way to furnish it. In a nut- 
 shell, let the adults who are to produce the eggs we set 
 be fed with vegetables, fish, flesh and grain daily, if con- 
 venient to do so. Let the vegetables be mashed with 
 excelsior meal. To care for the flocks, to get the best 
 eggs and the largest number, is really a science. When 
 one keeps a large number it is an easy matter to have 
 a. ^^ fat hens' coop,'' so-called. Eggs laid by an exceed- 
 ingly fat hen seldom prove fertile. The keeper who is 
 up to his business has two pens, which he calls the 
 lea7i quarters and the fat pen. At night, as he goes his 
 rounds, and feels of the birds to note their condition, 
 he will notice one, it may be, or two — sometimes three, 
 in a flock of twenty-five, that are excessively fat. These 
 should be placed by themselves and fed with sulphur, 
 wheat, bran and oats till reduced to a nice working 
 order, when their eggs may be expected to hatch. 
 Again, the keeper finds here and there a lean one ; of 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 127 
 
 these he makes a pen, to which he feeds meal, corn 
 and fat-producing food till he betters their condition, 
 and thus he shows himself master of his business, and 
 will find in the end the profits on the right side of the 
 ledger. Ventilation, feed and flesh all in perfect order, 
 and there will be no grumbling because the birds look 
 shabby or that the eggs do not hatch. 
 
SILVKK-SFANliLED HAMBUJRGS. 
 
 128 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FROM SHELL TO GRIDDLE. 
 
 IN treating this subject we have nothing new to 
 offer beyond the experience of thirty years with 
 the different breeds. We know that regularity in 
 feeding, protection from storm and cold winds, warm, 
 well ventilated quarters, and wholesome, sweet food, all 
 these are essential to success in poultry raising. Exer- 
 cise in the open air a part of each day is an absolute 
 necessity. If engaged in rearing fowls artificially you 
 cannot be told too often that the chickens must go out 
 of doors, if but for ten minutes each and every day ; 
 that the houses must be kept warm enough to prevent 
 their going to the brooder only as a child runs to the 
 stove to warm as they come in from the sharp air of 
 winter, or retire for the night. This, and the regular 
 course of feeding which we now offer you in a bill of 
 fare, is our course pursued from shell to griddle and 
 the spit. 
 
 BILL OF FARE. 
 
 '"I The first meal for chickens after being taken from 
 the nest should be boiled eggs, chopped fine, shells 
 and all, also baked corn cake or excelsior meal cake 
 crumbled into scalded milk ; no fluid as drink but the 
 scalded milk. After the first twenty-four hours, after 
 
 129 
 
130 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 their gizzards have become filled with egg-shell, gravel, 
 etc., let their meal in the early morning be excelsior 
 meal, bread and scalded milk; at ten o'clock granulated 
 corn; at two o'clock the excelsior, bread and milk, and at 
 six o'clock canary seed, millet seed, and granulated 
 corn. This if the hen be confined and the chickens 
 have their liberty to find grass and insect food. Thus 
 feed till two weeks old, when it will be found that few 
 or any deaths will have occurred, and the chickens 
 started well for rapid and vigorous growth. If the 
 season be winter and we are raising them by artificial 
 means — by brooders — and all food furnished to them 
 in confined quarters, like those described in our 
 chicken house and its brooders, we would have a rule 
 by which the attendant should feed them each and 
 every day, to-wit : after they were two weeks old, add- 
 ing to the above mode of feeding till two weeks old, 
 boiled beef or sheep's haslets, chopped fine, one meal 
 per day ; also green oats raised in frames at the win- 
 dows, cut fine. To take its place when short of the 
 green oats, steamed rowen clover, chopped fine ; this, 
 with the use of boiled fish, would supply the place of 
 the green grass and such food natural for them in sum- 
 mer, without which chickens cannot be reared. They 
 must have vegetables, meat and grain, and have them 
 every day, if good results are to follow. Chickens at 
 two weeks old, thus started for us, we would continue 
 the bill of fare, to-wit : 
 
 MONDAY. 
 
 Breakfast. — Excelsior meal, bread and milk. 
 Ten O'CLOCK Meal. — Boiled meat, chopped fine, 
 with steamed clover. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 131 
 
 Two O'CLOCK Dinner. — Excelsior meal, bread and 
 milk. 
 
 Supper. — Granulated corn, oats and barley. 
 
 TUESDAY. 
 
 Breakfast. — The broth in which meat was boiled, 
 thickened while it was boiling (and when the meat was 
 taken out) with excelsior meal. 
 
 Ten O'CLOCK. — Chopped mangel wurzel beets, 
 and after eating what they would, allow to finish fill- 
 ing their crops with granulated corn. 
 
 Two O'CLOCK Dinner. — The balance of the broth, 
 mush and a pan of sour milk, if to be had, to pick at till 
 five or six o'clock. 
 
 Supper. — All the granulated corn, oats and wheat 
 they would eat should be given. 
 
 WEDNESDAY. 
 
 Breakfast. — Fish chowder made palatable with 
 salt and pepper, boiled potatoes, and thickened with 
 cornmeal and shorts. 
 
 Ten O'CLOCK. — Oats and wheat, and all the steamed 
 clover or green chopped oats they would eat. 
 
 Dinner. — Cracked corn and balance of the chowder 
 if not wholly disposed of at the morning meal. 
 
 Supper. — Cracked corn and barley. 
 
 THURSDAY. 
 
 Breakfast. — Chopped sheeps' haslets and warm 
 mush of wheat, bran and cornmeal. 
 
 Ten O'CLOCK. — Cracked corn and wheat. 
 
133 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Dinner. — All the steamed clover they would eat, 
 and as dessert what excelsior meal cake they would 
 dispose of. 
 
 Supper. — Cracked corn and oats. Give sour milk in 
 a pan to go to at will. 
 
 FRIDAY. 
 
 Breakfast. — The meat soup thickened with excel- 
 sior meal. 
 
 Ten o'clock. — Green oats, chopped onions and 
 light feed of granulated corn. 
 
 Dinner. — Balance of the broth, mush and barley 
 to finish up. 
 
 Supper. — Cracked corn and wheat. 
 
 SATURDAY. 
 
 Breakfast. — Raw chopped meat and excelsior 
 meal mush, scalded and fed warm. 
 
 Ten o'clock. — Chopped cabbage, lettuce and tur- 
 nips, or mangel wurzels, throwing then a little granu- 
 lated corn. 
 
 Dinner. — Excelsior mush with barley. 
 
 Supper. — Granulated corn and oats. 
 
 SUNDAY. 
 
 Breakfast. — Fish chowder, warm (made as above). 
 
 Ten o'clock. — Steamed rowen clover and barley. 
 
 Dinner. — Excelsior meal cake and scalded milk. 
 
 Supper. — Cracked corn and wheat with sour milk 
 ad libitum. 
 
 It is not absolutely necessary to bake excelsior for 
 them after the chickens are two weeks old. It may be 
 
«* 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 133 
 
 scalded, but we think it pays to bake it. We make 
 the excelsior meal by grinding into a fine meal in the 
 following proportions : twenty pounds of corn, fifteen 
 pounds of oats, ten pounds of barley, ten pounds of 
 wheat bran. We make the cakes by taking one quart 
 of sour milk or buttermilk, adding a little salt and 
 molasses, one quart of water in which a large heaping 
 teaspoonful of saleratus has been dissolved, then thicken 
 all with the excelsior meal to a little thicker bat- 
 ter than your wife does for corn cakes. Then bake in 
 shallow pans till thoroughly cooked. We believe a 
 well appointed kitchen and brick oven pays, and in the 
 baking of this food enough for a Aveek can be cooked 
 at a time. Our brick -oven should be heated once a 
 week, when the sheeps' haslets could be baked so 
 they will chop easily on baking day: but if steam 
 boilers are used the food can all be steamed easier. 
 Granulated corn we secure by first grinding the corn 
 into a coarse meal and bolting out the fiour that comes 
 from the chit, so-called, or endosperm. Oat groats 
 or steamed oats may be fed dry; this is expensive, 
 but during the first two weeks will be a very nice food 
 for them. After continuing the bill of fare described 
 from two weeks till eight weeks old, the chickens can 
 be taken to the fowl quarters, and enter on three 
 meals per day, which can be what any grown fowl 
 would eat. vBut vegetable foo'd and meat food must 
 be regularly given, for so long as muscle and bone are 
 growing we must cater for them and furnish muscle 
 and bone-growing material.^ 
 
 Corn furnishes eleven per cent only of muscle and 
 one per cent of bone. 
 
134 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Wheat, 15 per cent of muscle, i per cent of bone. 
 
 Barley, 17 per cent muscle, 2 per cent bone. 
 
 Oats, 22 per cent muscle, 3 per cent bone. 
 
 Beans, 22 per cent muscle, no bone but rich in 
 nerve tissue. 
 
 Thus we have in the excelsior meal feed 17 per cent 
 of muscle-growing material and ij4 per cent of bone- 
 growing substance. This excelsior meal feed has the 
 praise of all who have used it, and when we assert that 
 hens lay 20 per cent more eggs, and that Asiatics will 
 weigh one pound more at twelve weeks old by its use 
 in baked cakes and scalded milk, we but state a fact 
 that can be vouched for. But we are asked : Why be 
 at the trouble of making this meal when we can feed 
 these different grains from day to day? We answer by 
 saying. You will not take the pains to feed them 
 every day, and in the proportion named. We all know 
 that in plant life it is necessary for thrift and growth 
 and a full crop that the ground in which it is planted 
 must contain the constituents that go to make up the 
 plant we would raise ; that if but one of the ingredi- 
 ents be wanting that growth ceases, — so it is in this 
 excelsior meal. The fact that more eggs are secured 
 and larger chickens grown by its use, over the old farm 
 way of raising them, should be the one fact to secure 
 its use. Let the gain be but two ounces each on five 
 thousand chickens in a year and we have six hundred 
 and sixty-six pounds of broilers, which, at forty cents 
 per pound, gives us the net sum of $266.40, which will 
 pay pretty well for making what bread we feed to them 
 before they are twelve weeks old. 
 
 Again, we cook the food and it is kept sweet until 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 135 
 
 eaten up. No sour pans and fermenting food lying 
 about. The old water-and-meal dough that in one 
 hour in the sun commences to ferment, the old boards 
 and ground, sour as can be, the continued eating of 
 this sour mixture off the sour boards and ground, dis- 
 turbed state of the bowels, acrid discharges, diarrhoea, 
 and death, are all prevented and a rapid growth in- 
 stead secured, because the chickens are healthy and 
 the pullets raised to lay earlier in life, and to be 
 better layers through life for your trouble. Is 
 the picture overdrawn? Try the excelsior meal, and 
 if we have made a mistake, notify us. We are aware 
 that seed food is the natural food for fowls, and for this 
 reason we recommend the granulated corn, for it can 
 be fed dry with the millet and canary seed to fill their 
 crops at night, as we give the adults corn and grain to 
 retire on, and substituting the larger grains as they 
 grow to be able to swallow and masticate them. We 
 are sensible that raw meat can be fed in such quanti- 
 ties as to be unwholesome for them. At liberty in the 
 summer time they secure all that is necessary till frost 
 comes and closes the earth and prevents the earth- 
 worms comJng to the surface, and cuts off the insect 
 supply, when we must furnish it to them in the shape 
 of flesh and fish in a reasonable supply. We have tried 
 to designate what that should be in our bill of fare. 
 
 In keeping large numbers of fowls it is easy to cater 
 as indicated in the foregoing. Milk is a whole food in 
 itself, and where one lives near a creamery skim milk 
 and buttermilk can be had at from eight to fourteen 
 cents per can. We would keep it on hand for daily use 
 even at the highest price named. 
 
136 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 As soon as the males are large enough to weigh 
 three pounds to the pair take them to suitable fatting 
 pens, furnished with clean gravel, and feed four times a 
 day on corn and barley-meal and pork scraps scalded 
 together, also corn and barley whole, with crushed 
 charcoal in a box, that they may help themselves ; give 
 one feed a day of chopped celery and whole corn ; 
 darken this coop for two hours after feeding. In ten 
 to fourteen days they will be plump and weigh four 
 pounds to the pair, and be appreciated by our seaside 
 epicures. 
 
 If we are to make roasters of them, if Plymouth 
 Rock, grow to five months old, if Brahma, to six and a 
 half months old, then shut them up for a two weeks' 
 fattening process, as spoken of above, when they will be 
 surely first-class roasters. 
 
 As the pullets are to be kept for egg producers, a 
 different course should be pursued. We believe first 
 in selecting the best layers as stock birds ; we also 
 b'elieve they can be reared to be better layers by feeding 
 almost wholly muscle and bone material, and avoiding 
 all fat-producing food. When eight weeks old let them 
 have all the exercise they can be induced to take ; let 
 their food be milk, wheat, flesh, fish, and constant 
 supply of green vegetable food, and you will find they 
 will commence earlier to lay and be the better and 
 more prolific egg-machines, for you built them into such 
 a structure. Note the diiTerence in the number of eggs 
 laid by such a flock as compared with the pullets bred 
 haphazard, and who have roughed it for an existence 
 up to six months old. 
 
 Through all this course see to it that all drinking- 
 
/ 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 137 
 
 pans are kept clean and that the water be changed at 
 the very least once each day. We believe it will pay 
 you to do it twice, morning and at four o'clock. Roup 
 of itself is not contagious, only as through the drinking 
 vessels. It is therefore advisable to have a hospital, 
 to which remove all ailing stock. If you do not care to 
 doctor them, kill all sick and ailing specimens on 
 their discovery. When the chickens reach an age from 
 sixteen to twenty-six weeks old, — classing the breed, to 
 wit : the Leghorns and other small breed, sixteen to 
 twenty weeks ; Plymouth Rock and other middle size 
 fowls at eighteen to twenty-four weeks, and Asiatics 
 at twenty- six weeks old, — they will be seen to be 
 dropping their hackle and tail feathers. At this indi- 
 cation be on the look out for what we term distemper, 
 which seems as sure to come as measles with children. 
 They show very red in face and comb, they act in a 
 listless manner, showing a disposition to sit on the 
 roost or ground, and move exceedingly slow. As this 
 falling of feathers becomes apparent, put at the ratio 
 of two grains of bromide of potassium in the water 
 they would naturally drink in a day, every other day 
 for a fortnight, when the trouble will be disposed of, 
 many being prevented from having it at all, others 
 having it lightly^' The disease is generally followed by 
 thirst, which may oe adjusted by a dose of from one and 
 a-half to three grains, as the thirst compels or induces 
 them to drink. They generally eat but little while the 
 trouble lasts, which will be about three days, when 
 they return to their food and all is over. Bad cases, 
 where the face swells and the nostrils run, will make it 
 necessary to inject into them by the aid of a crowji 
 
138 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 bottom oil filler, kerosene oil, and the throat should be 
 \ gargled with the same, when it will be found all that is 
 I necessary to ward off the roup in nineteen cases in 
 I twenty, and then the twentieth case can be removed 
 jas recommended in roup. 
 
 While our bill of fare and care for chickens from 
 shell to griddle will apply to both the natural and arti- 
 ficial rearing of them, many of my readers will care 
 only to raise them to supply home consumption, and 
 perhaps some few early chickens that they may show 
 them at their fall fairs. Let this be as it may, it is 
 never advisable to hatch them till they will be able to 
 have quarters on the ground, when they will get the 
 young grass by the time they are four weeks old, for 
 they will certainly have rheumatism and prove worth- 
 less. If you hatch them earlier than this you must 
 sow frames erf oats in your kitchen windows, if you 
 have no hot-house, that the green oats may be had for 
 them each day as a substitute for the grass. These 
 frames, set upon the stove and warmed through, will in- 
 crease the growth of the oats, and a frame 20x30 
 inches will raise oats enough for a brood till the grass 
 comes in the spring. We are too many times apt to 
 believe»we can get along without this green food, or a 
 substitute. But to make sure of success, one should 
 have an acre or so of clover, which can be cut three 
 times by cutting when, say, six to eight inches high, 
 just before it blossoms — left to wilt in the sun and 
 finished drying in the barn lofts. In this way secure a 
 sufificient crop to make it serve you till you have 
 enough for the uses heretofore described. To enable 
 your customer for your egg to make the golden-colored 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 139 
 
 custard will be an inducement for them to remain your 
 customers; and remember this clover alone will do 
 this, fed to hens in winter. Again, be sure of this crop. 
 
 BLACK COCHINS. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 T 
 
 ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 
 
 O say that the capabihties of poultry husoandry 
 have not been even dreamed of, could the artificial 
 hatching and raising of the chickens for broilers be 
 demonstrated as practical, none will deny. There is 
 actually no limit to the industry. Until 1884 ^o one 
 can claim the artificial plan as having proved a success. 
 The ever-increasing demand of our city hotels and res- 
 taurants, the rich families, and continual increase in 
 our summer resorts, has proved immense, and the de- 
 mand of the future for broilers, who shall estimate what 
 it will be? But whoever has seen a demand in the 
 country that did not create a supply? There is no 
 other resource than that artificial incubation and rear- 
 ing of the chickens must meet this demand. The 
 question is asked almost daily, " Is there an incubator 
 that is reliable in the hands of common people?" We 
 answer that in the hands of seventy-five per cent of the 
 human race. No. Is there an incubator that a man or 
 woman can be taught to run successfully? We answer. 
 Yes. And here is the first lesson to be taught, that 
 ordinary women and children cannot run incubators. 
 All the incubator makers up to one year ago have as- 
 serted that " any woman or child can run it." They 
 
 140 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 141 
 
 have deserved defeat, and their incubator has been 
 worthy only of condemnation. It has been the rock 
 on which their enterprise has failed. We beheve there 
 are incubators that can be run by intelligent men and 
 women, but there are none that can be run successfully 
 by people who have not come to the age of judgment, 
 for it is safe to say not one incubator in forty that have 
 been purchased has been run the second season. And 
 there is not an incubator put upon the market that can 
 be run successfully by the printed rules sent out with 
 it. We made this assertion to one of the most success- 
 ful incubator manufacturers, and it was not disputed. 
 The assertion is far from being a bold one, when made 
 against the incubators collectively. Yet we believe 
 "The Year" and the " Machine " have come when we 
 may be said 'to be looking upon the dawn of practical 
 artificial poultry culture. Let the incubator be what 
 make it may, the operator must love the work, learn 
 every piece and adaptability of its mechanism. He 
 may with profit be well schooled in embryology, the 
 influence of the atmosphere upon the eggs and its 
 work in connection with evaporation, the humidity of 
 the heat, the growth and increase of animal heat en- 
 gendered in the shells in conjunction with the temper- 
 ature surrounding the machine externally, the regula- 
 tion of the heat applied by the lamps or stoves. There 
 is not one of them all that does not fluctuate very 
 much, and each hour has to be watched and provided 
 for. The attendant alone is responsible for all this. 
 No child can do this, and not five per cent of the busi- 
 ness men and acknowledged smart women we meet can 
 do it. When the attendant becomes an expert he so 
 
142 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 controls, as many have become able to do, these in- 
 fluences by the sense of feeling, to wit : putting his 
 hand into the incubator and judging by the feeling, 
 and not by looking at the thermometer, having become 
 so to speak a living thermometer. Then the machine 
 is safe in such hands ; such persons can be said to be 
 masters of the situation. Eternal vigilance has been 
 the price paid for this knowledge. With such intelli- 
 gence to control them may it be said that we have in 
 this year of our Lord, 1885, incubators that contain 
 within themselves the conditions nature furnishes for 
 hatching eggs. The egg is one of the most beautiful 
 of creations; yet how much depends upon the condi- 
 tion and care of the hen that laid it whether it ever 
 becomes a chicken. 
 
 To the careless observer it consists of ^but two ele- 
 ments within the shell, the yelk and the surrounding 
 albumen. Yet the careful student finds within these a 
 multiplicity of features and conditions quite beyond 
 the vision of the ordinary experimenter. 
 
 Now to study an egg requires a trained hand and 
 eye. It also requires in the student a knowlege of an- 
 atomy, and a skillful manipulation of the microscope. 
 
 As the embryo chicken advances in growth and 
 perfection, it is necessary that every phase and re- 
 quirement of its embryohood should be studied and 
 understood. 
 
 Professors Huxley, Agassiz, Foster, Balfour, Bisch- 
 off, Dollinger and Karl Ernst Von Baer, have de- 
 voted years to the study of the egg, and to their 
 scientific labors we owe most of our knowledge of 
 embryology. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 143 
 
 Their studies were confined entirely to the physio- 
 logical life of the chick, and none of them pursued 
 their labors to a utilitarian end ; that is, they worked 
 as scientists, not as inventors. Yet all knowledge 
 possible does not come amiss. 
 
 The greatest source of failure has been the endeavor 
 to make them self-regulating. Electricity has proved 
 too delicate, and therefore too treacherous a means, and 
 the temperature has fluctuated. Under the hen 105 
 is the extreme the eggs can reach ; and experience has 
 shown that if incubators run above 106 during incuba- 
 tion there will be a corresponding mortality; that if the 
 temperature goes to 1 15 degrees it may not decrease the 
 number hatched, yet it will cause a mortality among 
 the chickens from twenty-five to sixty per cent. When 
 the machines run evenly, never below 99 or above 105, 
 or in the use of incubator thermometers the heat be 
 maintained at 103 to 106 (they being gauged three 
 degrees high), then the mortality would not be beyond 
 three per cent over those hatched by the mother hen, 
 and, the same care exercised in the rearing of them, one 
 would have to be a keen observer to see any difference 
 between the incubator and naturally hatched one. It 
 is fair also to say, when the machine is allowed to run 
 so high that a certain per cent in increase in mortality 
 is discernible, that the chickens that live are impaired 
 in a like ratio as compared to those hatched and raised 
 in the old way. 
 
 As these chickens advance in the embryotic life 
 they engender animal heat. This increases each day 
 from the tenth to the twenty-first, when they break the 
 shell. This demands the attention of the man in 
 
144 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 charge, and a constant change in the means of regu- 
 lating the incubator, and should be attended to every 
 sixteen hours, to say the least. Then how foolish it is 
 to say a machine can run alone. An incubator that 
 hatched its chickens at 105 degrees, the moment the 
 chickens are removed from it the temperature runs 
 down to 92. This shows that the chicks themselves 
 influence the heat twelve to thirteen degrees, and a 
 machine left to run itself would, when taking into it the 
 same amount of air, reach 1 17 degrees. If the regulator 
 prevented it by a larger amount of air admitted, the 
 moisture in the machine would become exhausted, 
 and the chickens dry in the shell and fail to hatch 
 at all. It is as the operator becomes an expert and 
 able to control all these complications that he or she 
 becomes valuable ; and the day is not far distant when 
 such experts will command from $1,000 to $3,000 a 
 year, for the poultry men have paid out all the money 
 they propose to for crude help on incubators ; and the 
 incubator that in the hands of even these experts will 
 hatch even ten per cent more than its competitors will 
 be the one to be used to the exclusion of all others. We 
 have been slow to recommend any particular incubator, 
 but for practical use the production of broilers in April 
 to September ist makes incubators a necessity. The 
 eggs must be hatched at a time of year from November 
 to March, when hens will not sit. We kick against 
 the pricks no longer, and say the time has come for 
 a reliable incubator, and experts in the form of intelli- 
 gent women to run them and to care for the chickens 
 hatched by them. Women, when interested in the 
 work, are better than men. We have tried to show 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 145 
 
 you the danger of crowding by the young chickens, 
 but ducks can be raised artificially with far less danger 
 in this respect. They can be grown in larger numbers 
 on the same ground and in flocks of from two to three 
 hundred with less danger of death by suffocation. The 
 best duck record we have any knowledge of was by the 
 use of the Monarch incubator, March i, 1885. One tray 
 was filled with duck eggs ; when tested it gave sixty- 
 seven fertile eggs, of which sixty-five hatched. May i6th, 
 two trays were filled with duck eggs and put in another 
 
 MONARCH INCUBATOR. 
 
 Monarch machine; 168 eggs proved fertile, and 164 
 eggs gave us ducks. At the next trial the whole 
 incubator was used, and from the 379 fertile eggs 362 
 ducklings came forth. It then being too late for 
 broilers the machines were used (four of them) solely 
 for duck eggs as fast as thirty-five ducks could furnish 
 them, till at the present writing 3,000 ducklings can be 
 seen upon this farm of James Rankin. Up to the time 
 1,800 were hatched, the oldest being but ten weeks old, 
 only three ducklings had died from any cause whatever. 
 At this time the oldest were being marketed and 
 
146 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 weighing from near eight to eleven pounds to the pair. 
 The growth was surprising. The last hatch was July lo, 
 when 260 ducklings were hatched from 278 fertile eggs. 
 Thus has the percentage been from ninety-two to as 
 high as ninety-seven per cent of the fertile duck eggs. 
 These green ducks, as they are called, started off at 
 ■$3.00 a pair in June, selling now (July 17) at $2.00 a pair. 
 In the meantime we have been marketing eighty pair a 
 week, the average age being nine weeks old and aver- 
 age price up to present writing being about $2.40 per 
 pair, and their cost twenty-six cents per head. Quite a 
 profit for a four-months' business. You can put these 
 young ducks into the brooding houses in lots of one 
 hundred and fifty each ; they need the brooders only 
 about ten days. Their first food should be the boiled 
 infertile eggs, boiled hard and mixed with an equal 
 amount of excelsior meal bread crumbs — the whole 
 peppered a little with cayenne pepper — and scalded 
 milk to drink, putting the milk in a fountain so they 
 can only put in their beaks to drink ; after the first two 
 or three days the baked excelsior meal bread and milk 
 can be abandoned, and cornmeal, two parts, oatmeal, one 
 part, and wheat bran, one part, with seven to ten per cent 
 ground beef scraps, scalded and let soak six to twelve 
 hours. This whole mixture can be scalded or mixed 
 with skim milk. Feed for first four weeks five times per 
 day — three times per day afterward — boiled potatoes 
 or other vegetables mashed with ground meal and 
 scraps. Ducklings need more meat and vegetables than 
 do chickens. When fattening them use milk for drink 
 and celery chopped fine for the last week if you wish to 
 give them the wild celery flavor of the wild mallard. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 147 
 
 The Pekin duck was used in the foregoing experi- 
 ment. During all this time these young ducks have had 
 only water to drink given to them in fountain drinking 
 vessels in which they could only put their beak. The 
 very young duck should be confined in grass runs say' 
 20x150 feet. When six weeks old they may have 
 a field large enough to keep green. They graze like 
 cattle, and grass and vegetables must be furnished 
 them constantly. 
 
 Mr. Buffington, on seeing the success above stated, 
 put 400 eggs into his Monarch incubator. How many 
 infertile eggs were taken out on testing day we did not 
 learn, but 323 ducks were hatched and doing well. 
 We say so far as ducks are concerned artificial hatch- 
 ing and rearing is a success, and their growth rapid and 
 the ducklings larger than those hatched and left to 
 the natural care of mother ducks. That chickens are 
 being raised for broilers successfully we are compelled 
 to acknowledge, and we say that while heretofore we 
 have been no friend of or believer in incubators we wish 
 to be understood that at least we are no longer preju- 
 diced, and believe in the possibility that with experts to 
 run them they are the only means by which the broiler 
 business can be carried on successfully. We have 
 cited the use of the Monarch incubator for the rea- 
 son that the foregoing has been achieved by it and we 
 believe it less complicated and easier regulated and a 
 safe machine in the hands of people of general intelli- 
 gence. Other incubators are successful, but not being 
 personally acquainted with or knowing of experiments 
 resulting from them we speak only of this one. 
 
 We give this experiment in duck raising for the 
 
148 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 reason that it is neAv, and a means whereby the fast de- 
 cHne in the wild duck and game supply of the country 
 in our opinion is to become a substitute. The past 
 season thousands of these green ducklings, celery and 
 milk and barley fattened, have caused the lips of many 
 an epicure to smack, with the accompanying assertion 
 that they gave unmistakable evidence of their feeding 
 upon young wild celery. The fact is, these ducklings 
 so raised and nicely cooked are the best meat that 
 wears feathers, and he who has never eaten one so 
 reared and fattened has yet to learn what is the finest 
 of all poultry. 
 
 To treat of the subject of artificial incubation in an 
 exhaustive manner was not our intention. The care of 
 chickens artificially we have dealt with in a previous 
 chapter, and have expressed all that need be said. The 
 use of incubators from October to March 1st for chick- 
 ens as broilers, and their use for green ducks from March 
 to July, seems to double the poulterer's time and facili- 
 ties in their use. May the years to come be as fruitful of 
 improvement as have the last three in this direction, 
 and poultry culture will maintain its supremacy as an 
 agricultural industry. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 DISEASES OF FOWLS. 
 
 THEIR MEDICAL TREATMENT. 
 
 WE shrink from writing upon this subject, for we 
 are not an M.D., and we only give our views 
 upon and treatment of a few of the most fatal diseases 
 that we have had occasion to deal with. 
 
 We believe in prevention, and when fowls are sick, 
 in extermination, more than in doctoring. When fowls 
 have their liberty they are seldom ill, and when they 
 are confined, if we are careful to furnish a good supply 
 of vegetable food, health generally attends them. 
 
 In most of the fatal diseases there is a poisonous 
 fungus growth in the blood. Fowls never perspire, and 
 the heart beats one hundred and fifty times per minute. 
 The evils that are easily thrown off by perspiration 
 with them have to be exhaled by respiration, and as a 
 result we find the seat of nearly all the fatal diseases to 
 be in the head, throat and lungs. Rapid respiration and 
 circulation therefore become necessary to expel the 
 vapory excretions. 
 
 The chanticleer of the farm -yard whose liberty is not 
 proscribed will have a battle every week and not seem 
 the worse for it, while in a similar instance one kept in 
 
 149 
 
150 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 a poorly ventilated house, and fed upon unwholesome 
 food, will suffer from inflammation and canker, and in 
 very many cases death will follow. And why? Because 
 the blood is poor and even poisoned, and unable to do 
 the work of repairing the damage until it has thrown 
 off the poison from which it is suffering. The former, 
 rich in a healthy circulation, commences the work of 
 recuperation the moment the wounds of the battle 
 stop bleeding. 
 
 We are all aware that iron is one of the very best 
 of blood tonics, and if we but observe we shall see that 
 fowls kept upon an iron and sulphur charged soil are 
 generally more healthy and show better luster in their 
 plumage than those kept upon a dry and arid plain. 
 The reason is that the vegetable growth is but the em- 
 bodiment of the soils, one furnishing rich iron and 
 sulphur deposits, the other destitute of them. 
 
 The breeder, if he would be successful, will do well 
 to consider his location and furnish artificially that 
 which is lacking in his soil. "From dust to dust" 
 is true of all things, and it behooves us to see of what 
 kind of dust we build our chickens. 
 
 The best doctors are those who watch the patient 
 while well, and prevent sickness, instead of waiting for 
 symptoms and then doctoring them (the expectant 
 plan, so called), and finds his remedies in the regulation 
 of the diet. 
 
 So the breeder best takes care of his flock who 
 keeps a watchful eye upon them while at roost. If the 
 droppings from it show a costive tendency then feed 
 freely of vegetables, such as boiled potatoes, turnips, 
 or cabbage mashed "with bran and meal while hot. If 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 151 
 
 the droppings show a relaxed tendency, then cease 
 giving vegetables, and resort to baked johnny-cake, 
 corn, and tincture of iron. Sour or sweet milk is one 
 of the best things to feed poultry at all times. Fowls 
 thus carefully fed are seldom sick, unless it be that they 
 have what we term the " distemper." 
 
 DISTEMPER. 
 
 This disease all chickensare heir to, and it generally 
 takes them about the time they are from twenty-two to 
 twenty-six weeks old, and at the time they are shedding 
 their second chicken feathers, preparatory to putting 
 on their freedom suits, so to speak. 
 
 If carefully watched little or no medicine is needed, 
 and so light is the disease that it hardly deserves a 
 place in this catalogue, yet if not jealously watched it 
 becomes the most fruitful in the introduction of roup 
 and consumption. 
 
 ^.-Symptoms. — A listless, quiet mien, a disposition to 
 remain on the roost in the day-time, face and comb 
 quite red, and a puff or fullness of the face under the 
 eye. The second day a white froth is discernible in 
 the corner of the eye. A decided loss of appetite is 
 also noticeable. 
 
 Treatine7it, — If noticed, and the disease taken in 
 hand before the appearance of the froth in the eye, it 
 will usually only be necessary to wash the head and 
 beak clean, and blow down through the nose into the 
 throat either with the mouth or by means of a rubber 
 nipple, thus clearing the tear tube, and bathe the head 
 and wash the throat with a solution of carbolic acid — 
 one part acid to ten parts water. The birds should be 
 
153 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 kept in a quiet place and allowed nothing but water, in 
 which place three grains of bromide of potassium per 
 day. The best way to administer it, if the fowl will 
 drink of its own accord, is to apportion its water to 
 what it will take in the day. In this way they take it 
 homoeopathically. But if dumpish — neither eating nor 
 drinking of their own volition — then administer the 
 dose in a pill of soft bread, inject, by means of a crown 
 bottom oil dripper, kerosene oil into the nostrils. A 
 still better way is by the use of a crooked nozzle rubber 
 syringe, placing the point in the cleft of the roof of 
 the mouth and syringe the nasal passage clear, when 
 the action of the oil will be to allay the inflammation. 
 One treatment is sufficient in three-fourths of the cases. 
 It seems to run about three days, when they regain 
 their usual appearance of health , many have it so 
 light as not to be noticed. In aggravated cases, where 
 the face is swollen and eyes become watery from the 
 closing by inflammation of the tear tubes, the head 
 and throat should be thoroughly steamed by the use 
 of a large sponge and hot water. The tear tube should 
 be cleared (as before explained), a dessertspoonful of 
 castor oil given, and the bathing of the face and throat 
 with the solution of carbolic acid continued at short 
 intervals. 
 
 This distemper may be called a cold or the incipient 
 stages of the roup. We will not quarrel about names, 
 but simply say that in our opinion it is no more roup 
 than a cold is measles. There is no offensive smell to 
 the breath as in roup, but if neglected it will excite 
 roup. We have not the slightest doubt of this; in 
 fact, know it to be the case, and the breeder has the 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 153 
 
 choice of adopting the adage, '' A stitch in time saves 
 nine," and attending to this mild, easily-managed dis- 
 temper, or to neglect it and have that scourge of a 
 poultry house — THE ROUP — to contend with. 
 
 ROUP. 
 
 y When roup appears our advice is to kill the affected 
 one and turn your attention at once to the flock, giving 
 sulphur in the ratio of a tablespoonful to fifteen fowls 
 every other day for a week, feeding tincture of iron, 
 eight drops to a hen every day in their soft food, 
 which will pay to be boiled rice, until treatment is over. 
 With this be sure that the ventilation is complete and 
 free from direct drafts upon the fowls. For the benefit 
 of those who wish to cure the disease we give the fol- 
 lowing symptoms and our method of treatment : 
 
 Symptoms. — Swelling of the head, watery discharges 
 from the eyes and nostrils, which are very fetid and 
 offensive to the smell, following which these dis- 
 charges become acrid and result in a congealed yellow 
 coating to the mouth and tongue, called canker — 
 which we term a poisonous fungus growth in the 
 blood. 
 
 Treatment. — Wash and steam the head and throat 
 with hot water in which a dash of carbolic acid is 
 added. Clear the nasal passage to throat by an 
 injection of carbolic water, one part carbolic acid to ten 
 parts of water, or by the use of kerosene oil and the 
 crooked syringe, as spoken of in distemper. Gargle 
 the throat with kerosene oil three mornings running, 
 when all the canker of throat and mouth will generally 
 cleave off, leaving the mouth and throat red but clean. 
 
154 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 We have seen cruel though ignorant people remove 
 this canker of the mouth with a stick or nail. All this 
 kind of treatment but aggravates the disease. Give a 
 dessertspoonful of castor oil, and follow with a gill of 
 milk in which two grains of bromide of potassium has 
 been dissolved, night and morning. 
 
 The milk can be easily administered by taking the 
 bird by the under beak and drawing the neck upward 
 till straight, when the milk poured from a tea-pot will 
 run into the crop without the effort of swallowing. 
 
 At the end of about four or five days the effect of 
 the bromide in the blood, and the solution of carbolic 
 acid as a bath, and the kerosene as a gargle, may be 
 seen in the sloughing off of the cankerous substance 
 from the tongue and mouth, when the fowl will 
 commence to mend. The treatment at this stage 
 should be nourishing food, with occasional doses of 
 sulphur, and the fowls will regain their health and 
 sprightliness. In some cases the bromide seems to fail 
 in overcoming the poison in the blood. We have used 
 Fowler's solution, one drop a day, and in a week seen 
 the birds commence to mend, but when the disease 
 hangs on for a long time we think it poor policy to 
 breed from such, for we find such birds susceptible to 
 colds. They have become so debilitated that their 
 recuperation, and the watching for a long time before 
 they will lay, makes the hatchet a better means of 
 eradicating the disease in those isolated cases. 
 
 CHICKEN POX (or ''DRY ROUP"). 
 
 Symptoms. — An eruption of the comb, face and 
 wattles, raised and warty in appearance, and in color a 
 
White Face Black Spanish, 
 
 155 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 157 
 
 yellowish white. When the crests are removed, these 
 warty substances resemble a bunch of tiny spiles set 
 into the flesh. They bleed profusely. 
 
 Treatment. — Remove the birds from the flock, and 
 touch the crowns of their pustules with citric ointment 
 and allow them to dry down to a black scab, which will 
 be ripe in about seventy-two hours, when, if lifted off, 
 will take with it the little white roots of the disease, 
 from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch in length. 
 Give each morning for four days a pill made as follows: 
 Tablespoonful of common flour, tablespoonful of flour 
 of sulphur, twenty grains cayenne pepper, twenty-five 
 to twenty-eight drops '' Fowler's solution." (If the 
 Fowler's solution cannot be had, use sixty grains of 
 bromide of potassium instead.) Mix with cream, and 
 make into twenty pills. 
 
 Dissolve four grains of quinine in half a pint of 
 milk, giving half in the morning and half at evening ; 
 feed while treating, boiled onions mashed with oatmeal 
 and boiled rice. If the disease attacks the eyes so as to 
 close them and prevent their eating make the food into 
 pellets half the size of one's little finger, which, if 
 dipped in milk and the bird held as described in roup, 
 will slip down the throat readily. 
 
 If the sulphur acts too powerfully upon the bowels 
 scald the milk given, which will check its influence on 
 the bowels and cause it to work more strongly in the 
 blood. The disease is so like the " yaws," described by 
 Dr. Quinn, we are of the opinion that it is a kindred 
 one, if not the same. 
 
 Roup sometimes accompanies it, but they are not 
 alike. This has a run, and requires from five to seven 
 
158 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 days to treat it. We tried specimens of a strong con- 
 stitution by giving milk and water, and without treat- 
 ment, which recovered. It is very contagious, and on 
 its first appearance kill the specimen afflicted, and by 
 the use of vegetables, sulphur and iron treat your flock 
 to check its spreading. Cleanse the house in which the 
 disease appears as thoroughly as you would a house 
 that had been visited by small-pox. It is, like that, a 
 cutaneous disease. 
 
 DIPHTHERIA. 
 
 We give to this new and very fatal disease the above 
 name on account of its symptoms. 
 
 Symptoms. — The face and throat become exceed- 
 ingly red and inflamed ; so much so, that if cold water 
 is applied it will evaporate in steam on account of the 
 heat produced by the inflammation. Six hours after 
 this feverish appearance in the throat and face the 
 throat becomes coated with a yellowish leathery lining, 
 which may be removed by putting down the throat a 
 compressed sponge, liberating it and withdrawing it, 
 when it will take up the coating, leaving the surface 'of 
 the throat a whitish red, thickly studded with minute 
 raw spots from which this poison fungus growth seems 
 to exude. 
 
 If the throat be left without sponging out more 
 than six hours the coating will adhere to the throat in 
 the same manner as the canker does in roup. 
 
 Diarrhoea attends the disease, the discharges resem- 
 bling a mixture of oil, snuff and chrome green paint. 
 
 Exhaustion is very great, so much so that we have 
 given a cock of twelve pounds weight two ounces of 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 159 
 
 brandy with two ounces of milk in the morning and he 
 showed no evidence of intoxication whatever. 
 
 Treatment. — Steam 'the head and throat with hot 
 water to which a Httle carbolic acid has been added, 
 and sponge the throat as described in roup, also gargle 
 the throat with kerosene oil, or still better, the follow- 
 ing recipe: Sulpho carbolate soda, sixty grains; glyc- 
 erine, cinnamon water, of each two tablespoonfuls. 
 Give a small teaspoonful three times daily, and gargle 
 the throat as above with a teaspoonful of the followmg 
 mixture in a half glass of water: 
 
 5 — Saturated solution of chlorate potash 4 tablespoonfuls. 
 
 Tincture chloride iron i teaspoonful. 
 
 Then touch the most prominent spots with a camel's 
 hair pencil, dipped in the above. 
 
 To keep up the strength during treatment add a 
 beaten &^'g to a goblet of milk with a tablespoonful of 
 brandy in which previously dissolve three grains of 
 quinine, giving a third, morning, noon and night. 
 
 When the eruption we have called chicken-pox ac- 
 companied the disease, it seemed to act as a counter- 
 irritant, and more fowls recovered when thus afflicted, 
 than when troubled with the throat disease alone. 
 
 In the light of our experience we should not try to 
 save a single specimen, but should kill and bury them 
 at once, and attend to the sanitary condition of the re- 
 mainder of the flock, by giving Fowler's Solution at the 
 rate of one drop to a fowl in the water and continue it 
 for eight or ten days. 
 
 Should this disease visit one in the form of an epi- 
 demic, it would be no less, and we are fearful, much 
 more fatal than chicken cholera. 
 
160 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 BUMBLE-FOOT. 
 
 This disease is in very many cases caused by care- 
 lessness. Flying down from high roosts to a floor 
 which is always more or less covered by small gravel 
 stones results in bruises that are precisely like what 
 we usually call "stone-galls." 
 
 The flesh of the foot being so tough, the pus can- 
 not escape, therefore, if not attended to, it must con- 
 geal, and an ungainly, troublesome foot be the result. 
 
 The fowl goes lame, and careless of its comfort, we 
 in nine cases in ten fail to investigate in time to pre- 
 vent serious trouble. When discovered before the 
 pus congeals, lance the swelling at the rear of the 
 foot, and the pressure upon it in walking will press 
 the pus out and there will be a much smaller callous 
 than if allowed to settle down of its own accord. 
 
 We have treated cases by making an incision in 
 front and rear of foot, and those on shank by opening 
 at top and bottom, and by the use of a syringe and a 
 solution of carbolic acid, of one part of acid to ten 
 parts of water, cleanse them thoroughly, when they all 
 heal up. 
 
 In most cases we are not aware of the trouble till 
 the pus is congealed, when it is almost impossible to 
 press it out unless we take with it some portion of the 
 layers of the foot, which would be worse for the fowl 
 than to use a strong liniment to take out the soreness, 
 and let the inflammation settle down into a corn. 
 
 When the swellings are upon the shank or knee- 
 joints, which are generally the result of rheumatism or 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 161 
 
 gout, the fowl may as well go to the block, for it is a 
 doubtful policy to breed from such a specimen. 
 
 But some have a mania for doctoring, in which case 
 use strong liniment, and "bind the shanks and joints in 
 leaves or bulbs of the skunk cabbage, and give inter- 
 nally, one drop each morning, of Fowler's Solution, 
 for a month, or bromide of potassium, three grains 
 per day, until the trouble is cured. 
 
 Bumble-foot may be prevented in a great degree by 
 providing low roosts and keeping the floor of the fowl- 
 house covered three inches deep with loamy sand, 
 which costs less than to doctor fowls for the want of it. 
 
 THE RED SPIDER LOUSE. 
 
