SINGLE AND DOUBLE MATING. 



309 



in fact, the barring photographed in Fig. 99 

 would be accepted by an Enghsh breeder of to- 

 day : the comparison between it and the coarser 

 crescentic marking of Fig. 98, drawn from a hen of 

 1872, will show the change in character of the 

 marking in both countries since that date. 



For the following notes upon American Rocks 

 and their breeding, we are indebted to Mr. E. B. 

 Thompson, of Amenia, New York, well known 

 throughout the United States as the breeder of 

 what is famous as the " Ringlet " strain. 



" It seems unfortunate that there should exist 

 such a difference between the English type of 

 Barred Plymouth Rock and the American type. 

 The difference is very strong, and it is to be 

 much wished that in some way the breeders of 

 both countries should get together on this 

 matter. 



" The American standard male is medium to 

 medium dark in colour,* with an even blue 

 shade from head to tail ; the dark bars being a 

 black or blue black, but free from any lustre or 

 metallic black. My customers across the water, 

 in both Germany and England, demand very 

 dark birds in both males and females, the darker 

 the better so long as the birds are clear in colour, 

 and free from brown and smoke. These very 

 dark specimens cannot have the beautiful blue 

 shading that birds medium in colour often show, 

 and which surely adds so much to the beauty of 

 the breed. 



" The American type of female is medium 

 light in colour, well barred, and as blue in 

 shading as they can be produced. My experience 

 has shown me that very dark females, as we 

 consider them, suit the best in Europe ; in fact 

 such females as the American breeders use as 

 their highest type for producing cockerels, being 

 fine in size and shape, well barred, and with 

 yellow legs and beaks. Such hens, while the 

 best for producing cockerels, are too dark for 

 exhibition in America. It seems that the light 

 to medium-light males which are used here to 

 get the best medium-light show pullets, do not 

 take well in England. 



" Some breeders here use one style of 

 mating only, called a standard or ' single mating.' 

 Such a mating consists of medium-light exhibi- 

 tion coloured females, and a medium-coloured 

 male, a shade or two lighter than the standard 

 American show male. But without doubt the 

 best exhibition Barred Rocks of this country 

 are produced from the double-mating plan, or 

 one mating to get cockerels, and another to get 

 pullets. The first is made up of an exhibition 



* This definition has to be read through American spectacles. 

 What is called " medium dark " would be perceptibly lighter 

 than Knglish standard, and '* medium " considerably lighter. 



male, of the highest class, mated with hens too 

 dark in colour, well barred and clean, and bred 

 from exhibition males. The pullet mating con- 

 sists of the best exhibition pullets or hens, mated 

 with a medium-light to light-coloured male, 

 whose dam was a prime show bird. These two 

 matings are not related one to the other. They 

 are two distinct lines. 



" Herewith I send some feathers from an 

 American standard exhibition male and female, 

 and also from the American type of female 

 for producing exhibition cockerels. These 

 feathers are of the highest type, and show 

 some exquisite barring and the mild blue colour 

 admired here. 



" All breeders in both countries, I believe, 

 admire the regular parallel barring in a Barred 

 Rock, which is best described by the term 

 ' Ringlets^ for when the feathers are properly 

 placed upon the bird, the bars show upon the 

 surface in rings, which make the bird very 

 beautiful. The mild blue colour, together with 

 these ' Ringlets,' combine to make an attractive 

 bird, and the blue colour is certainly lost in too 

 dark a specimen. I wish that the standard for 

 any breed could be the same the world over, 

 and hope that some day not far off this may 

 be so." 



Photographs of the pullet feathers sent appear 

 in Fig. 99, but being taken upon a white 

 ground, appear rather lighter than they would 

 upon the bird. They, however, show the scale 

 and distinctness of the barring, which it will be 

 seen extends to the base of the feather ; and the 

 last feather, from the cockerel-breeding female, 

 shows the somewhat darker character of the 

 plumage as above described, and would fairly 

 represent the type admired in England. It is 

 obviously plucked from nearer the tail, than the 

 feather next to it from the exhibition bird. 



Perhaps no subject has been so fully dis- 

 cussed in America of late, as the mating of 

 Barred Rocks, and the modifications of practice 

 which have taken place are interesting. The 

 original system pursued for many 

 Various Matings years was rather haphazard : selec- 

 Ba^^'ed Rocks. t'O" .was simply made of a good- 

 looking cockerel, which was mated 

 to good-looking females, with little regard to 

 pedigree. The produce of such breeding was 

 naturally of a very mixed character, and about 

 1885 it began to be abandoned for mating 

 " standard " birds on both sides, with greater 

 attention to ■' line-breeding." This worked 

 great improvement, especially in the average 

 produce, while it gave a percentage of exhibition 

 stock of both sexes sufficient to show that such 

 breeding was practicable, as is also shown by 



