FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VII. 



479 



the picture before us in ita entirety. The difference between the Barred 

 and the Pea-comb Barred is that the latter has a small, firm and even 

 pea-comb, instead of single comb. 



For the farmer or market poultryman they are favorites, being of 

 medium size, well proportioned, with a deep, full breast making a most 

 admirable bird for market purposes. They are hardy, mature early, and 

 make excellent broilers from eight to twelve weeks old. They are good 

 layers the year round, and in winter they lay exceptionally well. Their 

 eggs are brown in color and average eight to a pound. They are good 

 sitters and excellent mothers. 



The Barred Plymouth Rock, besides being a practical fowl, is also 

 one of the most sought after by fanciers. No class is better filled at the 

 average poultry show of the country than this. The graceful figure, up- 

 right carriage, and active nature endear it to all as a fancier's fowl. 

 There is a fascination in breeding it for plumage, the more regular and 



Feathers of Barred Plymouth Rocks. 



even the barring the better (fig. 2). It requires much skill to breed for 

 color, and two matings are generally used. An established rule for mat- 

 ing for cokerels is to use a standard-color male with medium-dark fe- 

 males, and for pullets use light male and dark females. The double mat- 

 ing is resorted to by many, yet the writer has seen rare specimens pro- 

 duced from single matings. 