 This pest is the scourge of the poultry-house, and 
 the source of more trouble and annoyance than any 
 other hindrance to poultry keeping. The quarters 
 often become literally alive with them before the 
 breeder is aware of their presence. They sap the life 
 blood from the fowls and reduce to skeletons and de- 
 bilitate a flock to such an extent as to make the sea- 
 son unprofitable. Working only in the night, they 
 escape notice and have things their own way. 
 
 Fowls that are sitting upon eggs are generally the 
 greatest sufferers, for these lice instinctively seek out 
 such hens as are about to hatch their broods, and many 
 a hen sacrifices her life to her motherhood. 
 
 In this case the hen becomes sallow in face and 
 comb — actually bloodless, the lice having consumed 
 the blood to such an extent as to cause death, and 
 many fowls, whose death has been attributed to dis- 
 ease, have been murdered by these pests. 
 
162 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 The quarters should be constantly watched, and all 
 the cracks and knots on or about the roosts saturated 
 with coal tar and kerosene oil, or carbolic acid. The 
 houses must be kept free from them, for the exhaustive 
 influence of these marauders not only entails the loss 
 of blood to the fowls, but, by reducing their strength, 
 renders the flock more liable to the diseases we have 
 described. 
 
 It is therefore the best and surest step toward ward- 
 ing off disease to have an absolutely clean poultry- 
 house. If from one to three pounds of sulphur be 
 mixed with the loamy sand and gravel covering the 
 floor, in which the fowls may dust themselves, and 
 kerosene oil used as described, the fowls occasionally 
 dusted while on their roosts with a dredging box filled 
 with sulphur and Persian insect powder, or carbolic 
 powder, their quarters will be cleansed. Cleanliness 
 coupled with judicious feeding is what makes fowls 
 profitable. So great a nervous irritant are these species 
 of vermin that in two flocks equally well fed the 
 flock which occupies quarters infested with lice will not 
 lay at all, while those free from this annoyance will lay 
 nearly every day. This fact proves them to be an ex- 
 pensive enemy to the poulterer. 
 
 We do not go so far as some writers and say that 
 all disease is caused by lice, but will say that many a 
 fowl would not have suffered disease were it not for 
 this barn or spider louse. Breeders, look for them at 
 all times. Do not wait for them to make themselves 
 known, and force their acquaintance upon you. 
 
POULTRY CULTURE. 163 
 
 DIARRHOEA. 
 
 This is most liable to attack chickens under two 
 weeks old, and fowls during incubation, unless one is 
 careful as to the diet given. 
 
 In chickens, scalded milk as drink, keeping water 
 from them, will usually correct the evil, but sometimes 
 it seems to visit the yard to a degree almost equivalent 
 to cholera. Discharges resemble oil and snuff mixed, 
 with green streaks through it. The fowl shows great 
 exhaustion, and moves about to all appearance as if no 
 muscles were moved but those of the legs. 
 
 Treatment. — For setting hens we have used one 
 tablespoonful of the following mixture in a quart of 
 water, giving them no other drink till cured. 
 
 Sweet Tincture Rhubarb 2 oz. 
 
 Paregoric 4 oz. 
 
 Bicarbonate Soda \ oz. 
 
 Essence Peppermint i dr. 
 
 Water 2 oz. 
 
 Mix. 
 
 With young chicks, if the scalded milk failed to cor- 
 rect the evil, put one teaspoonful of the above mixture 
 in one half-pint of the milk. 
 
 Care should be taken to discontinue the treatment 
 when a cure is effected, as one extreme is as much to 
 be avoided as the other. 
 
 In the event of a stubborn case in adult birds put 
 one teaspoonful of Squibbs' Diarrhoea Mixture in a pint 
 of water and give as a drink, and generally a cure will 
 follow in from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. 
 
164 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 You will see by the formula that this is a'very power- 
 ful medicine, and much care should be employed in 
 its use : 
 
 Laudanum. . . ., i oz. 
 
 Tincture Capsicum i oz. 
 
 Tincture Camphor I oz. 
 
 Chloroform — pure 3 dr. 
 
 Alcohol 5 dr. 
 
 Mix. 
 
 If fruit cans are used as drinking vessels they should 
 
 be discarded when they commence to corrode, as the 
 
 rust is an oxide of tin^ and in many cases brings on 
 
 diarrhoea. Many a valuable bird has been lost in this 
 
 way under the erroneous idea that they were getting 
 
 iron and consequently strength, for where oxide of 
 
 iron may do no harm oxide of tin is poisonous. 
 
PART II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THOROUGHBRED FOWLS. 
 
 THEIR PROPER MATING. 
 
 THE word " thoroughbred," Webster defines : Bred 
 from the best blood ; completely bred ; accom- 
 plished. 
 
 With the above before us we are led to assert that 
 we have pure blood, and absolutely thoroughbred fowls 
 — other writers to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 No one denies that we have thoroughbred cattle, 
 which, by judicious coupling, have been bred to a uni- 
 form type that is recognized at a glance. 
 
 We have, for instance, the short-horn cattle, in color 
 any shade found in red and white ; the Devon, which 
 in its purity is confined to dark red ; the Jersey, in its 
 varied shades found in fawn, white and black, and the 
 Ayrshire, in any and all shades of color. Now have 
 we not in the Light Brahma, Dark Brahma, Cochin, 
 Hamburg, Houdan, Game, Spanish and Dorking, fowls 
 as deserving the title thoroughbred as any of the cat- 
 tle we have named ? 
 
 165 
 
166 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Have they not been " Bred from the best blood " — 
 completely bred — and does any one deny that the 
 breeding has been accomplished ? 
 
 In the cattle there is quite a diversity in color, but 
 the fowls we have named will, even in color, produce 
 their progeny in one uniform type, the family likeness 
 more completely defined than is seen in the cattle, yet 
 the same writers asserting we have no thoroughbred 
 fowls maintain that we have thoroughbred cattle. 
 
 It is our purpose in this treatise to chronicle some 
 part of our experience, describing, as far as we can, a 
 perfect sire and dam, and presenting our views of mating 
 for breeding fowls, claiming them to be thorough- 
 bred. 
 
 Practical knowledge becomes, in one sense, science, 
 and should be disseminated, and no theory that does 
 not stand the test of experiment be valued or promul- 
 gated. 
 
 The Rev. W. H. H. Murray truly says, "We strike 
 the bottom facts that underlie all breeding when we 
 read this sentence : ' Every seed should bring forth after 
 its kind^ 
 
 ^^Find the highest type to perforin the paternal act, and 
 we can repeat the typical creation. Find two parents that 
 represent the original idea in any organism, and we can 
 repeat the original idea'' 
 
 These and kindred expressions fire the thoughtful 
 breeder to his very center, and he searches to find out 
 what constitutes a perfect sire, and what are the requi- 
 sites of a perfect dam, that from the pair he may pro- 
 duce his ideal of perfection, combining health, beauty 
 and utility in the offspring. 
 
MATING. 167 
 
 The sire should have a sound constitution, perfect 
 color and symmetry (that form of structure produced by 
 the harmonious blending of perfectly formed parts, as 
 described by the Standard). He should be mild and 
 courteous to his dames, showing no lack of procreative 
 vigor; courageous, even pugnacious, in the defense of 
 his harem. 
 
 It is not only necessary that he possess all these indi- 
 vidual qualities, but he should have a record, or pedigree, 
 that shows all his breeding qualities to be the result of 
 ancestral blood and perfect breeding. Thus we have 
 a really perfect sire. Such males, coming from a line 
 of like sires, invariably stamp their progeny in the like- 
 ness of their own personality. Experience teaches that 
 the sire, in his line, has greater influence in determining 
 the color and form of structure than the dams. 
 
 The fact that chickens generally favor the grandsire 
 makes it all-important that the male line should not be 
 broken, and that the sire should be typical in symmetry 
 and color. 
 
 Before speaking of the color qualification, and its in- 
 fluence in mating, we will submit the following, proved 
 by several experiments, that our deductions may be 
 better understood. 
 
 It is asserted by pigeon fanciers that if a pigeon, 
 white in plumage, beak and toe-nails (it matters not 
 from what colored ancestors it may have been bred), 
 will, if it breed at all, breed true to white. An Albino- 
 Spanish fowl, if pure white in plumage, beak, and legs, 
 will ever after breed true to white. 
 
 We produced in 1862 a pair of white sports from 
 Golden-Spangled Hamburgs. The male had bluish- 
 
168 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 white toes ; the progeny came one-third Golden-Spangled 
 in color, while a cockerel from the pair, in all respects 
 white, bred to his dam and to his sisters, produced all 
 white chicks. 
 
 Generally all sports, so called, are white in color, or 
 we think a better expression is, that they are void of 
 color. 
 
 By causes which cannot be explained the function 
 of color fails to furnish its quota to the chicken's organ- 
 ism, therefore the chickens must be considered a new 
 type, and lost to the breed, for they cannot be expected 
 to transmit a color which they never inherited. 
 
 We admire a pure white back and undercolor in a 
 Light Brahma pullet, with a clearly defined stripe in 
 the hackle. But if successive matings of sire and dam, 
 both being white in undercolor, are indulged in, the 
 result will be faded and eventually white birds. A 
 plumage like that of the Light Brahma, made up of 
 white and black, cannot be exempt from the shading of 
 the one color into the other with which it is associated ; 
 and in this breed the Standard wisely acknowledges 
 both white and bluish undercolor, and gives no prefer- 
 ence to either shade in adjudicating for premiums. 
 
 This position is a just one, and judges should not 
 deviate from it, for without this dark undercolor in the 
 sire we cannot sustain the breed. It matters not what 
 our likes and dislikes are or may be, nor how we may 
 breed for our own amusement, yet in all public expres- 
 sions we should be careful to speak of each breed in its 
 true light, and all truthfully-recorded experiments be- 
 come of much value in counteracting whatever false 
 ideas may appear in print from time to time. 
 
MATING. 169 
 
 Experience teaches us that the whole tendency of 
 breeding is to breed Hghter in color. We have only to 
 call to mind the Light Brahmas of the past to see how 
 all of the strains have grown lighter in color. We 
 all know that the original birds were dark in under- 
 color, and that light specimens then were the exception. 
 We know also that a flock colonized and left to them- 
 selves grow lighter in color and finally become nearly 
 or quite white. 
 
 In view of these facts we say all males of faded 
 light color in plumage should be killed for poultry. 
 In no case should they be used as breeders, for they 
 are never good producers of males, and although they 
 may for a season beget good females, these in their turn 
 will revert in their breeding to their faulty sires. Why 
 try to utilize these males and expect them to perform 
 a work that is impossible? They cannot be expected 
 to produce color when they utterly fail in that quality. 
 Yet in the face of all this experience we see breeders 
 using, year after year, white-necked Light Brahma, 
 faded, light-colored Plymouth Rock, Light Buff Cochin, 
 or splashed-breasted, bronze-thighed Partridge-Cochin 
 sires, expecting by the aid of counteracting influences 
 in the dams to reach perfection in color. 
 
 Should all the breeders of Plymouth Rocks step out 
 boldly, using none but perfect-colored sires, they would 
 perfect the color of their breed, which they will never do 
 by mating extremes, as is now the universal rule. Why 
 do these breeders forget these facts : " That every seed 
 should bring forth after its kind''; that the sire in his 
 line has the greatest influence in determining the color of 
 the offspring, and that there is a loss in color by breeding? 
 
170 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Waste is written on everything. We are compelled 
 to establish a sinking fund in all operations in life, life 
 itself working on that plan. 
 
 In all penciled or barred plumage we find the 
 ground color to be the lighter in shade ; and as breed- 
 ing strength fails (as it may by severe in-and-in breed- 
 ing, producing debility or a weakened constitution) we 
 find the progeny reverting to this lighter or ground 
 color, those of white losing their brilliancy of color, 
 black becoming mixed with white ; Light Brahmas 
 growing pale, and even white in the neck, tail and 
 wings, and finally yellowish white; Buff Cochins to 
 pale buff, white in flights and tail ; Partridge-Cochins 
 to clay-colored breasts, not penciled, and males buff- 
 mottled in breast ; the Golden-Spangled cock to red- 
 dish brown breasts, with white appearing along the, 
 lower line of the body ; therefore good color not only 
 requires the best mating of blood, but is also depend- 
 ent upon the health of the parent birds while breeding. 
 
 Nine-tenths of all the blunders in mating for breed- 
 ing occur in 
 
 COLOR, 
 
 and a corresponding number of all the breeders, in 
 mating their stock, fail to consider that color is the 
 especial work of the sire. 
 
 To be sure, good care and generous food help most 
 materially, for feathers, like grass, grow most luxuri- 
 antly under favorable circumstances. Poor food, poor 
 plumage. It starves alike with the body. This can 
 well be remembered by those who expect they have 
 done their whole duty when they buy nice stock and 
 expect it to produce premium chickens. 
 
 
MATING, 171 
 
 The color of the hackle of a sire is to be considered, 
 especially as it is to influence and control the hackles 
 of his sons, for the hackle is purely male plumage, and 
 the beauty of his sex ; while the color of his neck, 
 before putting on his garb, will determine his breeding- 
 strength in the color of his pullets. A male that grows 
 up black in neck, to be replaced or covered by a white 
 hackle, having a yellow beak void of a black stripe, 
 will, as a rule, beget pullets dark and many quite black 
 and smutty in the neck, and male chicks white in the 
 hackle, like himself ; while a male with dark beak, very 
 dark neck and back, as he becomes a cockerel, having a 
 royal rich black striped hackle, will generally beget 
 both sexes too dark, if anything like Standard females 
 are mated to him. But such males are very valuable 
 in restoring the progeny of hens that are light in color 
 of neck, wings and tails ; thus utilizing hens that must 
 otherwise go to the block. 
 
 The reader may ask why recommend the mating of 
 very dark sires to light females, and condemn matings 
 made "vice versa." 
 
 In answer we will say : 
 
 1. The tendency is always to breed lighter in color, 
 and the sire fails in this respect. 
 
 2. The sire, in his line, has the greatest control of 
 the color of the offspring. 
 
 3. Chickens favor more strongly the grandsire. 
 
 4. A white-necked sire will beget smutty-necked 
 females, which in turn revert to their pale sire, and if 
 a like sire be mated to the rule of all white under-color, 
 the same having been the breeding of the females, 
 they will produce progeny all pale and faulty in color. 
 
172 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Experience teaches that cockerels with dark fine 
 hackles, bluish undercolor, and black wing-flights and 
 tail, are the progeny of perfect or dark-plumaged sires. 
 So universally true is this that it may be accepted as a 
 rule. 
 
 Our strongest argument in favor of the dark sire 
 and rejection of the pale one is that experience says it 
 is best, and that is our law. 
 
 The male of all breeds whose plumage is made up 
 of black and white, or is parti-colored, owing to their 
 profusion of hackle and tail, compared with the females 
 of their breed, appear much lighter in color ; conse- 
 quently they are darker in breeding functions than 
 they appear ; and the first point an experienced breeder 
 considers, in Penciled and Spangled Hamburgs and 
 Plymouth Rocks, is the breast, bars of the wings, and 
 color of beak, before considering the general surface 
 color, knowing that if dark or light in these points that 
 such will be the breeding and influence on the prog- 
 eny. 
 
 Many find fault with the Standard, saying that to 
 mate specimens by it is to make a failure in breeding. 
 
 The fault is not so much in the Standard as in our 
 failure to consider the difference in the plumage of the 
 sexes when we apply the Standard. 
 
 Size in the sire is of little importance if he be fully 
 up to the medium weight of his race. An overgrown 
 sire is useless as a breeder. The one just above the 
 average, vigorous and healthy, will beget one hu-ndred 
 chicks weighing more pounds than will the overgrown 
 male of the same brood. 
 
 Size and weight should be considered in the light of 
 
WHITE LEGHORNS. 
 
 173 
 
i 
 
 MATING. 175 
 
 the general average. The best sire is the one that 
 shows the least difference in the weight of the indi- 
 viduals of his progeny. 
 
 In the small breeds we may with safety choose our 
 sires above the average weight, for it is a singular fact 
 that in the largest specimens of the Asiatics and the 
 smallest specimens of the smaller breeds will be found 
 the most faulty birds. 
 
 This question of mean weight has been one of con- 
 tention among breeders, for a large appearing specimen 
 in the show coop for a long time in America, while 
 open judging was the rule, generally won the prizes. 
 Those who believed in all the breeds that practical 
 worth should be closely watched, that by breeding they 
 should not suffer and be disgraced, soon saw that ex- 
 cessive weight was not found in the most prolific speci- 
 mens, also that many a bird had the credit of being 
 large without the weight, as tested by the scales ; that 
 a long loose plumage as a rule did not cover the birds 
 of the most merit as egg-producers, and soon in the 
 American Standard size became size and weight, and 
 finally, in the last edition, weight only. The best meat 
 is that which is firm in fiber. The blocky, solid, 
 close-feathered, smooth-surface plumaged birds as a 
 rule are the best practically, and we in the past fifteen 
 years have seen a vast improvement in all the larger or 
 Asiatic breeds. The question is no longer. Is he the 
 largest one in the exhibition ? but. Is he the best one ? 
 Is the strain a practical one ? Do they lay at an early 
 age? and. Are they prolific layers? And from such the 
 breeders are looking for sires. The fact that a male is 
 half the breeding pen makes it all-important that he not 
 
176 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 only be typical in all the foregoing, but that his worth 
 often is increased threefold from being the son of an 
 especially prolific dam, and pedigree in fowls is no longer 
 looked upon in derision, but many times demanded by 
 the would-be purchaser. If the breeder cannot give 
 authentic pedigrees he has to be able to state of what 
 the strain, and show that the stock has not been subject 
 to mongrel crosses in his hands, to hold the trade. 
 Whatever is of advantage in breeding, whatever of im- 
 portance pedigree is in horse and cattle, so in a corre- 
 sponding degree is it of worth in fowls ; and one does 
 well in his selection of sires to see that their pedigree 
 is in keeping with their physical development and 
 color. 
 
 THE DAM. 
 
 Constitution, prolific-laying, size and color, are im- 
 portant, and are to be preferred in the order named. 
 In addition to this a good record of blood and egg- 
 productive merit in her ancestry are to be considered 
 in selecting dams for any breed. 
 
 A sound constitution and perfect health while breed- 
 ing has much to do with producing prolific-laying 
 stock; also with the luster and brilliancy of self- 
 colors. 
 
 The dam produces the material for the chicken- 
 structure ; the sire the life of that structure. 
 
 The egg is to the chicken what the endosperm is to 
 plant life — a store-house containing the requisites to 
 produce a perfect chicken structure. The life-germ 
 that is to absorb all this, being thereby built up into 
 independent life, is imparted by the sire. 
 
MATING. 177 
 
 Unlike the animal kingdom, the hen performs her 
 work as independently and completely without the 
 male, as by copulation with him. 
 
 The egg-passage, running from the egg-sac to the 
 vent, is a receptacle, a work-house, in which the secre- 
 tions of both dam and sire are made up into packages 
 called eggs. In this work-room impregnation takes 
 place. The 'ovaria, when grown to a certain size, burst 
 their sacks and are expelled into this oviduct, there to 
 receive the spermatozoa of the male, and in their pas- 
 sage through become incased in the albumen, the lin- 
 ing and shell in turn, and expelled at the vent, perfect 
 eggs. 
 
 There are in this passage, while a hen is in a healthy 
 laying condition, from four to six eggs in their differ- 
 ent stages of development ; the last two nearest the 
 vent being beyond the influence of the male, if the 
 hen has not been previously exposed. 
 
 All the secretions deposited in the egg-passage must 
 find an escape at the vent, for nothing goes back from 
 it into the dam's organism by absorption, as is asserted 
 by some writers. 
 
 We have seen cases where, by means of a cartilagi- 
 nous circle about the vent, fowls have been prevented 
 from laying their eggs, and in such cases the eggs in 
 the egg-passage will form one over the other till death 
 is caused by inward pressure ; and we have before now 
 taken from the carcass a mass as large as a six-pound 
 cannon-shot, cooked solid by fever heat. We have 
 taken from the egg-passage of a turkey five eggs, com- 
 pletely formed and shelled, completely cooked by in- 
 flammation. 
 
178 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 . The following experiments seem to prove that the 
 spermatozoa will live, doing its work of impregnation, 
 in this egg-passage, only about ten days, and we may 
 say that the dam is pregnant for that length of time. 
 
 We placed a hen that had hatched and reared a 
 brood of chicks, without exposure, with a cock for 
 three hours, then isolated her in a coop by herself. 
 The first two eggs she laid in the next forty-eight 
 hours were not fertile ; eight of the nine laid in the 
 ten days thereafter were fertile. Those laid after 
 that time were not fertile. 
 
 We placed a hen by herself that had been exposed 
 while rearing her brood, and seven out of the eight 
 eggs laid during the ten days afterward were fertile, 
 but all eggs laid after that time were not. 
 
 We took a hen that had just finished her litter, 
 wanting to incubate, and exposed her to the male for 
 three days, then cooped her by herself. None of her 
 eggs were fertile. In this case we take it for granted 
 the incubating fever had not abated so as to admit of 
 an effective copulation. 
 
 These experiments, which we can vouch, for, seem 
 to indicate that if females are cooped ten days before 
 saving the eggs it will protect the breeder in the 
 purity of the blood of the chickens ; but as some 
 believe that the whole litter of eggs is affected it is 
 the better plan, in changing hens from one male to 
 another, to do it at the close of a litter of eggs ; but 
 we are satisfied that after the fifth egg, after the 
 change is made, the chicks would in nineteen cases 
 in twenty be the progeny of the associate sire. 
 
 We believe the longer the spermatozoa remains in 
 
MATING. 179 
 
 the egg-passage without being appropriated the more 
 sluggish it becomes, and that the fresh semen, being 
 more active in its animalcule life, secures the impregna- 
 tion of the eggs. This is speculation, but, neverthe- 
 less, in accordance with our experience. 
 
 If examined by the microscope there will be found 
 no organic difference in the germ found in the yelk of 
 the egg and that of the freshly ejected spermatozoa, 
 both resembling a polywog, and there is no chance, as 
 the author of "Secrets in Fowl-Breeding" asserts, for 
 the dam to be contaminated by a chance copulation 
 with a male not of her breed. 
 
 There can be no grounds for belief that a dam cop- 
 ulating with a sire of a different breed has lost her 
 purity of blood, and that we can never afterward 
 breed thoroughbred stock from her. We do not 
 wonder, if he believes this, that he asserts, in the com- 
 mencement of his work, that we have no absolutely 
 thoroughbred fowls. 
 
 There can be no contamination of the blood or 
 breeding of the dam from this cause, unless it can be 
 proved that there is a union of arterial circulation 
 between the fetus or chick and the dam. This is be- 
 yond proof, for there is no circulation in the egg till 
 incubation takes place, and this is carried on inde- 
 pendent of the dam, and may be a thousand miles 
 away. Again, we have cases on record where an egg 
 laid thirty-three hours after copulation hatched. It is 
 clearly shown that the two eggs nearest to the vent are 
 generally past impregnation, but in this case the 
 second one was reached, and OAving to the time it 
 takes to develop an egg the vital germ must have been 
 
180 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 taken into the egg at once, which precludes altogether 
 the idea that the dam becomes injured in her blood by 
 absorption through the act of copulation out of her 
 breed. 
 
 We are surprised to see men foreshadowing this 
 belief in their advertisements, for surely breeders of 
 experience cannot believe it, and must look upon it as 
 advancing a false theory, which does the amateur no 
 good. 
 , Size in the dam is all-important if great weight in 
 the progeny is* the desideratum ; for, as we have shown, 
 the dam furnishes the structure, and must thereby 
 control the size to a much greater extent than the sire. 
 
 Secure dams of good average size. If they are to 
 be used to vitalize some other strain it is necessary 
 that they be coarse in structure and large in bone, 
 for these qualities become toned down by in-breeding. 
 They should also be dark in plumage to counteract 
 the loss of color in breeding. In support of the 
 above we will say that -we mated two large hens to a 
 cockerel weighing less than nine pounds, and which, 
 as a cock, did not reach twelve pounds till three years 
 old, and then only when exceedingly fat. Not one of 
 his progeny, at eight months old, weighed less than 
 nine pounds, and many of them twelve and one-half 
 , pounds. Again, we mated a cock of ten and one-half 
 pounds to ten-pound hens, and the result was, at ten 
 months old the entire male progeny was larger than 
 the sire, many of the cockerels weighing twelve and 
 one-half pounds before twelve months old. Yet for 
 all this we would caution breeders not to go to ex- 
 tremes in this direction. 
 
MATING. 181 
 
 The larger the bone and structure the longer it will 
 take to mature the specimen. 
 
 The smaller the bone and offal, in comparison to 
 weight, the quicker will they mature. As a rule such 
 chickens are the most profitable as poultry, giving 
 better returns for food consumed. They lay earlier 
 in life, and such are always the most prolific layers 
 through life. 
 
 These early-maturing, compact, close-feathered 
 birds generally win the early exhibitions, while those 
 of larger bone and more fluffy plumage, requiring more 
 time to mature them, have been more successful in the 
 show pen in the winter months. 
 
 Both these types the breeder of Asiatics is com- 
 pelled to breed, for both have their admirers, the 
 poulterer and those of a practical turn of mind pre- 
 ferring the former, and many of the fanciers the latter. 
 
 Our own idea, and we believe the true position, is 
 to take the happy medium, and advance in size no 
 faster than we can secure with it the full merit of egg 
 production and symmetry. 
 
 Breeders have been too apt to believe in the adage 
 that like produces like, and carry their belief to the 
 individual, and for reason of this belief have many 
 times discarded the very best birds of the flock so far 
 as color goes, but we will take this rhatter up under the 
 proper heads. Most prominent and most to be consid- 
 ered in both sire and dam are 
 
 BREAST AND BODY. 
 
 These are of more importance, especially in the 
 form of structure, for practical use and in the exhibi- 
 tion pen than many at first conceive. 
 
182 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 A specimen perfect in these respects has an in- 
 creased chance to win over one failing in these points, 
 for a failure of two points in form of breast and body 
 will affect the symmetry of the specimen two points 
 more, making in the aggregate four points ; while to 
 fail even four points in the hackle (and such a speci- 
 men is seldom exhibited, since it has no associate in- 
 fluence) is no worse for the specimen than two points 
 as described above — a hint breeders may well heed in 
 selecting their breeding stock or specimens for exhibi- 
 tion. 
 
 How few specimens we see that fill literally the re- 
 quirements of the Standard, " breast full, broad, round, 
 carried well forward, body broad and deep, which, to 
 secure this shape in breast must be rounded at the side, 
 giving the round side-sweep which is admired wherever 
 seen." 
 
 All who saw Light Brahma cock Leo 2'j']6, exhib- 
 ited at Lowell by Damon & Marshall, or the Dark 
 Brahma cockerel exhibited at Boston by Mr. Water- 
 house in the winter of 1876-77 will appreciate this 
 merit. 
 
 This formation gives better form and carriage of 
 wings, finer symmetry and more grace of carriage, yet 
 we see many birds used by breeders failing in all this 
 and their place usurped by others whose only excellence 
 is a good neck-hackle. A word to the wise is sufficient. 
 
 MATING OF THE SEXES. 
 
 In relation to color in the breeds we consider first 
 the Light Brahmas, for it is with this breed we have 
 
MATING. 183 
 
 worked out most of our experience, and it comes easier 
 for us to employ it in illustration ; but in all other 
 breeds, so far as they have been as well established in 
 blood, and bred upon the same plan or rule, we find the 
 same results. 
 
 We can give no rule to be applied to all breeds unless 
 all breeders have established the rule of breeding one 
 line of sires, preserving it unbroken, and breeding all 
 new blood introduced back to sires of the strain, basing 
 all on the law of in-breeding. We expect some may 
 mate by our advice as they understand it, and fail ; but 
 It will not be the fault of the rule, but the fault of the 
 previous breeding of the stock. 
 
 Before going further we will explain what we term 
 the " cape." It is the feathers that grow from the 
 shoulder joints along the arm of the wing and cover 
 the back entirely at the neck, spreading laterally toward 
 the tail, helping to form the flatness of the back between 
 the shoulders, and is covered by the hackle of the bird 
 when standing erect. In Light Brahmas it is either black, 
 black and white, or white, and either must be tolerated 
 in the breed. The wings and neck are made up of black 
 and white, and the cape is the connecting link of these 
 two sections ; and where a pure white cape is found, 
 generally the specimen fails in color of wing or is short 
 in the stripe of hackle-feathers ; yet for all this, some 
 judges will cut a color other than white in this locality. 
 As a defect the present rendering of the Standard makes 
 the color for males to read : black and white, wholly 
 white becoming defective ; and that of the females to 
 read: white or white and black. Should the cape become 
 wholly black in a female, she would have to be cut for 
 
184 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 the defect. With these remarks we would mate as 
 follows : 
 
 LIGHT BRAHMAS. 
 
 Mating No. i. — Cockerel in form and color as 
 described by the Standard, weighing from ten and one- 
 half to eleven and one-quarter pounds, with the stripe 
 in hackle-feathers, black commencing well up and run- 
 ning in a narrow, clear black stripe to the point, dark 
 beak, cape black and white, undercolor bluish-white, 
 with deep bay eyes. 
 
 Hens weighing from nine to ten pounds; in form 
 and color as described by the Standard, and white and 
 black cape, with white undercolor and bay eyes. 
 
 This I think none will deny is mating by the Stand- 
 ard, and we call it the " ne plus ultra " for all Light 
 Brahmas for the male line of one's strain. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Cocks with wide black stripe in 
 hackle and black ticks discernible in saddle near the tail, 
 cape black and white, undercolor nearly white, medium 
 dark beak, and bay eyes ; in other respects as described 
 by Standard, weighing from eleven and one-half to 
 twelve and one-half pounds. 
 
 Pullets in form and color as described by the Stand- 
 ard, being dark in the cape and bluish-white at shoulder, 
 shading to white toward the tail, white undercolor, 
 selecting them well up in size. Such a mating will pro- 
 duce females that should please all. This and the 
 Mating No. i we term perfect in all respects, as neither 
 of the specimens are disqualified, but there is a mating 
 we prize better than all, from the fact that the results 
 from it are always good and the pullets used always 
 sell for the most as hens, for the reason that in seven 
 
LIGHT BRAHMAS. 
 
 1S5 
 
MATING. 187 
 
 out of ten they molt out all the disqualification which 
 has forced them the first year to remain on our hands, 
 and in Mating No. j we describe two sets of females 
 that we would use, the first being the disqualified one. 
 
 Mating No. j. — Mate males M'ith hackles that have 
 a good fair black stripe, but edge of feathers free from 
 any smoky tinge, nearly white undercolor and cape, 
 wing-flights about one-half black, coverlets of tail 
 black, laced with white, lesser coverlets white. Fe- 
 males of Standard form, intense black stripe in hackle, 
 very dark cape, undercolor of back so dark as to show 
 black spots in the web, but not on the surface, tail 
 black, flights black, Standard in other respects. We 
 have been criticised for this mating, but we do know 
 that such females produce the largest number of 
 chicks to score ninety or more points, when mated as 
 above. 
 
 Mating No. /j.. — Male as described in No. 3. To 
 females that have neck nearly black or what is called 
 smutty, the white edge of feather smoky edged or en- 
 tirely wanting, with black cape and dark undercolor. 
 Of course, in all thes-s matings for color, the form of 
 structure is taken for granted to be as near the Stand- 
 ard as we can find it ; the males to be of Standard 
 weight and the females well up to or beyond the weight 
 laid down for perfection. 
 
 Mating No. 5. — Males very dark in hackle, even 
 smoky edged, beak very dark in stripe, cape and under- 
 color very dark, even showing in web of feather, wings* 
 as dark as possible, tail black, and eyes a deep bay. 
 (The bay eye is the strongest sighted and the strongest 
 breeder.) 
 
188 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Females with extremely light necks, wings, cape, 
 undercolor and tail, and light or pearl eyes — in fact in 
 and of themselves worthless, only as they possess good 
 blood, being unfortunate in individual appearance — 
 what the writer terms scrubs. 
 
 This last we term utility mating, and rarely none 
 but the first three matings should be found in tlie 
 breeding pens of any first-class breeder. But there are 
 poor people whose purses are not long enough to pay 
 for the best birds, and they are compelled to buy from 
 the last two matings and wait a year or two to produce 
 the fine ones they covet, — this theory will surely do. 
 If the blood be pure they will have some as fine birds 
 as from the last, but not as large a percentage of their 
 chicks will be found in the list above ninety points. 
 
 This mating utilizes many birds that would other- 
 wise go to the block. Such mating of these extremes 
 in color many times produces fine chickens. A breeder 
 carried away by in-and-in breeding oversteps the 
 bounds of reason, and this great want of color is the 
 result. His birds being well bred, the restoration of 
 color is easily accomplished. You may say we should 
 not give countenance to such mating. Would you 
 send to the butcher a white Princess Shorthorn heifer, 
 or would you breed her to a red bull and make her val- 
 uable in color of her calves? Her pedigree, which 
 shows her blood to be very fine, is the guarantee that 
 if judiciously mated she will produce good results, and 
 for this last mating we will say that with the exception 
 of five to seven per cent of the chicks they will most 
 likely be of as good an average of the Mating No. 4. 
 
 All the male progeny of this Mating No. 5 that 
 
MATING. 189 
 
 does not come well up to the Standard should be killed 
 for poultry. It is a questionable policy to use the 
 males as stock-birds (and especially if they are to fill 
 the place as one of your line of sires) that come from 
 this extreme mating. All faded, white-hackled males 
 should be killed. 
 
 Let these rules of mating Light Brahmas, also the 
 rule of breeding in line of sires, be rigidly observed, 
 taking into the breeding-stock no more than one-fourth 
 of blood other than the strain, and it will matter not 
 whether it be Felch, Autocrat or English, the result 
 cannot fail to be good with the necessary difference in 
 the relationships of the different matings described. 
 
 DARK BRAHMAS. 
 
 To make a rule and have it apply to all breeds it is 
 necessary that the circumstances be the same in each 
 case, and when we offer a rule for mating Dark Brahmas 
 upon principles derived from experiments wrought out 
 with the light variety, we expect the same results, 
 if the same rule of breeding, viz., adhering to a line of 
 male ancestry, has been observed. We say male line, 
 for it is that line which has the greatest influence, as we 
 have shown. 
 
 There is no breed that has proved so disastrous in 
 the hands of amateurs as the Dark Brahma, and with 
 which we have to be so cautious when we introduce- 
 new blood. The peculiar color and penciling of the 
 plumage is such that a radical change of blood always 
 deranges it, and, therefore, the necessity of a slow 
 process of feeding the blood. While a three-fourths 
 bred Light Brahma would be nearly perfect, the dark 
 
190 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 variety would not carry more than an eighth of blood 
 out of the family, and retain the family characteristics 
 of penciling and shade. 
 
 This makes it a necessity to first establish family 
 strains of blood, and then adhere closely to an unbroken 
 line of sires, breeding back to that line of sires when- 
 ever new blood is introduced. There is no breed that 
 demonstrates this necessity more clearly. For a striking 
 example of it, we have only to call to mind the king of 
 1877, the cockerel "Agamemnon," bred by Chas. A. 
 Sweet, of Buffalo, N. Y., that won first and special at 
 the International Exhibition held at Buffalo, N. Y., in 
 February, 1877. This bird came from an unbroken line 
 of sires for four generations from an imported bird, and 
 from a female line bred back strongly to the same line 
 of sires. 
 
 When the breeders of this variety will recognize this 
 necessity, and each of the different importations be 
 preserved as near as possible in the family purity of 
 blood, then will they be more valuable to the trade, as 
 we have shown in speaking of the strains of Light 
 Brahmas. Then, also, can we apply the following rules 
 with almost as certain results as can be obtained with 
 other breeds. 
 
 Were we to make a specialty of the breed, we would 
 select the best cockerel we could find, and a large-boned 
 pullet with coarsely-penciled plumage, each from differ- 
 ent families of blood, and breed them and their progeny 
 for four years, as follows: 
 
DARK BRAHMAS. 
 
 191 
 
MATING. 193 
 
 
 
 
 G8 
 
 
 
 
 Cock I 
 
 
 c 
 
 ex. 
 
 G.5 
 
 
 G9 
 
 ^M^' 
 
 V 
 
 ^-^ 
 
 G2^ 
 
 ::^ 
 
 ^■"^ 
 
 GJIO^ 
 
 ^^^X) 
 
 \ 
 
 Group 1 
 
 / 
 
 > J^ 
 
 ■Ip 
 
 \ 
 
 c\ 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 c^ 
 
 
 G6(LX. 
 
 Daml 
 
 
 HI 
 
 G7 
 
 ■"-^-.^ 
 
 G12 
 
 ^^-Vgi5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 G16 
 
 Mating the first year to produce group i ; the 
 second year a pullet from group i to cockerel No. i ; a 
 cockerel the exact type of his sire to hen No. i ; a 
 cockerel like the sire to the pullet approaching the 
 nearest to perfection, breeding them in-and-in, pro- 
 ducing in their turn groups 2, 3 and 4, and the third 
 year mating as indicated by the lines, producing groups 
 Nos. 5, 6 and 7 ; in all the young stock using no males 
 that were not the type of the sire, nor pullets other 
 than the desired type in penciling of feathers and form 
 of structure. In this way producing three families 
 alike in type and different in blood, yet made of the 
 same cross. This trouble will put any breeder on a 
 firm footing, and ever afterward if he uses none but 
 females in the introduction of new blood, and receives 
 group 7 in the light of new blood, disposing of the 
 cockerels, putting in the new hen 8, breeding as indicated 
 by the lines, disposing of all cockerels as scrubs or 
 poultry that have not more than fifty per cent of the 
 
194 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 blood of the strain, he will need have no fear that his 
 birds will not breed well and his customers be pleased. 
 
 We can recommend the following matings with a 
 feeling of certainty as to 'grand results: 
 
 Mating No. i. — Hens that are standard, which were 
 nearly perfect, steel-gray pullets in their first year 
 mated to a cockerel, metallic-black in breast and thighs, 
 medium dark beak, hackle and saddle, broad in the 
 black stripe and decided in shade. This mating should 
 be made in producing the male line. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Hens that were fine as pullets but 
 have become bronze-hued as fowls mated to a cockerel 
 with a black breast, evenly dotted with minute white 
 spots, black thighs, hackle and saddle well striped, and 
 medium dark beak. 
 
 Mati^ig No. J. — To pullets that are as near the 
 Standard as possible, having closely-penciled throats, 
 mate a cock black in breast and thighs, which as a 
 cockerel had a breast spotted, as described in No. 2. 
 This will produce the best females. 
 
 Mating No. ^. — To pullets good in other respects 
 but light in color of breast, mate cocks black in breast 
 and thighs, with broad black stripe in hackle and sad- 
 dle, with very dark beak, said cock having been black- 
 breasted when a chick. 
 
 Mating No 5. — To hens good in color which as pul- 
 lets were not penciled in breast, mate cockerels dark in 
 all respects, even in beak, stripe of hackle, breast and 
 thighs ; the white even so charged as to be smoky- 
 laced. This is in keeping with mating No. 5 of Light 
 Brahmas. 
 
 Nos. I and 3 are the 7ie plus ultra of all the breeds. 
 
MATING. 195 
 
 In all these matings we should prefer long-bodied 
 hens, but not so long as to narrow at the saddle. The 
 cock should have sufficient length of back to preserve 
 the true Brahma type. The race is too fast approach- 
 ing the Cochin shape, an evil I hope the breeders will 
 strive to remedy, for in doing so they will have less 
 trouble in keeping up the breed to Standard weight. 
 This point should be kept in mind when introducing 
 new blood, and large, coarse specimens should be 
 chosen, for they tone down wonderfully by in-breeding. 
 
 If a strain is disposed to breed extremely light in 
 color, then no cockerels with spotted breasts should be 
 used even in Mating No. 2 ; but should they be predis- 
 posed to the dark extreme, cocks with spotted breasts 
 should be used in Mating No. i, and cocks slightly 
 mottled in their breasts in Mating No. 3. 
 
 All really light-colored, stripeless-hackled and sad- 
 dled cockerels should be killed, for their use will, as a 
 rule, produce bad results. All pale, non-penciled- 
 breasted pullets should be used as incubators the first 
 year, and all that do not ripen into good color and 
 have penciled breasts, as hens, should be used as 
 poultry. The others should be mated as in Mating 
 No. 5. 
 
 We cannot leave the breed without a word to such 
 breeders as Mr. Sweet and Mr. Mansfield, who we learn 
 have devoted much thought to their breeding, and who 
 are, in a measure, breeding upon the plan herein laid 
 down, expressing a hope that they will preserve their 
 strains as pure in family blood as possible, and that 
 in connection with the breeding of their stock they will 
 use a public record for the preservation of the history 
 
196 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 of their respective strains, either the "World's Pedigree 
 Book" or the "American Poultry Association's Reg- 
 ister." 
 
 Buyers of this breed are seeing this necessity, and 
 we believe it will pay for the trouble. The history of 
 this breed has been much like that of the first ten years 
 of the Light Brahmas. The fact that the majority of 
 the breeders believe frequent crosses necessary, and 
 the complication of color, has been the means of caus- 
 ing many to abandon the breed. We believe the breed 
 can be made a popular one if the rules herein laid 
 down are followed. 
 
 PARTRIDGE-COCHINS. 
 
 Mati7tg No. I. — Cockerel weighing ten to eleven 
 pounds, hackle and saddle rich bay, the black in the 
 same being metallic greenish-black and broad in the 
 stripe, metallic-black breast and thighs, fluff showing 
 a bronze tinge, indicative of rich brown blood. 
 
 Hens as described in the Standard. This mating 
 is the best that can be made for the male progeny. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Cock weighing eleven to twelve 
 pounds, and of the same color as described for cockerel 
 in Mating No. i. 
 
 Pullets large in size, and in color reddish-brown 
 ground, penciled with a deep brown, with Standard 
 neck and tail. This mating will produce finer females 
 than males. 
 
 Mating No. j. — Males showing bronze-black tips to 
 breast feathers, even slight mottlings of bay color, 
 with thighs slightly bronzed, and a narrow black stripe 
 in the hackle and saddle. 
 
197 
 
MATING. 199 
 
 Females in plumage brown, penciled with black. 
 Such faulty hens, by this mating, help to produce 
 many good males. 
 
 Mating No. ^. — Males very dark in beak, hackle, 
 saddle, breast and thighs, wings and tail. Females 
 favoring the light extreme, being lightly penciled in 
 breast, with hackle in which the penciling of brown 
 mottles the black stripe. This mating, like the dark 
 sire Mating No. 5, in the Light Brahmas, often pro- 
 duces fine chicks. 
 
 All pale-hackled, splashed-breasted, and bronzed- 
 thighed males should be killed, and in subsequent 
 matings so mate that one of the sex shall come from 
 either mating No. i or No. 2. Females with clay or 
 non-penciled breasts, or those with leaden-gray and 
 black mixed in the plumage, should never be used as 
 breeders. 
 
 It is a sad sight to see so many specirriens fail in 
 color. Many are better described as brown penciled 
 with black, and buff penciled with brown. The Stand- 
 ard color, " rich brown penciled with a darker brown," 
 should be better appreciated ; so popular has the red- 
 dish buff penciled with dark brown become that the 
 judge who literally follows the Standard finds many to 
 condemn his judgment. 
 
 This breed is as difificult to handle as the Dark 
 Brahmas, and equal care in introducing new blood 
 should be exercised. 
 
 The breed requires close breeding to maintain the fine 
 outlines of penciling, and we think if all the statistics 
 could be procured it would be proved that more prize- 
 winners have come from the breeding-in line, as we 
 
200 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 know to be the case in other breeds. The above have 
 been the matings of Partridge-Cochins for the past ten 
 years, and perhaps cannot be altered for the better ; 
 yet were we to make up one pen for a gentleman 
 for his own especial use we should do it as follows: 
 
 THE SINGLE PEN MATING. 
 
