80 Crossiiuf. 



firmly cstablishecl, traces of the white face will now and 

 then be found, and by a similar method is capable of de- 

 velopment and fixture ; whilst any colour of plumage or of 

 leg may \)c obtained and established in the same way. 

 Tlie original amount of character required is ver>/ slight ; 

 a single lien-tailed cock will be enough to give that 

 characteristic to a whole breed. Any peculiarity of con- 

 stitutlon, such as constant laying, or frequent incubation, 

 may be developed and perpetuated in a similar manner, all 

 that is necessary being care and time. That such has been 

 the method enq^loyed in the formation of the more distinct 

 races of our poultry, is proved by the fact that a con- 

 tinuance of the same careful selection is needful to per- 

 petuate them in perfection. If the very best examples of 

 a breed are selected as the starting-point, and the produce 

 is bred from indiscriminately for many generations, the 

 distinctive points, whatever they are, rapidly decline, and 

 there is also a more or less gradual but sure return to the 

 ])rimitive wild type, in size and even colour of the plumage. 

 The purest black or white originally, rnpidly becomes first 

 marked with, and ultimately changed into, the original red 

 or brown, whilst the other features simultaneously dis- 

 appear. If, hoAvever, the process of artificial selection be 

 carried too far, and with reference onhj to one j)rominent 

 point, any breed is almost sure to suffer in the other 

 qualities wliich have been neglected, and tliis has been the 

 case witli the very breed already mentioned — the white- 

 faced Spanish. We know from old fanciers that this breed 

 was formerly considered hardy, and even in winter rarely 

 failed to afford a constant suj)ply of its unequalled large 

 white eggs. But of late years attention has been so e.v- 

 dusively directed to the ' white-fiice,' that whilst this 

 feature; has ])een developed and perfected to a degree never 

 before known, the breed has become one of the most 

 delicate of all, and the laying qualities of at least many 

 strains have greatly fallen off. It would be difficult to 

 avoid such evil results if it were not for a valuable com- 

 pensating principle, which admits of crossing. That 

 principle is, that any desired point possessed in perfection 



