42 WYANDOTTES 



Game blood, as some suppose. I believe that the Golden Wyan- 

 dottes in the east have Game blood in them." 



Mr. McKeen began the task of originating Golden Wyandottes 

 in 1880. His strain comes nearer to the Silver Wyandottes, in 

 standard points, than the strains which have been produced by other 

 parties. At an early day, G. L. Van Buskirk, Odell, ill., experi- 

 mented with the view of producing Golden Wyandottes; also W. E. 

 Shed, Waltham, Mass., Jacob Ryder, Waynsboro, Pa., and Ira C. 

 Keller, Tiffin, Ohio. Each of these fanciers, it is said, used Golden 

 Hamburgs, Partridge Cochins and Silver Wyandottes in the forma- 

 tion of their respective products, but neither was so successful as Mr. 

 McKeen. 



The Golden Wyandotte was admitted to the American Stand- 

 ard, at Indianapolis, Ind., January, 1888. It was a surprise to many 

 fanciers to see so young a variety admitted to honors without any 

 opposition. They were very popular and promised to be a valuable 

 acquisition to our stock. A number of new breeds had been pro- 

 posed for admission, and it would be impolitic to refuse such a 

 promising variety, while so many native and foreign varieties were 

 being admitted. 



GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



As a variety of the Wyandotte family, the Golden is a promis- 

 ing fowl, not alone for its transcendent beauty, but also for its gen- 

 eral usefulness. It has all the merits of the Silvers, and an addi- 

 tional one of rich and unique plumage, as irridescent as that of the 

 Black-Red Game. It was a favorite with many before it became a 

 standard variety, but it was difficult to procure any birds or eggs 

 until their breeders were satisfied that they could offer them in good 

 faith to the public and feel confident of giving general satisfaction. 

 To this reserved policy we are indebted for so few poor birds 

 having been offered for sale; and, if the same safeguards had been 

 thrown around the other recently-admitted varieties, we would have 

 avoided many of the sales and the propagation of inferior and mon- 

 grel birds, and, also, many of the complaints which followed. 



The merits claimed for the Golden variety do not trench on 

 those of the Silver, nor lessen their inestimable qualities. On the 

 contrary, the Golden adds much to the popularity of the whole 

 family, as the White Wyandotte enhances the value of its parti- 

 colored cousins. The Black, too, has its own special merits; each 

 thus fulfilling its own mission and sphere of usefulness, and giving 