 A cockerel with a head short, with plumage dark 
 red, low comb, bay eyes, short, well arched beak, with 
 dark brown stripe down the upper mandible, wattles 
 well developed, but not wrinkled ; ear-lobe large, neck 
 well arched, not long in appearance, having a full .flow- 
 ing hackle, that was the color of a dark Mandarin 
 orange, with a clear black stripe down the center, ter- 
 minating in a nice fine tapering point that reached the 
 point of the feather ; no white under color of the hackle ; 
 with a back deep red, matching the wing-bows of same 
 color, and representing with them a deep red saddle- 
 bag thrown across his back — the saddle that had a 
 crowning sweep from back to tail of orange-red striped 
 to match the rieck plumage ; breast that was round as 
 an apple, and carried forward with prominence; color 
 of the same, being black with bronze reflections ; wings, 
 other than the rose, being black in the butts, with 
 bronze-black bars, such as would be about a point 
 defective by the Standard ; tail black, with greenish 
 reflections, fluffs black, smoked over with a reddish 
 bronze, that did not show at a distance ; legs set well 
 apart, apparently strong with outer and middle toes 
 and shank well feathered with black and brown feath- 
 ers ; no white in tail or wing flight, the latter having a 
 broad maroon stripe on the outer web ; no white under 
 
MATING. 203 
 
 color of saddle. Such a male, to score about ninety- 
 two points by the Standard, would be a most royal 
 breeder mated to hens and pullets described by 
 the Standard, with, say, three in twelve being dark 
 specimens, just dark enough to lose in color of back 
 and wings, three points for bay to dark, the dark pen- 
 ciling being the predominating color. They would look 
 a trifle dark, but not mar the even look of the flock at 
 a distance. Such a mating, to our minds, would be 
 the most valuable one a breeder could make, and 
 should demand the highest price. 
 
 BUFF COCHINS. 
 
 There is no more beautiful picture on the lawn than 
 a prime, even-colored reddish-buff male, and twelve 
 females that match him in color — in their fresh and 
 unbroken plumage. To mate which, however, birds, if 
 of the same age, if the pullets be of a pure clear reddish 
 buff (orange buff, the term some use), and a cock be 
 their mate, may be of the same color. Such a male 
 would have been as a cockerel, a very dark, almost a 
 red buff, so to speak. This inexorable law of decay 
 makes us ever on the lookout for this waste in color. 
 We therefore say : 
 
 THE MATING 
 
 most to be coveted would be a cock of one even red- 
 dish-buff color from head to tail, with no white under 
 color in him ; his tail black, tipped out with chestnut ; 
 the coverts chestnut, streaked with dark color; lesser 
 coverts reddish buff, and in form Standard, or to con- 
 form to description given in gentleman's mating for 
 Partridge-Cochins. To such a sire mate pullets of the 
 
204 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 same rich buff color free from white in flights and 
 undercolor, chestnut tail or buff, dark color showing in 
 flights. Pullets fully up to Standard weight. With 
 such a mating males and females would appear in the 
 progeny of a high order. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — A cocjcerel of a deep reddish-buff 
 color, with chestnut tail and wings, Standard in other 
 respects, should be mated to hens that are pure buff in 
 color, medium in shade, and in form of structure as 
 described in the Standard, coming from pullets the 
 year before that were dark buff. 
 
 Mating No. j. — A cock of medium shade, the result 
 of a reddi h-buff cockerel, but showing black in wings 
 and tail, mated to pullets that are good exhibition color, 
 will produce fine females, while pullets very dark in 
 shade mated to this same bird will produce fine males. 
 
 Mating No. /f.. — Males dark in every respect, even 
 having nearly black tails, should be mated to hens of 
 pale buff, though of an even shade. Where pullets are 
 used in same pen with hens the pullets should be fully 
 five to seven shades darker if the male is to prove 
 equally good in his mating with both. 
 
 This, as looked at from a Light Brahma standpoint, 
 may not seem good policy. But many a buff breeder 
 has learned to his sorrow and the flattening out of his 
 purse that in killing for several years these reddish-buff 
 males that they appear less frequent in the chickens, 
 and he has rejoiced at it, till he came to mate up in the 
 spring he found all his males tainted with white in 
 flights and tail and undercolor, and he in a position to 
 be obliged to purchase some of those to what has seemed 
 to him scrubs, these dark red buff males, to enable him 
 
MATING. 205 
 
 to regain his lost color. These faded colored hens are 
 the very mates for such birds, and from their female 
 progeny to mate, to reap the benefit of these dark males. 
 When these pullets are mated to Standard-colored 
 males of his strain, show me the man that discards alto- 
 gether these dark males in his breeding, and I will show 
 you a breeder who is mourning over his lost prestige of 
 color in his buff. 
 
 THE BLACK-BREASTED RED GAME. 
 
 King of the gallinaceous race ; to mate which man 
 has only to select Standard specimens, and the work is 
 done. Thoroughbred they are, and have been, since 
 one of them crowed and announced to the world that 
 Peter had denied his Lord. Leaving the ark to found 
 the universal poultry kingdoms, while its sports and 
 arts of men have multiplied the varieties into what we 
 call breeds, it has maintained its individual type and 
 color, suffering man to sway its color a few shades, but 
 ever maintaining that which ever was and ever will be. 
 The Black-Red of the farm-yard. The fashion and par- 
 tiality now tends to a light or orange red and an ashen 
 brown, and demands quite a change in the mating of 
 ten years ago. We therefore make this assertion before 
 going to the work of mating. The Black-Red is the 
 only game that can and does give us chicks true to 
 color and true game type in ninety-two per cent of the 
 chicks raised ; that all others, except the white, will 
 breed Black-Red chicks in their offspring, thus 
 disclosing the fact of their prime sire; that the white 
 disclose their mongrel breeding by the want of true 
 Game Standard form. Therefore in our mating we 
 
206 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 claim that no one can keep up the Games other than 
 Black-Reds without cross breeding, so-called. 
 But to return to Black-Reds, and to give 
 
 THE ROYAL MATING — NO. I. 
 
 A cock with a head medium long, but when trimmed 
 giving a long, clean taper forward, yet set on strong 
 at juncture with neck, beak willow, strong and more 
 than slightly arched, face bright red, plumage being 
 quite red, eyes a bright red, large and full, neck long 
 and arched and in color orange-red (we mean that 
 color seen in the dark-rind oranges, not a red-clay 
 color), the center having a darker shade, but free from 
 any black or dark-brown, the hackle being short and 
 terminating between shoulders and not reaching far on 
 to the back, nor should it cover the shoulder-points 
 of wings. Back (wings being set high up) being 
 flat at juncture with neck, and in color of plumage a 
 rich red, and matching wing-bows in shade; saddle 
 feathers shading from back into an orange-red, the same 
 or a trifle lighter than neck-hackle. Breast should be 
 full enough to have a slight curve in its sweep from 
 shoulder-point to shoulder-point and a fair full sweep 
 from throat to breast-bone, which should be perfectly 
 straight. The body being round at side but tapering 
 at sides to tail, the lower tapering by a curve line of 
 stern to tail, the back being a straight line from hackle 
 to tail, breast and body being a rich metallic black. 
 
 The wing should be in appearance strong, but not 
 too long ; heavy at butts, which causes them to remain 
 uncovered by breast plumage, the points carried close 
 to thigh-points slightly covered by the scanty saddle ; 
 
BLACK 
 
 .BREASTED KED GAMES. 
 
 207 
 
MATING. 209 
 
 thighs strong and medium length, covered with black 
 plumage, which, carried close to the body, are full in 
 outline. Tail medium long. My own taste would be 
 long black, the main sickle being full five inches longer 
 than tail proper, the lesser sickle diminishing in size 
 rapidly to the seventh or smallest, being quite short ; 
 the tail carried close together and at medium height ; 
 shanks olive color, of fair length, not stilty ; toes long, 
 all four flat on the ground, and spur set low down on the 
 shank. 
 
 To such a male breed well grown pullets with 
 small head, long in appearance, plumage light 
 brown, small comb, bright, full, red eyes, with 
 dark horn-colored beaks, ear-lobes red, also wattle, 
 both very small but fine in texture ; neck long but 
 not cranish, having a finished and graceful carriage, 
 the color of plumage being a gold color with black stripe 
 down center (this combining of the colors has given it 
 the Standard description, but we prefer our own); back 
 medium in length, flat-iron shape, wide at shoulder and 
 receding in a taper to tail at sides, but flat straight line 
 on top from shoulder to tail ; breast tolerably full, pre- 
 serving a circular outline from side to side, and throat 
 to breast bone, which should be straight, breast being 
 light salmon color shading to an ashen brown color of 
 body and underparts near thighs. Body compact, solid, 
 tapering toward tail. Stern tapers as much as consist- 
 ent with the sex ; wings fair size, put on high up, which 
 gives the flat appearance of back not held close to 
 breast, but front held smoothly folded close against the 
 sides ; back and wing-bows are ashen brown, penciled 
 with black (but it has the appearance of dark brown 
 
210 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 pencilings), free from a red or salmon tinge, primaries 
 a dull black or dark brown ; tail a dull black, carried 
 at an angle of forty-five degrees and held neatly to- 
 gether ; thighs rather long, sufficiently large to look 
 strong, the plumage a light ashen brown ; shanks should 
 be olive color and of fair length, not stilty ; feet flat 
 on the ground, hind toe being low down on shank and 
 reaching the ground in a fiat pressure. They should be 
 close-feathered specimens, the plumage clinging close 
 to body. 
 
 From this mating the progeny, both male and female, 
 ninety per cent of the chicks will be all one could wish 
 or should expect. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Cockerels, all we have described in 
 the Royal mating, except that in the red of his plumage 
 it be darker in shade, reaching an almost rich red, as 
 seen in the old Standard. 
 
 To them mate hens that were as pullets like pullets 
 of No. I, but have as fowls molted into light brown, 
 penciled with dark brown, their legs and beaks hav- 
 ing taken on the lighter shade of color of age, in fact 
 approaching the color called " Weedon." 
 
 Mating No. j. — A male in form and structure same 
 as described in Royal Mating No. i, except that he 
 be taller, long in thigh and shank and lighter in the red 
 plumage. 
 
 To him mate those pullets that have bred to dark 
 in color throughout, having short thighs and shanks, 
 being dark brown, penciled with black, and having a 
 dark salmon-colored breast. This is a utility mating 
 to be sure. 
 
MATING. 211 
 
 BROWN-BREASTED RED GAMES. 
 
 What may have been said so far as it affects form 
 in the structure of the Royal mating affects the brown 
 red also. But in color a brown-red is a black bird, with 
 the following exceptions : The head plumage is a very 
 dark red, his eyes are black, beak a very dark brownish 
 black, hackle laced with dark red near head and shading 
 in a wide lacing into lemon color at the point, the 
 breast feathers being a reddish brown in the shaft and 
 round the tips laced with same color, black at the neck 
 and shading into a black body and thighs, back and 
 wing-bows a very dark red, saddle shading from dark 
 red into lemon color at points of the feather, neatly 
 striped with a fine line of black ; tail black and like the 
 Royal cock ; legs a dark olive. Such should be the 
 cock in the Royal mating in brown-reds. 
 
 Pullets, in appearance, black, with this qualification : 
 Head dark brownish black, beak black, eyes dark brown 
 or black, comb, ear-lobe and wattles a purple-red, neck 
 plumage lemon color, striped with black ; back a brown- 
 black, legs dark olive; black in all other parts not 
 described and in form of structure as described for hens 
 in Royal black-reds. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Cockerel same in form, color of eyes, 
 shanks as cock described above, except that the breast 
 have only the brown-red shaft in the feather, lacing of 
 hackle being narrow and darker in color, back and wing- 
 bows extremely dark, saddle in the lacing being orange- 
 red instead of lemon color, thighs and shanks very 
 long, balance as to structure as in male No. i. 
 
 Females to be hens that are light color, being nearer 
 
212 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 a dark brown than black, hackle very light, the black 
 stripe in same more or less penciled with lemon color ; 
 thighs and shanks appearing rather short for Game 
 symmetry; eyes and shanks in color as Mating No. i. 
 
 Mating No. j. — Male very high colored in hackle 
 and saddle, with back and wing-bows light red, breast 
 having full shaft and wide lacing of bronze-red, even 
 some breast feathers cherry color, light color beak and 
 legs, eyes approach bay. 
 
 To such, mate females black, with no other color 
 except the gold lacing of the neck plumage with brown 
 and black legs, black beak and black eyes ; in all else 
 Standard described as to form of structure. 
 
 RED PILE GAMES. 
 
 Here we find hard work to keep up to the Standard 
 in color, and a race that loses color fast by both age 
 and by breeding, the average color of the chicks being 
 below the rich color of the parent stock. 
 
 In this breed we have this course only lo pursue, 
 for they are the result of black-red males on white 
 Game hens, or hens white, that have been produced 
 from white sport and white mongrels by breeding into 
 the Game blood, and we must make a large allowance 
 in color decay. 
 
 Mating No. i. — Cock in form and symmetry as 
 described in Standard, but in color to wit: Head chest- 
 nut-red, beak yellow with a dark stripe, eyes red, hackle 
 a deep chestnut-red, back and wing-bows rich red, saddle 
 shading into a light brown red, breast being a white 
 laced with a chestnut color, body and thighs white, tail 
 white, carried as described for Royal cock, shanks yel- 
 
MATING. 213 
 
 low. To such a male breed pullets that are deep brownish 
 red at the head, comb and wattles red, eyes red, neck 
 white, deeply laced with bright gold color, back white, 
 clouded with chestnut color, breast a salmon color, the 
 body having a shading of a light salmon color, ending 
 in thighs white, beak and shank yellow, tail white. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Cockerel Standard in form, but in all 
 the chestnut and shading in color to be of a deeper 
 tinge than described in the cock No. i. To him mate 
 hens that are lighter in their chestnut shading than 
 described for pullets of No. i, mating hens that as pul- 
 lets had filled pen No. i the year before. 
 
 Mating No. j. — A black red male such as I describe 
 for the Royal mating in black red. To him mate females 
 that are nearly white that have been bred from Matings 
 Nos. I and 2, for this is the only way you can keep up 
 color in Red Piles. Kill every male so bred. The 
 prime colored pullets from this mating mated to a light- 
 colored male, the get of No. i, will reduce the blood 
 so the pullets from such a mating can be mated to 
 cockerels that have come in line of No. i. Never, under 
 any circumstances, use a male that is the result of 
 cross-breeding for color as Mating No. 3. 
 
 GOLDEN DUCKWING GAMES. 
 
 Cock Standard in form and stature, with plumage to 
 wit : head straw color, eyes red, hackle the color of the 
 straw of ripe rye, or what is called cut straw — free 
 from dark stripes of any kind ; back a copper red, 
 saddle dark straw color, breast and body black, wing- 
 bows golden red, approaching copper red in center, with 
 black butts and steel-blue wing coverts, which form the 
 
314 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 deep wide bar of the wing, secondaries dull black 
 on inside web, with a yellowish white on outside web, 
 primaries black on upper web and whitish yellow on 
 the lower web, tail and thighs black, beak and shanks 
 yellow. To such a male mate pullets with medium long 
 head, dark gray in color, beak yelk)w, eyes red, neck 
 whitish gray striped with black, neck being medium 
 long, back being a silver gray minutely penciled 
 with black, with the shafts a silver color, breast a rich 
 salmon color, body shading from breast into dark gray 
 with same shade to thighs, wing-bows a silver gray 
 minutely penciled with black, primaries a blue slate, 
 the secondary being a lighter shade called slaty gray, 
 the three rows of single coverts being tinged with the 
 salmon color, shafts of plumage being a white gray, tail 
 proper a slaty black, the tail coverts being of same 
 shade as back, shanks yellow. 
 
 Matifig No. 2. — Cockerel Standard in symmetry and 
 stature, whose neck and saddle are a deep straw color, 
 whose back and wing-bows are very dark red or dark 
 brown copper color. In other respects as in Mating 
 No. I. 
 
 To him mate those hens that are pale salmon color 
 in breast, white lacing to neck hackle. In other respects 
 like pullets described in Mating No. i. 
 
 The mating resorted to to keep up these bright 
 colors is best brought about by the mating of a black 
 red hen that has a faded color, which is known as the 
 " Wheaten Hen," to the cock No. i ; and pullets that 
 come from such a mating that are Standard Golden 
 Duckwing color mate to a cockerel bred from pen No. i 
 that is in neck, hackle and saddle akin to Silver Duck- 
 
MATING, 
 
 215 
 
 wing color. In this way get the benefit of the black 
 red blood that brightens up all Game colors, but never 
 use a male from this cross. 
 
 SILVER DUCKWING GAMES. 
 
 These are simply a Golden Duckwing that have the 
 back and saddle faded to a silver white where it is straw 
 color in the Golden, with a back and wing-bow silver white 
 
 SILVER DUCKWING GAMES 
 
 instead of red or copper color in the male ; and the hen 
 the same as the Golden, only that there is no salmon 
 tinge in the lower part of the wing. Therefore we are 
 obliged in all these Game matings to borrow blood to 
 keep up the colors, and in this breed we say few 
 breeders that breed Yellow Duckwings but what breed 
 the Silver variety also. 
 
216 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 If we knew just what the cross was that produced 
 this variety we should know better how to mate, but 
 reason supports the assertion that the Silver Dorking 
 was the mother crossed with a Golden Duckwing cock, 
 for the variety fails woefully in Game symmetry and 
 stature. To secure a Standard Game symmetry in this 
 race is an exception to the rule. 
 
 We say for Mating No. i. — A cock with a , silver 
 white head, olive beak, red eyes and pure silver hackle 
 (the less hackle we have the better, for the race, as a 
 rule, is heavy in the hackle) ; back and saddle white, 
 breast and body coal black ; primaries and secondary 
 white in their lower web and black in their upper 
 webs ; the bows clear silver white, butts black ; wing- 
 coverts, a steel blue, making prominent bars across 
 wings ; tail wholly black ; thighs long, and shanks 
 medium long and olive in color. To such a male, of 
 Standard form, mate if you have them hens that are of 
 the following description : Head long, color silver gray, 
 willow beaks, eyes red, small combs, whichy with wattles 
 and ear-lobe, are red ; no white in the latter ; neck as 
 long and graceful as possible, being a nice silver gray 
 color, striped with black, the black will be penciled with 
 gray; back and wing-bows silver color, penciled mi- 
 nutely with a dark stone color; shaft of feathers white ; 
 breast, light red wine color, shading to an ashen gray 
 body and thighs, the stern being a steel gray color ; 
 primaries and secondaries are a stone gray, the outer 
 webs being lighter in shade ; tail a dark stone gray, 
 approaching to dull black; thigh, ashen gray in color; 
 shanks, olive color. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Cockerel, in description like cock in 
 
MATING. 217 
 
 Mating No. i. To him, hens that have been bred in 
 a Golden Duckwing mating that fill description given 
 pullet in Mating No. i for Silver Duckwing ; their 
 wings absolutely free from any tinge of salmon color. 
 
 Mating No. j. — May be a cock or cockerel as de- 
 scribed in Mating Nos. i or 2. Mate to him hens that 
 are up in color, except that they be pale in the breast, 
 color being a light salmon, in all other respects up to 
 Game Standard form. These colors must be main- 
 tained. The short-legged females (the majority of 
 these we see in the yard, and many times in the show 
 pen) can only be used to advantage with a very long 
 thigh and shank in their male mates. If you cannot 
 so mate them they had better be used to hatch and rear 
 chicks than to waste time in the use of them as breeders. 
 TO MATE SOLID BLACK OR WHITE FOWLS. 
 
 In the self-colors, like white and black, a good con- 
 stitution and health while breeding is all-important, no 
 matter what the breed, for brilliancy of color and purity 
 of shade are dependent upon it. 
 
 The rule to guide in mating is as follows : 
 
 A metallic-black male mated to females of the same 
 hard smooth surface color is the best for both males 
 and females, but such a cock mated to females dead 
 black, lacking in brightness and metallic surface, will 
 breed fine pullets, but the male progeny is generally 
 much poorer than the female. In black there is little to 
 do beyond these two distinctions of color. The metal- 
 lic hard-finished surface and the dull black, if crossed, 
 restores to the progeny the metallic-black desired. 
 Birds of this cross should be mated to those of the 
 metallic-black mating. 
 
S18 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 In solid white specimens a!l v/c have to consider is 
 form, health and purity of the plumage color, and to 
 bear in mind that the sire transmits the purity of color 
 to the greatest degree. That in white birds it is folly 
 to mate anything but white, both in web and shaft, to 
 produce our male breeder, but females with yellowish 
 
 BLACK HAMBURGS. 
 
 tinge and yellow quills must be mated to absolutely 
 white males, that the female from the mating coming- 
 all white may be used with male of the pure white 
 matings, and the color held in control — but males from 
 yellow females are not reliable ; health in all self-color 
 is, as in all breeding, highly essential to success. 
 
MATING. 219 
 
 THE HOUDAN. 
 
 The Houdans in France and England rank very much 
 as the Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes do in America, 
 furnishing excellent poultry in summer and early fall, 
 and withal being very good layers, filling the middle 
 ground between the small and large fowls of the lands. 
 The first importations of these fowls proved very 
 unsatisfactory ; those coming from France being much 
 smaller than those imported from English breeders, 
 the stock having improved in size under their super- 
 vision. Since the introduction of Houdans into Amer- 
 ica the breed has greatly improved, and we now have 
 yards in America where they are seen in perfection. 
 They are less subject to roup than formerly, home-bred 
 birds being equally as hardy as other breeds, except the 
 Asiatics. 
 
 The breed, made up as it is of plumage in feather 
 white and black, makes them more subject to loss in 
 color by age than most parti-colored breeds, and a 
 pullet one-fourth white will generally appear quite 
 evenly divided in the two colors as a hen ; while a 
 cockerel quite black oftentimes as a cock appears in 
 the regulation uniform, and at three or four years old 
 looks tolerably white on the lawn. 
 
 Therefore, in mating, the breeder has to allow not 
 only for loss in color for breeding, but also for the loss 
 by age, and must commence with the young stock 
 much darker in one of the sexes than he desires, and 
 in his purchases of new blood ought to select dark 
 specimens. 
 
 The shape of the crest is of far more importance in 
 
320 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 the cock than the size of it : while in the hen, the 
 size of the crest should take precedence. The points 
 most desired are: symmetry, form of the sections, and 
 color in the males, and size, health, size of crest, and 
 fullness of beard in the females. With this be sure to 
 have health and egg-productive merit. Therefore we 
 recommend mating for the best results in the male 
 progeny. 
 
 Mating No. i. — Cockerels a little more than one- 
 fourth white, small in comb, finely formed crest, and 
 full in beard ; in other respects Standard. 
 
 Hens of good average size that have ripened into 
 Standard color, from pullets that were quite dark in 
 plumage, large crests, full beard, and small combs. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Cock that has ripened into Standard 
 color from a cockerel like No. i. 
 
 Pullets somewhat darker than Standard color ; in 
 form of crest, legs and toes as described in Standard. 
 Such a pen will breed good birds of both sexes. 
 
 Mating No. j. — Males evenly broken in white and 
 black plumage. 
 
 Females very dark in plumage. If this mating be 
 kept up there will soon be less light-plumaged birds, 
 and the plumage will be more uniform than it would 
 if light-colored sires were used. 
 
 Mating No. /f.. — Male nearly black, with beak and 
 legs dark-colored. 
 
 Pullets showing three-fifths or more white in plum- 
 age. In this way all the stock can be utilized except 
 extremely light-colored cockerels of the breed, which 
 should be killed, for their use will in a few years bleach 
 out the flock to a greater extent than is desirable. 
 
 1 
 
HOTJDANS. 
 
 221 
 
 BBBEBiMaimnnT'g 
 
MATING. 223 
 
 We see no reason why this breed cannot be kept up 
 to Standard color ; and surely its practical worth has 
 been very much improved. 
 
 What a few have done in size, the many ought to be 
 able to do ; but in making weight, do not lose sight of 
 the egg-productive merit, for that once impaired would 
 be a severe blow to the breed. 
 
 PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 
 
 This breed, in its different families, is cross-bred in 
 foundation blood, with top crosses of the Dominique 
 to secure the color. To notice some of the modes which 
 have produced these beautiful birds we cite : 
 
 1. Black Spanish on White Cochin, top crossed with 
 Dominique. 
 
 2. Black Spanish on Gray Dorkings, top crossed 
 with Dominique. 
 
 3. Dominique on Buff-Cochin hens, reaching the 
 result through the strong breeding-color quality of the 
 Dominique by years of breeding. 
 
 4. White Birmingham on the Black Java, top 
 crossed with Dominique. 
 
 5. White Birmingham on the Black Java, and the 
 progeny bred together, the progeny coming white and 
 black, and Dominique. These Dominique-colored 
 birds, bred with the males produced by Mating No. 4, 
 produced the best and surest breeders for color of 
 plumage and legs, and were known by many as the 
 Essex strain, being the same in foundation blood as 
 seen in the so-called Mark Pitman birds of 1872-3. 
 
 Thus we see that they are the result of mating 
 thoroughbreds so strong in color-pigment as to produce 
 
224 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 new types, neither being strong enough to control the 
 color. Thus has the color of this breed been estab- 
 lished, and the fact that light and dark colors have 
 been mated to produce the breed has caused breeders 
 of this variety to adopt the theory that the color must 
 be maintained by mating the birds by the same rule. 
 
 It should be remembered that this breed is cross- 
 bred in its origin, and being in most cases not far 
 removed from the first crosses there will be a con- 
 tinued struggle of the different bloods for supremacy, 
 and we find more cases of reversion to the original 
 than in older and well established breeds ; yet the 
 same law, in the main, controls it, and although both 
 sexes in the progeny do not grow lighter alike, yet the 
 tendency is for the males to breed to the light extreme, 
 while a large percentage of the females are good in 
 color and the balance favor the dark extreme ; yet 
 when we consider the whole progeny (although we are 
 led to doubt the general rule when we think of the few 
 black pullets that sometimes appear) the preponderance 
 of testimony goes to prove that it, like all other breeds, 
 grows lighter by breeding. 
 
 We now have the breed well on the way to perfec- 
 tion, and as we shall be troubled less with reversion of 
 the progeny to the first crosses the farther we get from 
 them, all can see the folly of trying to make the breed, 
 instead of buying those now perfected 
 
 The universal rule of mating light-colored males to 
 dark-colored females is clearly a mistake, for the 
 male in his line generally stamps the males in plum- 
 age like himself — a type in this case which we do not 
 desire. 
 
PLYMOUTH ROCKS, 
 
 225 
 
MATING. 227 
 
 We mated in 1876 a more than medium-dark male 
 to nearly black-barred females, and the result was the 
 best colored flock of Plymouth Rock chickens we ever 
 saw. There was not a black pullet in the lot, and the 
 lightest shade in the males would be called medium 
 color, while a light-gray male used on these same 
 females produced but few desirable colored females, 
 and all but very few of the cockerels were the counter- 
 part of the sire. Surely in this breed it pays to " find 
 the highest type to perform the paternal act " if we 
 expect to produce our ideal chickens. 
 
 These rules must not be condemned upon one ex- 
 ception. " A single swallow does not make a summer." 
 A light cockerel for a single season may breed splendid 
 chicks, breeding back to a perfect sire, but it is morally 
 certain that his sons will revert, with double force to 
 the evils found in him ; for, if in all other breeds we 
 find the rule that the chicks favor the grandparents, 
 why should this prove an exception ? The breed, as it 
 becomes more and more perfected, will be governed 
 more and more by the rule applying to other breeds. 
 
 In the light of our experience with this breed so 
 far, and finding it so in unison with our experiments 
 with the Light Brahmas, we recommend the matings 
 of this breed as follows : 
 
 Mating No. i. — Males with breast of the color de- 
 sired in the females, with yellow beak and legs, with 
 neck, back and tail evenly barred, the light shade 
 predominating, yet free from any white feathers in 
 flights or tail, mated to females in plumage slightly 
 darker than, yet accurately described by, the Standard. 
 This should be the mating to preserve the male line. 
 
228 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Mating No. 2.— A cock like the one described in 
 Mating No. i, mated to females slightly lighter in color 
 than described by the Standard, will be found to pro- 
 duce such females as the popular taste requires ; but 
 the males will be hardly up to color. 
 
 Mating No. j.— Males a light medium in color, 
 mated to the very darkest females. Males exceedingly 
 dark from this mating should not be used in one's best 
 pens, for the very extremes should be avoided. 
 
 Mating No. ^.— Males much darker than the me- 
 dium, with very deep yellow beak and legs, mated to 
 hght-colored females (those having either gray breasts 
 and white or cloudy neck feathering), will be found to 
 produce many very fine chicks, and the mating stands 
 upon the same basis as Mating No. 6 in Light Brahmas. 
 All the faded light-colored males should not be used in 
 breeding for fancy points. They cannot do the breeder 
 any good, unless wanted for poultry purposes. 
 
 The above have been for ten years the modes of 
 mating with most breeders, except that the high price 
 paid for light-colored females has led many to breed 
 their very best even-colored light pullets to extremely 
 light-colored males, and a large percentage of prime 
 females have been bred, but from a thoroughbred point 
 of view this is all wrong, for every male has been killed 
 for poultry and thereby one sees one-half the progeny 
 sacrificed. It has led others to wish to change the 
 Standard, and to make this light gray male they have 
 been raising a Standard-colored male, instead of 
 mating Standard-colored males and females together] 
 when twice as many chicks to the hundred would 
 reach ninety or more points than is the case in the! 
 
MATING. 229 
 
 mating alluded to above, for in that case probably three- 
 eighths of the birds reach ninety or more points, for 
 hardly one in the male half reach ninety, while males 
 of Standard color mated to females of Standard color 
 will breed at least three-fourths to score ninety or 
 more. The discussions of late in the journals have 
 disclosed this state of things to the knowing ones. 
 
 The color of the breast, eye and beak are the best 
 indications of color in breeding. A sire medium in 
 color of plumage, with a deep yellow beak, in which 
 is seen indications of a color-stripe, and with a deep 
 bay eye, will breed darker-colored chicks than will a 
 sire dark in plumage, light in beak, and having a light- 
 colored eye. 
 
 We believe the requirements of the Standard in the 
 color of the leg to be too arbitrary. There is no rea- 
 son why this breed should not be as impartially dealt 
 with as the Dark Brahmas, and like them allowed to 
 be yellow or dusky yellow in the legs. There is more 
 dark leg blood in the Plymouth Rock than in the Dark 
 Brahma. Again, the females seldom if ever come yel- 
 low in leg when chicks, but as they approach maturity 
 grow brighter in color and clearer in shade, becoming 
 quite yellow by the time they lay their first egg. 
 
 The late action of the American Poultry Society 
 has done much to preserve the breed in its most prac- 
 tical form, the weight now being more in keeping with 
 the eternal fitness of things, and a weight at which 
 greater beauty and more prolific laying are the result. 
 
 They are a breed made up of cross-breeding the 
 thoroughbreds, and by this same breeding have we 
 got to maintain the race in its present popularity. The 
 
230 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 last edition of the Standard has made it better, how- 
 ever, for a smoky tinge to front part of leg in females 
 now is allowed to go uncut. An absolute yellow leg 
 with no black scales or smoky tinge must be admitted 
 in the females as in the minority, and we are almost 
 forced to say the exception to the rule of color. The 
 males hatch lighter in color of legs, generally quite 
 yellow from the start, not one in ten exhibited being 
 cut in the legs for color. All chicks molt twice before 
 they are old enough to breed, the females growing 
 lighter in color till the third month, while the males 
 as a rule molt darker — so much so that many, a cock- 
 erel gets condemned to help fill the broiler market that 
 if kept to molt into a mature bird would win prizes. 
 
 As a rule a male to score ninety-four points will 
 bring twice — yes, three times — what a pullet will to score 
 the same. We all see the tendency the females have 
 to breed to black. This is not strange, the first maternal 
 ancestor was a Black Java hen. While the males breed 
 back to white the White Birmingham mate of the Java 
 hen. We have said that by cross-breeding we should 
 keep up this blood. There are numerous White Sports 
 in Plymouth Rocks to-day being sold as White Plym- 
 outh Rocks. If these were to be bred to prime colored 
 males and bred back they would do much to dispose of 
 the dark, smutty specimens now in use. Or should some 
 one breed a large white Asiatic to prime males, and 
 breed back for two generations before using the cross 
 in stock, the same would help to counteract this now 
 prevailing tendency to very dark females. Much more 
 could be said on this cross-bred race, but I close with 
 what I call the best mating for Plymouth Rocks, — one 
 
MATING. 231 
 
 upon which I will stake my prophecy as a breeder, my 
 integrity and reputation as a mater of them, and my 
 fortune as a man, as being the one that will produce 
 more Standard, or more chicks to score ninety or more 
 points in a hundred, than any other mating to be made : 
 THE NE PLUS ULTRA MATING. 
 A cockerel weighing eight and a-half to nine pounds, 
 having a low, straight, evenly serrated comb of six to 
 eight serratures; medium size head, bluish gray, marked 
 across with dark blue ; eyes a bright red ; wattles 
 rather large, though of fine texture; fair size, bright red 
 ear-lobes ; necks of fair length, well arched and full in 
 hackle, the color being almost white shown on white 
 paper, the bars across being very dark blue ; back flat 
 at shoulder, not long in appearance, color being bluish- 
 gray, barred with the darkest shade known to blue, 
 the back having a nice concave sweep as it turns in a 
 sharper sweep to tail; from hackle to tail back lower at 
 saddle than at hackle (all cuts are made much higher 
 there, but they are wrong) ; tail carried well up, but not 
 reaching the perpendicular position of the sickles ; tail 
 medium size, sickles reaching some three inches 
 beyond the tail proper ; saddle shading lighter than 
 back to a tail that is still lighter in its shadings of 
 bluish-gray, marbled with a darker shade of blue ; a 
 breast full, broad and round — not a pouter pigeon ex- 
 hibition, but a well turned one, matching well onto a 
 round-sided body, breast and body being better ex- 
 pressed by a light steel-gray undercolor, barred with a 
 deep blue, the bars reaching over the thighs ; the hock 
 being clearly defined in profile ; the smoky bars 
 visible even in the bluish-gray fluff; legs yellow, fair 
 
232 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 length. Such a male, bred to pullets that are of Standard 
 form and symmetry, but having this light steel-gray 
 ground-color of plumage evenly based with a deeper 
 blue throughout, will forever put to shame the breed- 
 ers who tell us that no one can breed Plymouth 
 Rocks unless they breed two pens. Let it be what- 
 ever mating one may call it, it is all the mating he 
 who has but one pen can afford to have if he is to be 
 considered a first-class breeder. 
 
 BROWN LEGHORNS. 
 
 The first importation of Brown Leghorns into this 
 country was in 1853. This importation was bred along 
 the Mystic river, Conn,, and they were then called Red 
 Leghorns. These fowls were short in leg, red in ear- 
 lobe, and very small in size. The modern acquisition 
 of white ear-lobes, long legs, and not more than five 
 points in the comb, the dark brown color, and greater 
 weight, has been the result of the following crosses 
 known to the .writer : Spanish sires bred upon Black 
 Red Game hens, and the progeny bred to Brown Leg- 
 horn cocks, and this progeny inbred to sire ; again. 
 Black Red Game sire upon Black Spanish dams, and 
 the progeny bred to Brown Leghorn cock and inbred 
 as before, and Black Spanish hens bred to Brown Leg- 
 horn cocks, and the progeny inbred. 
 
 Thus we have birds of a type far different from the 
 original ones, and the Brown Leghorns of 1885 are as 
 much different in color and type from those of 1853 ^-s 
 can well be imagined, and they well deserve the appel- 
 lation of an American-bred bird. Now there is an 
 excuse for these crosses. They were found to be 
 
233 
 
MATING. 235 
 
 chance birds in their own country, but in acclimating 
 proved a valuable acquisition to this country's poultry 
 stock. Finding the stock indifferently bred in its native 
 country, it was considered easier to produce blood 
 for new infusions from a foreign element, which was of 
 greater benefit than to rely on new importations. 
 Were we making a specialty of the breed, we would 
 certainly make the following crosses for future use, 
 viz: A Black Red Game cock upon a mahogany- 
 breasted Partridge-Cochin hen, breeding a pullet of 
 this mating to a Black Spanish cock ; and that progeny 
 to a fine Brown Leghorn cockerel, and breed his pul- 
 lets back to him. The breeder would in this way get 
 the needed size, quiet disposition, and the constitution 
 of the Cochin, and also run clear of the white feathers 
 produced by the use of the Clayborne Game of recent 
 crosses. 
 
 Breeders will appreciate this trouble, and such a 
 stock of birds will in three years be much valued. They 
 are needed now, for the race is fast losing size and 
 stamina. Of course, size and constitution can be 
 given in a single cross, but such a cross would be too 
 crude. The half-bred Spanish and Game pullet will 
 do this, but it would injure one's reputation to put 
 such eggs on the market. Patience and perfect breed- 
 ing pays. 
 
 In these crosses, and in fact in all crosses, let the 
 point sought for be the get of the breed in which it is 
 the prominent feature. For instance, if you would 
 cross for a white ear-lobe use the Spanish male on the 
 Leghorn female, for the progeny carry back to grand- 
 sires, and Spanish crosses will show the white ear even 
 
236 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 in the sixth generation. The result that breeders are 
 striving for can be more easily attained in this way 
 than by the use of the Spanish hen. The Brown Leg- 
 horn race is faulty in this respect for just this reason, 
 and it is a very strong proof that the original fowls were 
 red in the lobe. We find it much easier to get females 
 with fine ears than males. 
 
 In mating the race as we find it at the present time 
 we would recommend the following: 
 
 Mating No. i. — Sire, a cockerel with a rich bay hackle 
 striped with black, which as a chick was also known 
 to have had the neck feathers black in stripe, comb 
 having but five points, and in other respects Standard. 
 
 The dam pure salmon brown, but not that deep 
 shade sometimes seen ; the ground-color of back and 
 wing coverts pure brown, penciled with a darker 
 brown, and the feathers of saddle lapping on to the 
 tail having a sage tinge to the brown color. Wings 
 free from all red or brick color; the hackle free from 
 all yellowish-brown pencilings ; comb that stands 
 partially erect, rolling at about one-half its height, and 
 in other respects as near to the description of the 
 Standard as can be obtained. 
 
 This is the " ne plus ultra," and should be the 
 mating for the male line. The femciles from this mating 
 will be fine also. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Males as near Standard as possible, 
 except the combs should have five points, and the 
 neck-hackle may be a light bay with a tolerably good 
 stripe in it. A very narrow but black stripe is to be 
 preferred, though one broader but not much darker 
 than a brown may be tolerated. 
 
MATING. 337 
 
 Females quite dark in the salmon shade of breast, 
 wings and back brown with penciling that shades 
 nearer black than brown ; also wings free from any red 
 shading. In other respects Standard. Such a mating 
 will produce as fine females as Mating No. i. 
 
 Mating No.j. — Males of a like character as described 
 in Mating No. 2, yet a lighter shade can be indulged in. 
 
 Pullets with exceedingly dark breasts, and having 
 the red tinge in the wings. This reddish tinge is a 
 serious fault, yet such birds produce many fine chicks. 
 
 Mating No. ^. — Males dark-bay hackled, the stripe 
 -being very distinctly defined, even at the base, so wide 
 as to form a black necklace around the neck — in fact, 
 the dark extreme in color, and Standard as to form. 
 
 Females, those we term the light extreme, whose 
 back and wing coverts look like faded brown cloth, and 
 pale in breast color. 
 
 The progeny may be restored to color in this cross 
 and faulty females thereby utilized. The light, straw- 
 hackled, mottle-breasted, and bronze-thighed males 
 should be killed, for to use them is an evil to be 
 shunned, as described in other breeds. The first and 
 second matings are considered the perfect ones, and 
 the third and fourth those of expediency or necessity. 
 The breed is certainly one of the best for practical 
 purposes, and with the Plymouth Rock seems to fill a 
 place in the economy of poultry that none of the other 
 varieties are so well capable of doing. 
 
 WYANDOTTES. 
 
 This can be claimed as an American breed. We 
 
 must also admit it to be of a cross-bred origin, and like 
 
238 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 the Plymouth Rock ranks as among the middle size 
 breeds and pre-eminently fitted for the farm and poult- 
 erers' uses. As a producer of broilers to weigh four 
 pounds to the pair at twelve to thirteen weeks old it 
 has no equal. It is more than an average producer of 
 eggs of good size. They are the result of crosses of 
 Silver-Spangled Hamburg males with Buff Cochins, also 
 with Dark Brahmas. While in some of the original 
 crosses the French breeds were included, latterly these 
 several crosses have been mated together, and the type 
 now known as the Wyandottes the result. The cock 
 resembles much the Dark Brahma males, the wide bar 
 of the wing the same with this exception : there is a 
 row of triangular white spangles through the same and 
 a second row near the wing-bow extending up for three 
 to four of these spangles in length. 
 
 At the present time the breed is having a " boom " 
 — nothing else expresses the wild interest manifested in 
 it. The breed is fortunate in the position it holds, 
 being like and with the Plymouth Rock the only two 
 breeds that hold that middle ground between the Asi- 
 atic and smaller breeds. They grow about two weeks 
 quicker than the Plymouth Rocks, and fully forty days 
 quicker than the Brahmas and Cochins, making them 
 highly appreciated by both the farmer and the fancier. 
 As show birds they are handsome, the females having 
 a plumage that at the head is a nice black-laced narrow 
 white-centered feather, breast being white with a narrow 
 lacing of jet black shading toward the tail, the white 
 centers growing smaller till all merge into a coal-black 
 tail. The fluff being a dark slate, or rather white 
 smoked over with black to give the above appearance. 
 
239 
 
MATING. 341 
 
 So far, the race shows great loss in color by age and 
 breeding. Many of the pullets (though as such are nice 
 in color) become quite white as fowls of two years of 
 age, and already we see these white birds advertised as 
 White Wyandottes. We see also the rose-comb 
 White Leghorns mated to white and nearly white speci- 
 mens, and the progeny offered as White Wyandottes. 
 We are sorry to see this White Hamburg blood again 
 worked over, as was the case with White Leghorns, 
 and there will be another strife to get them again recog- 
 nized as White Wyandottes. But we see far more 
 utility and a better chance to secure a better bird by 
 its use in this way, and by its crossings with large white 
 females — a cross breed that could be accepted as a White 
 Wyandotte with far better grace and consistency than 
 to have accepted the rose-comb White Leghorn. 
 
 To mate these birds, we have for years to use the 
 greatest care and judgment, allowing for this great loss 
 in color by breeding in our matings, and all males, if 
 the best results are to be obtained, must be the darker 
 throughout, and a male line first established, if we 
 ever hope to see this variety breeding to a uniform 
 type. The breeder who first secures in his breeding a 
 male line that can be said to be sure in this respect to 
 reproduce his sons in their own type and general color, 
 will be the breeder to reap the greatest profit from his 
 labors. This should be the first work of the breeder of 
 them. A course of breeding as recommended in Dark 
 Brahmas would be the shortest and surest road to 
 success. 
 
