GOLDEN WYANDOTTES CHARACTERISTICS. 43 



pleasure and satisfaction to their admirers. This is the carrying 

 out of the law of compensation, which gives to every variety some 

 special merit. 



The Golden Wyandotte has an attractive plumage, in addition 

 to its intrinsic qualities. If one were to judge its future by its 

 growing popularity, it is certain that it will take the lead in the 

 American class, because it is robed in colors which convey to the 

 eye and taste a richer plumage, one more admired for its rarity 

 among domestic fowls, one which captivates the visitor to the exhi- 

 bition room, and the amateur of taste who beholds them on the 

 fanciers' well-kept lawn. With all these outside merits, they are no 

 better layers than the Silver, White or Black; with all the beauty 

 of plumage, they do not excel the other members in flavor, sweetness 

 and tenderness of flesh. Some fanciers claim for them superior 

 merits, and say they possess a stronger and hardier constitution, are 

 surer stock getters, grow faster, and are less liable to the common 

 ills of poultry. They base these claims on the material that was 

 added to the Silver breed, in order to produce the golden plumage. 



We will not discuss these claims, as we have no reason to doubt 

 them, and prefer the testimony of breeders who have made careful 

 comparisons, covering a number of years. There are many ardent 

 admirers of the Golden Wyandottes, besides their breeders, who sug- 

 gest a reduction of weight; that it is a drag-chain, which has kept 

 them back from the beginning; that their beauty would show to 

 better advantage if united with a more tidy and graceful carriage; 

 that the grossness of size and shape is too suggestive of Asiatic; that 

 a reduction of a pound, at least, would increase their fertility, and 

 render their flesh more tender and succulent; that the day of huge 

 carcasses is over, and sensible breeders have come to the conclusion 

 that grossness of size is incompatible with fertility, flavor and deli- 

 cacy of flesh, and with our improved sesthetic tastes. 



With our experience, covering nearly half a century, in the breed- 

 ing and study of domestic fowls ; our travels abroad, pursuing the 

 same study; gleaning information on the most noted breeds of Eu- 

 rope, North Africa, Western and Southern Asia, and the Indian Ar- 

 chipelago, while engaged in the interests of ornithology with our 

 distinguished cousin, well known as an eminent naturalist; we are 

 free to confess, it is our humble opinion, that when breeds or 

 varieties are bred with the' ultimate view of increasing their size 

 beyond the growth of the average-sized birds, as they develop in 

 the broods, with their abnormal growth, there is a corresponding 



