WHITE WYANDOTTES CHARACTERISTICS. 65 



merit here, and beauty enough to satisfy any lover of the fowl race. 

 This breed is fast becoming a producer of brown eggs of fair size; 

 the demand for brown eggs is doing more to protect them from 

 Leghorn crosses, than all other efforts put together. We bespeak 

 for them a large share of popular favor, and, from the ranks of % 

 all lovers of poultry who are forced to make their selections from 

 the breeds that do the best toward paying a profit, they will make 

 no mistake in their affections for, and the keeping of, a flock of 

 White Wyandottes." 



Mr. J. H. Drevenstedt says: "As to table qualities, we know 

 by the voice of our customers that the Wyandotte is preferred. We 

 except nothing but the Houdan-Brahma cross, which is unexcelled 

 for the table, but not attractive for market. Brahmas are excellent 

 when nearly full grown, but do not dress as plump and nice when 

 young, as the Wyandottes or Plymouth Rocks. As broilers, the 

 latter are certainly excellent, but a recent trial with White Leghorns 

 convinces us that this little breed is of unusual value for early 

 broilers, and we are indebted to P. H. Jacobs for this suggestion. 

 For spring chickens, sold in late summer and fall, we claim the 

 Wyandotte the best of all. They will dress six to seven pounds, 

 and carry more lean meat on breast and back, and have less offal, 

 than any other American breed. The Plymouth Rock is inclined 

 to fatten too readily, and a two-year-old Rock is a lump of fat, and 

 can be compared to the Essex breed of hogs fine and sleek, but a 

 lard deposit. The Wyandotte is, among fowls, what the Berkshire is 

 among swine. It is the Dorking of America. Improve these table 

 qualities, and the already superior laying qualities, by constant and 

 proper selection, and we Wyandotte breeders need look no further 

 for a better fowl. Being a strong admirer of this breed, and 

 thoroughly satisfied with its superiority, we simply put in our protest 

 to Mr. S.'s statements, and trust that neither he nor other breeders 

 will consider their favorites unjustly criticised, as it is far from our 

 intention to disparage the claims of other meritorious breeds." 



Mr. J. Penfold Field, author of "The Wyandotte Fowl," a small 

 English work referred to before, says : ' In my own yards I have 

 many Wyandottes that have never become broody, and it would be 

 an easy matter, if one desired it, to produce a non-sitting strain. 



" They are par excellence the farmer's fowls, and it is really a 

 pity to note how very few the farms are on which they exist; and I 

 am doubtful if it will not be years before farmers take any appreciable 

 notice of them. 