 We have elements in this breed hard to manage. 
 For example, it is difficult to secure a perfect hackle 
 
243 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 in all else and not have the black smut fringe the 
 outer edge of the white lacing of the hackle. The 
 first cross or mating toward success we believe to 
 be a cockerel weighing eight pounds, with a nice 
 head with a broad crown, thus looking short in head, 
 with a dark beak, having a yellow point to same, and 
 bright bay eyes. If we can get it, a silver colored 
 head, comb low down, following closely the curve of 
 the crown and as wide at base as at the top, and taper- 
 ing to a shorter spike from the center than in Ham- 
 burg males. Large Hamburg combs should be con- 
 sidered an abomination. The top of the comb should 
 be as evenly corrugated as possible. The Standard calls 
 it small points, but the uneven surface of the top of 
 the comb cannot by any means be called points. He 
 should have thin pendent ear-lobes, rich red in color, 
 wattles well developed and fine in texture. Neck well 
 arched, plumage of same abundant, which gives neck 
 a rather short appearance, securing the color as near as 
 possible to silver color striped with black, but do not 
 discard him if the black runs up the sides of the white 
 from the point of hackles if other parts- in breast, 
 body and wing-bar are what we desire. Back short, 
 apparently flat at shoulders, and white, with a saddle 
 that maintains a concave sweep to tail. Let the back 
 fall off from hackle to just before it makes the turn up- 
 ward to the tail. Saddle should be silver color, striped 
 with black, the back being a plain silver color, also the 
 wing-bow of this same color, approaching white, wing 
 fronts mixed with if not quite black, primaries black, 
 with a narrow outer edging of white; in the secondaries 
 the outer web should have a wide white lacing, balance 
 
MATING. 243 
 
 black. Wing coverts should be in the upper web coal- 
 black, and turning the point with a hook around the 
 point of feather, coming to a point at the lower edge 
 of outer web, which should be white. These feathers 
 lapping out over the other give us the wide Dark 
 Brahma bar, with the row and a half of white spangles 
 through it. Breast at throat black and looking quite 
 black in front of breast, but if the feathers be parted, 
 will show narrow white centers, these white centers 
 growing larger as the breast merges into the body ; but 
 the thighs should hold black with the fluff being dark 
 slate color, breast full and round, hocks well defined in 
 profile, the fluff by no means enveloping them. Tail 
 black throughout. Such should be the male to found 
 our line of sires. 
 
 To which mate hens that were fair colored pullets, 
 but in their transition to fowls have lost their color 
 somewhat, they, however, being all that is desirable in 
 comb, being like the male described, but smaller, hav- 
 ing a neck hackle that retains the black stripe with 
 white lacing, back that has but slight convexed turn to 
 cushion, breast may have crescent black tips to the 
 plumage and wing, the white centers in the bow being 
 free from black pencilings, wings whose coverts have 
 black centers, striped and small black points, fluff may 
 be light colored and tail tinted with white, the saddle 
 having large white centers, which may be penciled, 
 thighs gray; in fact, a rather light specimen, but not so 
 light that at a few rods off she would look shabby on 
 account of her color. This our first cross, "why?" be- 
 cause to mate a full Standard colored female to such a 
 bird would be to breed black females. We have now 
 
344 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 started, giving the male the darker blood, and as color 
 comes with greater force from the male, give him the 
 task to darken up the progeny from the female stand- 
 point, which is lighter. From this, or crosses like this, 
 which we call the initiatory cross, we will have 
 females of prime color in a Standard sense. We will 
 also have females that will fall but very little be- 
 low it in color. These latter we will in the sec- 
 ond year mate to their sire as the established link 
 in starting our line of sires, while we also mate the 
 dam to a cockerel that has come to the exact image of 
 the sire No. i, and from their chicks we select our 
 Standard colored pullets, which shall make up our first 
 pen and mating, and the cockerels, the produce of the 
 old cock with the pullets spaken of, will come our first 
 sire in line, and we say, after all this initiatory work, 
 for 
 
 Mating No. i. — A male like our original described 
 sire, except that the breast be black with small white 
 centers, thighs stone color Avith fluff dark stone color 
 approaching black. 
 
 Mate pullets weighing full five ana three-quarters to 
 six pounds, full breasts, plumage of same fully laced, yet 
 the white center of good size, and to grow smaller in the 
 plumage and the black lacing wider as it approaches the 
 tail, when it merges into a full black tail and dark stone- 
 colored fluff, with thighs nearly black, beak and shanks 
 yellow, comb as described in the ancestors. This 
 mating to produce one line of sires, and no sire should 
 be used from any other mating if we hope to see this 
 breed reach that accuracy and uniformity of breeding 
 we see in Light Brahmas. 
 
MATING. 245 
 
 Mating No. 2. — A male that has the form of struct- 
 ure consistent with Standard requirement, and good 
 clear color ; save, I care not how black he be in breast, 
 wing-bar and tail, with dark stone-colored fluff. With 
 such mate the pullets that look well from a distance, 
 but show breast off in color, the lacing having crescents, 
 the white in the middle of web of feather reaching 
 the outer edge, with wide white center, penciled in 
 the cushion plumage, and having light-colored fluff and 
 legs. 
 
 Mating No. j. — Cockerel having a pure silver-colored 
 lacing and neck, back nearly white, silver white laced 
 breast with wide centers, gray thighs and breast, wing- 
 bar, if possible, with the color described, gray fluff, tail 
 black, beak and leg yellow. 
 
 Females with dark heads and beaks and dark hackles, 
 back and cushion nearly black, heavy laced breast, body 
 and thighs, and fluff black. Males from such a mating 
 should all be killed as broilers. The Standard-colored 
 pullets from such a mating will make good mates for 
 Standard described male from Mating No. i. 
 
 This plan will have to be followed out before we 
 can sell eggs with the confidence, we now feel in selling 
 eggs from Black Red Games, Light Brahmas and White 
 Leghorns, and until such a line of breeding has been 
 accomplished no purchaser of eggs from this breed has 
 any right to censure the seller of them, for he is 
 doing the best with what he now has in this battle of 
 breeding a cross-breed up to that state of perfection in 
 which he can say their breeding has been accomplished, 
 and they are thoroughbred. 
 
246 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 SILVER-GRAY DORKINGS. 
 
 There is but one mating for these birds ; any other 
 is a utiHty one, and only necessity should force us to 
 make them. 
 
 A male of Standard description, or, in our own 
 words, to weigh eight or more pounds, with a large 
 head, silver white in color, beak flesh color and well 
 curved, red eyes, single comb of medium size, having 
 six even serrations ; no side sprigs ; ear-lobes of fair 
 size, with nice, well rounded wattles ; neck so full in 
 plumage as to look large and not long, yet we would 
 not say short in describing it ; the hackle being as near 
 a light silver color as possible ; the breast full and 
 heavy, large for the breed, and black as can be ; body 
 long, yet full sided, black, with short, heavy thighs, also 
 black in color; tail large and very full, all of which 
 should be black and casting green reflections in the 
 sun ; the lesser coverts only may be edged with silver 
 white ; shanks, what is called flesh color, nearly the 
 color of one's finger nails ; five toes, the last or upper 
 one making a scimeter shape in its sweep upward 
 toward the hock.- Such is the only male to be used 
 in this breed, mating him with females, to wit : 
 those weighing from five and one-half to six pounds, as 
 near as possible, having a neat shaped head, silver-gray 
 in color, with eyes a bright bay or red ; beak not long, 
 but well curved and the color of one's thumb nails ; 
 comb single, fine in texture, which causes it to fall to 
 one side, smoothly, however ; ear-lobe fairly developed ; 
 wattles small, but well rounded in outline; a full plum- 
 aged neck, causing it to look rather short, and what is 
 
MATING. 247 
 
 termed gray slate color, with white shafts to feather, 
 each side of which nearly black, and outer edge of 
 feather light gray in shade ; back rather long, of good 
 width, the feathers being silver color, penciled minutely 
 with stone color, the combination giving them the 
 silver-gray color of the Standard ; breast should be 
 carried forward, being full and of the color of the 
 robin, a dark shade of salmon ; the breast-bone is 
 carried low, giving body a deep look in profile, yet 
 good specimens are quite round at the side ; the color 
 of body not so dark a shade as breast, but fading out 
 into ash color in thighs, the fluff being stone color; 
 primaries a dark stone color, approaching black, with 
 secondaries same color, the outer edge being silver-gray ; 
 the wing-bows silver color, minutely penciled over with 
 a stone color, the wing being large but closely folded to 
 sides and embedded at the butts in breast plumage; 
 tail stone gray outside, the inner webs shading darker 
 in color; shanks a white flesh color, fine toes, the hind 
 one the largest and turned well up toward shank. 
 
 To mate any of the balance would be folly, for all 
 those having a reddish shade in wings or body plumage 
 would be but poor material ; one can only turn them 
 over to the colored cocks to breed for the spit, and to 
 use male with splashed breast and gray thighs is but 
 increasing the disqualified birds in their progeny. 
 
 IN MATING COLORED DORKINGS 
 
 simply follow the Standard description in both male 
 and female for color and form ; be sure they are in 
 perfect health. Discard all others for. poulterer's pur- 
 poses. As a race they have not been considered beau- 
 
248 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 tiful, nor have they been numerous in our poultry 
 exhibitions, but are bred, from the epicure's stand- 
 point, for table purposes, but of late more attention is 
 manifest in the breed, and they are sought for for 
 Standard merit as well as utility. 
 
 GOLDEN-SPANGLED HAMBURGS. 
 
 Mating No. i. — Cock with a small neat head, rich 
 deep bay in color, beak dark horn color, eyes bay, face 
 free from white, ear-lobe nearly round arid white comb 
 about twice the width across the top surface as the 
 skull is wide, being square in front and running back 
 with a nice 'taper into a well formed spike, which 
 should hold up from the skull so as to preserve a straight 
 line from center of comb to rear peak of the same; a 
 full flowing hackle of rich bay striped with black to 
 point of feather ; back reddish or dark bay, the tips of 
 feathers having ticks of black ; the saddle, like the neck, 
 should shade to a golden bay and the feather striped 
 with a well defined stripe of black; breast very large 
 and round, plumage a golden bay, the tips of the 
 feathers spangled with a round black spot, a body round 
 at sides; plumage the same as breast and clinging 
 close to the form, large long wings, primaries black 
 with lower edge bay in color, secondary a golden bay 
 in lower web, tipped with black, crescent in form, the 
 inner well merging into black. Wing coverts should 
 form two distinct bars across the wing, greenish black ; 
 these bars must be distinct and striking; tail black 
 throughout, under part of body and fluff free from 
 taints of white ; shank not long, yet they should not 
 
COLORED DORKINGS. 
 
 249 
 
MATING. 251 
 
 look short and give the bird a low-set appearance, 
 slaty-blue in color. 
 
 To such a male mate pullet with a head of same 
 general description except the comb, wattles very sir.all in 
 comparison to the male, a neat, well arched neck, the 
 colors distinct, having no golden penciling in the black 
 stripe. The spangle throughout should be round black 
 spots and light enough in color to show the spots dis- 
 tinctly, not lapping one on the other except in back, and 
 there as little as possible ; bay eyes, Standard form — 
 and we have the mating to produce our best males. 
 
 Mating. No. 2. — A cockerel in color as above de- 
 scribed for cock No. i, being well developed in breast. 
 To such mate the pullets Standard in form of body, 
 but having the crescent-shaped spangles, also the hens 
 that have lost color from molting, being pullets the 
 year before, as described in Mating No. i. 
 
 Mating No. j. — Male of good bright golden bay 
 color, whose spangles in breast and body have taken a 
 crescent shape rather than the round spangle, and 
 slight falling off in the black ; marking of body and 
 thighs the golden color, creeping into the tail plumage. 
 Mate those very dark pullets whose backs show very 
 little golden color between the large black points of 
 the feather and black undercolor, whose tail coverts 
 are nearly black and breast spangles overlap one 
 another. From this mating many times we get some 
 of the finest females. 
 
 We think it folly to use Golden Hamburgs, male or 
 female, that are tainted with white spots along the 
 lower part of body. The race is purely a fancy one, 
 and unless up to Standard in all points will not sell for 
 
252 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 a price that pays. While Mr. Wright considers them 
 poor layers, we cannot agree with him, for we have 
 had hens that laid 151 eggs in six months. The eggs 
 are small, however, and poultry not appreciated. They 
 are kept for their beautiful plumage and symmetrical 
 appearance. 
 
 SILVER-SPANGLED HAMBURGS. 
 
 We often hear the remark that the Silver differs 
 from the Golden variety simply in that it is white 
 in the plumage where the Golden is of a golden bay 
 color. This is a sad mistake. To mate this breed for 
 
 Mating No. i, we say, males as near Standard de- 
 scription as it is possible to get them, except in tail 
 proper so dark as to be a slaty-gray, mixed with white; 
 lesser sickles tainted in a like manner, but the tip of 
 the feather having the full round black spangle. To 
 this male mate females of Standard description 
 throughout. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Males with Standard-described 
 comb, ear-lobes, wattles, beak and legs, eyes very 
 black, breast very dark, looking quite black in front 
 — no matter if fully one-third the breast feathers 
 be solid black. To this male mate pullets with 
 crescent-shaped spangles, with indistinct bars across 
 the wings, whose breast spangles have lost the brilliant 
 black gloss, also hens that have lost color in molting, 
 the black having lost the metallic luster so much de- 
 sired, in form of breast and body as described by 
 Standard. 
 
 Mating No. j. — Male that preserves all the charac- 
 teristics of the markings of the breed, only that the 
 
SILVER-SPANGLED HAMBURGS. 
 
 253 
 
MATING. 255 
 
 black spangles are very small, the bar of wing, though 
 distinct, very narrow, tail white, with the black spangles 
 still retained (they will most likely be a dull black), 
 breast free and open, no black spangles overlapping, 
 yet of good Standard form and symmetry. To such a 
 male mate females that are so large in their spangles as 
 to show the back black, and in the breast the spangles 
 overlap badly ; tail grizzled with stone color, and sides 
 of body quite dark. While we must call this extreme 
 mating in color, many times one's best show birds come 
 from this source, especially the females. 
 
 SILVER-PENCILED HAMBURGS. 
 
 These birds are smaller than their spangled cousins, 
 a trifle shorter in body, and a more trim-shaped bird — 
 a nice mate for 
 
 Mating No. i. — A cock with a short, small head, 
 white beak, bay eyes, comb medium size, the crown 
 twice the width of base, square in front and making a 
 nice taper to rear and terminating in a nice spike that 
 while it seems to turn up only holds its level position 
 with crown of comb over the eyes ; a nice, close-fitting, 
 round, white ear-lobe, pendent wattles, a nicely arched 
 full-hackled neck that is pure white in color ; back not 
 long, but silver white in color; saddle grayish white, 
 the breast large and full, white in color, no marks of 
 foreign color in the same ; body round, white or 
 slightly tinged with slate near thighs ; wing-bows white 
 when closed ; primaries and secondaries white, except 
 in the inside web of secondary, which should be black ; 
 tails black, except sickles, which should be edged with 
 white ; shanks, a blue preferred. 
 
256 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 To the above male mate females .as near Standard 
 described color as it is possible to get them, whose 
 breasts are penciled distinctly across and well up to the 
 throat. 
 
 In this breed it is poor economy to mate poor 
 females. The loss in breeding is severe, and only by 
 the use of the darkest male with good females can we 
 keep the race up to a high degree and nice pencelings. 
 If we had a lot of white-breasted indistinct-penciled 
 females we would mate them to a Black Hamburg 
 male, and the distinctly-penciled female coming from 
 the progeny we would mate to the penciled male, and 
 thus create new blood, rather than try to breed up the 
 faded specimens. One too dark is a valuable speci- 
 men in breeding. A very dark male can be mated to 
 the indistinct-penciled-breast pullet, and a good season's 
 hatch be the result, but as a rule to use light specimens 
 only results in a lot of chicks of a like description. 
 
 THE GOLDEN-PENCILED HAMBURGS, 
 
 being a darker color, we have a better chance to 
 breed up a lot of second-class females and two matings 
 can be made with success, and to mate which we would 
 advise: 
 
 Mating No. i. — Cock, Standard form, medium size 
 comb, bay eyes, with a rich I'ed at juncture with head, 
 terminating in golden bay at tip of hackle feathers ; 
 ear-lobe small and white ; breast large and full for size 
 of the bird, rich red at throat, shading downward, and 
 terminating in a golden bay body and bay thighs ; 
 shanks, blue ; wings rich bay in the bows ; outer web 
 of both primaries and secondaries bay, inner web 
 
SILVER-PENCILED HAMBURGS. 
 
 257 
 
MATING. 259 
 
 black, those of secondaries penciled, with black tips 
 presenting a spangle down the upper edge of wing near 
 saddle. 
 
 To this male mate the pullet and hens that carry 
 the penciling dark and heavy well up to throat, and 
 whose penciled surface throughout seems the greater 
 as compared to the light bars, and having no white or 
 gray mossy spots in plumage. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — Cockerel rich dark bay, whose tail is 
 quite black, having in the sickles a very dark bay edg- 
 ing or wholly black. In other general description as in 
 male of No. i. 
 
 To which mate the hens having lost color by molt- 
 ing, and the pullet whose breasts lack penciling and 
 whose general color would be called light as compared 
 to females of No. i. From them generally come very 
 good females. Few females come so dark as to make 
 it advisable to use a light-colored male, and we cer- 
 tainly advise the killing of all not fully up to Standard 
 described color — any one that opens to a merely white 
 undercolor. Golden Hamburgs with white in under- 
 color are as worthless as a Buff Cochin male with white 
 undercolor. Send to the poulterer all females that show 
 white gray coloring in the plumage. 
 
 SILVER-SPANGLED POLISH. 
 
 Many are not aware of the fact that to place a pair 
 of these birds on exhibition to match in a gen- 
 eral observation of color and to appear alike that the 
 female will be spangled with full round black spots, 
 Avhile the male will be laced with black. The Standard 
 acknowledges both, and in all its descriptions says 
 
260 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 spangled or laced. A male with spangled plumage 
 looks very light in color as compared to a female of 
 like plumage. This fact, and the fact that a heavy 
 laced plumage in the male is much handsomer, makes 
 the breeder of them choose such a male to head the 
 pens they choose to transmit their line of sires ; there- 
 fore, in 
 
 Mating No. i. — We would choose a well grown 
 cockerel whose crest was large and every feather in it 
 flowed back smooth from and starting high in front, not 
 parted in the middle, but falling to the side of neck in 
 line with, not below, the lower edge of hackle, the 
 color of plumage black at the skull, white or gray in 
 the middle of the feather, balance heavily laced with 
 black, thus saving the crest from any white blotches ; 
 comb very small, consisting of two small horns nearly 
 or quite lost in the crest ; ear-lobes white (an over- 
 grown straggling crest is an abomination); neck carried 
 well back and very much arched, plumage black laced 
 and long; breast appearing very prominent, and the 
 plumage of the same laced with black ; body tapering 
 from breast to tail ; plumage white, the tips of feathers 
 being black, spear pointed, the lacings not extending 
 the full length of the web of feathers ; back straight 
 from hackle to tail (not humpbacked), color white with 
 tips laced with black, saddle full and long and well 
 laced up from the points in black ; wing-bows white, 
 perfectly laced with black ; primaries and secondaries 
 white, having crescent-shaped black points to feathers ; 
 the coverts white, ending in full black spangles with 
 perfect bars across the wings ; tail (if the bird be all 
 I have described he will not have a Standard tail) 
 
MATING. 361 
 
 proper will be black and white mixed, the sickles gray, 
 with full black tips, lower coverts of like character; 
 but should one be lucky enough to secure a Standard 
 tail the bird would be a prize. To such a male 
 mate females with dark beaks, dark eyes, and a full 
 round crest (secure a perfectly round crest and all the 
 size you can) — a crest other than round is a defect. If 
 pullets, they may have a black white-laced crest ; if 
 hens, they should be white centered and black edged, 
 exceedingly small combs, white ears, the neck should be 
 long, well arched, head being carried well back, hackle 
 white, edged with black, a good broad back at shoulder, 
 straight on the upper line and tapering at the sides to 
 tail, plumage white, with round black splangles; breast 
 full large, plumage white, spangled round and black ; 
 body tapers from breast to tail, having the same 
 spangled plumage as breast; wing-bows white, fully laced 
 with black ; primaries, secondaries and coverts white, 
 ending in a heavy crescent of black, tail having the 
 spangle round, not moon shape ; slaty-blue legs. 
 
 The above is the best mating to be made. 
 
 Mating No. 2. — A male with all of the above Stand- 
 ard form and symmetrical carriage, but plumage in 
 breast, body and thighs, spangled, not laced. 
 
 To him mate those females so heavily laced in plum- 
 age as to look black in the back and breast, tails quite 
 dark, the dark specimens of the race. 
 
 Mating No. J. — A cock that has held his plumage 
 to be like male described for Mating No. i, mate with 
 him pullets lighter than those described for Mating 
 No. I, the spangles being small, also the hens that have 
 lost color by age, showing white in crest, and a falling 
 
263 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 off in the wing markings, being good form, both in 
 body and crest. 
 
 GOLDEN-SPANGLED POLISH. 
 
 You have only to follow the same rule, substituting 
 the word golden bay for white. The only thing to keep 
 in mind is the different style of markings. We used to 
 see a pair win over all comers, and not one in fifty knew 
 
 RED PYLE GAME BANTAMS. 
 
 why a laced cock and spangled hen made the best and 
 most even-balanced colored pair of a show. For the 
 black and white varieties, see page 219. Health in 
 these varieties is everything. No race shows its effect 
 in the chickens more than they. While it is essential 
 that all breeding stock be in perfect health to get the 
 
MATING. ■ . 263 
 
 best results, it is of the greatest importance that the 
 Polish race enjoy it, and have healthy, roomy quarters. 
 
 GOLDEN-LACED SEBRIGHT BANTAMS. 
 
 In mating these birds one has only to secure males 
 of Standard color and form, except that the two top 
 feathers of tail take quite a curve and incline to a 
 
 GOLDEN-LACED SEBRIGHT BANTAMS. 
 
 scimiter in shape approaching sickles. Without this in- 
 dication not one male in ten will be fruitful. When 
 the Standard says sickles are disqualifications it was not 
 intended to disqualify birds with these scimiter-shaped 
 feathers that exceed in length the balance of tail 
 proper one inch to an inch and one-half (a feather to 
 be a sickle must be the shape of a sickle — the unjust 
 
264 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 disqualifications should cease), a rich golden bay, laced 
 with black — no white in undercolor. To such a male 
 mate female of bright orange bay, with brilliant black 
 lacings ; combs on both perfect in spike — like the 
 Golden-Penciled Hamburgs. We cannot mate such 
 to pay us. There is never a male so dark that he will 
 lift a faded white undercolored, white-spotted female's 
 progeny up to a first-class Standard. 
 
 SILVER-LACED SEBRIGHT BANTAMS. 
 
 Mate Standard described birds for Mating No, i, 
 and to the medium light female use the darkest and 
 blackest laced males, while the very white, poorly laced 
 pullets should be bred to a black, rose-combed male, 
 and the prime marked female of this cross mated to an 
 evenly-laced, lightish colored male, the get of our 
 Standard matings, and breed the progeny back. The 
 road to nice color and health will be quicker traveled 
 than to try to utilize a poor lot of females in any other 
 way. 
 
 GAME BANTAMS. 
 
 One has only to follow the rule given for Games, 
 taking care to secure the best station and symmetry 
 possible. Our Bantams lose station badly, as they 
 grow small in size. It is folly to breed them too small. 
 We think that these birds just within the limit of 
 weight are apt to be the best scoring specimens. We 
 believe, also, to hatch them in May, June and July better 
 than to hatch late in fall. 
 
PART III. 
 
 JUDGING FOWLS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE. 
 
 THE "Standard of Excellence," published by the 
 American Poulterers' Association, contains the 
 acknowledged groundwork or law by which all the 
 judging of fowls in America is done, its scale of points 
 being the numerical value of perfection of the sections 
 in their sums total, the judges enumerating the out or 
 point value of the defects, their sum total deducted 
 from the full number of points being the value in 
 points of the specimen judged. We do not think any 
 breeder's library can be complete without the last 
 edition of "The Standard of Excellence." 
 
 Being familiar with this standard makes all scores of 
 fowls understood. With " Standard " in hand the judg- 
 ing of the breed will be more clearly understood by 
 amateur breeders. To old-timers who have long since 
 learned the lesson, we have nothing to say, but to 
 the novices in breeding and judging of fowls our 
 work is dedicated. Such a work as the " Standard " 
 
 265 
 
266 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 must, therefore, if effective, and to result in good, be 
 authoritative. They who say it is only to aid, leaving 
 the judge to take the extreme views and interpret the 
 text in a like manner — to such we say, you are not 
 judging in accordance with its teachings. But the 
 judge, if an honest one, will form his idea of symmetry 
 by carefully considering what a harmonious blending of 
 all the sections, they being of Standard described form, 
 what such a harmony would produce as a picture, what 
 such a living model would be — not what he, as a judge, 
 may wish it to be. In color, also, should he fall squarely 
 into line with the teachings of the Standard, and not in- 
 dulge in expressions to wit, " If I could have my way, 
 every feather on a Brahma should be white," and take the 
 very extreme in his desire to disqualify under the clause 
 black in the web of plumage, doing so when the bluish 
 white shade the web, which should be cut for being 
 defective, and waiting for the color to be ^'■positive 
 black,'' as stated in the Standard, to disqualify. Some 
 judges in their dislike disqualify for one isolated fluffy 
 black feather if found in the back or breast, doing it 
 under such interpretation. This was not the intention 
 of the standard makers. Some birds present a back 
 spattered with black the moment the white surface color 
 is disturbed. This is the defect the makers "^ould 
 eradicate, not to disqualify for a single feather, but a 
 plurality, say three or more, when such dark objection- 
 able color appears to such an extent as to have a harm- 
 ful effect in and show a defect of blood and breeding. In 
 other words, we are to take the text of the Standard as 
 we would that of common law. Using it in that spirit, 
 all its teachings become plain and work harmoniously. 
 
JUDGING. 267 
 
 aiding all in their efforts to breed, mate and judge 
 the breeds. This makes the " Standard " the companion 
 book of all poultry literature. 
 
 It is a copyright, and from necessity must become 
 a companion work, and, as we show its working in the 
 act of judging, we must leave it to teach each breeder 
 what each breed must be to become Standard in its 
 merits, and he or she who secures one will read, we 
 hope, what we have to say on judging with twice the 
 interest for having first read the " Standard " for the 
 breed under discussion. 
 
 When breeding by the teachings of the Standard, or, 
 I may say, breeding with a desire to reach the Standard 
 merit, the work of breeding, of mating especially, be- 
 comes a study — it has an aim in view. We often hear 
 the false assertion that to mate Standard specimens is to 
 fail in the production of Standard progeny. We must 
 emphatically deny this. We know of no breed that we 
 cannot take a male as described and breed a female as 
 near perfect Standard description as nature will allow 
 us to come to it, and produce the largest number of 
 chicks to score ninety or more points in the progeny. 
 Because one can deviate from the Standard mating and 
 produce one of the sex more perfect, causing the other 
 sex to score much lower from its effects, is no fault of 
 the Standard. No leaf is perfect ; no one specimen in 
 animated nature is perfect — no being save "One," the 
 Father of the Universe. He created all things : he 
 pronounced them "■good,"' not '' perfect ^ If from his 
 hand nothing came perfect, then why should we mortals 
 demand an absolutely perfect working of the machin- 
 ery of mental invention ? We mate for the best 
 
268 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 possible results — the fittest survives ; the lower order 
 are to perish that the best may live. The best is to do 
 the work of breeding and the races be kept up to a 
 high order of excellence. 
 
 When any breeder can name a mating other than 
 that found among these birds to score ninety-one points 
 or more, that will produce one hundred chickens, male 
 and female, to score a larger average number of points, 
 then we will acknowledge the Standard a failure. 
 
 The first breed that will be doubted will be the 
 Partridge-Cochin. But please wait. Does it not give 
 you two types for males in color — thus allowing you to 
 vary the color of the females? But in form of the 
 structure there is but one law ; the selection of a male, 
 one between the shades of rich red and orange red 
 may be a Standard color, if striped with black, and 
 if no bronze appear would enable the bird to score 
 ninety-two points — he would be a Standard specimen. 
 To such a Standard pullet be mated, the progeny, both 
 male and female counted, will breed chicks and give 
 two points odds over any flocks produced by any 
 other mating possible in the breed. Because to win 
 on a cockerel one sees fit to sacrifice the whole fem.ale 
 progeny to the hatchet on account of indistinct marking, 
 that an absolute coal black breast and body may be 
 obtained, the fault lies with the breeder, not the Stand- 
 ard. An absolute Standard mating of the Plymouth 
 Rocks will produce the largest number of Standard 
 points and give any other mating in the breed two and 
 one-half points handicap, and beat them out. The 
 darkest male raised is by no means the Standard 
 male, but the male that looks bluish-gray, barred with 
 
JUDGING. 269 
 
 stone-blue bars, whose feather, when plucked and 
 laid on sky-blue paper, looks gray, barred with nearly a 
 black, but when on the fowls has a blue tinge to plum- 
 age. This means both the light and dark bars. A 
 blue ground barred with black is by no means a Stand- 
 ard bird. Therefore, when the Standard cplor meets 
 in both male and female we get true Standard color 
 mating, and with Standard form, produces in every 
 breed the highest order of perfection in the progeny. 
 
 Again, in black fowls, the metallic black is produced 
 in the best and deepest intensity when both male and 
 female are of this rich, glossy Standard color. The 
 male of Standard blacks will often restore rusty black 
 in the female to a nice and rich black in the progeny. 
 But a rusty black male will invariably tarnish and 
 lower the whole season's get, few if any reaching 
 the bright metallic luster the dam may have possessed. 
 It is suicide to breed a poor male. He who ignores 
 the Standard form and color "sows but the wind to 
 reap the whirlwind." "Like as a race begets like." 
 This is not true of the individual to so great an extent, 
 for there is an ancestral influence, and it is said one 
 cannot get rid of his ancestors. A modest specimen 
 from a good and well-bred flock is a safer bird than a 
 prime though chance bird from a poor and ill-bred 
 pair. 
 
 The breeder, in his mating, will never forget the 
 ancestry. He looks out that his male line be faultless, 
 and as he mates, his mind often runs back for several 
 generations for data that control his actions in mating 
 — especially does he do this if prompted to use a speci- 
 men that is wonderfully good in all but one section, 
 
270 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 that one being very objectionable. No such defect 
 having affected the ancestors, he will chance the good 
 he hopes to gain by the cross, feeling the strength of 
 ancestral breeding will overrule the exceptionally bad 
 section in question. 
 
 The Standard is made up with the law of waste in 
 color in breeding and by age recognized, and in all its 
 mating the progeny will be found much darker than 
 the present stock when one year older; and he who 
 does not acknowledge its influence shows but little 
 wisdom and gives little heed to the school of observa- 
 tion. Each revision of the Standard has shown a 
 strengthening in its influence in this respect. These 
 few hints at Standard influence may not come amiss as 
 an introductory to our mode of judging and as a finis 
 to our mode of mating. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 JUDGING THE VARIOUS BREEDS. 
 
 WE are surprised that so few men are able to 
 apply the Standard scale of points rapidly and 
 correctly. We think the trouble lies in their un- 
 willingness to throw aside all personal and precon- 
 ceived opinions and let the Standard do the work. If 
 we take up the Standard and allow it to teach us what 
 the form and color of each section is, there will be no 
 trouble. The majority, when they apply the Standard 
 to a pet bird, exclaim, '■'the Standard does not fit my 
 bird "; they are vexed, and judgment trails in the dust, 
 If they say the birds are not up to the Standard, and 
 ask the question of their judgment, " How much does it 
 fail?" having no feeling of disappointment, but simply 
 score out the percentage one's judgment declares on 
 the instant to be the value of the defect, before one 
 had scored ten birds in that spirit the plan would work 
 easily and safe. There is but one question that should 
 
 271 
 
272 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 be put to one's judgment, that is, what percentage of 
 the value of the section am I cutting? to wit: here is 
 a faulty back, it is oval in shape and bad in color. The 
 whole value is six ; equally divide in form and color, to 
 cut two points ; judgment says at once thirty-three per 
 cent. If judgment sustains the percentage as just, one 
 may feel that he does not err in his work. The first 
 lesson is to lear7i the Standard, and to learn the form 
 and color of each breed by Standard description, then 
 one will make less mistakes in symmetry, and this is 
 the most fruitful cause of the great differences be- 
 tween judges. One judge says without symmetry the 
 standard would have no flexibility. We are of the 
 opinion a standard should not have any. No law is a 
 good one that is not arbitrary and explicit in its appli- 
 cation. 
 
 SYMMETRY, 
 
 we have always maintained, was a useless section, and 
 still worse, it has no definition by description as applied 
 to fowls. We have only been able to say it was the 
 harmonious combination of all the parts perfect in 
 form. Therefore any one section, imperfect in form 
 mars symmetry, thus causing an additional cut under 
 that head. Then why not do away with it ? — for it takes 
 the position of a stern father who, when his child is 
 whipped at school for some short coming, there having 
 ■baid the penalty, thrashes him when he gets home for 
 the fact. Does such usage as a rule carry with it a 
 sense of justice to the mind of the child? Cutting for 
 symmetry takes the same position. Here are two 
 specimens, one perfect in symmetry, the other out one 
 and one-half in symmetry, one in shape of back, one 
 
JUDGING. 273 
 
 out for carrying tail too low, one for carrying head too 
 far forward. The one to become perfect like the other 
 has only to carry his head back and save the one ; to 
 carry the tail in proper position and save that point; 
 straighten up in the back by carrying the wings higher 
 up, all of which we have seen done ; there have been but 
 three points corrected. Now by that improvement 
 we have bettered the bird four and one-half points, for 
 we have made him equal to the symmetrical one ; then 
 it becomes clear to any one that the bird was taxed 
 one and one-half points for the fact of being faulty, 
 and that every bird perfect in symmetry is scored from 
 one-half to two and one-half points, as a rule less severe 
 than these birds that are cut for defects. If symmetry 
 is to remain in the Standard, then let it represent fif- 
 teen points, and cover all defects of form, and let the 
 other section be apportioned for color, health and con- 
 dition, and profusion of feathering, etc., etc. To do 
 this would be folly, then as between the two evils we 
 say that symmetry^ must surely go when next the 
 Standard is revised, for justice demands it. We want 
 no flexible, bending standards, that allow under the 
 cut of symmetry a power to manipulate the prizes to 
 such an extent as to do injustice. 
 
 So long as it is a part of the Standard we must not 
 ignore its force, but the rule should be to cut one-half 
 as hard unless it be that breast and body are the de- 
 fective sections ; this is the practical worth of the 
 specimen. A flat breast cut from one to one and one^ 
 half should, we think, sustain a cut of one in symmetry, 
 and should symmetry be abandoned we think the ten 
 points should be concentrated in the breast, body, 
 
274 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 bac-k and neck, thus augmenting the number of points 
 in those sections. This done, many an unpleasant 
 difference between judge and exhibitor would be 
 avoided, this question of taste in symmetry would be 
 taken out of dispute and each section come down to 
 Standard description, every defect of which would be- 
 come so self-evident that the why and wherefore could 
 be explained easily and clearly. The many articles on 
 the subject of judging are doing much to enlighten 
 the breeders, but in our essay we shall take the actual 
 score of some individual birds and elucidate from the 
 fact. To say a bird may be cut from one to three 
 points as in degree a certain defect may appear, seems 
 to fail to enlighten the general reader. We therefore 
 commence this chapter on judging by presenting the 
 
 LIGHT BRAHMAS. 
 
 A male, to be considered perfect in symmetry, should 
 have a comb erect, neck finely arched, breast full in its 
 sweep from throat to thighs, round in the sides, wings 
 carried high to give a flat back, the saddle no fuller than 
 to preserve a concave sweep from back to tail, the lat- 
 ter carried tolerably upright and spread at base, the 
 sickle not much exceeding the length of the tail proper, 
 legs that stand well apart nearly parallel with each 
 other, the fluff while full not to destroy the profile of 
 hock joint. With this assertion or pen picture we 
 score the cockerel 
 
JUDGING. 275 
 
 " PHI BETA II, NO. 5876" : 
 
 Symmetry. — Breast falls away from the full round sweep from 
 throat , I 
 
 Weight. — Being full Standard weight o 
 
 Condition. — Being smooth in the leg scales, plumage unbroken, 
 and in perfect health o 
 
 Head. — Broad, full over the eyes, the beak being yellow, with 
 dark stripe down the mandible o 
 
 Comb. — Firm, evenly serrated, but a trifle thick at the point, and a 
 trifle too high i 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Both being of equal length, and tine in 
 texture, the latter well rounded o 
 
 Neck. — Perfect in shape, but the black in the hackle is not bright 
 enough, nor does it reach high enough up i^ 
 
 Back. — Straw-colored by the sun i 
 
 Breast and Body. — Breast is broad and round at sides, but is 
 too fiat in front I 
 
 Wings. — Set on right, color all right, except a slight discolora- 
 tion of wing-bows I 
 
 Tail. — All that could be desired, being spread at base, and well 
 developed and black, except the lesser coverts are grayish 
 black, not black centers ^ 
 
 Fluff. — Being full, but not enveloping he hocks, is all right. . . o 
 
 Legs. — Stand well apart. Straight from in front and feathered to 
 middle toes, being yellow and smooth in scale o 
 
 Total points out 7 
 
 The birds scoring 93 
 
 It will be seen that breast alone was faulty in form, 
 and that being flat in front caused the cut of symmetry 
 a point. But this bird is a good all-over specimen, and 
 scores high up, the effect of the scorching rays of the 
 sun being the cause of nearly all the color cuts of back 
 and wings. 
 
376 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 THE PULLET WE HAVE TAKEN TO SCORE. 
 
 Symmetry Cuts, — For the reason: Tail droops, abdomen hangs 
 low, wings falling away from back, and back has lost its 
 concave sweep, bad condition the cause of two-thirds the 
 trouble 4 
 
 Weight. — Weighing over eight pounds o 
 
 Condition. — So fat that her tail droops badly, abdomen hangs 
 low, being sallow about the face 3 
 
 Head. — Too long, and being depressed at base of comb, and fails 
 to project above the eyes i}^ 
 
 Comb. — Is too large, and while firm on the head turns to one side 
 so as to crook all three of the divisions. Though of less 
 importance than the same in males we cut 3 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Being well rounded and red in color. . o 
 
 Neck. — Being well arched, and the feather black laced perfectly 
 with white o 
 
 Back. — The tail drooping so badly the concave sweep to tail is 
 destroyed i 
 
 Breast and Body. — Being round in front and sides as it joins 
 the body, and white o 
 
 Wings. — Having fallen away from the back so as to bring them 
 below their proper position. Though perfect in color, we cut. Ij4 
 
 Tail. — Droops to a level with back, has white tail coverts 2^ 
 
 Fluff. — Hangs so low as to come far below the hocks, and so 
 profuse as to embed the thighs in soft feathers, destroying the 
 smooth side surface 2 
 
 Legs. — Middle toes not being feathered. Scale yellow and smooth i 
 
 Total points out 19^2 
 
 The bird scoring 80^ 
 
 Now from the effect of her drooping tail, her sloping 
 back, and falling down of abdomen, we cut 4 points in 
 symmetry, then we have cut but four-sevenths the outs 
 in the sections which effect symmetry, and reduce the 
 specimen in flesh, restore her muscles to healthy action. 
 
LIGHT BRAHMA COCK. 
 
 277 
 
JUDGING. 279 
 
 shrinking her fluff to reasonable size, letting the tail 
 resume its natural shape, and the result would be : 
 
 Symmetry, for Cochin fluff ^ 
 
 Size, lyi lbs I 
 
 Condition. o 
 
 Head 1%. 
 
 Comb 3 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles o 
 
 Neck o 
 
 Back o 
 
 Breast and Body o 
 
 Wings o 
 
 Tail I 
 
 Fluff, always will be too large and full about thighs ^ 
 
 Legs I 
 
 Total points out 8^ 
 
 The bird scoring 91)^ 
 
 and you have a first-class specimen. We have seen 
 birds in just this condition that have been forced for 
 excessive weight and have been censured for the score 
 in conformity with the above. This definite score and 
 comment upon them we believe will awaken an interest. 
 If it but sets the amateur to buying score cards, and 
 applying them by scoring his specimens at home, 
 more will be effected than all the lectures on the sub- 
 ject will do, the best lesson being experience with the 
 pencil and card. 
 
 If the head be carried too far forward so as to lessen 
 the arch of neck, giving it too straight a look or crouch- 
 ing position, cut a point. If the saddle be so full as to 
 destroy the concave sweep, that being the extreme of 
 the one caused by the drooping tail, cut a point. If 
 breast be both flat in front, and, viewed from front, 
 
280 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 wedge-shaped, not round at sides, cut two points. If 
 legs be turned in at hocks, cut one to three points if 
 they come close together. If the tail be pinched to- 
 gether, sickle running out straight, for both evils cut 
 two points, or one each, as one or both appear. Wings, 
 if too low down, giving back an oval shape from side to 
 side at the shoulders, cut both wings and back one each. 
 Middle toes smooth, cut one-half point for each one, 
 or one point for this failure in Brahmas or Asiatics. 
 This was a compromise among breeders, and in the last 
 revision the requirement was added, but with the under- 
 standing it have but one point of value in adjudicating 
 for prizes. White lesser coverts in males and tail 
 coverlets in females, cut one point ; white in sickles 
 of males, from one to two points. We mean that by 
 the movement of the plumage by the wind, if white 
 appear above the coverlets by partial parting them, it 
 shall show to the surface. To dig down to the very 
 roots of the sickle to disclose it is not a just thing to 
 do, for the quill-points of nearly every feather in a Light 
 Brahma is white. A reasonable construction of the 
 English language and fitness of things to which it is 
 applied is to govern you in all things, there being no 
 exception to that rule. 
 
 DARK BRAHMAS 
 
 seldom score as high as Light Brahmas, for the com- 
 plication of color makes it impossible. Each minute 
 defect must be noticed in its comparison. This has a 
 tendency to cut down the general average so that in 
 sweepstake prizes the Darks seldom win over the 
 Lights. The male taken for illustration was one of ex- 
 
DARK BRAHMA COCK. 
 281 
 
JUDGING. ^ 283 
 
 ceedingly beautiful appearance as he stood at a dis- 
 tance, nearly all defects being hidden from view. 
 
 Symmetry. — Grand, for he was round in breast, in front and sides, 
 back broad and flat, his saddle having the nice concave 
 sweep to a tail that was carried in a perfect angle with 
 
 back sickles spreading laterally o 
 
 Weight. — Perfect ; weighing just ii lbs o 
 
 Condition. — In perfect health, no plumage broken, legs smooth, o 
 
 Head. — Broad over eye, the eyes bay, beak horn color o 
 
 Comb. — Had side sections perfect and scrrates even, but middl 
 section grew too fast for the sides and had to curl or take a 
 
 serpentine shape I 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Perfect in color and shape o 
 
 Neck. — The very tips of the black stripes v/ere very black, but 
 did not extend up the feather, so that the displacement of the 
 hackle by the wind or movement of the head disclosed them 
 
 to be gray in stripe. < i% 
 
 Back. — Fair in color, but saddle had the black stripes all grizzled 
 
 up by a gray color i^ 
 
 Breast and Body. — All right, being black and as described above o 
 Wings. — All right in color when folded, but come to open them 
 the interior flights were white, This is a sad fault in Light 
 
 Brahmas, but still greater one in Dark Brahmas 3 
 
 Tail. — As we have said, grand in shape, but white showed in 
 sickles two inches about coverts, tail proper one-third the 
 
 length white 3 
 
 Fluff. — So light in undercolor as to give the fluff a gray look 
 
 when closely inspected 2 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Nice in all else, but the lower portion of the 
 feathering was wholly white i^ 
 
 Total points out , , 12,% 
 
 The bird scoring 86|^ 
 
 And we saw the bird we had exclaimed would score 
 almost a hundred, viewing him at a few rods off, shrink 
 by examination to 86^ points, only ly^ points above 
 the minimum score of first class. Now these are seri- 
 
284 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 ous outs in breeding, as white to a large extent in wings 
 and tail have a strong effect upon the beauty of all 
 they get. This bird in off-hand judging would pass for 
 more than his value, while one defective in body, i ; 
 breast, i ; back, i ; and carriage of tail, i ; thus making 
 a cut of 2^ necessary in syrnmetry, would not get a 
 full score at the hands of a judge, and most likely be 
 placed second to the one first described and scored. We 
 say : White in wings, from i to 3, as in degree ; white 
 in sickles, j5^ to 2 points ; white in tail proper, ^ to 3 ; 
 bronze or red patches in wing-bow, from ^ to 2 points ; 
 bronze in wing-bars, i^ points; bare middle toes, i 
 point ; pinched in tail, i point ; splashes of gray in 
 breast, i to 2^ points. Round, even, white spots in 
 breast are not defects, though some breeders may pre- 
 fer to breed from solid black. 
 
