458 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



" When I first took up the breed a year or 

 two ago, I had to go to Holland for stock, being 

 unable to find the names of any breeders of the 

 variety in this country. A prominent Dutch 

 fancier selected the best pair at the Amsterdam 

 Show for me, and afterwards I was fortunate in 

 getting some birds of a strain which had been 

 imported into England from Hanover. Breeding 

 carefully and on scientific lines from these two 

 distinct stocks, I am able to confidently offer 

 the following remarks on the propagation of the 

 breed. 



" First of all, as to the shade of buff If we 

 select a light buff, then there is not sufficient 

 contrast between the lacing and the ground- 

 colour, and much of the beauty is lost. If we 

 encourage a very dark buff, then the white lacing 

 takes on a brown tinge, and again much of the 

 beauty is lost. The latter class of hen also 

 throws cocks with an almost red top-colour. 

 The true shade to be sought after is undoubtedly 

 a rich orange-buff, which takes and maintains 

 the white lacing in undimmed purity. 



" As to the lacing, we must adhere to a 

 sharp, narrow, but very distinct character, par- 

 taking somewhat of the Sebright type. If the 

 white lacing is too broad, then the feathers of 

 the breast and elsewhere, which overlap each 

 other, will show little else than masses of almost 

 unbroken white, especially on breast and cushion. 

 But on the other hand, if we keep to the clear, 

 narrow type, the balance of ground-colour and 

 lacing is maintained in most harmonious pro- 

 portions, and all the beauty of a rich contrast is 

 visible under every condition. 



" It is not necessary to breed the se.xes from 

 different pens ; one mating is sufficient. The 

 male bird should conform to the colour and type 

 previously described, but if he is just a trifle on 

 the deep side as to colour, so much the better. 

 It is imperative that he should have been bred 

 from a sound-coloured, well-laced hen ; a male 

 bird bred from a pale-coloured, washy-looking 

 hen, although of good colour himself, will throw 

 nothing but inferior stock. The hens selected 

 for breeding purposes should be of good, sound, 

 medium colour, all very clearly laced. The 

 crests of the females should be as large and 

 globular-shaped as possible, and that of the cock 

 should not be straggling, and especially not 

 falling over the front of his face. The length 

 and weight of some of the feathers in very large 

 crests inclines them to a drooping condition, but 

 the general tendency is a clear rise up from the 

 front, and a graceful backward sweep. 



" When mating up a breeding pen, it is most 

 desirable to cut the crests completely off the 

 whole of the birds, as well as some of the 



muffling round the eyes. They can then see to 

 feed and forage properly, and the hens are not 

 startled by the sudden attentions of the male 

 bird. The result is very few, if any, unfertile 

 eggs ; but should this precaution be neglected, 

 the opposite may be the case. 



" After the first year both sexes throw a few 

 whole white feathers in crests. This is charac- 

 teristic of the breed, and, I am of opinion, can 

 never be greatly modified ; but indeed it is no 

 drawback to the appearance of the birds. It is 

 merely Nature's intimation that the fowls are 

 over a year old. 



"While the tails of the females are generally 

 sound-coloured, those of the males are some- 

 times not quite so good. The white lacing is 

 inclined to run occasionally into the web of the 

 sickles and lose its sharpnes.s of character, and 

 especially is this so with males of over one year 

 old. Careful mating will, however, go far to 

 control this. 



" The Buff-laces are of true Polish blood, and 

 breed to type and colour with almost unfailing 

 fidelity. I have only known one bird which 

 threw a chicken not a buff-laced, and that was a 

 hen which occasionally threw a golden-spangled 

 sport. I dispensed with both her and her 

 progeny, although it was no sign of impurity, 

 but merely the flickering acknowledgment of 

 the influence of a long-distant Golden Polish 

 ancestor. It is well known that a cross of two 

 entirely unrelated strains of almost any breed of 

 poultry, generally throws chickens of anything 

 but standard quality. But when I crossed such 

 widely different strains as the Dutch and 

 German ones previously mentioned, I got 

 scarcely a single weed as the result. The 

 majority were finer in size, colour, lacing, and 

 vigour than either parent. This undoubtedly 

 goes to prove that so firmly fixed in the Buff- 

 laces is the true old prepotent Polish blood, that 

 the law of reversion is practically inoperative, 

 when stocks of untainted purity and long descent 

 are selected. At the great Paris Show there 

 are always to be found many lovely specimens 

 of the Polish bieads, and conspicuous among 

 these is the large proportion of Buff-laced birds 

 usually shown. At the 1897 show especially 

 the Buff-laces were very numerous. They were 

 the admired of countless observers, and it is 

 doubtful if the cock which took premier honours, 

 the property of the Comte de Lainsecq, could 

 be surpassed. Everything was there : size, 

 carriage, shape, crest, colour, and lacing ; he 

 stood a king among his peers. 



" With regard to utility qualities, the hens 

 are good layers of white-shelled eggs from about 

 the beginning of February to the middle of 



