THE LANGSHAN OF TO-DAY. 



of life, while the grace and dignity with which 

 they carry themselves is both charming and 

 attractive. All this has not been gained at the 

 expense of their useful qualities, for as layers 

 and table fowls they have never been better, and 

 while they lay in great abundance, their eggs are 

 of a good size and of a most delightful colour, 

 ranging from a delicate salmon pink to a rich 

 chestnut brown, and form a most tempting 

 accompaniment to the breakfast table. With 

 regard to their size I have this testimony from 

 America, where I understand the old type still 

 prevails. A gentleman writing to me says : ' I 

 am more than pleased, and wish to compliment 

 you on the splendid large eggs, the largest fro^n 

 Langslians I ever saw on the average.' This is 

 quite a feather in the cap of the English breeder, 

 and for the modern type, coming as it does from 

 a country where they are generally prepared to 

 'lick creation,' and have in the main hitherto 

 preferred another type of bird. As a general 

 all-round fowl, too, they are excellent. I know 

 of none better, and I have tried many. They 

 are not frequently broody, yet they make the best 

 of mothers ; the chicks (which hatch half white) 

 are easy to rear and are very strong ; in fact 

 there is no reasonable test that the Langshan 

 will not stand, and come out of it with great 

 honour and credit to itself." 



The following additional notes are kindly 

 supplied by Mr. F. Onslow Piercy, of The Elms, 

 Lowthorpe, formerly one of the most successtul 

 exhibitors of the modern type of Langshan, 

 and whose remarks upon its economic qualities 

 are especially worthy of attention. 



" Perhaps a few remarks on the Society type 

 of Langshan from one who has bred and studied 

 the breed for many years, may possibly be of 

 some use to persons who contemplate going in 

 for that type. In the first place I ought to say 

 that originally I produced my Society type of 

 Langshans from the original, by careful selection 

 in picking out the tallest, finest boned, closest 

 feathered, best coloured, and most stylish looking 

 birds, and breeding from them. Most breeders 

 will be aware that many different types may be 

 produced from any breed ; it is only a matter of 

 time and selection in mating the breeding pens, 

 choosing the birds most likely to produce the 

 type you are aiming for. Briefly, the difference 

 between the original type as imported from the 

 Langshan district, and the modern type, is this : 

 the former is shorter and coarser in bone, 

 much looser in feather, carries much more fluff, 

 and is coarser in feather on the shanks and toes ; 

 also the feather about the hocks is very much 

 heavier ; the body is shorter, and the colour too 

 is not so brilliant as the later type of Langshan. 



" The latter is a tall bird, with a nice length 

 of shank but medium length of thigh, sufficiently 

 strong in bone to carry the weight of the bird, 

 neither too coarse or too fine ; good length of 

 body, with a long, deep, and well rounded 

 breast. It is close in feather and of a brilliant 

 green colour, free from purple ; a tall, stately, 

 deep-breasted bird, with a beautifully rounded 

 outline and good upstanding carriage, in pro- 

 portion all round, and not a bird that strikes 

 one as being excessively leggy, neither should 

 it have a cut-away appearance in the breast, 

 as some specimens have. I consider there is 

 nothing handsome in a Langshan if you can 

 almost dra"v a straight line from the head right 

 along the keel without catching the breast. 

 The scales on the shanks, etc., of young Lang- 

 shans, till after the adult moult, should be nearly 

 black, turning paler afterwards. The shanks and 

 outer toes should be nicely, although not too 

 heavily feathered, the shoulders should be broad, 

 the shanks set well apart and the tail carried 

 slightly elevated, and in the case of the cock 

 should have an abundance of green side hangers, 

 and of course the two sickles projecting beyond 

 the rest ; the eyes dark, face and comb brilliant 

 red ; the latter firm, erect, and evenly serrated. 

 The cock should be fairly long in the neck, with 

 a full and well rounded hackle. Nearly all of 

 the best Langshans show red between the toes 

 and the scales down sides of shanks, especially 

 the male birds. 



" In breeding Society type Langshans, I prefer 

 to breed from two-year-old hens, although I 

 have bred some of my best pullets from first 

 season hens. I would choose large but not 

 coarse boned hens (there are many modern 

 Langshan hens weighing over lo lbs. each, and 

 not a bit coarse in bone for their size), as green 

 as possible in colour, with shanks well apart, 

 broad across the shoulder, and with a long deep 

 breast and good length of back, close in feather 

 and of good carriage, well, although not too 

 heavily feathered on the shanks and outer toes, 

 and as dark as possible in the eyes ; with neat, 

 small, firm, erect, and evenly serrated combs if 

 for pullet breeding, but for breeding cockerels it 

 does not signify so much if the breeding hens' 

 combs are large and loose, so long as they are 

 evenly serrated. 



" I may say at once that there is not the 

 slightest necessity to have two pens for breeding 

 cockerels and pullets, as one pen can un- 

 doubtedly breed first-rate birds of both se.xes 

 if correctly mated ; but occasionally one has a 

 good hen with a large loose comb. Such a bird 

 is not suitable for pullet breeding, but it is quite 

 possible that she might breed some grand 