 DARK BRAHMA PULLET " JUANETTA." 
 
 Symmetry. — Cushion too high, being convex i 
 
 Weight. — Weighing 7^ pounds i 
 
 Condition. — Had back plumage worn off, unable to say what 
 
 pencilings were t% 
 
 Head. — Brown, not steel gray i 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — White in centers of ear-lobes i 
 
 Neck. — Black in hackle, penciled with gray i 
 
 Back. — Where not broken, was minutely penciled, not penciled 
 
 in circular lines across the feathers 2 
 
 Breast and Body. — Was not penciled up to throat, and had stray 
 
 feathers in it, approaching the color of Partridge-Cochins. ... 3 
 
 Wings. — Were Standard, except white shade in flights in lower web i 
 
 Tail. — Pinched, and too much buried in cushion, Cochin shaped i 
 
 Fluff. — All right, being a beautiful stone color o 
 
 Legs. — Well feathered and dusky yellow o 
 
 Total points out 13 ''< 
 
 The bird scoring 86 J^ 
 
285 
 
i. 
 
JUDGING. 287 
 
 It will be seen in this specimen that, excepting the 
 cushion and pointed tail, all were defective in color and 
 condition, and the specimen cannot be called an exhi- 
 bition bird, for even with symmetry set aside she will 
 score but ninety points and would fail to win in close 
 competition, though large numbers of first prizes have 
 been awarded birds no better. P'ew pullets that have 
 a breast as defective as this one, being off in penciling 
 and having reddish feathers in breast, have perfectly 
 penciled wings ; and it is seldom that a back gets cut 
 one and a half to two points for color and character of 
 pencilings that the wing does not suffer within one-half 
 to one point as much. 
 
 The whole question of judging by points is expressed 
 in the one line : It compels minute examinations of 
 each and every section laid down hi the Standard for the 
 breed. Now any course that secures this makes the 
 work better done than to rely on a casual or even a 
 close survey, when the specimen is not handled. 
 
 BUFF-COCHINS. 
 
 Self-colored birds simply become a question of uni- 
 form shade and brilliancy of color and correct under- 
 color. The awards in this breed have many times been 
 waited for in suspense and anxiety beyond any other, 
 for the reason so many of them will score so near alike. 
 We have seen five awards made in the scope of one 
 and three-quarter points in a competition of one hun- 
 dred and sixty-two entries. It can be safely said no 
 man could say which was absolutely best. There was 
 but one way to do : Score them and let the footing of 
 the cards do the work. The expression, a rich, clear 
 
288 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 buff, means, of course, a reddish buff. A lemon color is 
 not a biff. Those birds approaching a yellow buff be- 
 come defective ; those birds that drop off into a pale 
 drab are defective, and must suffer for color. White in 
 undercolor becomes a serious defect ; Avhite or black in 
 tail and wings again comes in for punishment. They 
 having a form known as Cochin symmetry, we define 
 
 it, to wit: 
 
 THE BUFF-COCHIN COCK, 
 
 having a low, evenly-serrated comb, a short, well-arched 
 full-hackled neck, short back and full and abundant 
 saddle in which the tail is nearly buried, the tail being 
 rolled ; the sickles so smali as to be lost in the tail 
 coverlets; breast full; broad, deep, thick body, having 
 a fluff that stands out about the thighs ; shanks short, 
 heavy and profusely feathered, may be allowed to pass 
 uncut in symmetry. A peculiar specimen of this breed 
 came under my notice a short time ago — a cock : 
 
 Symmetry. — Back scant in saddle, drooping to a sharp concave 
 
 sweep to tail i^ 
 
 Weight. — Full in weight o 
 
 Condition. — Fluff had partially been picked off by hens, but bal- 
 ance was prime color; there was no evidence of ill-health, and 
 
 as it was an accident we checked it (x) o 
 
 Head. — Short, broad, and color rich buff , o 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — One had been torn off. i 
 
 Neck. — To all outward appearances it was a rich, bright buff and 
 even in shade, but had a white undercolor for two full inches 
 
 from the flesh 3 
 
 Back. — Flat at shoulder, but the back saddle discolored and un- 
 dercolor white 3^ 
 
 (This section is worth 10 points. Here we find fully i^ 
 points in form of saddle out, and fully 33 per cent defect in 
 color; fully ^ of the length of feather was not buff, yet that 
 which showed to surface was regulation shade). 
 
BUFF COCHIN COCK. 
 
 289 
 
JUDGING. 291 
 
 Breast and Body. — This was all one could desire in form, but 
 spotted by isolated deep buff feathers, on an otherwise pale 
 buff breast, and added to this white undercolor 3 
 
 Wings. — Bows were red; balance of wing a rich buff, with both 
 black and white in the flights. This is a bad complication. The 
 bow had gone beyond a rich buff or even bay; the flights had 
 white "2.% 
 
 Tail. — Were it not for the white which appears in the sickles 
 would be called good for the two inches of white in them. ... \yi 
 
 Fluff. — This, in consideration of the x in condition, we connected 
 it with the same and cut for the reason it would be better un- 
 derstood under fluff, than to cut a yi point in each i 
 
 Legs. — All right o 
 
 Total points out 17 
 
 The bird scoring 83 
 
 Here, again, is a magnificent-looking bird in general 
 appearance that is certainly a poor one for breeding 
 purposes, and one standing in a show-room, a visitor 
 who does not discriminate between Brahma and Cochin 
 symmetry would deem severely used by the judge. It 
 only proves how unreliable is the opinion of the visit- 
 ing public at our poultry exhibitions. These defects 
 appear in a less or greater degree, and have to be fur- 
 nished in cut from one-half to three points ; a cut of 
 over three points seldom occurs in exhibition birds. 
 
 BUFF COCHIN PULLET. 
 
 Symmetry. — So near up that judgment says not to cut, but because 
 of its very excellence we look the bird over a second time and 
 come to the conclusion the cushion is not quite full enough, 
 
 and make the cut half under protest ^ 
 
 Weight. — Full o 
 
 Condition. — Health perfect o 
 
 Head. — Fine in shape and color, eye bay o 
 
 Comb. — Low, firm, evenly serrated o 
 
293 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Neck. — One even rich buff, and undercolor even, but of ligbter 
 shade where covered from the air o 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Perfect , o 
 
 Back. — One nice shade of rich buff, matching perfectly the neck 
 
 hackle, both in surface and undercolor . y^ 
 
 (Ah, but we cut for symmetry, because this back was defect- 
 ive, and to make our score consistent we have to go back and 
 erase symmetry or cut now for back, and we again under 
 protest cross out the o, and cut ^ point.) 
 
 Breast and Body. — "We see no particular fault, but we so far 
 have found nothing to cut, and we look all over carefully and 
 find just the merest difference in the shades of the surface 
 plumage ; undercolor is all right ; again cut under protest. . . . i 
 
 Wings. — We pull them out ; they are nice ; the bows are even 
 rich buff. We are now fully on the watch ; the specimen is 
 going to score too high for our reputation as a judge, and 
 in despair cut 
 
 Tail. — The last resort. We are conscious that we would like it a 
 trifle smaller and more pointed, yet it seems a pity to cut, but 
 
 again we cut ^ 
 
 (Knowing each and every time we have cut so far we have 
 cast all doubts against the specimens, when the rule has 
 been with us to give the specimen the benefit of at least one- 
 half of them.) 
 
 Fluff. — Nice in color and profusion o 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Alas, they are nearly perfect ; the middle toes 
 are feathered to near the end, but she is a Cochin, and we 
 again cut her i 
 
 Total points out 3^ 
 
 The bird scoring 96)^ 
 
 The belle of the exhibition, and for all that she has 
 been scored closer than any bird on exhibition, it is an 
 absolute fact that each and every bird that scores 
 ninety-four or more honest points (remember we say 
 honest points) receives a closer score than is the case 
 with birds that score eighty-eight to ninety-three. Not 
 
BUFF COCHIN PULLET. 
 
 293 
 
JUDGING. 295 
 
 one judge in fifty that will not, when he finds a bird 
 score ninety-five, go carefully over the ground to be 
 sure he has made no mistake, and to see if he has cast 
 a full half of all the doubts against the specimen. 
 
 PARTRIDGE-COCHINS. 
 
 Like the Dark Brahma, accuracy of penciling goes a 
 long way in securing the prizes. Among the males the 
 most common defects are found in a too flat and low 
 saddle, and too prominent sickle feather, white in under- 
 color of hackle, and white in wing and shank plumage. 
 These cut deep. It will be seen, as in the case with 
 the Buff cock already alluded to, not only that, but 
 some judges, failing to analyze closely, are apt to cut in 
 breast and body because of the defect spoken of in 
 back. 
 
 THE PARTRIDGE-COCHIN COCK " KING." 
 
 Symmetry. — Too flat in saddle, being a perfect Brahma shaped 
 
 back I 
 
 Weight. — lo^ pounds >^ 
 
 Condition. — Come to handle would turn black in comb, show- 
 ing symptoms of apoplexy 2 
 
 Head. — All right, having deep red plumage o 
 
 Comb. — Low behind and high in front, with only four serrations, 
 
 uneven at that • 2 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Fair in texture, good color o 
 
 Neck, — Short and having a nice arch, black stripe, prime, but 
 the rich bay edging was smutty, with the lower row of hackle 
 
 feathers black 2 
 
 Back. — Flat at shoulders, saddle flat, undercolor of saddle white, 
 but the black stripe line 2 
 
296 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Breast and Body. — Full and round, black in surface but opened 
 
 to a white undercolor 2 
 
 Wings. — Bronzed spots in the bar, with white along the center 
 
 of inside web of primaries i^ 
 
 Tail. — Prime color, but cuts through saddle i 
 
 Fluff — Bronzed up with bay color. . i 
 
 Legs. — Prime in the size and carriage, but the plumage was 
 mottled with white i 
 
 Total points out 16 
 
 The bird scoring 84 
 
 A fine looking bird to the gaze of the ordinary vis- 
 itor to an exhibition or poultry yard — but eighty-three 
 and one-half is a low score to write to a man expecting 
 to sell ; and many such birds are sold to the purchaser 
 who sees them, and highly prized by the seller, both 
 of whom are sadly deceived in him. This bird changes 
 hands at a large price and comes before a judge, and 
 the result is hard feelings expressed — the seller branded 
 as a cheat. In an old-fashioned, open judged show, 
 he would be found among the winning samples on 
 exhibition. 
 
 PARTRIDGE-COCHIN PULLETS 
 
 are often found light in weight. To show under seven 
 months of age but a small number reach Standard 
 weight, and not a large number even exceed disqualify- 
 ing weight. A Cochin looks larger than it will weigh. 
 But the failure to be accurately penciled is the mis- 
 chief — and to get a cushion full enough to secure full 
 symmetry. 
 
PARTRIDGE- COCHIN COCK. 
 
 297 
 
JUDGING. 299 
 
 PULLET. 
 
 Symmetry. — Back flat, breast wedge-shaped i^ 
 
 Size. — Weighing only 6 pounds , 3 
 
 Condition. — In health and smooth in plumage o 
 
 Head. — All right, beak well arched o 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — These in nine cases out of teti are all 
 
 right o 
 
 Neck. — Black in the neck, hackle badly penciled with yellow. 
 
 (A slight penciling now goes uncut.) ly^ 
 
 Back. — Flat in cushion, plumage a leaden dull black in the 
 penciling, the lighter shade of black being dark brown. (A 
 back is valued at ten points, six for color, four for shape. In 
 the cut we at 2>}i points have cut but 33 per cent for shape 
 and Y®^ for color. When the colors in it are wrong and the 
 curved line penciling lost one sees the specimen is judged 
 
 leniently) 3^ 
 
 Breast and Body. — The light color is more buff or even drab 
 
 than rich golden bay. It fails in the penciling also; large 
 
 spots void of it, the body being void of penciling on thighs. . 2 j^ 
 
 Wings. — The bows are minutely penciled a brown surface, with 
 
 pepper sprinkled over; no curved lines in it. The primaries 
 
 void of the bay edge 2^ 
 
 Tail. — Black, the upper feathers a dark brown, penciled so 
 densely as to give a leaden-black look. Tailfanned out like a 
 
 Brahma 2 
 
 Fluff. — Dark brown, having no rich brown shading i 
 
 Legs. — Long and thinly feathered ; middle toes bare 2^ 
 
 Total points out 20 
 
 The bird scoring 80 
 
 Close scrutiny, tells on the exquisite pencilings. If 
 birds fail in sections that are valued at ten points the 
 defect has a greater value. We have known of a 
 breeder taking a pen he called fair breeders to an ex- 
 hibition to sell. By an error they were scored and 
 valued at seventy-nine to eighty-three points. They 
 
300 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 were sold at $3 each, when before the score was made 
 $5 each was refused. Yet a Dark Brahma, Wyandotte, 
 Partridge-Cochin, or Penciled Hamburg pullet that 
 scores from eighty-five to ninety are as strictly first- 
 class as a Light Brahma, Black Red Game, Plymouth 
 Rock and White Leghorn that score ninety to ninety- 
 three and a half — and the number in one hundred 
 raised as many ; yet we see them once in a while, the 
 former, that score ninety-three to ninety-five points. 
 
 WHITE COCHINS. 
 
 A few general remarks may not come amiss in speak- 
 ing of this breed under the head of judging. "An egg 
 is an egg." We hear one say a Cochin's is a Cochin's, 
 and should all be of one Cochin form. Yet we know 
 that there is not a single variety but the Buff that so 
 many in one hundred conform to the recognized Cochin 
 shape, and that the Partridge is the largest and heaviest 
 of all the Cochins. The weight of the Standard de- 
 manded to enable them to compete is too heavy, and 
 in all the varieties the weights for pullets are too large, 
 and for hens in the White Cochin breed also. We have 
 only four points leeway between perfect weight and 
 the weight which disqualifies. Wherein is the consist- 
 ency that debars a young chick that is growing at four 
 points under perfect weight ? It is simply a question 
 of permission to compete, and an arbitrary measure in 
 favor of a poorer, larger specimen, for it gives the 
 prize to the poorer bird by preventing a better one 
 from competing. A pullet of five pounds pays five 
 points for the privilege to compete with one of seven 
 and a-half pounds. The one of lesser weight has to 
 
PARTRIDGE-COCHIN PULLET. 
 
 301 
 
JUDGING, 303 
 
 make up in points of merit more than the difference 
 in weight to win the prize. Then one sees at once the 
 blunder of setting disquahfying weights too high. 
 This cause alone cuts down the exhibits in White 
 Cochins at least fully fifty per cent in all our exhibi- 
 tions, and in consequence we see the prizes won by far 
 less beautiful specimens ; and so true is this that three- 
 fourths of the prizes go to birds of other than Cochin 
 shape, the birds that reach the weights being invariably 
 of a Brahma type, indicative of the crosses resorted to 
 to attain the size necessary to wiji. Allow birds to 
 compete at five pounds for pullets, six pounds for hens, 
 six and a-half pounds for cockerels and eight and a-half 
 pounds for cocks, and the numbers would increase 
 threefold, the societies be that much richer in entry 
 money, and the quality of the specimens increased — 
 competition being so much sharper, greater attention 
 would be paid to them. 
 
 We build poultry by' the pound, and the cost will 
 be found not to deviate much per pound, no matter 
 what the breed. Then, as a show bird, all those quali- 
 ties which make a specimen beautiful and a show 
 attractive should be fostered. We care not how large 
 a specimen be, if all out of feather and ungainly in 
 form none stop to admire him, and only when so ugly 
 and ill-shaped as to excite ridicule will he attract in 
 comparison to birds of nice proportions and beautiful 
 plumage. In all judging the specimen stands or falls 
 upon the perfection of its parts, each by themselves 
 considered, and we say of the White Cochins, that 
 we have seen them as beautiful as we represent 
 them in the cut, for we have seen absolutely per- 
 
304 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 feet section ; therefore, we are enabled to give you a 
 perfect picture of each and every section, and to show 
 you how a perfect bird will look having all these per- 
 fect sections harmoniously joined together — and only 
 so joined and possessed do they get a full score for 
 symmetry, and we say in judging 
 
 Symmetry. — If the neck be carried back over the 
 breast it mars Cochin shape, and we cut a point. If the 
 back has a concave circular sweep from back to tail, we 
 cut a point, for it has a Brahma shape back, not a Cochin 
 shape, for that should be convexed in its contour. If 
 the fluff is short, being slender of stern, then we cut a 
 point, for form is faulty, because the fluff does not 
 stand out about the rear and thighs and give that heavy, 
 broad appearance conceded essential to Cochin sym- 
 metry. A full, broad breast is demanded if the lines 
 be nearly straight from throat to thighs. It certainly 
 injures symmetry a point. 
 
 Condition. — If a pure white breed come into a 
 show pen all begrimed with dirt, and plumage broken, 
 it should certainly suffer two points, even if there be 
 no apparent symptoms of ill-health. If legs be scabby, 
 rough and unsightly, a cut of one to three points is 
 none too much. If one eye be closed by the first stages 
 of roup, one point ; if an eye be gone, two points. 
 
 Weight. — A specimen weighing but seven and one- 
 half pounds, when nine and one-half pounds is perfect, 
 the specimen loses four points for failing in two pounds 
 of flesh. 
 
 Head. — There is no question but a clear bay eye is 
 the best, but as we often witness a pale eye and a 
 yellowish bay, the Standard makes us hesitate to make 
 
305 
 
JUDGING. 307 
 
 a distinction, yet no one but would give five dollars 
 more for a bright bay eye in a bird scoring ninety-three 
 or more points, the expression to face is so much bet- 
 ter. In beholding a specimen a seeming want of some- 
 thing to make the head harmonize with neck will be 
 found in this different color of eye — the expression it 
 imparts. So much is this noticeable that a judge, while 
 not allowed to cut, will not hesitate to give such a 
 specimen the preference on an equal score. If the 
 head be narrow, having a pinched look, we cut one 
 point; if beak be not well arched and skull not well 
 over eye, one point. 
 
 Comb. — If very large, one-half to two points; if 
 turning from a straight line on the head, one-half to 
 one and one-half; one point for each side sprig or 
 indication of its removal ; if less than five serrations, 
 one point ; if unevenly serrated, from one-half to two 
 points ; if rolling over to the side from the top, dis- 
 qualify. 
 
 Wattles and Ear-lobes. — If wattles be short, one 
 to two points ; if one be shorter than the other, one 
 point ; a prominent wattle is indicative of procreative 
 vigor. This is the reason of severe cutting for defect 
 named. White ear-lobes one point. 
 
 Neck. — If neck be not carried forward and making 
 a nice curve from one-third, the way from head to back, 
 cut a point. If the plumage be shaded with yellow, 
 then cut from one to three points as this evil appears, 
 the latter when so deep as to shade the quills of the 
 plumage ; one to two points for twisted condition of 
 the feathers. 
 
 Back. — Wide at base of hackle and having a gentle 
 
308 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 rise of saddle to tail ; this recognized failure to take the 
 full convexed sweep, as seen in the Buff variety, causes 
 the judge to cut lighter for a flat saddle than he 
 would in the Buff or Partridge cocks. We say if scant 
 in saddle, one point ; if back be oval from wing to wing, 
 one point ; if rouched back, two and one-half points ; 
 if back be shaded with lemon color, one to two points. 
 
 Breast AND Body. — If flat in front, one point; if 
 wedge shape, viewed from in front, one point ; if plum- 
 age be tinged with yellow or straw color, one-half to 
 two points, as in degree. Body if not deep, one point ; 
 if plumage be shaded, one to one and one-half. 
 
 Wings. — Large wings, one point ; primaries show- 
 ing below secondaries, one to two points ; yellow tinge 
 in wing-bows, one to two points ; yellow quills in second- 
 aries or primaries, one half to two and one-half points. 
 
 Tail. — Sickles showing prominently, one point ; if 
 they be long and stiff, two points; tail cutting through 
 saddle, one to one and one-half points ; if squir- 
 rel tailed, two points ; if yellow quills show in tail 
 proper, one and one-half points ; lemon shadings in 
 tail coverts, one point. 
 
 Fluff. — If scant, one point ; if so short as to show 
 thighs clean cut, two points is none too much. 
 
 Legs. — If plumage of thighs be webbed out, to 
 give profile to thigh, one point ; if long in second joint, 
 one point ; if middle toes be bare, one point ; if shanks . 
 be sparsely feathered, one to two points; if legs be 
 spotted with green or black, from one to two points; 
 if toes be crooked cut one point for each toe affected. 
 
 The above would be our treatment of a White 
 Cochin cock in the show pen. 
 
LANGSHANS. 
 
 309 
 
JUDGING. 311 
 
 The Hen. — For all faults of form and defects of 
 comb, ear-lobes and wattles, the same rules will apply- 
 as in Buffs. 
 
 The cuts for color would be for the yellow along the 
 quills of the plumage, and as a rule they affect the neck 
 one-half to one point, back one to one and one-half 
 points, tail seldom but one point ; breast and body 
 seldom more than one point in color; wings saffrony, 
 from one to one and one-half points for color. This 
 yellow tinge seldom visits the females more than one- 
 half that it does the male. Why the sun does not 
 have the same effect upon the hen it does upon the 
 male, we cannot account for on any other basis than 
 that the continual laying through the season prevents 
 the fat feeding the plumage and thus helping the sun 
 in its burning effect upon the same. 
 
 LANGSHANS. 
 
 Up to this writing no breed has been more unsatis- 
 factorily judged than this. The breed came into the 
 Standard under much opposition, and a demand that 
 they be required to be bred to a type as distinct from 
 Black Cochins as possible for two black breeds to be. 
 It matters not which of the two breeds, Black Cochin 
 or Langshans, derived their best characteristics from 
 the other. To say a Langshan is perfect in form they 
 must have a more than medium-sized comb standing 
 erect and evenly serrated, with no side sprigs ; a head 
 short and broad, black eyes, and a neck long in com- 
 parison to a Cochin's, with a long flowing metallic black 
 hackle, which has to be lifted to disclose a flat back 
 at that point. Saddle must be one starting at or near 
 
312 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 the hackle, running in an inclined plane high up on the 
 tail, the tail being large and long, with long, flowing 
 sickle and numerous lesser sickles ; breast fairly devel- 
 oped ; sides well-rounded, with moderately developed 
 fluff; legs long as compared to Cochins, the shanks 
 and outer toes fairly feathered. Such is a pen-picture 
 of a male entitled to a full score for symmetry. 
 
 In contradistinction to this, we scored, not long 
 since, a cock as a 
 
 LANGSHAN : 
 
 Symmetry. — He was short in neck, tail and legs, with perfect 
 
 Cochin back 2 
 
 Condition. — Health and plumage all right o 
 
 Weight. — Weighed 9 lbs, should weigh 10 lbs 2 
 
 Head. — Beak not as blue-black as desirable, eyes light colored. . iJS^ 
 
 Ear-lobes AND Wattles. — Red, fine-textured; all right o 
 
 Neck. — Short ; plumage short and dull black 2 
 
 Back. — Brahma-shape, had scant saddle for a Langshan; green- 
 ish-black luster 2Y2, 
 
 Breast and Body. — Breast well developed; plumage had lost 
 
 the metallic luster 2 
 
 Wings. — Had the blue light spots in web, a color hard to say was 
 
 black; metallic luster wanting, and withal quite small 3 
 
 Tail. — A nice rolling Cochin tail, small and wanting in sickles. . . i^ 
 
 Fluff. — Rusty black i 
 
 Legs. — Feathered profusely, middle toes partially feathered, 
 shanks and toes in color good iJS^ 
 
 Total points out 19 
 
 The bird scoring 81 
 
 This bird had a white skin, no white in plumage. 
 There is no clause in disqualification to bar such from 
 competing. Compare the Standard to score and see if 
 judgment is not a fair one. Now give this same bird a 
 
JUDGING. 313 
 
 yellow skin and a yellow bottom to his foot, and take 
 the same description I have given here and compare 
 with a Black Cochin Standard and see if the following 
 would not become a fair, honest score for him : 
 
 Symmetry o 
 
 Condition o 
 
 Weight. — Weighs but 9 lbs 4 
 
 Head yi 
 
 Back 2>^ 
 
 Breast and Body 2 
 
 Tail o 
 
 Fluff i 
 
 Legs X 
 
 Total points out 10^ 
 
 The bird scoring 89^ 
 
 Do these two scores demonstrate a difference in the 
 breeds beyond the mere skin and color of feet? There 
 is not the slightest doubt the above cock was bred from 
 a Cochin flock that had had Langshan crosses upon it. 
 In the same exhibition a case just the opposite, in the 
 shape of a female entered as a 
 
 BLACK COCHIN PULLET: 
 
 Symmetry. — Head was small, neck long, with full, flowing hackle, 
 high, straight cushion, the two top tail feathers quite curved 
 
 and long i^ 
 
 Weight. — Being b% lbs i 
 
 Condition. — No fault to find o 
 
 Head. — Small, dark brownish black i 
 
 Comb. — A fine small comb on serrate, a bit curled (x) o 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — No fault for either breed o 
 
 Neck. — Long plumage, full, but not quite black enough ^2 
 
 Back. — Short cushion, high and straight i 
 
 Breast and Body. — Not round and full, wedge-shape, color good xyz 
 
,'U4 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Wings. — Good shape, bright black o 
 
 Tail. — Long, spread at base, too wide for a Cochin x}^ 
 
 Fluff. — Full and nice black color o 
 
 Legs AND Toes. — Shanks long, scantily feathered, outer toes hardly 
 covered 2% 
 
 Total points out 10^ 
 
 The bird scoring 89 j-^ 
 
 This female has every indication o.f being Lang- 
 shan bred. Let us make her white in skin and pink in 
 feet, and apply the Standard for Langshan, cutting for 
 the defects as the description of each of the above sec- 
 tions seem justly to warrant, and see if they will vary 
 much from the following: 
 
 Symmetry o 
 
 Weight. — Being 6%. tt>s o 
 
 Condition o 
 
 Head. — Color bad i 
 
 Comb, etc o 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles o 
 
 Neck j4. 
 
 Back o 
 
 Breast and Body 1 1^ 
 
 Wings o 
 
 Tail o 
 
 Fluff o 
 
 Legs i]4. 
 
 Total points out ... 4^-^ 
 
 The bird scoring ........ 95 ^ 
 
 making a Langshan five points better than she was 
 as a Cochin. Does this scoring disclose to you the dif- 
 ference in the breeds? If not, our labor is lost. Lang- 
 shans must be cut if in saddle they are like a Cochin, 
 
JUDGING. 315 
 
 oval in their sweep to tail, or if, like a Brahma, they are 
 concave in their contour ; for each they should be cut 
 one point. If void of long, flowing sickles and side- 
 hangers, they must suffer from one to two and one-half 
 points as in degree they approach a perfect-rolled 
 Cochin tail. If legs be wanting in the violet-pink 
 between scales and bottom of feet, they must be pun- 
 ished from one to two points. If middle toe be par- 
 tially feathered, one to two points, as in degree it shall 
 reach a perfect-feathered Cochin foot and feathering, 
 when the specimens become disqualified as being well- 
 feathered on middle toe. See balance of disqualifica- 
 tion in Standard. A single white feather in either foot 
 does not disqualify; if three or more are found, they 
 under present ruling will be barred from competition. 
 
 BLACK FOWLS. 
 
 In judging black fowls, let the breed be what it 
 may, to do it with strict justice one must have a nice 
 discrimination for color and the shades in the same 
 color. It is not only necessary that the birds be black, 
 but that in Cochins, Langshans, Black Hamburgs, 
 Bantams and Polish that the black be a metallic black. 
 Note the difference between a common dead black and 
 that disclosed by breaking a piece of hard coal. The 
 judge who scores two birds in a shaded coop, not tak- 
 ing them out to get the effect of the light upon them, 
 does a great injustice to other competitors ; for to 
 shade a Standard colored Langshan robs him of half 
 his beauty, while to shade a dead black fowl adds fifty 
 per cent to the density of her color — and a fine colored 
 cock and poor hen in the shade be made to match well 
 
316 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 as to color in the show pen, When we see judges 
 taking some birds out of the pen and leaving others in, 
 in doing their work, we are apt to feel that they are 
 tired, careless ox tricky ; we leave circumstances to de- 
 termine which. 
 
 In white fowls, also, the trouble is in the straw- 
 color appearing in surface color, yellow quills in 
 plumage. The light discloses these defects, while a 
 shaded coop hides a multitude of defects. The bright 
 dark, brilliant colored birds are made all the more 
 beautiful by a strong light, and the white or nearly 
 white and black by the influence of a subdued light 
 and a blue canopy, the best upper-light for all. It is, 
 therefore, the best plan in arranging an exhibition, 
 both as to treating each exhibitor the best you can 
 and to make the exhibition the most attractive 
 possible, is to keep this rule in mind, and to place all 
 brilliant colored birds in the lightest part of the hall 
 and the white ones in the darkest ; but in judging let 
 all be carried to some room where all have the same 
 light. But we digress. White birds are cut in color 
 as yellow shades mar the pure white required in the 
 plumage. In all living shades of white, oil and white- 
 lead paint is a good Standard, cutting for shading as 
 white till it becomes yellow, when the plumage 
 becomes foreign to the breed. The exception to this 
 is when plumage becomes burned by the sun and 
 weather. This can be determined by lifting the 
 plumage and seeing what it is where it has not been 
 exposed, and to see if the quills are yellow also. If 
 the quill be yellow where not exposed we must con- 
 sider that the sun is not the whole cause of the foreign 
 
JUDGING. 317 
 
 color. In White Leghorns we find it necessary to cut 
 from one to three points as this evil appears in back 
 and wings ; in tail not often a cut beyond one point is 
 found necessary. These few remarks will make it un- 
 necessary to take up individually the white breeds, and 
 we shall consider the colored varieties of the same 
 races. Thus will those defects affecting form be dis- 
 posed of. 
 
 BLACK BREASTED RED GAMES. 
 
 I can give you no better pen-picture of true sym- 
 metry and beauty in a male than already given you in 
 the Royal Mating No. i. Our exhibitions disclose 
 less difference in the score of Black Reds than any 
 other breed ; yet there are many vexing questions that 
 come up to make the position of judge a trying one. 
 Oftentimes two sections in a bird make a wonderful 
 difference in personal appearance. We judged two 
 Black Reds recently, to wit : 
 
 BLACK RED GAME PULLETS. 
 
 No. r. 
 
 Symmetry and Station. — Shanks long and turned in at knees; 
 
 her neck cranish in its arch 2^ 
 
 Condition o 
 
 Color. — Wings had the brickish red, back showed no shaft, was 
 
 tinged with reddish brown 3 
 
 Head. — Long, snaky o 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles o 
 
 Eyes. — Dove color i 
 
 Neck. — Long, but carried bent like a crane i 
 
 Back. — Oval, fell off at tail i 
 
 Wings. — Did not tuck them closely JS^ 
 
318 POUT-TRY CULTURE. 
 
 Tail. — Pointed, but carried too high ^ 
 
 Legs. — Bent in too much at knees i 
 
 Feet. — Toes not straight. i 
 
 Total points out ii}4 
 
 The bird scoring , SS}4 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Symmetry and Station — Was low in station, had short neck, 
 
 shanks and thighs 3 
 
 Condition o 
 
 Color, — Ashen gray back, nice in shafts and penciling, breast 
 
 pale salmon shown in flights 2 
 
 Head. — Short, round i 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles o 
 
 Eyes. — Bright red o 
 
 Neck. — Short plumage reaches bej'ond shoulder points i 
 
 Back. — Straight as a board o 
 
 Wings — Well tucked o 
 
 Tail. — Too wide spread i 
 
 Legs. — Too short shanks 1 1^ 
 
 Feet. — Prime o 
 
 Total points out g)^ 
 
 The bird scoring 90^ 
 
 NoAv had the long-legged, high-stationed bird won, 
 there would not have been a word said. The breeders 
 of Standard Games would no more have put the short- 
 necked, short-legged hen in their breeding pens than 
 they would have thought of flying, while the pit men 
 would not have given one cent for the knock-kneed, 
 crane-legged, small-bodied pullet that had been imported 
 at a large expense. Yet these very men, when asked 
 if the cut for coIqj" was a just one, acknowledged that 
 it was ; when asked if I had cut the defect found in 
 
JUDGING. 319 
 
 legs too much, answered no ; and when I said sym- 
 metry in the one bird was as defective as in the others, 
 only from different causes, then you had the war with 
 the breeders' opinions, each of which was fashioned 
 after the end he had in view for his birds. 
 
 Symmetry and station mean more than long legs. 
 A cock to stand in perfect symmetry must have his 
 eye over his foot just along the shank. The female, 
 because of her heavier portions, will carry her head 
 just a trifle forward of that point. The backs of both 
 must run straight as a line and on an inclined plane 
 from neck to tail. The short hen did this, while the 
 tall, rangy one carried hers horizontally, and it was arch- 
 ing in its contour. Her neck, while long enough, was 
 jerked up into a crook more than an arch, the short 
 one being alike cut for its being one inch shorter than 
 the other. The judge must defend the rights of exhib- 
 itors even at a loss of reputation, and it is just these 
 cases when the judge can do injustice and save cen- 
 sure that take the courage to do right for right's sake 
 and take the censure that always follows. 
 
 A short-legged, short-necked and wide-tailed pullet 
 may stand in perfect Game poise, her cut being one of 
 station alone, while another that failed to poise in a 
 Game position gets the cut for symmetry, and if these 
 long shapely legs turn in at the hock and show weak- 
 ness as well as awkwardness, the latter must be cut 
 under symmetry and station, and the former in section 
 of legs. It is a pleasure to look at a bird that scores 
 high, like this well trimmed, symmetrical 
 
320 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 BLACK RED GAME COCK. 
 
 Symmetry and Station. — Head exactly over the feet, the whole 
 carriage upright ; full round breast; thigh and shank, in line 
 from in front; tailatangleof 45 degrees, coming close together, 
 with sickles extending 5 inches beyond tail proper ; hackle 
 
 long, but strong, without a crane look to the specimen o 
 
 Condition. — Perfect health, not a feather broken o 
 
 Color. — See Standard, except that he has no bay edge to pri- 
 maries, and a red line runs up the sickle shafts i^ 
 
 Head. — Long, tapering, smooth o 
 
 Comb, etc. — All trim, smooth, no wrinkles or folds o 
 
 Eyes. — Fire red o 
 
 Back. — As straight as a board o 
 
 Breast and Body. — A little hollow at throat ; color good i 
 
 Wings. — He let the lower edge of flights fall one-half the width 
 
 of lower feather. ^ 
 
 Tail. — Perfect in carriage, being 45 degrees in its slant from 
 
 body, very closely folded, and long o 
 
 Legs. — Trim, long, not stilty, olive color o 
 
 Feet. — Had long toes, perfectly straight, and all four came down 
 
 flat on the ground o 
 
 Hardness of feather is ignored in judging. — — >■ 
 
 Total points out 3 
 
 The bird scoring 97 
 
 In this there is nothing to despoil symmetry in any 
 way. Taking a profile view of the bird, the dent in front 
 of breast did not affect his outline, and he escaped, yet 
 we cut a trifle harder in breast and body, and on the 
 whole we have the best Black Red Game cock we ever 
 scored. By applying the test of the Standard the reader 
 will see the adaptability of the score symmetry and 
 station, and symmetry in all other breeds puzzles the 
 novice. In scoring, when you commence leave this 
 section out and score those sections that are described 
 in the Standard, and when you are through with your 
 
JUDGING. 331 
 
 specimen see if you have cut any section for the shape 
 of it. If so, when and how much,' then fix in your 
 mind a bird as different'from the one you are scoring 
 as a Standard one would make him, and you will get 
 both an idea of what perfect symmetry is and how 
 much the one you are scoring should be cut. For 
 symmetry is perfect when all the sections are per- 
 fect shape and carriage is that described in the 
 Standard. The Black Red Game is the best study for 
 symmetry we have in the whole fowl race. 
 BROWN RED GAMES. 
 In symmetry and station they should be the same 
 as Black Reds, the differences .being in color of plum- 
 age and eye only, our lesson being in color as we 
 score the specimens. One sees more poor colored 
 specimens in this variety than in any other, for the 
 reason that Ginger Reds have been discarded and they 
 try to force them into this class. At a little distance 
 a very faulty bird may look very well, and many for 
 this reason find their way to the exhibition room. We 
 have in mind now two birds pointed out at a distance 
 of four rods off, with the remark that they were twins. 
 See their score : 
 
 COCKEREL NO. I. 
 
 Symmetry and Station. — Legs fairly long, set on well; tail too 
 
 large and wide-spread ; head carried slightly forward 2 
 
 Condition. — All right o 
 
 Color. — Was orange-red with black stripe in hackle ; breast 
 black, with plumage at throat black, edged with red, with a 
 yellowish-red shaft to feather ; saddle matched hackle ex- 
 actly ; back and wing-bows dark crimson red ; balance all 
 
 right, with black tail o 
 
 Head. — Short and black, too much oval shape i 
 
 Comb, etc. — Was well trimmed. ... o 
 
322 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Eyes. — Dark brown o 
 
 Neck. — Long, close hackle o 
 
 Back. — Was oval in line from neck to tail i 
 
 Breast and Body. — Not full nor broad enough at shoulders. .... ij!^ 
 
 Wings. — All right, smoothly tucked o 
 
 Legs. — Prime in color (olive), smooth in scales o 
 
 Feet. — Toes not flat on the ground ; were short also i^ 
 
 Total points out 7 
 
 The bird scoring 93 
 
 " A daisy," the owner exclaimed. "And much better 
 than the other," we remarked. " Not much," the 
 breeder again put in. The Standard made the follow- 
 incf work of the so-called twin : 
 
 Symmetry and Station. — Eye exactly over foot; short in shank 
 and neck ; symmetry being all right, but station oif i^ 
 
 Condition (x) o 
 
 Color. — Head not dark red ; the black in hackle penciled with 
 a yellowish brown ; back light red, 'also wing-bows ; saddle 
 failed in the black stripe, being penciled with yellowish red ; 
 shafts too near same color of feather in the breast, the 
 centers being reddish brown, not black ; reddish brown along 
 
 side of body, the black not metallic in shadings 4^^ 
 
 (Owner's lip drops.) 
 
 Head. — Short, like the other 
 
 Comb, etc. — Not trimmed smooth, bunchy about ear-lobes 
 
 Eyes. — Red, should be dark brown , 
 
 Neck. — Short, hackle too long 
 
 Back. — Straight o 
 
 Breast and Body. — All right to appearance, but bone is crooked,. 
 
 Wings. — Carried lower ; primaries in sight 
 
 Tail 
 
 Legs. — Had a sprain, bunch just below knee joint (x) 
 
 Feet. — Had bad toes on right foot, inner one turned in 
 
 Total points out 14^ 
 
 The bird scoring 85^ 
 
JUDGING. 323 
 
 Just came inside of first-class breeding stock. 
 
 " The d 1!" exclaims Mr. . "Who would 
 
 have thought there was such a difference ? Surely 
 ' distance lent enchantment ' to that view. I think 
 those are the best ones — that exhibitors talk about 
 leaving at home, eh? " Bronzy red may look black at a 
 distance, so also a coal-black stripe, and one of duller 
 shade, penciled slightly, a few rods off show no suscep- 
 tible difference, but under the Standard and close in- 
 spection all defects come to light. 
 
 BROWN RED GAME PULLETS AND HENS 
 
 often disappoint in a like manner. See the difference 
 in the following : 
 
 Symmetry and Station. — Neck short, legs short also, tail wide 
 and full, carried head forward, does not get it up over the 
 
 foot when standing erect 3 
 
 Condition. — Generally all right, no sick birds as a rule go to shows, o 
 Color. — Black as a coal all over, neck hackle laced with golden 
 
 yellow, no brown tinge in any part 2 
 
 Head. — Long and snaky o 
 
 Comb, etc. — White in ear-lobes and a comb that lopped I 
 
 Eyes. — Black o 
 
 Neck. — Too short i 
 
 Back. — Straight as a board o 
 
 Breast and Body. — Breast bone crooked i 
 
 Wings. — Drops the lower primary; feather in sight i 
 
 Tail. — Too broad i 
 
 Legs. — Short i 
 
 Feet. — Square on the ground o 
 
 Total points out 11 
 
 The bird scoring 8g 
 
 Her competitor: 
 
324 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 Symmetry and Station. — Neck long, nice in the arch of the 
 same, legs in length and harmony with neck, head carried 
 
 over foot, tail carried close together o 
 
 Condition. — All right o 
 
 Color. — Neck black, laced with gold; back shaded with golden 
 
 brown; breast shaded with brown, in all else black o 
 
 Head. — A bit short y^ 
 
 Comb and Wattles. — Comb straight and evenly serrated, ear- 
 lobes red o 
 
 Eyes. — Black o 
 
 Neck. — Long and graceful o 
 
 Back. — Straight, flat and tapering o 
 
 Breast and Body. — Round and full at sides, the whole hard as a 
 
 rock , o 
 
 Wings. — Carried too low, show primaries below secondaries i^ 
 
 Tail. — Carried right and close together .' o 
 
 Legs. — Position good, scales perfect. .,. o 
 
 Feet. — 
 
 Alas! Our work has been done for nothing. She 
 carries her fourth toe alongside the inner ones, and is a 
 duck-footed specimen. DisquaHfied, reduced all to 
 nothing, and our expectations cast to the ground ; our 
 97 or 98 point bird is worthless as an exhibition speci- 
 men ; the sweepstakes prize goes to our competitor. 
 But let the lesson teach you to examine each and every 
 section to see that no disqualifications exist to disap- 
 point you. Score cards for each breed cost but little, 
 and on them are printed the disqualifications. 
 
 DUCKWING GAMES. 
 
 A novice would hardly be able to say what was a 
 Yellow Duckwing pullet in contradistinction to a 
 Silver Duckwing, the greater difference being in the 
 males — there being no disqualifications that will pre- 
 vent a breeder's showing the females in both classes. 
 
JUDGING. 3'25 
 
 We had at a recent exhibition presented to us a stag 
 which had been scored ninety-five and one-half points ; 
 but we found him, as we apply the Standard, a 
 
 COCKEREL : 
 
 Symmetry and Station. — Short in neck, thighs and shank, with 
 a hackle that covered the shoulder points, with tail carried 
 high and wide-spread, for which we cut, as their effects upon 
 
 symmetry 3 
 
 Condition. — Being in perfect health o 
 
 Color. — Head was a deep straw-color, hackle the same, blotched 
 with copper-color, saddle like hackle, body splashed with 
 yellow and white along the side, copper and white in the 
 
 curling feather under tail 4 
 
 Head. — Was short and chubby (x) i 
 
 Comb, etc. — Well and smoothly dubbed o 
 
 Eyes. — The best eye is a bay one, but brownish-red is admissi- 
 ble — was the latter o 
 
 Neck. — Hackle was long and flowing ; shoulder points were 
 
 covered i 
 
 Back. — Was straight but was narrow at shoulders ^ 
 
 Breast and Body. — Was full in breast, round at side, breast- 
 bone was straight, stern a nice upper curve to tail o 
 
 Wings. — Set out from breast, closely folded points hid in saddle 
 
 feathers — Standard o 
 
 Tail. — Was wide-spread and carried above a moderate elevation 1% 
 Legs. — Were too short, had knee bunches inside, just below 
 
 hock ij4. 
 
