WHITE WYANDOTTE 



White Wyandotte, female (Kansas 2031). Though of a standard-bred family, she carried 

 factors for "blue" and barring. Dam of birds shown in Figs. 13, 14, 15 and 16. (Fig. 12.) 



official registry does not preclude im- 

 purity for certain characters is wit- 

 nessed by the occasional appearance of 

 red Berkshire hogs, red Holstein cattle 

 and horned individuals in registered 

 polled breeds of cattle. And it is quite 

 possible that unsuspected factors usually 

 present and considered desirable in 

 some breeds may frequently be present 

 in the germ plasm of others, but with 

 no opportimity for expression. 



That the appearance of an individual 

 or even an entire breed may be far from 

 telling what the real hereditary make- 

 up is, is a matter of common observa- 



tion by investigators. It was shown 

 specifically in the case of poultry some 

 years ago, by Hadley,* for the White 

 Leghorn. 



He found that many White Leghorns 

 carried factors for both black pigment 

 and barring, the expression of which 

 was masked by the action of a dominant 

 factor for white. It is obviously im- 

 possible to state that all White Leg- 

 horns carry these factors, but the con- 

 dition seems to be quite general, as wit- 

 nessed by reports from several widely 

 separated investigators. So far as I am 

 aware, no attempt has been made to 



^Bulletins 155 and 161, Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 74 



