BLUE LANGSHANS. 



union of Black and White, the Black Langshan 

 was naturally selected for the purpose ; and as 

 my own predilection was for the Club type, 

 in preference to that known as the Croad type, 

 it was to that I turned ; but there can be no 

 doubt that it would have been just as easy to 

 breed the Blue Langshan to the Croad type 

 had I so desired. 



" A few words as to colour may not be out 

 of place here. Of the original importations 

 and their progeny, I found that those which 

 were of the rather pale shade, level through- 

 out, without lacing, and only slightly darker 

 in the upper portions of the cocks, very quickly 

 faded in the breeding pen to a dirty smoke- 

 colour, whereas those which showed some in- 

 dication of lacing resisted this fading process 

 considerably longer. The upper portions of the 

 cocks were also much darker. 



" I argued from this that Nature's preference 

 was for laced Blues, and determined to breed 

 accordingly. We have not yet been able to 

 arrive at anything like the clearly defined 

 lacing of the Andalusian, but I think this is 

 largely accounted for by the fact that the 

 Blue Langshan has so far been in a com- 

 paratively few hands, and consequently each 

 breeder's field of choice for his matings has 

 been too restricted, which, again, has meant 

 that recourse has had to be made to the Black 

 for fresh blood more frequently than would 

 have been necessary otherwise. 



" Now that more breeders, especially breeders 

 of experience like Mr. Harry Wallis, have taken 

 them up, and the type has become fixed, I 

 am hopeful that we shall see rapid strides made 

 in the near future in this point of colour 

 and lacing ; but more are needed, and I can 

 confidently recommend this variety to anyone 

 wanting an interesting and fascinating hobby, 

 the results from which will handsomely repay 

 the time and thought and trouble expended 

 upon it. 



" I am convinced that no real progress is 

 possible on the lines of solid colour without 

 lacing, and I am sure that those breeders who 

 are attempting to breed other Blue varieties 

 on these lines will eventually come to agree 

 with me. It is hardly possible to write any- 

 thing on the subject of Blues without referring 

 to Mendelism, as the breeding of Blues is a 

 classical instance quoted in all works on the 

 subject ; and while I cannot go so far as to 

 state that the percentage of Blues is 50 against 

 25 Black and 25 splashed W'hites in every 100, 

 I can warn breeders that they must be pre- 

 pared for results, if taken over a number of 

 years, approximating to those figures. 

 37 



" In this connection it may be interesting to 

 readers to know that whenever I have mated 

 a Black Langshan male of totally unrelated 

 blood to the splashed White females thrown 

 by the Blues, I have almost invariably had 

 results entirely Blue, though the lacing was 

 not always so perfect or so clearly defined as 

 from Blue parents on both sides. On one 

 occasion I used a male bred from a Black 

 mother by a Blue father ; he was very dark, 

 but still a Blue. I mated him to splashed 

 Whites, but the results were nothing like so 



Blue Langshan Cockerel. 



good as when, later in the year, I put an 

 unrelated Black male with the same females. 



" As for the vexed question of double 

 mating, i.e., of Cockerel-breeding and Pullet- 

 breeding pens, I have not found this necessary, 

 and have never attempted it. • Whether, as 

 further progress is made in the direction of 

 clearer ground colour and deeper lacing, such 

 as in the Andalusian, this will become neces- 

 sary, time will prove, but I sincerely hope not, 

 as it is an undoubted bar to popularity. 



" In utility qualities, whether as egg-layers 

 or as table fowls, there is nothing to choose 

 between Blues and Blacks ; both in size and 

 tint their eggs are alike, and the flavour and 