 Feet. — Set square on the ground, with hind toe straight to rear, o 
 
 Total points out 12)^ 
 
 The bird scoring 87^ 
 
 Yet there was all this difference between our score 
 and the judge who scored the bird one week before. 
 I asked, Did the judge take the bird from his coop ? 
 Then he did not cut the specimen but two in color, 
 
326 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 did he? This we found to be the fact, and that was all 
 the defect of color visible till his wings were lifted and 
 his tail turned back. Legs were not cut, yet the bunches 
 were in sight. Symmetry and station were cut but one 
 point, back and tail allowed to go uncut, remarking 
 that Duckwings had not the symmetry seen in Black 
 Reds, yet the Standard describes both alike in form and 
 the judge can know no other laM^ A specimen shown 
 as a Golden Duckwing pullet we found to be in 
 
 Symmetry and Station. — Short neck, long, full hackle, tail wide- 
 spread, legs short 3 
 
 Condition o 
 
 Color. — Head silver gray ; neck, the black each side of shaft pen- 
 ciled with gray ; back, ash color, penciled with stone color, 
 giving it the color called ashen gray, the shaft showing 
 silver color ; wing-bows like back, no reddish shading on them ; 
 
 flights and tail as described in Standard for Silver Duckwings. . 3 
 
 Head. — Long and snaky o 
 
 Comb, Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Had while in ear-lobe i 
 
 Eyes. — Red o 
 
 Neck. — Too short ; hackle covered shoulder points i 
 
 Back. — Straight and fiat-iron shape o 
 
 Breast and Body. — Full, broad and round ; nice turn to lower 
 
 line of body and stern o 
 
 Wings. — Folded closely o 
 
 Tail. — Carried wide-spread and high i 
 
 Legs. — Shanks short i 
 
 Feet. — Rear toe turned inward i 
 
 Total points out 11 
 
 The bird scoring 89 
 
 This specimen lost two points in competing in a 
 Golden Duckwing class, when as a Silver Duckwing 
 she would save the two points for color, a Golden 
 Duckwing demanding a dark gray head, dark salmon 
 
^ JUDGING. 337 
 
 color in breast, and a reddish shading to wing-bows. 
 A novice does not discriminate between the two. 
 Color in .Games becomes a section of itself, and has but 
 twelve pdints, while in other breeds the value varies 
 from nineteen to twenty-seven points, having twice 
 the average value ; thirty-three per cent cut in one being 
 four points, and nine points in the other. Score a 
 specimen in your own yard, a Golden Duckwing cock- 
 
 BLACK-BREASTED RED GAME-BANTAMS. 
 
 erel, and then go over him again, applying the Silver 
 Duckwing standard, computing your cuts on the per- 
 centage plan, and see what change it will be necessary 
 to make in color. These object-lessons of comparison 
 we think quite as useful as an essay confined to the 
 one variety. 
 
 GAME BANTAMS 
 
 are scored by the Game standard only in weight. It 
 will be seen by actual measurement that a Bantam 
 
328 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 with the same length of leg, neck and tail in propor- 
 tion to his weight will not look so high and so gamey, 
 so to speak. The judge, therefore, will look, to the 
 uninformed, as cutting hard for defects in legs and sta- 
 tion. If he goes so far as to be thought cutting 
 severely by the novice he can be very sure that he is in 
 error. These little pets are generally purer in their 
 shades of color, and generally score very high. Sweep- 
 stakes prizes for highest scoring birds of an exhibition 
 find their way to Black Red-Game Bantam pens often. 
 We can give no new idea of scoring Bantams over that 
 of the larger Games. 
 
 SILVER-SPANGLED HAMBURGS. 
 
 In this variety, when the defects occur in comb, ear- 
 lobes and wattles, breast and body, wings or tail, the 
 specimens are apt to score low down, for the reason 
 that an out in them is valued at 50 to 100 per cent 
 more than in other sections. They as a breed score 
 lower in comparison to their general appearance in the 
 yard than do most other breeds, to wit: 
 
 A COCKEREL. 
 
 Symmetry and Station. — Head small ; comb slightly canted over 
 neck ; graceful, full flowing hackle, with a nice long saddle 
 plumage ; tail long ; sickle large and long ; legs medium, and 
 
 carriage upright o 
 
 Condition. — Had comb lacerated by fighting i 
 
 Head. — Short, small ; eyes dark o 
 
 Comb. — Canted tc^one side, but firm in position, was wide across 
 
 center, having a circular sweep, not a nice taper, to spike. . . 4 
 Ear-lobes. — One-third surface red in color, and too long and 
 
 pendulous 3^ 
 
 Wattles. — All right o 
 
JUDGING. 329 
 
 Neck. — All right in color, but about one-third the feathers had 
 black tips, or spangles; fully 33 per cent of the color gone. . . i 
 
 Back. — All right in shape, but with saddle void of the 
 spangle ; about one-fourth of the feathers being black at tips, 2 
 
 Breast and Body. — Breast had white lacings to the black 
 moons ; the body was spangled with dull black ; had a 
 crooked breast-bone 3 
 
 Wings. — Were good in bow and fine in secondaries, black 
 spangles, dull black coverts, had crescent tips, making the 
 bars narrow. Primaries had no spangles 3 
 
 Tail. — Tail proper was very dark gray ; sickles had gray lower 
 webs, tip of same black ; spaugle of coverts crescent shape. . 2^ 
 
 Legs. — Thighs streaked with gray ; had two crooked toes i^ 
 
 Total points out 21^ 
 
 The bird scoring 78^ 
 
 Apply the Standard here and see if I have not been 
 as lenient as judgment will permit ; yet such a bird at a 
 distance usually seen on the walk would certainly be 
 called a fine appearing one, and we must consider 85 to 
 88 points of as much value in this breed as 90 to 93 
 in Brahmas. As a Standard of quality, by noting the 
 score it will be seen that faulty as he was in form, that 
 affected his general symmetry, he was not cut, and the 
 profile pleasing, and one hardly willing to concede the 
 score correct, but we cannot alter it. 
 
 In scoring a hen we take one of the Golden variety. 
 
 GOLDEN-SPANGLED HAMBURG. 
 
 A very prevalent defect in color of this breed is a 
 round white or gray spot in the black spangle along 
 the under line of body plumage and white in the 
 undercolor. It was once our lot in the old Standard 
 ruling to disqualify fifteen out of a class of seventeen 
 
330 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 for this defect. The present Standard does not dis- 
 quahfy, but the defect is a grave one. Combs are more 
 faulty, as a rule, than in the penciled varieties. Gen- 
 eral observation is not a safe guide in selecting speci- 
 mens for exhibition. Nothing but a close inspection 
 will save us from disappointment. We have seen a 
 very prepossessing specimen result in the following 
 score by the Standard : 
 
 THE HEN. 
 
 Symmetry. — Neck gracefully arched, back had a graceful curve 
 to tail, carried tail at a moderate elevation, breast full and 
 round, making a nice picture o 
 
 Condition. — Health and plumage unbroken o 
 
 Head. — Golden bay, but had white dots in the black ; beak light 
 color, eye pearl, face too blue under eye 2^ 
 
 Comb. — Large and shaky ; was a doubt as to calling it dis- 
 qualified 3 
 
 Wattles o 
 
 Neck. — Hackle had the golden lacing smoked up the outside 
 edge , I 
 
 Back. — Back all right, except at the very tip of the black 
 spangles white marks the size of No 8 shot ly^ 
 
 Breast and Body.' — Breast full, and no real fault with spangles, 
 except being dull in the black shading ; body spotted the 
 whole length of the under part with white spangles in the 
 larger black ones ; breast-bone crooked 2^ 
 
 Wings. — Showed shiny bluish-gray spots in inner web of both 
 primaries and secondaries 2 
 
 Tail. — These light spots in the tail proper ; a loss of the 
 metallic luster, tip dull black 2 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Shanks flesh color, rough in scales near 
 juncture with foot i ^ 
 
 Total points out 16 
 
 The bird scoring 84 
 
JUDGING. 331 
 
 Here again we find to follow Standard description 
 we are compelled to score out the above points, but it 
 is a very low score, and drops our seemingly nice speci- 
 men below the minimum of the Standard value of 
 first-class. We think such birds, though they are often 
 used as breeders, should be sent to the scrub pens, for 
 it is hard work to restore such, color. The use of the 
 Black Hamburg, and to breed back the female get, is the 
 only way to utilize them if necessity compels their use. 
 
 BROWN LEGHORN. 
 
 Corrugated combs, tainted ear-lobes, crooked breast- 
 bones and too dark color in females, the greatest evils 
 and hindrance to high scoring. More birds are dis- 
 qualified for wry tail and twisted combs than any other 
 cause, and the question how far can the comb be cor- 
 rugated and escape the penalty of " disqualified " /(3r 
 twist in the comb or loped comb. A male's score to 
 demonstrate : 
 
 Symmetry. — Comb is very large, back part swings round from 
 center of back of neck ; carries head a little forward from 
 effect of large, heavy comb ; tail keeps shifting from one to 
 the other side, and cuts through saddle, being carried too 
 
 erect, next door to squirrel tail 2% 
 
 Size. — Of medium size o 
 
 Condition. — Plumage looks dull, carriage indicates low vitality. . i^ 
 Head. — Dark red, short, deep; beak has a pale stripe, eyes are 
 a pearl, face yellowish red, under eye indications of coming 
 
 white 2 
 
 Comb. — Is large, being very high in front ; sides are raised in 
 ridges and folds, but edge maintains its straight line down 
 to beak, from back of skull it turned off to the side, yet 
 stands erect in front; this is a bad comb, having 7 serrations, 
 and we sum up the defects, 2 for the folds, i^ for size, 
 xYz for turning off to the side 5 
 
332 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — In this case were pendulous, pure 
 white, but streaks of red through it 2 
 
 Neck. — -Fair length, surface color as described in Standard, 
 but come to lift the hackle, we find almost an inch of white 
 (had it exceeded an inch, we should have had to disqualify). 
 When a specimen competes on the rule of doubt the judge is 
 compelled to cut J^ the section "}% 
 
 Back. — Dark red, saddle good in surface color, under color at 
 roots of tail and sickles full ^ inch white i% 
 
 Breast and Body. — Breast full, round, black; body along the 
 sides bronzed up with reddish bay; breast bone not quite 
 straight (x) x% 
 
 Wings. — Show red in the black bar, also black spots in the bows, 
 
 with sheeny spots in primaries 2 
 
 Tail. — Cuts through saddle and weak in position, changing 
 from side to side; color good (x) 2 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Shanks too much smoked up, with two black 
 scales I 
 
 Total points out 24}^ 
 
 The bird scoring 75.5^ 
 
 The specimen has scored very low, — seventy-five and 
 a-half points. Certainly a breeder Avould be foolish to 
 use such a bundle of defects as a sire when the fact is 
 before him that he is mating this defective influence to 
 his whole get. A defective female would be far less 
 injurious, for the male influence is greatest in the re- 
 production of type. 
 
 As a rule, this combination of defects seldom meets 
 in one specimen, but often nearly as bad — 78, 79 80 and 
 81 — are seen in the records of our first-class exhibi- 
 tions. Ninety in a hundred pullets of this breed will 
 score from 86^ to 94 points, with one to three in a 
 hundred reaching 94^ to 96^^. As many as three 
 exhibitions in five will show up a pullet to score 95 to 
 
JUDGING. 333 
 
 96 points. It is safe to say a Brown Leghorn pullet 
 that will score full in symmetry, comb and ear-lobes 
 will exceed in score 94 points, and we never saw one 
 score 96 that was cut in symmetry. 
 
 The following score will not vary one-half point in 
 any one of the sections of pullets that score 96. 
 
 Symmetry o 
 
 Weight o 
 
 Condition o 
 
 Head o 
 
 Comb. — Just falls off a bit from being straight in front y^ 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles y^ 
 
 Neck. — Is penciled in the back i 
 
 Back o 
 
 Breast and Body. — Pale salmon color >^ 
 
 Wings. — Red in lower part of them i 
 
 Tail. — A rich brown color o 
 
 Legs , o 
 
 A rich brown, penciled with a dull black, gives a 
 nice even brown shade to back, and up onto the tail ; a 
 rather pale salmon breast, and a bit of red in the wing- 
 bows, and pencilings in the stripe of the hackle, gener- 
 ally follows this nice color, and 96 points or more are 
 never reached without it. What cuts most of these 
 down from this high score that have this nice Standard 
 color is generally a comb that folds once or twice and 
 is cut from i to 2 points ; falling off in the roundness 
 of breast and sides, i point ; ear-lobes tainted, from 
 }4 to 1)4 points, which, you see, will takeout from i)4 
 to 4 more points, and you see them scored all the way 
 from 92 to g6y2, but they are all rich brown looking 
 birds. 
 
334 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 WHITE LEGHORNS. 
 
 The controversy among the friends of this breed as 
 to the shade in color makes it desirable that we give 
 our opinion upon the manner in which it is often 
 judged. If our manner of presenting it be singular, 
 excuse us: we shall be satisfied if the point made be 
 strong, and breeders awakened to the taint in color 
 that is so 'prevalent that we find many breeders weary 
 in the fight of keeping their stock up to a high con- 
 dition of excellence, and crying out that the Standard 
 be interpreted to favor the breed. In our score we 
 present a specimen commonly met with. We propose 
 to score him as is often done, without handling beyond 
 what can be done through the palings of a show-pen, 
 then to examine him critically afterward. 
 
 WHITE LEGHORN COCKEREL. 
 
 Symmetry. — Erert in carriage; comb medium, firm on the head, 
 
 having a fine sweep from front to rear; having five serrations; 
 
 tail carried so upright as to pass the perpendicular line i 
 
 Size. — Good, large bird for the breed o 
 
 Condition. — Quick, healthy ; plumage whole o 
 
 Head. — Short and deep, white; beak yellow, face red, eyes bright 
 
 bay o 
 
 Comb, etc. — Comb in which no faults appear o 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Thick and heavy in the enameled, but 
 
 decidedly yellow in color i)^ 
 
 Neck. — Long, surface color white o 
 
 Back. — Good in form but slightly straw-color; saddle still deeper 
 
 shaded with yellow 1)4. 
 
 Breast and Body. — Full and broad; body plump, color not 
 
 quite as white as we would like, but let it go with check. ..(x) o 
 
WHITE LEGHORN COCK. 
 
 335 
 
JUDGING. 337 
 
 Wings. — Bows shaded with straw-color, not quite white enough. . ^ 
 Tail.- — Magnificent in fullness, but sickles pass the perpendicular 
 
 line I 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Grand in color and smoothness of scale o 
 
 Total points out syi 
 
 The bird scoring 94 j!^ 
 
 And we exclaim, What a grand bird ! Every visitor not 
 interested in the competition exclaims he is the best 
 bird on exhibition. But Mr. B., who noticed that you 
 took his out of the pen to look him over, asked why 
 you did not take this one. You were tired and wanted 
 to get through, but you go back to see if you have not 
 in such a course committed a blunder, and knowing 
 that what error you have committed must be one of 
 color you take the bird out and lift his hackle off the 
 back, and see that a rim half an inch wide around the 
 lower edge is decidedly straw color in the light, and you 
 say one point out. You lift his back to see the quills 
 throughout are quite yellow, or butter color. You 
 say he is fat, which will affect it some, but I must cut 
 him one-half point. You open his wing, to find to 
 your astonishment seven of the quills in primaries and 
 secondaries that are dark straw color the whole length, 
 and you sigh when you add one and a half points to 
 the wing cut. Tail is certainly all right, but we will 
 look and find even sickle shafts yellow for three inches 
 long, and we cut again one point more and the idol of 
 the exhibition falls to ninety and a half points, taking 
 the third or fourth prize instead of the sweepstakes. 
 This object-lesson is but the experience of judges we 
 could name, nor can any of us say we may not fall into 
 
338 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 the same apparent injustice if we fail to take every 
 white bird out of the show pen and examine them in 
 every section. 
 
 PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 
 
 What is the shade of blue perfect in a Standard 
 sense? A question often asked and hard to answer. 
 Describe any shade of color you like on paper and send 
 five men to a bundle of sticks painted, and it is safe to say 
 not more than two in the five will return with the 
 right one. Our Standard in describing the color tries 
 to do it in one clause. The facts are as represented in 
 the living specimen. The back is the darkest both in 
 shade and from the fact that in this section the plum- 
 age overlaps much more, giving it a still darker blue 
 appearance ; and while we have in appearance a bird 
 bluish-gray, barred with a darker blue, it is also a fact 
 that feathers plucked from the specimen and described 
 as a single feather must be described as whitish-gray 
 barred with blue black. While there is absolutely no 
 shade which is a blue black, yet the light color of the 
 feather combined with the dark bars looks darker than 
 a navy blue, and the expression is used as preferable to 
 black, for we know that it-is not black in prime speci- 
 mens. The light bars, when looked at one feather lying 
 over others, should look a bright, clear, bluish-gray, and 
 the dark bar a very dark blue. These same feathers 
 laid on white paper will come very close to a white and 
 black ; and the wording of the Standard, from the fact 
 of so many feathers being sent in letters to would-be 
 customers as giving the best and surest description to 
 
PLYMOUTH ROCK COCK, 
 
 339 
 
JUDGING. 341 
 
 prevent disappointment, and ending the description in 
 the Standard, "and giving a blue tinge to plumage," 
 establishing the fact also that massed in plumage the 
 color should indicate blue. We believe the change an 
 error of judgment, the good old description, bluish-gray 
 barred with a deeper blue, being a far better descrip- 
 tion of the birds that please the fancier in these days. 
 The greatest faults of color are found in the muddy or 
 blurred light colored bars, and dead black darker bars 
 instead of dark blue bars. He who cannot readily 
 discern between a heavy blue and a black bar surely 
 should not be considered a good judge of Plymouth 
 Rocks. 
 
 A specimen that has the light bars tinged with a 
 muddy look may be so bad as to get a cut of one point 
 in all four of the following sections, to wit : neck, back, 
 breast and wings and tail ; even this would make five 
 points, and then not be cut to the extent of full jus- 
 tice, and with this very evil we have seen birds get a 
 score of ninety-five points. If the light bars are a full 
 deep sky-blue, and the darker bars black, then surely 
 we cannot cut less than one and one-half in neck, one 
 and one-half in back, two in breast and body, two in 
 wing; if the tips fold smoothly, and this muddy molas- 
 ses and butter discoloring seen upon the tail cover- 
 lets, two more, and in the whole color be punished 
 nine points, and it would be a light cut when we con- 
 sider that twenty-six points are allowed for color in the 
 different sections. Defects in form of back will have 
 an influence on the appearance of breast and body, and 
 many times we see a bird cut two in back and two 
 more in breast and body, when the latter cut is unjust. 
 
342 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Whenever a bird has a low rump or an oval back, un- 
 less the judge has had experience he will in very many- 
 cases cut for breast and body in Plymouth Rocks. The 
 best illustration of this will be found in the accompany- 
 ing cut. 
 
 Assume the cut itself to be perfect in back and 
 breast and body ; cut a piece of paper to reach down to 
 dotted lines in back so as to hide balance of back above 
 
 them, then see what a difference in the shape ; but by 
 the process we know that breast and body is the same, 
 the whole fault being in the back. Then it behooves 
 a judge to make sure where the real fault lies. In this 
 case add only to back that between upper line and 
 dotted lines to restore the bird to harmony of propor- 
 tion. Symmetry is the only section that should be cut 
 for defects found in other parts. One sees how easy 
 
an 
 
 JUDGING. 343 
 
 ezperienced judge and an amateur would vary all of 
 these points in such a specimen. 
 
 PLYMOUTH ROCK COCKEREL. 
 
 Symmetry. — Back drops off near tail, and head carried forward. . ij^ 
 
 Weight. — Weighs 9 pounds o 
 
 Condition. — A few feathers broken o 
 
 Head. — Beak has a thread-line of dark color. ^ 
 
 Comb. — None can say to a hair's breadth what that shape 
 shall be if it be an even sweep from back to a flanged 
 rear. If there be no corrugation on the one side and 
 no twists over the beak they may have 5 to 7 serrations 
 if they be in proportion, the middle one the largest, but 
 if, as in this case, it turns off only a little from a straight 
 
 line cut Yz 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — If red and no accident happens 
 they generally have little to cut, for if they have enamel 
 coating on them then they are disqualified. If, as in the 
 
 cockerel before us, one is shorter than the other, cut I 
 
 Neck. — Having a well arched and full hackle, whitish gray 
 barred with a deep-blue, should go uncut; if white in under- 
 color, no clouded bars across it, then cut I|^ 
 
 Back. — This should, to be perfect, have a slope from neck to a 
 point just back of hips, when the saddle should turn in a 
 moderately sharp concave sweep to tail. In this case color 
 was bluish gray barred with navy blue, but with the defect. 
 (See cut.) We allow Y^ point for color, i^ for form. This 
 
 is 50 per cent cut for shape 2 
 
 Breast and Body. — This being Standard color, full and round, 
 
 and sides rounded, we see no reason to cut it at all O 
 
 Wings. — In this living example we find in the flights white spots 
 on web, and a bronzy brown bar here and there in the wing- 
 bows, and we cut I ^ 
 
 Tail. — With this hollow out of back the tail looks long and slim, 
 but build the back up to its proper position and do we need 
 to alter the tail at all to satisfy the demands of the Standard ? 
 
 We think not o 
 
 Fluff. — Not so full as to hide the hocks o 
 
344 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Legs and Toes. — These are a trifle long, but toes are not quite 
 straight, not really crooked, but have a long curve from 
 shanks to tips; color good i^ 
 
 Total points out lO 
 
 The bird scoring go 
 
 And with this fault, and in all eight sections defective, 
 we have ninety points, a pretty good one in a Standard 
 sense of first-class. But a man who looks at portraits or 
 animal pictures with simply an artist's eye for the beauti- 
 ful, having no thought or knowledge as to the anatomy 
 and characteristics of a breed, or take three-fourths of 
 our breeders of Plymouth Rocks, whose judgment was 
 prejudiced by an interest in the competition, in all 
 probability a majority of them would cut, to wit : 
 symmetry 2, back 2, breast and body 2, and tail i. 
 We have seen just this exhibition of judgment expressed 
 over a bird of like character as our cut represents. We 
 have spoken of symmetry, the wish of some that it be 
 retained for the flexibility it gives the Standard. If 
 such a bird were scored without symmetry, such would 
 be fairly scored, but a bird that looks awkward suffers 
 in an ever-increasing ratio by the influence of symmetry 
 in the Standard. A judge who cared more for his rep- 
 utation than for justice could cut deep in such cases 
 and shut out such specimens from winning, and his 
 course would not be questioned because the flexibility 
 of the Standard coming in here, there being no de- 
 scription for symmetry by which to question his ideal 
 of symmetry, the answer, " Well, it's my idea of it," 
 would silence them all. 
 
 Fine colored pullets are scarce, and to win takes a 
 
JUDGING. 345 
 
 very pure colored one indeed. The difference between 
 the winning birds and the balance of the fifty per 
 cent of the best birds we raise is small. Bright blue 
 tinged pullets will attract universal attention, while one 
 clouded in the light colored bars brings censure for 
 judgment in cases where they win, and win they often- 
 times do, and fairly. For instance, note the difference 
 in the two birds here presented : 
 
 PLYMOUTH ROCK PULLET, NO. I. 
 
 Symmetry. — Head of medium size, carried high, having a yellow 
 beak and bay eye, which gives a bright expression ; comb 
 erect ; a nice tapering neck ; back had just rise enough in 
 cushion to break the concave form of back ; tail carried closed 
 to a point ; breast round as a ball in front, and making a 
 
 complete juncture with body o 
 
 Weight. — byi pounds o 
 
 Condition. — Whole plumage and in health o 
 
 Head. — Small ; yellow beak and bay eyes o 
 
 Comb. — Erect but rather large ; one side sprig i^ 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles — Red, no white in them o 
 
 Neck. — Long, tapering, light bars grizzled with black, bars 
 
 black 2 
 
 Back — Shape all we could wish, but color stone-color with black 
 
 bars 1% 
 
 Breast and Body. — Form all right; color dark blue barred 
 
 with black 2 
 
 Wings. — Fold in a smutty black point ; bows bluish gray with 
 
 black bars 2 
 
 Tail. — Light color in them, clouded bars, nearly black i j^ 
 
 Fluff. — Very dark stone-color, approaching blackT i 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Have several black scales i 
 
 Total points out 12^2 
 
 The bird scoring 87^ 
 
346 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 This, it will be seen, is a very dark colored speci- 
 men. But there is but one step from a blue black to a 
 black bar, the greater cut being for the influence of the 
 darkened light bars, that converts the pretty bright 
 blue-tinged specimen into an objectionable one. 
 
 One may be ever so beautiful in color, but they may 
 be so unfortunate in form and defective in comb, and 
 lack in weight, and pretty as they may look to the 
 general observer be forced to take a second position 
 to even a dark specimen, to wit : 
 
 Symmetry. — Short in neck ; close cleaving plumage to back ; 
 breast wedge-shaped ; tail spread out ; legs turn in a bit at 
 knees, all of which affect symmetry seriously, though the 
 
 evil in each section be not so great 2 
 
 Weight. — 6 pounds i 
 
 Condition. — Wet nostrils, breath fetid 1 
 
 Head. — Beak white ; eye white, dull i 
 
 Comb. — Has a twist in front, too high behind i^ 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Ears have a fatty, white appearance, 
 
 not red and nice i 
 
 Neck. — Trifle short ; head little forward i 
 
 Back. — No crowning of cushion i 
 
 Breast and Body. — Wedge-shaped ; body thin i j^ 
 
 Wings. — Carried loosely to sides ; flights hang too low i 
 
 Tail. — Fanned out, not pointed ^ 
 
 Fluff o 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Legs have black scales i 
 
 Total points out 13^ 
 
 The bird scoring 86 j^ 
 
 Nineteen in twenty, to take a look and say, would 
 give this specimen the prize just for her bright colored 
 bluish-gray plumage. The Standard fairly applied, she 
 is fairly beaten. 
 
PLYMOUTH KUCK PULLET. 
 
 347 
 
JUDGING. 349 
 
 For this favorite color look at a summer sky, with 
 its light azure blue, then bar it across evenly with a 
 dark blue, and you have a perfect-colored Plymouth 
 Rock, one of America's most popular fowls. 
 
 WYANDOTTES. 
 
 This new breed must for some time yet score low 
 in Standard points so far as the majority of the speci- 
 mens are concerned. Yet a few isolated specimens 
 reach ninety to ninety-two in the males, and we have 
 seen specimens to score ninety-four and one-half in 
 females. This complication of color, or rather com- 
 bining a penciled and spangled race, and out of which 
 to establish a lace plumage, has been no easy matter, 
 and in describing our matings we have said much on 
 this subject, and we cannot add anything under the 
 head of judging than in a general way, to score speci- 
 mens that represent the best we have yet seen and 
 judged, and those that are peculiarly faulty. 
 
 The best male it was our lot to judge the past sea- 
 son was the following 
 
 WY.\XDOTTE COCKEREL. 
 
 Symmetry. — Was short and well arched in neck ; breast full and 
 round ; back had just the right slope to the commencement 
 of saddle, which curved in a beautiful sweep upon the tail, 
 which was of good size and fully developed, and carried 
 moderately upright ; legs medium in length, thighs and hock 
 
 joints preserving their profile o 
 
 Weight. — 6)4 pounds 2 
 
 Condition o 
 
 He.\d. — Short, crown was broad ; plumage silver color, bay eyes, o 
 Comb. — Medium size, not quite square in front, fell back in an 
 even sweep, and good spike, slight hollow in middle of upper 
 surface '. I 
 
350 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles o 
 
 Neck. — Silver white, center stripe good, not perfect ; black on 
 
 edge of feathers , i^ 
 
 Back. — Back flat at shoulders, edge of saddle feather colored 
 
 up with copper black color 2 
 
 Breast and Body. — Round at sides, but little flat in front ; 
 
 color black, with small white centers i 
 
 Wings. — Nicely folded, bars solid, like a Dark Brahma, with 
 
 white in flights ; coverts solid black on upper web, and for 
 
 an inch from tip of under web 1 1^ 
 
 Tail. — Black, full, carried moderately upright o 
 
 Fluff. — A too light color i 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Yellow and nice o 
 
 Total points out lo 
 
 The bird scoring go 
 
 This was one of the best birds of this breed scored 
 by me the past year. It is a breed that baffles the 
 breeder, and such a specimen is as rare as a ninety-four 
 point Plymouth Rock. The description of the wing 
 coverts in the Standard should not have stopped where 
 it did, for fully one-half of the best birds shown have 
 coverts the feather of which is a black upper web, the 
 black rounding the point with a hook and terminating 
 at the edge of the lower web about half an inch from 
 its point. This description was to have been added to 
 the last edition of the Standard, but from some mis- 
 chance was by the printer left out. 
 
 The females in form are almost the same as a Plym- 
 outh Rock, except the tail not carried so much to a 
 point, being well spread at base. Ninety-four and one- 
 half points is the best score we, as a judge, as yet have 
 given to any specimen, and we think but three of them. 
 Nature seems to say to us that "none are perfect ; no. 
 
JUDGING. 351 
 
 not one." Even in our old breeds in male or female, 
 few will approximate to loo points. All the improve- 
 ment man seems to make is to increase by care and 
 watchfulness the number of these superior specimens. 
 We may in ten years in this breed run the best speci- 
 mens up to ninety-three to ninety-six for a very few of 
 the best females, and the males get an isolated score of 
 ninety-five. This will be very high if the score be an 
 honest one. In all the exhibitions so far the males 
 have scored from eighty-one to eighty-nine, as a rule, 
 and the examination of the scores show the largest cut 
 to be in neck, breast and body or wings, the latter rul- 
 ing the highest, while in females they cut heavily in 
 breast and body, neck and back, and prizes won on 
 males scoring as low down as eighty-one ; in fact we 
 have seen such birds sold as being prize winners. 
 Breeders have little thought of their reputation when 
 they give publicity and inferred breeding merit by such 
 certificate on birds below the Standard demands for 
 first-class stocks. A cock to score like the following 
 cannot be a credit to any breeder: 
 
 WYANDOTTE COCK. 
 
 Symmetry. — Long in neck and legs ; breast thin, dropping into 
 wedge shape, viewed from in front, with narrow saddle ; tail 
 
 pinched with straight sickles 2 
 
 Weight. — 7 pounds 3 
 
 Condition. — Plun).age broken i^ 
 
 Head. — Long and narrow ; eyes pearl color i^ 
 
 Comb. — Very large, surface very uneven, flanging in circular side 
 
 sweep ; from front to spike, which turned sharply to left side. 4 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Ear-lobes a pale yellowish red with 
 white in center i J^ 
 
352 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Neck. — Long, hackle straw color, centers mixed gray and black, 
 
 outer edge of same shaded through with a dark copper color, 3 
 Back. — Oval at shoulders, scant in saddle, allowing tail to cut 
 
 through ; color much like neck 3 
 
 Breast and Body. — Wedge-shape, good color, but run into 
 
 gray thighs i^ 
 
 Wings. — Were set on low down ; bows good color, flight one-half 
 
 white ; bars entirely wanting 4 
 
 Tail. — Carried too high, being a squirrel tail ; white half the 
 
 length of sickles, the whole carried close and straight 2^ 
 
 Fluff. — A light gray. ... i 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Shanks long and turned in at knees 2 
 
 Total points out 30^ 
 
 The bird scoring ^9)4 
 
 This bird was shown by a novice, a young man who 
 had bought the bird as a breeder on the following rec 
 ommendation : "I can sell you a cock I bred from last 
 season, and one that will do you good as an infusion of 
 blood with the pullets you name." We ask the ques 
 tions. Have we cut too deeply for the faults as we de- 
 scribe them ? Do they not stand the test when we con- 
 sider the percentage of the whole section ? and. Do they 
 not, as you consider each section, show the doubts in 
 judgment cast in favor of' the .specimen? If so, what 
 must we think of a breeder who will ship such a bird 
 to a man who tells him he knows nothing about the 
 breed, as one that will do his flock good by -the infu 
 sion of blood from such a bundle of defects as this 
 score presents ? A pullet we once scored sold for $3, 
 and we saw it win over the seller's pullet ; he refused 
 $20 for her. We find the buyer used better than he 
 deserved, to wit : . 
 
JUDGING. 353 
 
 Symmetry. — Having a fine arched neck, a full rounded cushion, 
 tail fanned out with base widespread, and rich curling feathers 
 black as a coal underneath ; breast round, both at sides and in 
 
 front o 
 
 Weight. — Weighed six full pounds o 
 
 Condition. — In perfect health o 
 
 He.'^d. — Nice form, but eye pale, light color i 
 
 Comb, — Was void of spike 3 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles o 
 
 Neck. — The lower row of hackle feathers a little smutty i 
 
 Back. — Nice white center, good size, but slightly penciled. . .(x) o 
 
 Breast and Body. — Breast nearly perfectly laced. i 
 
 Wings. — As near perfect as one sees • o 
 
 Tail. — Black as a coal o 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Nice color, one middle toe a little crooked. ... ^ 
 
 Total points out 6^ 
 
 The bird scoring. 93^ 
 
 This was the sweepstakes pullet of a noted exhib- 
 itor, and has attained an enviable reputation, having 
 won several prizes. The breeder saw only the bad 
 comb and crooked toe ; he did not look her all over and 
 reckon up her good points or stop to see the defects 
 in her aggregated but six and one-half. He chanced 
 a bird against her that had a spangled breast, that lost 
 three points in weight, and had a white fluff. When 
 figuring up the card the owner said, "You have made a 
 mistake, for I sold the bird you have given first to for 
 I wish you would show me why my pullet did not 
 win." We answer him that we could do that without 
 going to the coop, your bird is light weight and white 
 in fluff. Not believing it he went and looked, coming 
 back and acknowledging that he did not know she 
 was spangle-breasted and white in the fluff till then. 
 
354 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Spangle-breast looks the same as a laced one on the 
 yard, if the spangles are moon-shaped, which often de- 
 ceives. By constantly scoring our birds we become 
 familiar with the Standard, and acquainted with our 
 birds. We would as soon think of walking in the rain 
 without an umbrella and expect to keep dry, as to win 
 at a poultry exhibition without first scoring our birds 
 at home to decide which to carry. 
 
 WHITE-CRESTED BLACK POLISH. 
 
 The cuts for this breed as seen in our poultry jour- 
 nals are nearer right and give a more accurate idea of 
 symmetry than do most cuts of Plymouth Rocks and 
 Wyandottes. We demand of the male specimens, tO' 
 be perfect in form and symmetry, that the crest be 
 large and flow backward to the sides in an even mass, 
 not parted or falling forward ; that the neck be well 
 arched, head carried well back, back sloping to tail, 
 that comes up with a sharp angle, the same being 
 large, sickles long, with a profusion of lesser sickles ; 
 breast carried well forward in a full round front, body 
 plump, legs not long. Such should demand a full 
 score. But how different from this do many speci- 
 mens appear at our leading exhibitions. This breed, 
 made up as it is of white and black plumage, is a dififi- 
 cult one to preserve the black in its entirety, for all 
 black breeds, if too much in-bred or if in a low state of 
 vitality while breeding, invariably show it in white 
 taint in the black plumage, and when white crests are 
 the peculiar feature, to secure both in perfection man 
 has to step in with art of his own to help in this com- 
 plete division of color. To read the Standard, and 
 
JUDGING. 355 
 
 with it look upon an illustration of the breed made 
 perfect in form and color, taking that as a rule by 
 which we measure, do you marvel at the following 
 specimens scoring below ninety points? 
 
 WHITE-CRESTED BLACK POLISH COCKEREL. 
 
 SViMMETRY. — Head carried forward, giving neck a straight ap- 
 pearance ; crest falling out from the center, falling to front 
 as well as side and back; backwhat is termed "rouched," being 
 oval from hackle to tail; tail, though 'arge, drooping; breast 
 
 and body wedge-shaped from in front 2^ 
 
 Size. — Small for the breed i 
 
 Condition. — Suffering from incipient stages of roup; breath 
 
 fetid ; nose filled up r 
 
 Head. — Beak too short; nostrils not rising above crown of beak, i 
 Chest. — Fully to front; does not flow back smoothly and is not 
 large enough, the sides of it do not reach side of hackle near 
 
 wattles 3% 
 
 Comb. — Large, looks like an elk's flange to their horns lyi 
 
 ^AR-LOBES AND WATTLES O 
 
 Neck. — Too straight; head carried forward of breast, and a dis- 
 position to show streaks of white in undercolor i^ 
 
 Back. — A round back, both from side to side and from hackle to 
 tail lYi 
 
 Bur.AST AND Body. — Too thin breast, wedge-shaped; color 
 fairly good i% 
 
 Wings. — Not well tucked; lack the metallic luster on surface 
 plumage, flights and secondaries have sheeny light spots, 
 some so light as to be white in the center of them to the length 
 of a half inch; this is a serious fault, for if the white be found 
 one inch in length the birds would be disqualified 2% 
 
 Tail. — Color fairly good, but carried too trailing i 
 
 Legs. — Medium in length, and black o 
 
 Total points out i8^ 
 
 The bird scoring 8i J^ 
 
356 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 We know we have dealt fairly with this specimen, 
 yet see the havoc in the general result. Few male 
 Polish reach a score above ninety points, even in our 
 exhibitions, where it is expected that the very best 
 specimens, the best five per cent of the birds raised, are 
 only sent. It is fair to say that the poorer fifty per 
 
 WHITE-CRESTED BLACK POLISH. 
 
 cent do not score eighty points in a single instance.] 
 We as exhibitors and by our exhibitions raise the| 
 Standard and capabilities of the breed so high that wej 
 lower the commercial value of the average stock and] 
 give a fictitious value to the winners. Practically the 
 best fifteen f)er cent of one flock is worth as breeders I 
 
JUDGING. -357 
 
 one as much as another, but the one that wins the 
 prize out of the fifteen will sell for five times what the 
 poorest one of the fifteen would sell for, the success 
 as breeders depending upon the mating, and for want 
 of knowledge in this the high priced one proves worth- 
 less, for all his winning and high price paid. 
 
 Many of the females score high, one of bright color 
 and in perfect health, having a good plump body and 
 perfectly round crest carried close together, generally 
 wins a position above ninety, and we have seen them 
 go to ninety-seven points. 
 
 WHITE-CRESTED BLACK POLISH PULLET. 
 
 Symmetry. — She having a large perfectly round crest, with a nice 
 sharp arch to neck ; back straight, tail fanned out, breast round 
 
 and carried forward, medium long legs, is not cut o 
 
 Size.' — Good fair size, being plump and solid in fiber of flesh o 
 
 Condition. — Healthy, active, no broken plumage o 
 
 Head. — Not large, beak tapers, nostril high o 
 
 Breast. — Not so large as to look too heavy, but good si::.:, carried 
 
 close, like a snowball carried in a black saucer o 
 
 Comb. — Two nice little horns concealed in crest o 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Standard o 
 
 Neck. — Well arched, black as a coal o 
 
 Back. — Straight and metallic black o 
 
 Breast and Body. — Full, round in front, and black ; sides round 
 
 and body black o 
 
 Wings. — Here we stop to find them full of light spots in flight 
 
 and secondaries 3 
 
 Tail. — Fanned out, and coal black o 
 
 Legs. — Black and nice in scale o 
 
 Total points out 3 
 
 The bird scoring 97 
 
358 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 Such a specimen it was once our lot to score, the 
 best one and only one I remember of such excellence. 
 The Standard describes the section that which receives 
 no cut, and gives us the score card full lOO points, and 
 it is from the perfect that we judge the imperfect, thus 
 it is in each section we first consider, to wit : crest is 
 fifteen, large size is important, and we say nine points 
 of the fifteen represent size and shape and color. We 
 find a crest half the size it should be, but prime in color, 
 then we cut four points. Half the lookers-on think the 
 cut a light one, for these have the whole fifteen points 
 in mind. The claim that some judges make that they 
 can use ten points for size is erroneous. The Standard 
 does not say a bird shall be disqualified if it has no 
 crest, but no good judge would hesitate to disqualify 
 such a bird as unworthy, or take the stand that until it 
 has a crest it is not a Polish, but we can cut from one 
 to nine points for size and shape, and six points for 
 color. A crest wholly black could be cut but six 
 points or so in degree as the defects appear. As a gen- 
 eral rule in crest the cuts will run from one and a half 
 to five points ; not many specimens that cut below 
 seven in crest, while in other sections one-half to 
 two points is seldom exceeded in sections valued under 
 ten points, with one-half to three points in those 
 having ten points as their Standard value. Judgment 
 is a quick worker; it is a lightning calculator. The 
 moment the mind takes the number of the section it 
 tells at a flash the percentage it is damaged by the de- 
 fect, and he who will always keep in mind the value of 
 the perfect section will seldom err if he takes his first 
 impressions as to the value of the defects in hand. 
 
JUDGING. ' 359 
 
 SILVER POLISH. 
 
 Silver and Golden Polish males will be found to score 
 the highest when they have a laced plumage, and 
 females when they have a spangled plumage, and as we 
 stated in mating, a laced cock and spangled hen look to a 
 general observer to be the best matched in the pen, 
 the greatest failure in this variety being found in 
 wings, crest and tail. The -Polish race are birds of 
 plumage; they carry more weight of plumage in com- 
 parison to weight of flesh than any other. This beauty 
 is maintained at a cost of muscle. The young chicks 
 feather out quickly, and it is with difficulty they are 
 raised. If they get thoroughly wet while quite young 
 generally it results fatally. They are raised for their 
 beauty and eggs ; for poultry they are not desirable. 
 To judge them we do not so much consider the prac- 
 tical as we do plumage and color of the same, with 
 carriage ; in symmetry the same profile is demanded as 
 in the Black Polish. One is surprised to see how many 
 males of this breed will score from eighty-seven and 
 a-half to ninety and a-half and to see how few reach 
 ninety-two. We have judged a whole season and not 
 given a score beyond ninety-one and a half. This is a 
 cock that won wherever exhibited: 
 
 Symmetry. — As described in W. C. Black Polish o 
 
 Weight. — Was a noble, large specimen o 
 
 Condition. — Strong, in perfect health, and prime condition of 
 
 plumage o 
 
 Head. — Had a fine nostril ; a deep, bright, dark eye o 
 
 Crest. — Was large, fine shape, nicely laced, but had white in 
 
 center 2 
 
 Comb. — Small, " V " shape o 
 
<i60 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles o 
 
 Neck. — A full, flowing hackle (x) 
 
 Back. — Was Standard, except too light color, saddle tips not deep 
 black I 
 
 Breast and Body. — Full, round ; sides all right ; lacing did not 
 extend fully round the web. 1 1^ 
 
 Wings. — Failed in the bar; in other respects prime, except fell 
 off in the shade of the black tips to primaries and secondaries, 2}< 
 
 Tail. — Was large and full, but had the same fault all prime 
 colored specimens have. The tail was gray instead of silver 
 white, but beautiful in the spangled points of the tail and 
 sickles I ^ 
 
 Legs and Toes . o 
 
 Total points out 8j4 
 
 The bird scoring 91^ 
 
 But such birds are scarce, and when they score 
 more they are exceedingly fine or are judged leniently. 
 
 The females often score better, as is the case with 
 the females of all breeds. The mate to this male, a 
 hen of the spangled type, scored, to wit : 
 
 Symmetry. — Fully up to Standard description o 
 
 Size. — Full 5^ pounds; a large one o 
 
 Condition. — Was always in health o 
 
 Head o 
 
 Crest. — Was beautifully shaped and large enough, but too many 
 
 solid white feathers in it; fully one third of them i^ 
 
 Comb. — A beautiful one, " V " shaped o 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Had red in the ear-lobes i}4. 
 
