BUFF PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 



313 



shanks. Such a double refuge for produce was 

 highly convenient in many ways, for the 

 exhibitor ; but it was not so good for either 

 variety, in the long run, and there is little doubt 

 that some of the difficulty about yellow shanks 

 occurring in Buff Orpingtons, has been due 

 to the allied Plymouth Rock blood, which 

 has both given encouragement to yellow, and 

 sent it back again into the white-legged strain. 

 The only remedy for this, as already intimated, 

 is greater insistence upon true type or form, 

 in both breeds. 



The following notes upon breeding Buff 

 Rocks are also kindly supplied by Mrs. Wilkin- 

 son, whose successes in this variety have been 

 well known : — 



" A Self-colour is not so complex as a bi- or 

 tri-colour, and is therefore simpler to describe, 

 but the production of either black, white, or buff 

 self fowls is not so easy as the uninitiated would 

 imagine. In the past there have been many 

 heated discussions on the correct shade of a 

 Buff Rock, but at present all is serenely peaceful, 

 one shade being generally accepted as the ideal. 

 This shade can best be described by comparing it 

 to the colour of a new golden sovereign, which it 

 exactly resembles. Of course a little latitude is 

 allowed, especially in the stud birds, provided 

 softness and soundness are retained, — all hard 

 bricky colours are most undesirable. 



" Buff fowls should have one colour and one 

 only, from head to tail, and from root to tip of 

 each feather, with not the slightest suspicion of 

 lacing round the edges of the feathers (generally 

 found at bottom of breast and wing bars), nor 

 yet possess any feathers which are ' mealy ' — a 

 sprinkling of tiny white spots like meal, generally 

 clustered round the quills on the wing butts, but 

 occasionally all over the body. These two 

 defects, along with black or white undercolour, 

 are infinitely more to be dreaded than a little 

 black in tail or flights, and should never be 

 allowed in the breeding stock. White should be 

 entirely absent from young stock, but as quite 

 90 per cent of the good youngsters show white 

 after the first moult, we are obliged to allow a 

 little after this period, but even then, only a 

 touch on flights and tail. 



" I have described colour first, but I believe 

 shape ought to have had that position. It has 

 often been truly said that shape makes the 

 breed, colour the variety ; and this most par- 

 ticularly applies to the Plymouth Rock family. 

 The Buff Rock should have the shape described 

 above for the Barred variety, and not that 

 of a moderated Cochin, like many that were 

 exhibited about 1S95 and i8g6. Short round 

 heads, huge cushions, and an abundance of 



fluff, are not Plymouth Rock properties, and 

 should be carefully avoided. 



" When mating this variety, select birds 

 which comply as nearly as possible with the 

 above description. Don't use a bird because of 

 its surface appearance, but be satisfied that it 

 is sound to the skin, and that it comes from a 

 strain which has been carefully bred to type for 

 years back. 



" An article on Buffs, at the present time, 

 would be incomplete without some reference to 

 colour feeding, so I will conclude with a few 

 words on that subject. A few years ago every 

 prominent breeder of Buffs was under suspicion 

 for colour feeding ; why, I cannot say, for it has 

 never, to my knowledge, been proved that it 

 is possible to improve a Buff in colour by 

 feeding. It may be possible to make a light 

 colour darker, but even if so, I feel assured that 

 the lovely soft tones one has become accustomed 

 to see, will never be attained by other means 

 than skilful breeding." 



There is nothing to add to these observations, 

 with those previously made upon breeding Buffs 

 in general, under the headings of Buff Cochins 

 and Orpingtons. It may perhaps be remarked 

 that upon the whole this colour is about as easy 

 to breed in Rocks as in any variety, the rich 

 colour desired in the shanks harmonising and 

 working in well with that sought in the plumage. 

 For this reason it will be found, comparing two 

 average classes, that the colour in the Rocks is 

 as a whole slightly richer and sounder than 

 in Orpingtons. 



All the varieties of Plymouth Rocks have 

 also been bred in America with pea-combs. 

 Some of these are probably sports, from the 

 original Brahma cross which has already been 

 stated to have existed in the Drake strain ; 

 others have been avowedly produced by a fresh 

 cross with the Brahma. The danger of frost- 

 bite in some parts of the States causes a 

 preference for the pea-comb in itself, among 

 some farmers, which does not exist in England ; 

 but in spite of this such varieties do not appear 

 to extend much, and in England have never 

 taken root at all. Partridges have also been 

 shown, but such attempts to multiply varieties 

 that can have really nothing in common with a 

 breed of real character and value, are rather to 

 be deprecated than encouraged. 



Tliere is another Rock, the Rose-comb 

 Barred, which has been consistently cham- 

 pioned for several years by Mr. and Mrs. Wm. 

 Rice, of Rettendon, Essex, who claim that it 

 is a genuine "sport," a reversion maybe to the 

 (rose-combed) Dominique, already referred to ; 

 one of the ancestors of the Rock, and of which 



