The Yorkshire Fancy. 261 



Some slight alterations have taken place in the style and 

 type of these birds since I wrote my former account of them. 

 At a conference held at Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1890, it was 

 agreed that the length of a bird of this variety should not 

 exceed 6fin. in length, to be eligible for competition at any show. 

 This regulation is to prevent too free a use of the Lancashire 

 cross, and to preserve the type from running in that direction. 

 The head of the bird now should be slightly arched at the 

 crown, and colour is more keenly sought after than hereto- 

 fore; but this addition to their appearance is -most frequently 

 obtained by artificial means, i.e., " colour feeding," in the 

 same manner as that applied to the Norwich and Cinnamon 

 varieties, breeds in which colour is a great desideratum. For 

 my part I do not think that a bird should be rejected that 

 measures 7in. in length, and I had hoped that this length 

 would have been allowed. 



The Lancashire cross has been freely used in the manufac- 

 ture of this variety to get the birds into the form most admired, 

 viz., straight, and to take away the slight curvature of the 

 back, resulting from the Belgian alliance; but only those 

 Lancashires are used that are long, straight, and slim, and sparse 

 of feather, a class of birds that Lancashire breeders sell as 

 "weeds" and "stragglers." Careful selection is one of the 

 great sources of success in building up a good reliable strain 

 of Yorkshires, or in fact of any other variety; but to this 

 breed it is particularly applicable. 



There will no doubt be bickerings and wordy disputes about 

 measurements, as it is doubtful whether any two judges can 

 measure a bird to a-quarter-of-an-inch. The measurement is 

 usually obtained by placing a bird on its side, on a 2ft. rule, 

 such as is used by carpenters, and I contend that a judge 

 may, if he be so disposed, stretch a bird fully a-quarter-of- 

 an-inch ; but to be perfectly fair no bird should be subject to 

 this operation. The usual method is to take the length from 

 the point of the bill to the end of the tail, and to ensure 

 exactness a padded frame should be used, with an upright 

 piece of wood at one end and a sliding piece at the other. 