 Neck. — Well arched, silver white, and perfectly laced with black, o 
 Back. — Straight, flat at shoulders, silver white, with nice, large 
 
 moon spangles o 
 
 Breast and Body. — Full and round, completely spangled, but 
 
 had white dots in the black spangle 1% 
 
 Wings. — Coverts both laced and spangled ; in fact Standard 
 
 throughout O 
 
JUDGING. 361 
 
 Tail. — Tail was a good one. Good color in the other sections 
 will invariably cloud the tail with gray. We in this case, 
 knowing the effect of breeding, and believing that in this 
 breed dark gray should be admissible, cut ^ 
 
 Legs and Toes o 
 
 Total points out 5 
 
 The bird scoring 95 
 
 This is the best score we in our capacity as judge 
 ever gave a Silver-Spangled Polish hen, and this pair, one 
 hundred and eighty-six and a-half points, the highest 
 scors card, we think, to be shown signed by me for 
 Silver-Spangled Polish fowls. 
 
 In this breed an evil very prevalant is a crooked 
 breast-bone, and probably fully one-half the birds are 
 cut from one-half to even two points for the turn- 
 ing over to one side, often to such an extent 
 as to mar the symmetry. They have large wings 
 while small, and will go to roost quite early, the edge 
 of a barrel being often utilized for a roost, and using 
 such a sharp roost while the breast is little better than 
 jelly gets a turn in it that becomes quite an ugly angle 
 when fully grown. In judging one must not forget to 
 run the hand along the sternum to be sure they are 
 not leaving out this defect. 
 
 HOUDANS. 
 
 This race has no doubt sprung from a cross of the 
 Black Polish and Colored and White Dorking. We 
 have in them the fifth toe of the Dorking and a con- 
 formation of body as between the two breeds. The 
 posterior weight in them is very much more than in 
 
362 POULTRY CULTURE. „ 
 
 the Polish. This has come from an Asiatic source, as 
 indicated by the feathered legs, sometimes seen. He 
 who is influenced by Polish profile in judging a Houdan 
 in symmetry commits an error, for to secure a full 
 score in a Houdan he must have a shortish neck, full 
 hackle, medium long back, approaching Dorking type, 
 but sloping toward tail ; breast full and deep, body 
 plump and full at sides, large wings, tail expanded, 
 with large sickles, legs not long, but thighs large, such 
 score full in 
 
 Symmetry o 
 
 Weight. — If a cockerel, he must weigh 6^ or more to get a full 
 score o 
 
 Condition. — If in perfect health and plumage is not broken, one 
 cannot cut » o 
 
 Head. — If nostril be flat and eye a dull, pale color, cut i^ 
 
 Crest and Beard — If the beard be scarcely visible and crest 
 straggles forward, and more than half white, cut for these two 
 defects 6 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Have no value in judging o 
 
 Neck. — If neck be short and plumage evenly broken in black 
 and white, do not cut o 
 
 Back. — If it be solid black, but good in shape \}4, 
 
 Breast and Body. — If the breast fall off in its round side sweep, 
 
 and is wholly black, cut lyi, 
 
 (If wholly white, with some defect of shape, cut at least. . . . 2j4 
 
 Wings. — If bows are wholly black, with secondaries and prim- 
 aries as described in Standard i 
 
 Tail. — If large, full, and sickle large and long and one-third white 
 in color o 
 
 Legs and Toes. — If the two hind toes make a letter V, cut lyi 
 
 (If the hind one turn up with a long sweep and of Standard 
 color, do not cut.) 
 
 Total points out 13 
 
 The bird scoring 87 
 
JUDGING. 363 
 
 With this defect we have eighty-seven points of ex- 
 cellence, about the average specimen of the race. 
 
 Females whiten out as they molt from pullets to 
 hens. For this reason we allow pullets to be consid- 
 ered perfect when they present one-fourth white in the 
 plumage. Such pullets as a rule come about evenly 
 broken in black and white as hens. 
 
 Every third feather in a black plumage makes quite 
 a speckled specimen, and a bird actually evenly divided 
 into black and white will look to be more white than 
 black, one has to say when in appearance they are evenly 
 broken in white and black in their plumage. To score 
 a pullet that came before us at New Bedford we say: 
 
 HOUDAN PULLET. 
 
 Symmetry. — Heavily crested; beard concealing wholly the ear- 
 lobes, but being nicely broken in black and white; neck 
 
 arched; back nice in width, and straight o 
 
 Weight. — Standard weight o 
 
 Condition o 
 
 Head. — Nostril high; deep bay eyes o 
 
 Comb. — Had the leaf, and little large i 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles o 
 
 NtCK. — One-third white, arched back so head came over breast. . o 
 
 Back. — Was so nearly black that we cut i^ 
 
 Breast and Body. — Not quite full and round, evenly broken in 
 
 black and white r 
 
 Wings. — All right but flights, they were largely white, whole 
 
 feathers being white i J^ 
 
 Tail. — Nicely broken in color, carried well up and nicely fanned 
 
 out o 
 
 Legs and Toes. — Pinkish-white mottled with black, and the rear 
 toes were curved up in a perfect sweep to shanks o 
 
 Total points out 5 
 
 The bird scoring. 95 
 
364 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 This is a score seldom reached by the Houdans, 
 ninety-one to ninety-two being considered sure winners 
 of one of the three prizes usually given. The feet vary 
 from one-half to three points ; should the shank be 
 wholly black and the rear toe shorter than the under 
 one, we should cut three points, or if the shank be 
 nearly wholly the lighter shade, with only here and 
 there a black, scale, and the fifth toe be long and well 
 curved, then cut but one and one-half points ; if the 
 breast-bone be crooked, from one-half to two points as 
 in degree. What we have said in regard to crest in 
 Polish will apply here, only that crest has but six 
 points for size and shape, four for color, beard three 
 for size and two for color, the whole under one section 
 at fifteen points. A Houdan crest reduced one-half in 
 size, color being good, would suffer but three points 
 where the same defect in Polish would be cut four. 
 
 BLACK JAVAS. 
 
 In judging all breeds the first thing a judge will do 
 is to look for disqualifications, and in this breed if he 
 finds the comb turned in the form of a letter S over] 
 the beak ; if the comb has fallen over in a limp condi- 
 tion to either side ; if the back be deformed, the tail 
 carried out of a straight line with head and back, or if 
 in the plumage red or yellowish-red or white feathers .j 
 are found, he goes no further, but passes the specimen 
 as disqualified, being not eligible to competition. 
 
 The bird, if free from the foregoing faults, is first j 
 considered under the head of symmetry, which has a 
 value of ten points, which to be perfect and receive the 
 full value must be straight in comb, neck nicely arched, 
 
365 
 
JUDGING. 367 
 
 the long hackle having a graceful curve onto the back 
 and over shoulder points, the saddle having a sharp 
 (.oncave sweep to tail, the latter carried well up and 
 furnished with long flowing sickles, breast full and 
 round, body rather long, deep and round, legs mediunn 
 long, not turned in at hocks. As the bird shall be 
 different from this description he is punished by a de- 
 duction of points called outs, and should his neck be 
 straight, losing the nice arch desired, he is punished 
 from one to two points. If flat in forward curve of 
 breast line one-half to one and a-half points. If the back 
 be oval in shape from neck to tail one-half to one and 
 a-half points. If the tail droops, one-half to two points. 
 If breast bone be turned over, but not affecting his 
 symmetry, it is not cut ; if so crooked as to show a 
 want of depth, it is cut under the head of " Body." If 
 legs turn in at hocks they affect symmetry from one to 
 one and a-half points. All these outs affect symmetry, 
 as they affect the perfect form desired. 
 
 Weight. — The scales control cutting two points per 
 pound for all deficit of Standard weight. 
 
 Condition. — If a bird shows a want of vitality, being 
 sick; if legs are rough and scaly from the effects of 
 filth or parasites ; if the plumage be badly broken, all 
 of which have their punishment under condition, and 
 are cut from one to three points as in degree the above 
 defects are discovered, health and cleanliness being the 
 main consideration under this section. 
 
 Head. — If the eyes be other than brown in color 
 cut one point, if one eye be sightless cut two points, if 
 the beak be other than black cut one point, plumage 
 brown, not black, one point, skull enlarged on one 
 
368 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 side two points, if slightly enlarged on both sides two' 
 points. 
 
 Comb. — A single turn to one side cut one to one' 
 and a-half points, if the comb show a loop or turn 
 both sides of a straight line from the center of comb 
 to beak it is a twist, thus, S, and is a disqualification 
 if not smooth, the sides being corrugated, we cut from 
 one to two points for the defect ; if curved in its line 
 from back to rear point, but standing upright, cut one 
 point, if much curved, two points; a lopped comb is 
 where it rolls over from the top ; not evenly serrated, 
 cut one to two points ; four serrations, though even, 
 should be cut a point, for less than five serrations can- 
 not be called a perfect comb ; size is punished from 
 one to three points. 
 
 Wattles and Ear-Lobes. — The former should be 
 well developed, hanging even, but not so pendent as in 
 Leghorns ; if one be shorter, cut a point ; if they be 
 wrinkled, a point ; white appearing in ear-lobe, cut i to 
 3 points, as in degree ; if the ear has been cut off to 
 dispose of the white, disqualify, for the specimen can- 
 not be said to be exhibited in its natural condition. 
 
 Neck. — If too straight cut a point for its failure to 
 arch, hackle feather being short, cut a point ; if same be 
 twisted, I to 1)4 points; if the color be a rusty black 
 cut I point to i}4 points; if a blackish brown color cut 
 as deep as three points; if red, white or brassy color 
 appear in neck, disqualify. 
 
 Back. — If narrow and oval cut a point each ; if 
 rouched, being oval from neck to tail, cut i to 2 points 
 as in degree ; if the color be other than a heavy velvety 
 black cut I to I j^ as it fails in this respect; if both 
 
JUDGING. 369 
 
 back and saddle be rusty or brown black cut three 
 points. 
 
 Breast and Body. — If flat in breast cut i point ; 
 if wedge-shape and keel far back, being straight from 
 throat to thighs, cut 2 points ; if body be narrow and 
 sides flat, cut 2 points, cutting less when the evil is less 
 prominent ; want of deep black shade at throat, cut a 
 point ; under part of body is a dead black, as is all 
 plumage not exposed to direct rays of the sun and air. 
 If body be a reddish black, cut ^ to i^, as in degree. 
 
 Wings. — Primaries exposed to view, cut ^/^ to 2^ 
 points, and 3 points if folded outside of secondaries ; 
 if the wing be set on low, giving oval shape to back, 
 cut a point ; color of bows, if not deep metallic black, 
 cut a point ; the flights having bluish-gray, sheeny spots, 
 cut from I to 3 points ; white in them disqualifies. 
 
 Tail. — If carried past the perpendicular, should be 
 cut from I to 2^^, as it becomes badly squirreled; 
 sickles straight cut i point, a long flowing sickle being 
 the perfect thing ; tail proper, if pinched, cut a point, 
 should be well spread at base ; sickles short, i point ; 
 if failing in rich metallic black color, cut from i to i ^ 
 points. 
 
 Legs. — Good size thighs, large for the breed, shanks 
 look stout, but the plumage of thighs and the shanks 
 should be black, but dark willow will sometimes be 
 found in old fowls ; bottom of foot yellow. A white 
 foot, cut lyi points; willow legs in chicks, cut 2 points. 
 Very dark willow in old fowls should not be cut, but in 
 judging them, other things being equal, give black the 
 preference. 
 
 We have treated this breed as the judge would anal- 
 
370 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 yze it in his work of judging. The rules we hav^ 
 apphed as to relative cuts for defect apply to all breed 
 alike. The theory or formula here given may, in con 
 junction with the different manner employed in th 
 other breeds, serve to give a better understanding o 
 the score system of judging 
 
 THE JAVA HEN, 
 
 to which we apply the Standard as an individual! 
 for we have a very vivid picture before us. 
 
 A metallic black for surface color is Standard, but 
 no colors but red, white and the color of brass dis 
 qualify. With these facts before you score in your mine 
 with me the following two pullets: 
 
 Symmetry for No. i. — Head flat and carried forward like a 
 Cochin; breast wedge-shaped; body flat at the sides; back 
 oval in line from neck to tail; tail upright, reaching the per- 
 pendicular line ; fluff pinched into Game shape of stern, (now 
 count this influence on symmetry) i for head and neck, i for 
 back, I for tail, i in breast and body, being an effect upon sym- 
 metry of 4 
 
 (Such a bundle is seldom found in one bird). 
 
 Weight. — Weighed 7 pounds o 
 
 Condition. — Thin, poor in flesh, legs scaly 2 
 
 Head. — Flat i 
 
 Comb. — Twisted above beak 2 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles (x) o 
 
 Neck. — Too straight; color of plumage rusty black, and hackle 
 
 shut 2^^ 
 
 Back. — Oval, and not bright in color i^ 
 
 Breast and Body. — Breast V-shaped; body narrow and not deep . 2 
 Wings. — Flights and secondaries had slate-colored spots through- 
 out, and bow a rusty black , 2 
 
 Tail. — Perpendicular, reddish-black, with slate shading in tail 
 proper 2^ 
 
JUDGING. 371 
 
 LUFF. — Pinched I 
 
 ,EGS. — Willow, black; white feet 2 
 
 Total points out 22 j^ 
 
 The bird scoring 77^ 
 
 One would hardly think a breeder would show such 
 specimen, yet I scored such a one in a breeding-pen 
 nth. the following 
 
 PULLET. 
 
 YMMETRY. — Head broad, eye bright brown, neck well arched, 
 back broad and well cushioned, but not Cochin-shaped; tail 
 tolerably upright; full in the breast, and plump, round sides to 
 
 body; legs straight and well apart (x) o 
 
 IZE. — Full o 
 
 ONDITION. — Had a slight fullness of skull on left side.. I ..... .(x) i 
 
 Iead. — As in condition (x) i 
 
 AR-LOBES AND WATTLES O 
 
 fECK. — Glossy greenish black, and well arched -hackle, flowed 
 
 well over shoulder o 
 
 ACK. — Profile nice, but wing little down; back not flat enough at 
 
 shoulder; cut i instead }4. in symmetry; }4 in back (x) i 
 
 REAST AND BoDY. — All right, being as described in symmetry. . . . o 
 ViNGS. — A little too low, and primaries a little exposed. The 
 strength of the wing-cords weak, causing both trouble; color 
 
 pure I 
 
 AIL. — All right o 
 
 ,EGS. — All right, but bottom of foot too pale, approaching pink i 
 
 Total points out 5 
 
 The bird scoring 95 
 
 People will show specimens with this wide difference 
 n the show pen. Neither of these birds are disquali- 
 ied individually. The question is, do they match in 
 he pen, and ought such a pen to be disqualified ? We 
 
372 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 say, yes ; for the poor hen scores less than eighty-five 
 and the Standard declares such birds to be not firs ' 
 class. But when societies say that points may win 
 prize, we take the ground that the judge must let then 
 compete, for the poorest birds are entitled to a priz 
 individually, therefore, it seems a contradiction of term 
 to disqualify her under this matching clause. As a rule 
 birds not disqualified as individuals cannot be disqual 
 fied under this clause. 
 
 SILKY FOWLS. 
 
 These birds have a plumage which is silky in it 
 fiber, not webbing out like other specimens. On 
 must see them to be acquainted with the breed ant 
 get a correct idea of form. They appear Cochin ii 
 form, though should -be called a bantam. They carr 
 the head forward, the neck being a turned or curvec 
 line rather than arched. Therefore if the head b 
 carried over back, symmetry for them is marred ^ 
 point ; breast not full, one point ; legs near togethei 
 one point. 
 
 Size. — Is comparative. They should not be gro^ 
 nor excessively small. Any coarseness of appearance i 
 cut from one to two and one-half as in degree. 
 
 Condition. — If legs be scaly, cut i to 3 points 
 if roupy, i to 2 points. 
 
 Head. — If beak be light color, cut i point, if fac( 
 approach to a red, i to i^ points ; if skull be enlargec 
 or eye missing, cut 2 points. 
 
 Comb. — If red cut 3 points ; if not nearly round 
 I point ; if hollow at end, being indented, J^ to 2 
 if large and loose, i to 2 points. 
 
JUDGING. 373 
 
 Crest. — If a hood in appearance, turning back, leav- 
 g the comb fully exposed, cut from i to 3 points for 
 
 e and i to 2 points for shape. 
 
 Ear-lobes and Wattles. — Cut from one to two 
 )ints as they are tainted with red; cut i^ if very 
 lall in wattles. 
 
 Neck. — The same is curved forward and slightly 
 ched, or, more truly said, graceful in its turn at above 
 nction with neck. If the neck be carried back over 
 e body, it is a defect to be cut i, notwithstanding 
 le might think it more beautiful. 
 
 SILKY FOWLS. 
 
 Back. — The outline of lower part of neck with back 
 nd rise of tail should be that of the low line of the 
 lell of a rather short egg, making the back rather 
 lort, broad and flat at neck, and concave in its sweep 
 3 tail, and being any different from this in form 
 iiould be cut as a defect. The most prevalent defect 
 ; a stained reddish cast to the white back, and a tend- 
 ncy to web of the plumage. 
 
374 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 The neck plumage has a long fiber, not truly silky| 
 This tendency reaches the back more or less and judge 
 some times unjustly disqualify because of the fiaj 
 web appearance of back, but pull the feathers and ij 
 the hand they will lose this web tendency. The c 
 of back for this defect seldom reach more than a p 
 ishment of i to i^ points for. both causes combined*! 
 
 Breast and Body. — Breasts are generally plum 
 and beyond a tendency to web the feathers near throal 
 are seldom cut, i point for breast and body being 
 about an average; are generally pure white and silk 
 fluffy in the texture of the plumage. 
 
 Wings. — The flights and secondaries are fibroui 
 and even webbed ; this is admissible, but not to th^ 
 extent in other breeds, but the bows are downy whei 
 the feather is plucked. 
 
 Tail. — Much like the thigh feathers in a Cochin,! 
 the edge frilled out and slightly curled, straight flight| 
 feathers being a defect to be cut from i to 2 points,^ 
 while straight, fully webbed plumage disqualifies. 
 
 Thighs. — Are short and abundantly covered in a 
 white fluffy silk plumage. Shanks dark blue or black, 
 the outsides covered with silky white plumage ; scantil; 
 feathered legs cut i to 2 points ; the fifth toe cut ^i 
 to 2 points, as it fails in a nice upward curve; outei 
 toes void of feathers, cut i point ; if the legs bl 
 white cut 2 points ; very pale blue, cut i point. 
 
 JAPANESE BANTAMS. 
 
 The cut for this breed is, of course, expected to b« 
 the very best — most perfect — and the colors of th< 
 breed being black and white makes a truthful represeujj 
 
^^ en 
 
 375 
 
JUDGING. 377 
 
 tation, so far as it in form is identical with the descrip- 
 tion in the Standard of Excellence. These little fellows 
 must stand with head and tail well brought together 
 over the back, but should by no means touch, full pout- 
 ing breast, head well back, short legs, with all the im- 
 portance possible to be put into a being of short joints 
 and a long tail. If the head be carried forward and the 
 tail in any way drooping they lose all of three points 
 in symmetry. 
 
 Size. — When over 24 ounces for a cockerel and 26 
 for a cock, is defective, and should be cut ^ point for 
 every ounce and disqualified at 28 ounces. 
 
 Condition. — Affects health and cleanliness. (See 
 other breeds spoken of.) 
 
 Head. — A small shrunken head is cut from i to 2 
 points, a broad head and wide face is quite a feature 
 in this breed ; well developed, evenly serrated, straight 
 comb only perfect — by this we do not mean over- 
 grown — crooked, twisted or lop combs are not disquali- 
 fications, but we punish them severely. A twisted 
 comb is cut 3 points ; a lop comb 5 points ; a comb not 
 evenly serrated, from i to 3 points ; as in degree a very 
 large comb, i to 2 ; a very small comb, i. 
 
 Ear-lobes. — Having white, from ^ to i ^ ; wat- 
 tle very small, cut i point ; if not of equal length, i 
 point; if wrinkled and folded, ^2 io lyi points. 
 
 Neck. — On account of the high carriage of the head 
 is a curve from crown to back, rather than arched ; the 
 head carried forward is a defect of 2 points, twice that if 
 seen in the Hamburg. If the hackle be tainted by 
 spots of black cut from i to 3^, and if striped, 5 
 points. If the plumage have a yellow shade, ^ to 2 
 
378 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 points ; back very short, saddle rising abruptly with 
 tail, if shaded with yellow cut from ^^ to 2 points ; if 
 scant in saddle, ^ to 2 points. 
 
 Breast. — Must be very full and round to escape 
 cutting ; if fiat from i to 2 points; if narrow in body, 
 not round at sides, i to \y^, and i to 1% \i the 
 plumage be tinted with lemon color. 
 
 Wings.— Large, long and white to be perfect ; any 
 dark color in them are defects to be cut from i to 2^^ 
 points ; black feathers in the plumage or body should 
 be cut I point for each feather. 
 
 Tail. — Large, carried squirrel fashion, but somewhat 
 expanded at base, with rich, curly feathers in the rear 
 of same ; solid black or solid white feather, cut ^ to 
 5 points as they shall deviate from a coal black edged 
 with white, 5 points being apportioned to color and 5 
 to shape, size and carriage. 
 
 Legs. — Thighs short and covered with pure white 
 plumage, which should be webbed on the outer side. 
 
 Shanks. — Very short and bright yellow to be per- 
 fect. Cut ^ to 2yi for any foreign shading of color 
 until the legs become a color to be described by other 
 than yellow. 
 
 The Hen. — Li comb, head, ear-lobes, wattles, are 
 much smaller and suffer less in ratios than the defects 
 named in the male. Neck short and well curved, but 
 the space between head and tail is three times that of 
 the male, the tail not being carried beyond the per- 
 pendicular line, though carried fully upright, is cut i 
 to I ^ as it approaches to a squirrel tail ; the shading 
 of the plumage suffers alike with the male. The tail 
 carried wide spread and looks large for the sex. 
 
JUDGING. 379 
 
 If what we have said upon judging has induced the 
 reader to take his ideal of symmetry from the Stand- 
 ard, and if by the specimens we have represented as 
 scored we have taught the amateur to judge of the de- 
 fect cut by comparison with a perfect Standard type, and 
 have caused him to judge of these specimens throwing 
 aside every preconceived opinion, tlien our mission 
 has been successfuL We have endeavored to describe 
 each section as such as would sustain the cut attached, 
 as the Standard has described a perfect section and 
 given you that section's full score, and lOO points for 
 a perfect whole. We, showing as far as we could the 
 difference between the section we have described and 
 the perfect one, giving the difference in numbers 
 called cuts, subtracting them from the full lOO of the 
 Standard, giving the full Standard value of the faulty 
 specimens scored. In no other way did we feel we 
 could treat of all the breeds without the work becoming" 
 monotonous reading, and none but a critic interested 
 in it ; but by speaking of the recognized general faults 
 in a breed and showing its value by score in the speci- 
 men by taking up so many breeds, we hope we have 
 been able to touch upon all of the many errors and 
 omissions of judges in time past, and adding our mite 
 toward the enlightenment of the novice on this subject. 
 
 We are aware all there is of worth and of accom- 
 plishment in the new ideas or added knowledge of 
 one's life can be recorded on a sheet of foolscap, and 
 that of many lives a very small sheet would serve the 
 purpose. But to clearly make the reader understand 
 those facts and new ideas, the accomplishments and 
 experience of that life, a large volume becomes neces- 
 
380 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 sary. I the little we have succeeded in teaching in 
 th.s volume be small as compared to the many 
 worded explanation of it, we implore your pardon^ 
 and thank you for your time spent in its perusal. 
 It .s our humble experience of thirty years spent in 
 constant companionship with poultry. We may have 
 acquired httle, but we have had pleasure, and we 
 hope profit to ourselves, in that companionship, and 
 behave that he who spends his time in the study of 
 animated nature, and makes companions of the cattle 
 and poultry of his farm, cannot at heart be a bad man 
 and on the farm and in the poultry-yard more content^ 
 
 wa'lK on f ''r^'' '■' '° ^' '"'°y"^ than in other 
 walks of hfe and business callings. 
 
PART IV. 
 
 TURKEYS, DUCKS AND GEESE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TURKEYS. 
 
 THE natural instinct of the turkey is to repair to a 
 thicket, or bush beside a wall, to make its nest. 
 This often exposes them to egg-eating vermin, as well 
 as to foxes, skunks and the weasel. A false cover in the 
 yard or near the house will universally be taken ad- 
 vantage of by the hen turkey at the time of incubation. 
 We have found the best plan to let a barrel one-third 
 its diameter into the ground, it lying on its side, then 
 fill it up even with the earth on the outside with moist 
 earth, covering the same with a thick sod of grass. 
 When the hen is off her nest pour about the nest a 
 couple of quarts of water during incubation. Constant 
 evaporation adds moisture to the heat of the turkey, 
 which will secure all the advantage of the hedge-row 
 nest. The sod is pressed down into an oval the shape 
 of the egg itself, and large enough for fifteen to 
 twenty-one eggs, according to size of the turkey, but 
 seventeen is full enough in our judgment, the bot- 
 tom of the nest being flat, so there will be no undue 
 
 381 
 
382 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 pressure of the eggs one against the other, the nest 
 being made up with leaves and cut hay, and not so 
 much of it as to lose the moisture from the earth. 
 This barrel should be concealed by cutting green 
 bushes and sticking them into the ground about it, or 
 piling brush over it. If this care is taken not a turkey 
 will roam off to nest, and when setting a low fence can 
 be put about the cluster of nests that will turn away all 
 prowlers and be easily scaled by the turkeys when 
 coming off to feed. If grain and water be kept near 
 they will not stay off more than twenty minutes. A 
 turkey will lay about twenty-six to thirty-one eggs, 
 seldom more, for they are rarely fertile after the 
 thirtieth egg, until she comes in heat again. A nice 
 plan is to save the eggs by keeping them in a cool 
 place till the hen turkey wishes to set, when put 
 seventeen under her and the balance under hens, set- 
 ting the freshest laid ones, and setting them one day 
 earlier under hens, and when the turkey is through 
 hatching put the whole brood with her to rear. A 
 turkey never broods her chicks twice in the same place. 
 They generate a poison that destroys them if com- 
 pelled to roost in a coop continuously. Give abrood to 
 a hen to rear in a coop as we do chicks, and in about 
 ten days we see the wings droop and the flock drop off 
 one at a time, till but one or two remain. This is the 
 prime cause. We would shake Persian insect powder 
 about the nest when making it up, and just before the 
 eggs are to hatch we would go and quietly sprinkle the 
 backs of the turkeys and hens setting freely with it. It 
 will work down through and drive off all the lice. If 
 the young ones when taken from the nest are dusted 
 
TURKEYS. 383 
 
 they will start their earthly career free from the pest, 
 and generally keep so. 
 
 Let the first meal be chopped boiled eggs, shell and 
 all, chopped fine. Avoid all raw meal mixed with cold 
 water for the first month. If pains are taken to cook 
 all food that is fed in a soft condition till two weeks 
 old it will be found to pay. Ground beef scraps one 
 pint, oatmeal one pint, cornmeal one quart, mix with 
 sour milk, sweeten with soda, finish mixing with 
 water, salt and pepper a bit, bake till well done ; this 
 for soft food, with chopped onions or water-cresses, 
 giving dry oat-groats or steamed oatmeal, as bought 
 at the stores, millet seed, canary seed, corn cracked 
 fine and the flour sifted out, giving the granulated 
 grits with the seed and wheat. Avoid zvJieat screenings, 
 for often a wild weed seed in it will produce diarrhoea, 
 which is a very prevalent ailment with them, and in an 
 aggravated form sure death. The plan of making a 
 pen twelve feet square and eighteen inches high on a 
 grass plot, and a coop covered, moving both a couple 
 of feet each day, makes sure the turkey is not brooding 
 on the same spot as the night before. When the 
 young turkey commences to jump over these eighteen 
 inch sides they may be committed to the mother 
 turkey's care, and be comparatively safe. When from 
 five and one-half to seven weeks old, when they com- 
 mence to "shoot the red head," as it is termed, then 
 they should be looked out for, and see that they are 
 fed each morning scalded meal and wheat bran, which 
 is well seasoned with cayenne pepper, and we think it 
 will pay to feed soaked bread crumbs in scalded milk, 
 in which iodide of potassium has been dissolved to the 
 
384 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 amount of a full grain to a chick. A severe form of 
 diarrhoea attacks at this time, and is quite disastrous to 
 them ; when past this period few if any die till the 
 hatchet is used at Thanksgiving time. When at- 
 tacked with this bowel complaint alluded to, the use of 
 pills made and recommended for chickens only, giving 
 two as a dose, is our mode of checking the trouble. 
 To fat them, a constant supply of charcoal in a crushed 
 form to eat at will, Avith the grain and feed spoken of 
 elsewhere, should not be forgotten. 
 
 During the first three weeks boiled meat chopped 
 fine for one meal per day will be of great benefit, and 
 the hot broth thickened with barley and Indian meal 
 is also one of the best of soft foods; care should be 
 taken not to have the soft food fed out of proportion. 
 Fully one-half of all food for young turkeys should be 
 in a dry seed form. Curds made from milk three days 
 in a week will prevent a too loose state of the bowels. 
 Feed turkeys the first three weeks more often and 
 sparing than one does chickens. We would feed six 
 times a day the first three weeks, and three times a 
 day afterward, leaving the hen to ramble with them 
 for the balance of their feed ; after six weeks feed when- 
 ever they come up to the house. This induces them to 
 come home at night, when they will roost in the trees 
 near the house. I do not believe it best for them to 
 roost in houses till the warm weather is over, when a 
 large open shed is the best until December ; when the 
 shed is furnished, doors to be closed at night is well. 
 If kept too warm through the winter they commence 
 to lay too early, the best chicks being those hatched 
 in May. We like the fields to have been mowed before 
 
TURKEYS. 385 
 
 they get clear of their early pens, then they do not 
 get draggled by the early dew on the long grass, and 
 the grasshopper and insect life come in time for their 
 needs, for of all birds of the farm-yard the turkey needs 
 to be reared closely to nature's plan. 
 
 BRONZE TURKEYS. 
 
 This magnificent bird is the result of the cross of 
 the wild gobbler on the Narragansett female, the cross 
 resulting in a large size and beautiful plumage, largely 
 controlled by the wild male. The difference in size of 
 the sex is widely marked in this breed. In the forma- 
 tion of the Standard a sad mistake Avas made in the 
 disqualifying weights, though they are three pounds less 
 than they passed at the first reading, but the result of 
 that vote has cut down the exhibition of these birds to 
 chicks, for they are not hampered by a weight clause. 
 
 Sixteen pounds for a female discloses the fact that 
 very few specimens that weigh over it are prolific, and 
 twenty pound females seldom if ever lay any eggs. Had 
 perfect weight been twenty-seven for males and sixteen 
 for females and disqualifying weights been twenty-two 
 and fourteen pounds, the exhibition in this class would 
 have been four-fold what they now are. A gobbler over 
 thirty pounds is useless, for no turkey can stand up under 
 him, and he becomes a dead letter only as a show speci- 
 men. But the day for show without merit has passed. 
 We are confident that the disqualifying weight will be 
 reduced as mentioned above when next the American 
 Poultry Association revise the Standard. 
 
 We think that females of fourteen pounds and up- 
 ward should be considered first-class for size, and a 
 
386 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 healthy male in fair flesh at twenty-five pounds to 
 twenty-eight pounds as large as should be used, and 
 think one hundred of such a male's get will weigh as 
 much as one hundred from a male of larger weight. 
 The older a turkey is the more valuable it is. A cock 
 of twenty-eight pounds at two years old, and sixteen to 
 eighteen pound hens over two years old, could be kept 
 for ten years and the young turkeys be stronger, and 
 such a breeder hold his reputation better as a breeder 
 of fine turkeys, than he who uses young birds, like geese. 
 We believe in old birds, but have given the limit. 
 
 To judge Bronze Turkeys, we say : 
 
 Symmetry.— To be perfect, head must be carried 
 forward to give a slope of neck to back, which from 
 neck to tail is an oval sweep to tail, the half from neck 
 to back, nearly flat ; the body full, trifle wedge-shaped 
 in front ; stern, from shanks to tail, tapering ; tail 
 drooping at 20 degrees. If the back be straight, cut a 
 point ; if the tail be carried upright, cut 2 points ; if 
 legs are turned in at hocks to look awkward, cut sym- 
 metry I more. 
 
 Weight. — Male should weigh at present, 30 pounds ; 
 cockerel, 20 pounds; female, 18 pounds; pullet, 12 
 pounds, to have a full score for weight, and be cut 3 
 points to the pound for any deficit. 
 
 Condition. — The same cause and effect comes in 
 play here as in fowls. 
 
 Head.— If the head be small and too flat or nar- 
 row, cut I to 1^2 ; if smooth, not wrinkled, on old 
 birds, I point. 
 
 Wattles. — Are seldom defective in show specimens; 
 unless accident causes a cut from i to i^ points. 
 
BRONZE GOBBLER. 
 
 387 
 
TURKEYS. 389 
 
 Neck. — If straight from head to back, cut i^ ; it 
 should arch at head and run on an incHned plane from 
 center to back ; the plumage rich in a bronze luster ; 
 if black in plumage, or a blurred slate color, cut i to 
 i^ points. 
 
 Back. — Oval, both from side to side and from neck to 
 tail, seldom defective in shape and color; a brilliant, burn- 
 ished gold bronze color is only perfect in color, and any 
 departure from it must be punished by a cut of ^ to 4 
 points, as it approaches a color other than Standard. 
 
 Breast and Body. — Seldom defective, unless the 
 breast-bone be crooked. Want of flesh around the 
 above is the greater defect of form, and seldom causes a 
 cut beyond i to 2 points in form, and as the color of 
 breast recedes from a burnished gold with red and dark 
 reflections, it is cut from i to 2^ as it fades into a dull, 
 darker hue. Body is more sober in color, and if black, 
 shaded in bars of bronze, must not be cut, but if black, 
 wholly, will be cut full 2^ points. 
 
 Wings. — Sometimes fall down, to be cut from ^ to 
 ij4 points, but suffer in color, and are cut from ^ to 2 
 points, as they fail in the gray bars, and when the 
 wings reach a black or dark brown with no bars, are 
 disqualified; cut ]4 to lyi for white edging of prima- 
 ries; coverts cut % io i}i, as they fail in the broad 
 bronze bar of the wing. 
 
 Tail. — Cut from ^ to 2 points as the tail fails in 
 its gray tip or lacing of the tips ; a red tip should be 
 cut 2 points ; a failure in the reddish-brown bars to tail 
 plumage i to 2 points ; a full black tail disquahfies ; 
 tail coverts should be black, barred with brown, with a 
 
390 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 broad, black band near the tips of feathers, the tips 
 being gray ; such only are perfect. The more distinct 
 the color and complete division of these colors, the 
 more beautiful the plumage. 
 
 Legs. — Should not turn in at hocks, and we cut 
 for this defect from i to 3 points ; black legs in chicks, 
 and a pink hue in cock, with a dark shaded pink in 
 hens are colors not to be cut. 
 
 The shape and color apply to the hen as in the cock, 
 the only difference being that affected by the sex, 
 smaller in bone and fuller fluff. 
 
 NARRAGANSETT TURKEY. 
 
 The disqualifying weights in this breed are more 
 severe than the Bronze, but the comparative weight of 
 the sex shows less difference, but I have never yet seen 
 a pair that have been exhibited that came up to 
 weight ; yet gobblers have been known to weigh thirty- 
 five pounds, and gobblers in the Bronze- variety to 
 reach fifty-two pounds ; but for all that, a twenty-five 
 pound gobbler in this breed must be conceded a large 
 bird. The act of making these very largest known 
 specimens perfect specimens in weight is like calling 
 the giants of the human race perfect specimens, when 
 all known men of six feet in height are the exception. 
 A Narragansett gobbler of twenty-six pounds, a cockerel 
 of twenty, hen of sixteen, and pullet of eleven pounds 
 should go uncut for weight, and all to suffer three 
 points to the pound for all deficits, and the disqualify- 
 ing weights to range from eighteen, twelve, twelve 
 and nine pounds, when we may hope to see the 
 turkey coops of our fairs again filled up. The local 
 
TURKEYS. 391 
 
 societies should have an eye to this matter until such 
 time as the matter can come before the national 
 society for adjustment. As in the Bronze, we believe 
 birds from two to six and seven years of 'age far better 
 as breeders and more sure of raising their full broods, 
 and their eggs hatch better. 
 
 In form of symmetry one turkey, be he large or 
 small, has one form, and defects are found generally in 
 those specimens that have a deformity of some kind, 
 such as crooked back and wry tails. The turning of 
 the breast-bone generally found upon these with a 
 defective shaped body, and the only difference in the 
 scoring being for color. In the Narragansett, then, if the 
 
 Neck be defective, it is generally in the color. The 
 neck plumage must be black, with a wide band of steel- 
 gray near the end, the extreme point being black, any 
 deviation to be cut from ^ to 3 points as in degree 
 it shall by any means be found to be slate color or 
 have any buff feathers in it ; when they are discovered 
 the specimen should be promptly disqualified. 
 
 The Back. — This section should be almost straight 
 from neck to center of back, the center slightly the 
 highest. The curve from center to tail is a graceful 
 one, but should the color be other than black, having a 
 broad steel-gray bar across the same, near the end, the 
 very tip being black laced, then we cut from j4 to 2 
 points, as the black recedes into a dull black, brownish 
 black, or very dark slate color, a bluish slate, or a 
 lighter shade, preventing the specimen to compete. 
 
 Breast and Body. — The plumage of breast and 
 body is the same in description, thus giving a screen of 
 steel-gray rings around breast and body, the over- 
 
392 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 lapping of the wide bars of steel-gray giving the above 
 ringed appearance, and cuts of color come from the 
 dullness of the black and the broken with black of the 
 steel-gray bars, and the blurred appearance of the same 
 and the spatters of white or gray in the black tip of 
 the feathers. This often makes the necessity of cut- 
 ting from^ to i^ for color in this section. 
 
 Wings. — The faults of the wing are generally in 
 being set on too low down, and the carriage of the 
 flights exposed, ^ to i^, not an uncommon cut, but 
 color seldom faulty. The perfect primary or secondary 
 will be a dull black, or, as some call it, dark broAvn, the 
 gray bars being even and widening near outside web, 
 which will be quite light or nearly white at that edge of 
 the feather. The wing has two bars, not solid as in the 
 Bronze. The bows have a slight bronze tint in the sun. 
 
 The Tail. — Is generally faulty in the color when 
 faulty at all, the gray breed having a bronze shade, 
 and the black tips tarnished with spatters of gray in 
 them, but seldom to exceed more than ^ to a full 
 point, as the whole value of the tail is but 5. 
 
 Legs. — Generally salmon brown, in old birds a silver 
 salmon color. When white or flesh color, are cut from 
 I to 2j4 points, but are seldom cut for defects other 
 than crooked toes and turning in of the shanks at 
 the hocks, and for these two defects i to 3 points 
 are sometimes found necessary to sufficiently punish 
 the defect. There is so little difference between the 
 male and female in color that nothing need be said 
 of the latter under this head. The cut at the head 
 of the breed gives a lesson of perfection in itself, 
 both as to color and form. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 DUCKS. 
 
 ROUEN DUCKS. 
 
 DUCKS and turkeys, to mate which one has only to 
 discard all specimens disqualified by the Stand- 
 ard, and to mate Standard described color, for the best 
 results, selecting large healthy specimens, for meat is 
 the main question. No one raises ducks for the sale of 
 their eggs in the market. The raising of ducks will 
 become more and more popular. The wild supply is 
 each year diminishing, and it is a fact they are not as 
 fine eating as a young duck raised away from the water 
 and fed artificially. Duck meat can be produced for 
 less cost per pound at ten weeks old than any other 
 poultry meat. Still further, ducks are peculiarly a sea- 
 side dish and much appreciated in a salt atmosphere. 
 By a little care we can induce the old duck by warm 
 quarters and generous feed to lay earlier than the 
 wild ducks, which by the aid of incubators enables 
 the poulterer to put into the market green ducks 
 during the entire vacation season when there are 
 none to be had from native wild sources. In a pre- 
 
 393 
 
394 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 vious chapter on artificial incubation we stated that 
 young ducks at ten weeks old would average seven 
 pounds to the pair. This is double the weight of aver- 
 age chicken broilers at that age. The price is fully 
 equal and the cost fully twenty-five per cent less. 
 Therefore we do not hesitate to predict a wonderful 
 increase in the demand for ducks of all kinds in the 
 near future. While this demand is going on for the 
 practical, it will have its influence to boom all aquatics 
 in the exhibition of them, and how to judge them cor- 
 rectly becomes of still greater interest. We therefore 
 offer the following on the 
 
 JUDGING OF ROUEN DUCKS. 
 
 To describe symmetry or form in a duck is a diffi- 
 cult pen picture to make, but we say they are "Polyhe- 
 dron," depth and width of body being equal, and both 
 in ratio to length as three is to five. Such a block, 
 with lower forward corners and all four rear corners 
 rounded off, gives a pretty good decoy duck when the 
 head and tail are adjusted ; and unless the abdomen 
 is enlarged and overfat so as to hang down below the 
 lower line of the body, seldom cut in symmetry for 
 any defect in body. Young ducks, before they get the 
 full breast development, will average to lose one point 
 in this particular. Weight and color are the grand and 
 controlling sections in the solution of the question of 
 which is best in competition condition; but as this 
 affects weight to such a degree as to make its influence 
 felt, and generally gets its punishment under weight, 
 being an indirect cut for condition (for a duck is seldom 
 sick, and where they have free access to water, seldom 
 
ROUEN DUCKS. 
 
 395 
 
DUCKS. 397 
 
 filthy), one-half to two and one-half points In symmetry, 
 the latter in a degree as the abdomen hangs below the 
 lower line of body. 
 
 Weight is the question, and we are often asked 
 how we cut for this, as the Standard gives no perfect 
 weights. We have seen a pair of Rouen ducks weigh 
 twenty-six pounds, so have we seen a man weigh 635 
 pounds. A pair of nice Rouen ducks will weigh 
 twelve pounds, and a pair of nice young ones will weigh 
 the same. It is a fact that the first growth of the duck 
 before laying is nearly fully up to the old one, the old 
 one, being heavier feathered, looks larger. I have had 
 exhibitors tell me his pair weighed sixteen pounds, 
 and weighed them for him to see them reach only nine 
 pounds. We say, then, twenty-five points are given for 
 weight, which is twenty-five per cent of the points. 
 We claim they should earn them, and an old pair of 
 ducks weighing less than fourteen pounds should be 
 cut three points to the pound for all defects ; ducks 
 six pounds and drakes eight pounds. Young ducks 
 have to be considered comparatively. If they have 
 fine large frames and good bone, showing indication of 
 good average size, then cut in degree as our judgment 
 shall indicate under the formula offered, above being 
 from I to 6 points. 
 
 Condition we have spoken of above ; the cuts 
 are most generally caused by an enlarged abdomen, 
 and range from one to three points. A great hanging 
 down behind will affect a specimen 5 points, 2 in 
 symmetry and 3 in condition. 
 
 Head. — Defect generally appears in a foreign color 
 of eye, depression of skull just above bill, and a muddy 
 
398 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 blackish-green color of the head, but not two specimens 
 in twelve get cut at all, ^ to i point rarely exceeded 
 
 Bill. — They are seldom cut here, for they are either 
 all right or else disqualified. We do not recollect of 
 cutting except for accident and the disqualifying of 
 them for cause. 
 
 Neck. — Should be slender, cut up clean at the 
 throat, the green plumage lighter in shade than the top 
 of the head. The white ring of the neck if it extend 
 clear round should be cut i point. If the neck be thick 
 and looks heavy, i point ; if the head be carried over 
 the back, giving the neck a sharp crook over the back, 
 cut I to i^ points; if the color be a faded green or 
 tarnished by ashen streaks, i to i^ points. 
 
 Back. — Long, slightly oval in its sweep, the green 
 mixture of the ashen gray should increase to bright 
 Treen near the tail ; the plumage from the upper part 
 of the breast that covers the shoulders should be 
 streaked with brown, if the gray is thus void of this 
 brown color cut i point ; if the back be very much- 
 curved, I point ; if the green shadings are light and 
 lusterless, i to i^ points. 
 
 Breast and Body. — The shape we have tried to 
 explain under symmetry. If the breast be pale in the| 
 shade of purple brown, cut i to i)4 points. If the 
 claret color fail to reach well down to thighs, i to lyi 
 points. If flat in body, showing too little depth for 
 width of structure cut i point. If too full in the ab- 
 domen, throwing body out of balance, cut i point. If 
 the plumage does not shade from a solid black under 
 the tail to a gray under vent cut i to i}4 points. 
 
 Wings are a bluish-gray shaded with a brown, giv- 
 
DUCKS. 399 
 
 ing a purple shade ; the tip of the coverts a metallic- 
 lustered purple, making a prominent bar across the 
 wing, the outer edges of which are laced with nearly 
 white color, the colors distinctly marked. The cuts 
 are generally for a lusterless condition of the plumage, 
 and suffer from ^ to 2 points as the season advances 
 and the coat of plumage fades out ; for white appearing 
 in primaries or secondaries we disqualify ; faded brown 
 or sheeny spots in the primaries, i to i}4, points. 
 
 Tail. — Absence of white edging to feathers cut i to 
 2 points as it wholly disappears. Lusterless condition 
 of the black coverts, i point. 
 
 Legs. — Are cut when turning in at hocks from i to 
 I ^ points ; if green spots appear, i to i ^ ; feet and 
 legs are seldom faulty. In the fall when a drake is 
 shedding his coat, before the new coat is fully webbed 
 out, he looks much like a duck and young growing 
 drake and all of the foregoing falls to the ground, and 
 only an expert and one with full knowledge of their 
 habits is fully competent to judge them. This occurs 
 at the fall fairs, where many times an old drake is 
 palmed off for a young one. 
 
 The ducks of this variety have the same general 
 shape of body, but smaller head and shorter neck than 
 the drake, and the difference in the color of the bill and 
 color of the plumage is the great difference of the sex. 
 
 Head. — We cut i point when the pale brown 
 stripes are not prominent from the bill to over the 
 eyes ; i point when the eyes are not a hazel color. 
 
 Bill. — When clear yellow, except the blotch and 
 bars cut i point for the want of the brown shade. 
 
 Neck. — When the darker brown of the neck is not 
 
400 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 distinctly seen in comparison with the hghter grow: 
 color, cut I point; pass the specimen if a white ring] 
 appear in the neck. 
 
 Back of duck should, like the drake, be long, but 
 fully as straight, color should be a light brown heavily; 
 penciled with a very dark brown that has a green shade 
 to it. If there was such a color we would say greenish-' 
 brown-black. The Standard says penciled with green. 
 We do not think one ever saw such a specimen. The 
 light faded color is the only defect usually punished, 
 and gets a cut of ^ to i^, seldom more. 
 
 Breast and. Body. — We want the full breast and; 
 the color light brown, penciled with darker brown. We 
 deem this a better description than as in the Standard, 
 yet the general effect is the same, and when the breast 
 fades out to a light brown in general color we cut from 
 }4 to 1)4 for the defect. The body is a trifle deeper in 
 its posterior and keel is carried lower than in the' 
 drake, yet lower line of body with abdomen preserved,^ 
 the color like the breast, but showing darker, the pen- 
 ciling growing heavier. The cuts in this section most 
 generally arising from the dropping down behind and 
 fading out of general color to look light, and i to i ^2 
 is seldom exceeded for these defects. 
 
 Wings. — We fear the Standard description misleads. 
 We should say, in describing color, grayish-brown pen-' 
 ciled with a dark brown, having a green shading.;^ 
 When the color fails, presenting a light brown penciled ' 
 with brown, they should be cut a point. If the purple 
 bar of the wings is blotched with brown or whitish 
 gray cut a point. Primaries showing bluish-gray spots 
 I to i^ points, white in them being a disqualification. 
 
DUCKS. 
 
 401 
 
 Tail. — The color is the same as of back, but of a 
 still darker shade, the lighter color showing but little 
 of the green shading, penciling broad and distinct; as 
 they fail in these we cut from i to 2 points. If the 
 tail droops, indicating a weakness, cut from i to i^. 
 
 Legs. — Thigh dark brown, penciled with brownish 
 
 PEKIN DUCKS. 
 
 black, the shank very short and orange colored, having 
 a smoky tinge. We seldom find this deficient. 
 
 AYLESBURY AND PEKIN DUCKS. 
 
 These are both white, the former being pure white, 
 the latter having a creamy tinge of white, so much so 
 
402 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 as to make it a fact that an Aylesbury duck is the 
 whitest. Yet some will tell you white is white. Yet 
 I say a Pekin that would not be cut for color would 
 cause in an Aylesbury a cut of at least three points. 
 
 The Aylesbury has a flesh-colored bill and light 
 orange-colored legs, while the Pekin has a golden- 
 yellow bill and a reddish-yellow leg, the same being 
 heavier in its posterior structure, stern not so tapering 
 from legs to tail as in the Aylesbury. So in judging 
 we demand a pure bluish shade of Avhite in the Ayles- 
 bury and a. heavy yellowish shade in the Pekin. 
 Yellow quills in an Aylesbury would be cut severely, 
 while the yellow quills in the Pekin would be cut with 
 half the severity. 
 
 In these solid shades we find nearly as much to cut, 
 and the difference in the score of solid colors such as 
 the two named above and the Black Cayuga will not 
 on an average score above two points more than ■ 
 those of mixed colors. But the cuts come in the dis- 
 crimination of the shade of the color. A black of bright ' 
 metallic hue being worth over a dull dead black in a ^ 
 Cayuga 4 to 4}^ points more, just so will the yellow " 
 shade in white specimens like the above damage the color 
 value from 2]/^ to even 6 points. An Aylesbury having 
 yellow quills in primaries and secondaries and tail would 
 carry the yellow shade deep enough to cause a cut of i 
 in neck, i in back, ly^, in wings, and i in tail. This 
 work demands a good eye for color, and without which 
 no one should attempt to judge solid colored birds. 
 The errors of form, bad folding of wings, bad carriage, 
 are all affected as demonstrated in chapter on Rouen 
 ducks. 
 
DUCKS. 
 
 403 
 
 Weight in the Aylesbury is a trifle less than the 
 Rouen, and heavier than the Pekin, the Cayuga being 
 smallest of the four breeds, and a just weight^as a per- 
 fect one for the breeds being 13 pounds per pair for 
 Aylesburys, 12 pounds for Pekins, 10 pounds for Cay- 
 ugas, and a cut of 3 points to the pound for all defects. 
 
 THE CALL DUCK 
 
 may be called a Bantam-Rouen and Aylesbury Duck, 
 and therefore more valuable the smaller they are, and 
 none weighing over five pounds to the pair should 
 receive a full score in weight, and 4 points to the 
 pound cut for all weight excessive of such Standard 
 weight. In all other respects they suffer for color as in 
 the two larger breeds named. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GEESE. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND JUDGING. 
 
 PRACTICALLY, the farmer has but the Embden 
 and Toulouse geese, if the best meat producers is 
 to be the rule for selection of his stock. All others are 
 raised for ornamental purposes, taste for unique form 
 and diversity of color causing them to be admired. The 
 Toulouse have been exhibited at the greatest weight, 
 yet we do not see wherein they are more profitable 
 than the Embden. 
 
 Sixty pounds for Toulouse and fifty-four pounds per 
 pair for Embden geese has been reached in American 
 exhibitions, but fully one-third the exhibitions show 
 Embdens of greater weight than the Toulouse, and we 
 are of the opinion that the Toulouse is susceptible to 
 greater growth for extra care, while the Embden is 
 better grown under neglect. 
 
 All geese, as a rule, reach a full year of age before 
 laying. One is led to exclaim " My geese are ganders," 
 in the impatience for an egg product. 
 
 They seldom lay more than they can cover before be- 
 coming broody, and not often will they lay more than 
 
 404 
 
GEESE. 405 
 
 one Utter of eggs. When they commence very early, 
 and from cold and accident they are deprived from 
 incubating their first early litter, they will lay a second 
 litter. The extra eggs from a large litter of eggs can 
 be set under a large Cochin or Brahma hen, setting her 
 a day and a-half earlier than the old goose is given the 
 balance of the eggs, and when the eggs begin to hatch 
 under the old goose, those hatched by the hen given to 
 her, allowing her to rear the lot. We deem it better 
 to keep them away from the water till ten days old, 
 letting them have only water from a fountain to drink. 
 Thirty days is the duration of incubation. Geese or 
 ducks can be fed scalded meal and bran, mashed pota- 
 toes and meal and wheat bran, ground beef scraps, 
 meal and oatmeal scalded, chopped onions and water- 
 cresses. When a week or ten days old they can be 
 committed to the care of mother goose till fattening 
 season, when shut away from the water, giving only 
 that to drink in a vessel, feeding barley meal, corn- 
 meal and beef scraps, chopped celery, and keep in a 
 subdued light for three or four weeks, when let out for 
 a couple of days to enjoy the use of a pond, then return 
 to their clean quarters and feed on barley meal and 
 milk and chopped celery for two or three days, letting 
 them go twenty-four hours before killing, and you will 
 have a goose fit for a king, as the saying is. And now 
 a word on 
 
 THE JUDGING OF THESE TWO VARIETIES. 
 
 The white Embden, to our mind, on a rich green 
 pasture, is a pretty sight, and deserves much attention 
 from the poulterer and fancier as well. Their plumage 
 
406 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 should be pure white in surface color, with a rich lemon 
 tinge to undercolor; this latter comes from the oily| 
 nature of their skin, and only Avhen kept in a poor, half- 
 fed condition will this oily tinge spoken of be missing 
 We say their surface color is pure white. 
 
 EMBDEN GOOSE. 
 
 Well-folded wing, clean surface color and weight 
 are the grand distinguishing features in adjudicating for 
 prizes. We deem a pair of old geese that weigh forty- 
 six pounds entitled to a full score for weight, and while 
 
GEESE. 407 
 
 a greater weight should, all else being equal, decide the 
 prize in the pair's favor, yet forty-six pounds or more 
 have a value of forty points in the scale of points, and 
 for all deficit of such weight cut three points for all 
 varieties to the pound. Young goslings the first season 
 reaching forty pounds to be deemed perfect, and the 
 same deduction made for all deficit. We do not believe 
 the largest known weight is the perfect weight of any 
 breed, but the possible Aveight that can each year be 
 reached by the specimens raised in the corresponding 
 years the one best fitted to be considered the perfect 
 Standard. 
 
 A crooked back and a wry tail is a deformed speci- 
 men. One that tosses its wings, throwing the prima- 
 ries outside of the secondaries, is unsightly, and it is 
 fit to debar them from exhibition, for our exhibitions 
 are supposed to be made up of the excellent specimens 
 of the year's product. Their pure, clean plumage, great 
 weight. Standard form, are all we can consider under 
 the head of white Embden geese, and require more an 
 intuitive conception of what is right in the mind of the 
 judge than easily described, like the fowl specimens 
 already considered. The head shall appear large, this 
 is Standard ; then a small, snaky looking head not to be 
 tolerated, and yet for such we cut but lightly, for the 
 value is small; one point would be a- thirty-three per 
 cent cut. If the bill be spotted with foreign color cut 
 a point. 
 
 Neck, if too long, as in the African, cut i point. If 
 the back be too oval in its make-up, i point ; if the color 
 be tainted, not pure white, cut i point to l^. 
 
 Breast and Body. — If it be not deep and carried 
 
408 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 near the ground, cut from 2 to 3 points. If cut awry 
 in the stern, conforming to that of the wild goose, cut 
 still another point. If the breast be not filled down to 
 balance the fluff, presenting a good, even line with keel 
 and breast-bone, cut i to i)4, the value of breast and 
 body being 200 per cent larger than in fowls. 
 
 Wings are generally all right, unless they are 
 deformed, then they disqualify. Seldom does a wing 
 get cut in geese of this breed. 
 
 Tail. — If this be carried high, making an abrupt 
 angle with saddle, cut a point. This seldom occurs, 
 however. 
 
 Legs are of little value, but when not of Standard 
 color, cut ^ to I point, and the same for being bow- 
 legged. 
 
 TOULOUSE GEESE. 
 
 In Symmetry we expect this breed to be deeper in 
 body and carry the lower line of body and fluff nearer the 
 ground than any other, and when carried high, like the 
 Chinese varieties, will be punished from i to 3 points. 
 
 Weight. — Old birds of 48 pounds should be deemed 
 perfect, and young ones at 42 pounds, cutting 3 points 
 for every pound they fail in these weights, all excess of 
 this weight be superfluous and generally result in ' 
 goose oil when cooked, and deemed of no value in a 
 Standard sense. 
 
 Head. — Has a small value in points ; should look not 
 quite as large comparatively as the Embden, and be 
 cut, if small, ^ to i^ points. 
 
 Bill. — May be said to be any color if not defined, 
 but cut I point if yellow, i point if spotted with black. 
 
GEESE. 
 
 409 
 
 Neck. — The Standard does not speak of one of the 
 best marks upon a gander. To my mind it is a ques- 
 tion whether 'we should cut by the Standard if the 
 gander fails to have a weh developed dewlap, so called, 
 a loose binding flesh at the angle of lower bill with 
 
 TOULOUSE GEESE 
 
 neck. But the best we can do is, where specimens are 
 equal, to give such specimens the preference in deciding 
 a tie. If the neck be thrown back and crooked, sharply, 
 cut a point ; if the color be light gray, cut a point ; a 
 brown line shading to a gray in front is as well as we 
 can describe ; dark gray does not describe the color by 
 
410 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 any means, for brown goes largely into the shading of 
 back of neck and back also. 
 
 Back. — Should be a dark brownish-gray. When 
 ;,this brown tint is lacking, cut a point. If the back be 
 not slightly curved toward tail, cut a point. 
 
 Breast and Body.^H breast be not full and deep, 
 cut I to 2 points as in degree the fault appear, and i 
 to I ^ when the plumage is darker than Standard color. 
 
 Body. — If not well down to the ground, cut from i to 
 2 points. The color differing from that described suf- 
 fering from I to 3 points as in degree. 
 
 Wings. — When small in comparison to the body, 
 cut I point. We think primaries better described by 
 saying a brown stone color, the text being a dark gray. 
 The secondaries are of a still darker shading of the 
 brown color, the bows being more brown than gray; as 
 the color of wings shades lighter than herein described, 
 cut from I to 2^^ points, as such failure in color 
 may be deemed advisable ; wings loosely folded, i to 
 i}4' Primaries wholly outside of secondaries is termed 
 a taint of the wing, and disqualifies. 
 
 Tail. — Is really short in comparison, and a perfect 
 color would be a shading of a grayish-brown to a white 
 at the tip. If the tail be not carried in a straight line 
 with head and back, we term it a " wry tail," and debar 
 the specimen from competing. Seldom the tail is so 
 bad in color to be cut more than i point. 
 
 Legs. — Seldom faulty, but sometimes bow-legged, 
 weak knees, generally turning outward in geese instead 
 of inward, as is the case with fowls ; these crooked 
 legs are cut from ^^ to i^ points. Their color is gen- 
 erally Standard color, but when otherwise cut a point. 
 
GEESE. 411 
 
 The above in a pure state, and the females mated to 
 wild ganders, are those usually bred for poultry pur- 
 poses. The progeny of the wild gander and domestic 
 goose are what are termed mules, and do not breed, and 
 are considered of better quality as meat, bringing some- 
 what more in the market, being an improvement over 
 both the present breeds. 
 
 THE CHINESE GEESE 
 
 are really breeds of merit, yet so far have been bred 
 mostly for ornamental purposes — finding homes in our 
 public parks and sailing on the miniature lakes of pri- 
 vate estates, their fancy and peculiar points being 
 more heeded in the Standard than their practical 
 quality. Both the white and brown varieties have swan 
 necks, being very long and very much more arched than 
 in the Embden variety. On the hatching and rearing 
 of them nothing more need be added, except to say 
 that they lay larger litters of eggs, and from two to 
 three litters of eggs per year. The cost per pound to 
 rear is not materially greater than the Toulouse, which 
 makes it a surprise that they are not reared more for 
 practical purposes than they are, the greater numbers 
 seeming to indicate a greater yearly profit. They are 
 greatly prized as show specimens, and have a scale of 
 points very much different. 
 
 THE BROWN CHINA 
 
 in Symmetry are much squarer in their build, the 
 breast being square in front, and they are much less 
 tapering as they approach the tail, as compared to the 
 larger varieties. Legs are long, the body carried higher 
 
412 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 from the ground. They are very uniform in type, sel- 
 dom being cut beyond i point for symmetry. If they 
 have a straight neck they are not allowed to compete. 
 
 Weight has but 25 points of value. A pair of 28 
 pounds would be a large one, in fact. So far weight has 
 been considered more in the sense of size, and the cut 
 under this section more from comparative size, and, 
 unless the specimen had a decidedly small look, escaped 
 cutting for weight, and the judging has been one of 
 open judging. We think, however, they should suffer 
 3 points to the pound for any deficit under 15 and 13 
 pounds weight. 
 
 Condition. — Cleanliness, any excrescences, bad con- 
 dition of plumage, or mutilation, is considered under 
 this head, a show specimen seldom being cut. An eye 
 gone would be cut a couple of points. A low state of 
 vitality, being very poor in flesh, giving a dead, dry look 
 to plumage, would receive a cut from i to 3 points, as 
 such defects were apparent. 
 
 Head. — If the head be short, and look large for 
 length, cut a point. The head should be long and in 
 keeping with size of body. If the knob be not large 
 and oval like a ball, cut from i to 5 points as it dimin- 
 ishes in size to that point where it cannot be fairly said 
 to have a knob, when it becomes disqualified. If the 
 head be not brown, cut a point. 
 
 Bill. — If the beak be other than dark brown or 
 black, cut a point ; if wholly yellow, cut two points. 
 
 Neck. — If short, losing its swan-like curvage, cut i 
 to 5 points, as in degree. If the color be not a grayish- 
 brown in front, and having a darker brown stripe on 
 the back of the same, cut i to 3 points, as in this 
 
GEESE. 413 
 
 respect it fails. If there is an absence of the dewlap, 
 cut a point. 
 
 Back. — Should be considered wide for length, 
 especially so at wing and in front of tail, being nearly- 
 straight from neck to tail, any decided difference from 
 the above description being cut from % to lyi points, 
 and I to I ^ if the color be lighter than a dark brown. 
 
 Breast. — Broad, rather square in front. What 
 would be called medium full would go uncut. If 
 wedge shape, which lessens the prominence of the sides 
 at shoulder, cut i to i^ points. If body hangs low 
 near the ground, in a like manner as the Toulouse 
 variety, cut from i to 3 points. For color cut i to i^, 
 as it shall vary from a dark-brown at back and shade to 
 a grayish-brown on under part of body. 
 
 Wings. — These are cut as they vary from a nice 
 brown when folded; cut i to 1)4 if badly folded, and 
 disqualify if the flights are thrown outside of second- 
 aries. 
 
 Tail. — Wide and short for size, dark brown color ; 
 cut one-half to one point for a light shade of color ; if 
 carried high cut a point. 
 
 Legs. — Thighs if not short cut a point, shanks more 
 than medium long to be perfect, if they look short in 
 comparison cut a point. 
 
 We deem these few remarks will enable any com- 
 petitor, no matter how much of a novice he may be, to 
 select his best specimens for the show pen ; bear in 
 mind a straight-necked Chinese or African goose is a 
 disqualified specimen, and as it shall vary from a we// 
 arched swan-like neck to the above straight condition, 
 they get cut from one to even seven points. TJie neck 
 
414 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 and comparative weight are the two next valuable sec- 
 tions of the breed, and perfection in them generally 
 insures their winning. 
 
 WHITE CHINESE GEESE. 
 
 The only difference between the white and brown 
 oeing in the color, all the conditions of form and weight 
 are affected alike as in the brown. If any foreign 
 color be found in its pure white plumage the specimen 
 is disqualified. The would-be exhibitor, in mating for 
 breeding for the show pen, has only to select the larg- 
 est, the longest and most nicely arched necks, and be 
 absolutely sure no foreign colored feathers are to be 
 found in the plumage ; that the knobs are large and 
 round and the deeper orange color the better, having 
 no black streaks upon the same or bill ; short thigh and 
 long shanks, with wings smoothly folded. The shad- 
 ing of straw color in the plumage seldom suffers more 
 than a point in neck, back and breast and body. The 
 wings faulty, from one to one and one-half points, and 
 seldom the same specimen is faulty in all four of these 
 sections for color. 
 
 AFRICAN GEESE. 
 
 The African can hardly be said to have so swan-like 
 a neck as the Chinese, yet they bear a strong resem- 
 blance in form structure. They are larger and carry the 
 neck in a nice curve, but not to be called well arched. 
 
 The Head. — If beak and knob be other than black, 
 is disqualified. This leaves little to consider unless an 
 eye be put out or some enlargement of skull over the 
 eye be apparent, when a cut of i to 2 points may be 
 
GEESE. 415 
 
 made. If plumage be not gray, cut a point ; eyes 
 other than hazel or brown, cut i point. 
 
 Bill and Knob. — Are considered in a section by 
 themselves ; if the beak or knob be a brownish black 
 then cut i to 2 points ; bill the same ; and i to 4 
 points for the relative size of the knob ; if they have 
 but a slight rise of head above bill, it cannot by any 
 means be called a knob, and should be promptly dis- 
 qualified. 
 
 Neck. — If short in appearance cut i point ; if car- 
 ried straight, being not well curved, cut i point ; if not 
 distinctly striped down back of neck with dark stripe, 
 cut a point, the throat and forward part of neck being 
 a light gray. 
 
 Back. — These geese should be flat and straight in 
 back, tapering somewhat from shoulders to side of 
 tails, color cut ^ to i^ if light gray instead of dark 
 stone gray, and i point if back be much oval in its 
 sweep from neck to tail. 
 
 Breast and Body. — Breast moderately full, being 
 not square in front like the Chinese ; body carried higher 
 than the Toulouse and slightly lower than the Chinese, 
 but breast carried high, giving an upright appearance ; 
 failing in these characteristics they suffer from i to i^, 
 as a rule, and seldom in color more than a point. In 
 show specimens foreign blood enough to change the 
 color will damage the knob so as to disqualify. 
 
 Wings. — They are heavy in wing, when otherwise 
 cut a point ; if folded to show primaries below second- 
 aries cut I to I ^ ; if flights are twisted, disqualify ; 
 if color be light gray, cut one point. 
 
 Tail. — If turned to either side, disqualify ; if car- 
 
416 
 
 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 ried at a sharp angle with back cut a point • if othen 
 than dark gray in color cut a point. ^ 
 
 LEGS.-If thighs be long cut a point ; shanks if so 
 longas not tobe described as medium shape, cut r 
 pomt; bowlegs, i to i^ points; if other tha; dark 
 orange color cut a point. 
 
GLEAl^ESTGS A:N"D COMMENTS. 
 
 WRIGHT has said : " Kill every hen at the age of 
 two and one-half years." We would say this : If 
 you are a farmer and poulterer, and look for your returns 
 from marketing poultry and eggs, the best plan for 
 Leghorns would be to kill all males at an age they 
 would weigh three and one-half pounds to the pair as 
 broilers, and force the pullets for eggs till seventeen 
 months old, then market them. This is by far the 
 most profitable way to handle all the small breeds for 
 practical use. 
 
 The Asiatics may be sold as broilers at four to five 
 pounds weight, or fed till eight months old or older, 
 when they will sell for large roasting fowls, and for 
 hotel use preferred to all others, the female forced for 
 eggs, and carrying into the second year all that molt 
 before October i; such will lay more eggs the second 
 year than the first, but those who molt late will lay 
 but few eggs till spring in comparison to the number of 
 pullets that will lay — making the room they occupy 
 quite an item. Such as molt early are valuable as 
 breeding stock from which to rear the subsequent 
 stocks to be kept. The Light Brahmas will, without 
 contradiction, we think, lay a larger number of eggs up 
 to the time they are twelve months old — at least it is 
 
 417 
 
418 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 true that they will lay more dollars worth. Thirty pul- 
 lets that completed their twelve months of age a few 
 days ago laid 3,278 eggs, counting no broken or soft- 
 shell ones. This is 109^ each, an average we have 
 at this writing never seen beaten. Mr. Rankin, in a 
 recent agricultural meeting, said : " It is my practice 
 to kill all males as broilers, and keep the females till 
 they have laid a year, then dispose of them ; and in 
 my experience there is no breed that will lay more eggs 
 in the time up till they are one year old than the 
 Brahma." The early molting of these birds will be 
 found to be about thirty-three per cent of the number 
 kept, and as a rule those that have laid less eggs the 
 first season will make it up during the winter, the 
 secret being this : they get to laying before winter, 
 therefore spend the flesh those molting later are apt'^ 
 to put on, becoming too fat to lay. As a rule, farmers 
 feed too little, however, and fanciers too much. A 
 bird must be in good, healthy, full muscular condition — 
 no more — if eggs are to be produced. A significant re- 
 mark made by Mr. Williams, in speaking of an exhi- 
 bition cock in the New York show was, "/ would have 
 paid the ^75 they asked for him, but you know, Fetch, I 
 could not get a chicken from Jiim for two months. He 
 would live on his own fat for a month, if given what 
 water he would drink." Fanciers, to gratify their 
 taste for beautiful color and mammoth proportions, 
 sometimes care little for the egg-basket. Such can 
 keep fowls to be twelve years old, as they keep their 
 trotting team, for pleasure. 
 
 But there is another side to this picture as it in- 
 fluences the fancier. Each fancier is compelled to 
 
GLEANINGS AND COMMENTS. 419 
 
 keep, if he caters for the egg trade for hatching pur- 
 poses, quite a number of females ; while in our own 
 case we could have sold the sixty we used in March for 
 $iO each, we would after July i have sold these same 
 birds at prices ranging from $3.50 to $6, up to the time 
 they had molted in the fall. So far as a young male 
 and six to twelve of these birds, or 'the breeding 
 yard from which to rear stock, is concerned, they are 
 too valuable to kill, and the amateur who is buying 
 stock to start with would do well to buy such in 
 preference to paying $5 to $10 each for the pullets 
 from them, for he has a guarantee of their breeding in 
 the fact that he sees before him their progeny, and that 
 he is buying them at a less price, which will enable 
 him to kill them at two or three years old, Avhen he has 
 done with them. The hen that molts late and is 
 judiciously wintered, and commences to lay the last of 
 February, and the May and June hatched pullets that 
 commence to lay at the same time, are the most valu- 
 able stock birds for the fancier who cares to rear his 
 stock from March to June i. The hen is fresh and 
 vigorous from her rest — the. pullet in the first vigor of 
 her life. 
 
 CLEANLINESS IN FEEDING. 
 
 The plan of feeding upon the ground is all well if 
 the feed plats are swept and sanded daily. This would 
 come somewhat near nature's plan ; but to feed the soft 
 food day after day on the same spot, mingling with the 
 droppings, which are far worse than one supposes, for 
 the chicks are constantly returning to the plat through 
 the day, and for a short time previous to meal-time can 
 
430 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 be seen standing about in waiting for their meal. How 
 many take the pains to sweep and sand before feeding 
 for the sake of feeding on the ground? If breeders 
 would do this we would say it was the best. But until 
 they do this we think clean pans the better, notwith- 
 standing the constant appearance of articles in our jour- 
 nals recommending it as best. We notice roup far more 
 prevalent in flocks fed on the filthy yards than by the 
 use of clean vessels for food and drink, and water kept 
 cool by shade or by constantly changing it through the 
 day. 
 
 We do not like to feed stock through wire or wood 
 palings ; a narrow, long pan, say three feet by four 
 inches for chicks and six inches wide for fowls for their 
 soft food, feeding what they will dispose of at the 
 meal, will enable them to feed from both sides, and 
 there will be but little standing in it, for in that case they 
 get pecked for being in the way. A square dish large 
 enough for twenty birds to eat from will have from one 
 to four birds standing in it to feed, while the long pans 
 do away with this evil. The constant feeding through 
 slats or wire will wear the neck and lacerate the comb, 
 and in the course of a year cause quite a loss in the 
 price received for nice birds (every feather damaged 
 mars in its proportion the beauty and condition of the 
 specimen). 
 
 We think water-fountains made in the shape of a tin 
 pail, six inches in diameter and one foot deep, turned 
 bottom upward in a tin plate eight inches across it and 
 lips one inch high with escape-holes in the pail one-half 
 inch from the rim will keep the water clean and pre- 
 vent the birds from taking many diseases that are 
 
GLEANINGS AND COMMENTS. 421 
 
 only spread in the flock by drinking from the same 
 vessel. For this reason : the fowl is taking in the 
 water all the time its beak is in the water, it holds its 
 head up to swallow, and as you see does not drop any 
 from its mouth into it as is the case standing over a 
 pail or water-pan. Such a fountain is a pail, also, that 
 brings the water. It is open to be washed at will. One has 
 only to clap the tin plate on the top and reverse it, and 
 it is held in its place by atmospheric pressure till drank 
 up, or till replaced by new and free from the taint of 
 the tainted air of the fowl-house. These are best ; why 
 name any other? They are simple ; all can get them. 
 They are inexpensive and repel the frost, for water 
 commences to freeze at the top always. 
 
 We are asked why we do not treat 2ipon the egg — its 
 different stages of incubation. Beyond what we have 
 said, were we to exhaust the subject, we could add no 
 new thing than can be found in Wright's Poultry Book 
 from page 35 to 50. That book has a copyright, which 
 we shall not invade. Were we to give our own lan- 
 guage for the same matter we should be accused of 
 borrowing. This we do not care to have the name of. 
 We therefore refer you to that work. 
 
 THE CRAMMING PROCESS. 
 
 We do not believe in the cramming process beyond 
 close confinement of, say, twelve birds in a pen six 
 feet square, and in the season of the year when vegeta- 
 tion is green to let them out a half hour before sunset 
 to feed on grass, and while eating the grass to cleanse 
 and sweep the pens and sand them with clean sand, 
 that no bad odor may taint the meat, for as sure as 
 
422 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 you make a practice of feeding in foul coops the meat 
 will have a bad odor and an unpleasant taste, and to all 
 who know the reason why, far from being appreciated. 
 This is easily controlled where few fowls are kept, 
 but in large establishments, for summer use, a range of 
 pens six feet square, rear wall two feet high, front five 
 feet, which has an open space three inches at near roof 
 all round, slats and doors in front, the latter opened 
 while feeding three times per day, and left open an 
 hour before feeding, closed the remainder of the time, 
 keeping them in a quiet and subdued light, all thrown 
 open for their exercise and grass feed at night, and the 
 cleansing process spoken of above. To cram a sick 
 fowl is death ; a healthy one will eat all it should, and 
 its meat will be sweet and healthy. The extra weight 
 of clear fat secured by cramming we do not believe 
 will pay for the extra labor and expense for quarters 
 and operators to do it. 
 
 The cramming modes have been before us for years, 
 but they are used but little so far in this country, and 
 abandoned after a short trial. 
 
 Standard requirements : are they detrimental to and 
 antagonistical to physiological science ? I am led to 
 ask this from the remarks of Hon. J. Stanton Gould 
 before the New York Agricultural Society, so clearly 
 condensed by Wright in his work on poultry: 
 
 " In the rule for judging Brahmas, lam told that the 
 beak must be well curved. I would respectfully ask 
 why. If two Brahmas, A and B, A having a well 
 curved beak, and B having a beak approaching near a 
 straight line — is the curved beak any evidence that A 
 will lay on any more flesh or lay more eggs for any 
 
GLEANINGS AND COiMJ.IENTS. 423 
 
 great amount of food, or is in other respects better 
 than B ? They must have a pea comb. Why, I ask in 
 the name of common sense, is it necessary a Brahma 
 should have a pea comb? * * If it is true that the 
 pea comb is no indication of the excellence of a fowl, 
 or of its profitableness or its purity of blood, and if it 
 does not minister to the aesthetic gratification of its 
 owner, is it not simply nonsense to include it among the 
 points of excellence of the breed ? I hope you will can- 
 didly consider these objections, for I feel that there can 
 be no real advantage in poultry breeding until it is re- 
 moved from the realm of caprice and fancy and placed 
 upon the sure foundation of anatomical and physiologi- 
 cal science." 
 
 It is such seemingly candid remarks that often 
 block, in the minds of the unthinking, the means to 
 do good by the application of the Standard in our 
 breeding. The farmer is led to ignore the Standard 
 breeds, for he does not stop to consider why these 
 minor points are as necessary to preserve intact the line 
 that marks the purity of the breeds as surely as the 
 stakes and stones designate the actual dividing lines 
 between his farm and his neighbor's. The Standard is 
 supposed to designate what each section of the fowls of 
 certain breeds is, and to show what type is the most 
 prolific in meat and egg production, as a rule. That 
 there may be an exceptional type bred from the 
 Brahma does not give the owner sui^cient reason to 
 demand recognition in the pure Brahma class. To 
 answer why these deficiencies do not as a rule carry 
 with them greater merit and are in keeping with ana- 
 tomical science, we say, a straight beak in a Brahma is 
 
424 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 invariably the companion of a flat peaked head, and 
 seldom seen on a full round breast and a plump body. 
 The fact that this is the rule makes it decidedly an 
 objectionable feature in the Brahma breed, both as a 
 Standard requirement, as a fancy point, and backed up 
 by anatomical and physiological science. That a stout, 
 well curved beak is always the accompaniment of a 
 broad, nicely arched head, and full, round breast and 
 body, make it, as a rule, an indication of merit. That 
 the upper mandible be striped with black is also sure 
 indication of a beautifully marked neck hackle, a sure 
 indication of beautiful plumage, and as young chickens 
 do not show the beauty of plumage till the third molt- 
 ing, when they plume up into adult life, the dark 
 striped beak becomes a criterion by which to select at 
 an early age, the best for color, enabling the breeder to 
 kill all others long before the adult coat of plumage is 
 grown, and thereby enabling the breeder to cater to his 
 (Esthetic gratification most assuredly. This, to my 
 mind, most emphatically illustrates why a Brahma 
 should not only have a well arched but a dark striped 
 beak. Any other comb indicates impurity of blood, or 
 disastrous in-breeding of the stock one has. Then any 
 with single combs should certainly be disqualified at our 
 fairs, where none but excellence and quality meet to re- 
 ceive a prize. When poultry are entered for prizes as 
 meat then they should be exhibited despoiled of all out- 
 line of breeds, feathers taken off, then the best body, 
 best fattened pair to win. So far as our experience goes, 
 that in nine-tenths of the breed the Standard type is 
 the most prolific type, and any deviation taken alto- 
 gether will be found of less value for all practical 
 
GLEANINGS AND COMMENTS. 425 
 
 worth. Pure breeds must be kept up if we would reap 
 the great egg-production from cross breeds, to wit : It 
 is a fact that the first crosses of thoroughbred fowls 
 will lay larger numbers and in some cases larger eggs. 
 But to breed again these half-bred specimens is to 
 deteriorate greatly and often to fall below in numbers 
 either of the thoroughbreds that went to make up the 
 cross that was found to be so prolific in egg-production 
 and increased flesh-production in a given time. Nota- 
 ble in this case is the cross of White Leghorn males with 
 Light Brahma females. He who takes the position Mr. 
 Gould does, taking his text from the merit and produc- 
 tion of a cross-bred fowl, sees but half the question. 
 
 If we find the greatest merit, greatest beauty, all 
 things considered, in a bird of Standard t}'pe, then any 
 deviation from that type must be looked upon with 
 suspicion. Fowls do not take the dignity of a breed 
 until they have " become "perfectly bred" — that is, 
 until they have come to a type that sire and dam pro- 
 duce ninety per cent of their progeny in their own 
 image — and so far in fowls when this is accomplished 
 they become of the greater merit. Why! let one set 
 the eggs as laid by his flock of twelve hens, and he will 
 set more eggs from his most prolific layers, and the se- 
 lections for breast and body each year have come in a 
 larger per cent from them, and in a series of years of 
 breeding one has a breed of uniform shape, and of the 
 greatest merit as egg-producers. Now the universal 
 characteristics of that breed in comb, beak, head, neck, 
 back, breast and body, tail, wings and legs, becomes 
 minutely described in a Standard for the then recog- 
 nized new breed, and this has been done by a com- 
 
426 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 mittee of all the breeders of them. I ask the question, 
 why is not this the work of anatomical and physiolog- 
 ical science, and why, pray, is it not the very height 
 of esthetic gratification of all its breeders? Any de- 
 parture from it cannot in wisdom be considered as a 
 sign that such specimens are not as good. 
 
 THE VALUE OF BREEDING-PENS. 
 
 The value of a breeding-pen of fowls can be de- 
 termined in but one way, to-wit : First, be sure that 
 the female have as near as possible the same general 
 form, and that they are of the same shade of color, 
 and that the male be of a proper form and structure to 
 strengthen in the progeny the weakest defect of the 
 females, and that the color of the male be as near per- 
 fect Standard color as possible, or, if the females be 
 very dark, that his color be a lighter shade, but not 
 below what could be called strictly first-class. The 
 breeding expectancy of such a pen will, be, to wit : 
 Suppose the male score 93 points, and value of 
 the pullets be found by scoring them all, and the 
 full number of the score, divided by the number 
 of pullets, be 88, then the expectancy of the 
 progeny will be 93+88-^2=90^ on an average, with 
 the chance for many to score more than sire 93, while 
 90^ is the average expectancy, yet the probable 
 result will be many birds to score 91 and 92, for the 
 male is supposed to have a much greater influence in 
 controlling type and color. Again, a pen of pullets 
 scoring 88 to 95 points, being an average of 91^, and a 
 male scoring 88^, while the rule of average gives us 90 
 points of expectancy, we will as a result find that we 
 
 ! 
 
GLEANINGS AND COMMENTS. 437 
 
 shall rarely reach an individual score of 95, that of the 
 highest scoring pullet, for the reason of the greater in- 
 fluence of the male to drag down the average to below 
 the arithmetical figures, and chicks on the score of the 
 high scoring pullets. 
 
 The rule sometimes resorted to in exhibitions of 
 giving the full score of a breeding-pen, counting both 
 cock and hens, is entirely wrong, for 85 point males 
 with 95 point females have an average expectancy of 
 90 points in their progeny, yet the aggregate num- 
 ber of points is greater than the pen that has a 
 93 point male and 92 point females, whose expect- 
 ancy is 92^, and an extra chance from the greater 
 influence of the male. No breeder should submit to a 
 competition in breeding pens on any other plan than 
 the average score of the females added to the full score 
 of the cock or cockerel, for the male goes into the 
 make-up of all the progeny. Still more, the "germ," 
 the "life," in fact, the "embryo chick," is imparted by 
 the male, and is fed by the eggs, until it breaks the shell 
 and comes into independent life. Then the male is the 
 vital and all-governing principle of a pen, and when 
 by any rule or want of one he is forced to be con- 
 sidered as a mere individual of a pen, then injustice to 
 exhibitors of prime males and impartiality to those 
 showing poor ones is apparent. 
 
 OPEN JUDGING 
 
 is the worst of all judging when it is pretended to be 
 done by the dictates of the Standard. We heard the 
 remark, "Let our birds be judged as they run upon 
 
428 POULTRY CULTURE. 
 
 the yard, taking into consideration external appearance 
 only." 
 
 When this is done, in the majority of cases, unless the 
 judges be expert Standard judges, and then not infalli- 
 ble, serious errors will occur. For in the scale give lo 
 points for symmetry — in this case say personal appear- 
 ance, and there are 25 points for color in most breeds. 
 And this color question is very minutely described, yet 
 at ten feet and no handling a very faulty one may give 
 the same general effect as the one far mOre perfect in 
 color. The specimen having numerous small defects 
 has them passed to his or her favor. If so they have a 
 very symmetrical carriage, and that section at once 
 assumes a value three times greater in its effect upon 
 the decision than the scales of points may warrant, 
 while color (25) sinks into all of half its value in many 
 cases. Color must be the grand distinguishing feature 
 in all breeds. Change any breed's color and it no 
 longer has a name or acknowledgment. A bird per- 
 fect in color, then, has the advantage of one being 
 perfect in symmetry and poor in color, A defect in 
 each considered to be worthy of a cut of 25 per cent, — 
 cuts 2JE^ in the one case and 5 points in the other. Just 
 these two sections only need be quoted to show how 
 much easier to err in open judging than where point 
 judging is the rule. 
 
 In a recent exhibition a male was given a prize that 
 had a V shaped piece cut out of the comb, the pen also 
 winning the first prize of which he was a part. A pro- 
 test was made. The comb was not cut in the scoring. 
 In the test of disqualifications nothing appears by 
 which for the so doing, but in nearly or quite all of the 
 
GLEANINGS AND COMMENTS, 429 
 
 society rules it says any plucking or fraudulent trimming 
 shall debar the specimen from competition. Again, in 
 the absence of such a rule, while you could not con- 
 demn absolutely, ought not such a course to sufTer the 
 penalty of a cut equal to that of a twist, which by the 
 act was taken out? We think so. We beliexc in all 
 legitimate helps to nature, and had this comb, while a 
 chick, when the unnatural growth was first apparent, 
 when the . mere lancing and bleeding would have 
 checked it, and nature have done her work in produc- 
 ing a perfect comb, to be legitimate ; but to bring it 
 about by mutilation, the specimen should be either 
 disqualified or cut in the scale of points for cause, and 
 any other decision by the management or judge is an 
 error, whence 
 
 THE RIGHT OF PROTEST. 
 
 We think no first-class judge would object to the 
 right of protest. But let the exhibitor show cause. 
 We think it the duty of a judge, and a right he has, to 
 refuse to act in any exhibition where the right of pro- 
 test is denied. 
 
 When a protest is filed the judge has the right to 
 defend his decision until such protest be offered. It 
 seems to us like self accusation for a judge to take 
 time to show to others, other than the owner of a 
 beaten specimen, that he is right. The judge has the 
 right to protest as well. Disappointed exhibitors 
 many times get " hot," as they say, talk extravagantly, 
 and make things decidedly unpleasant, but so long as 
 the conversation is not directed to him he has nothing 
 to say. When the competitor has the right to protest. 
 
430 POULTRY CULTURE, 
 
 he will either make his protest or cease his accusa^ 
 tions, which if he does not, the judge can make his^ 
 protest and prove on the spot his decision correct, and-, 
 force it into the minutes of the society as record for 
 future proof of his honesty of purpose. 
 
 A Grave Abuse in our American Shows. — We believe 
 no one but the owner, judge and executive committee 
 of an exhibition should be permitted to handle in any 
 way the specimens of an exhibition, unless by special 
 permit of the owner. Those frequenting our exhibi- 
 tions know how prevalent the practice, the moment the 
 awards are made, to be constantly handling, pulling, 
 and even abusing the Avinning specimen. I have seen 
 a first-prize bird taken from a show-pen in no gentle 
 manner no less than five times in twenty minutes after 
 the prize cards were nailed up, and a constant ruffling 
 of the back and stretching out of the wings (until the 
 bird in her despair stood with wings drooping and back 
 and neck plumage ruffled, and she not looking anything 
 like a show bird) in the vain attempt to find some out 
 whereby they could raise an objection to the award, and 
 then call the attention to the '^ sorry'' looking specimen 
 the judge had given the first prize to. There is cer- 
 tainly room for reform here, and stringent rules should 
 be enforced. If the penalty was that any exhib- 
 itor found guilty of roughly handling a competitor's 
 specimen should forfeit all prizes he had won, this evil 
 would be in a very large measure stopped. 
 
 The exhibitors should demand that the specimen 
 should not be handled by outside parties. All abuses 
 are easily reformed if all work in harmony. 
 
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