THE LEGHORNS 



beginning with breeding for small combs so as not to 

 handicap the small frame of the Leghorn, at the same 

 time lengthening the back and dropping the carriage of 

 the tail. The early Leghorns were almost squirrel-tailed, 

 and short in back, the combs being very large, thumb- 

 marked and unevenly serrated, with long coarse wattles. 

 Both combs and wattles were a decided handicap, espe- 

 cially on cold days and nights of the winter, freezing 

 completely ofif in a temperature not lower than fifteen 

 above zero. The neat small comb and wattles of the 

 modern Leghorn do not freeze readily; neither do they 

 make such heavy drain on the vitality of the bird. The 

 deepening and lengthening of the body increased the 

 -trength of the White Leghorn, making a more vigorous 

 liird and a greater layer. Scientific mating, careful line 

 breeding and feeding foods that are rich in protein, en- 

 aljled me to accomplish the above result, but soon found 

 that we were approaching the Minorca type, in fact, 

 nearly adopting it, so started to breed from birds which 

 I>ossessed longer, lower and well spread tails and con- 

 cave backs. We found this improved the appearance 

 wonderfully, bringing out the beautiful curved lines that 

 give the unsurpassed grace and style of the Leghorn. 

 .\nother improvement made was in lengthening the legs 

 of White Leghorns, which gives them more power of en- 

 durance, as they are one of the greatest foragers amoiiL: 

 domestic fowl. 



Improving the Color 

 The first White Leghorns bred in this country were 

 not of the pure spotless white plumage found in the 

 i ■ Ljhi.riis of today. It was impossible to find a male bir.l 



■FIRST PlilZE HENriEWYoRK,DEC.Z7!9°9-JAN-l,!9|O.I 

 iBRtDAND ow.neD BY D.W.Yc'JNQ,MOjMRoE:,HY.I 



llie White Leghorn hen Illustrated above is the dam of 

 the first prize White Leghorn cockerel at New York, 1909-10. 

 1 eteried to by Mr. Young in his article. 



whiter than straw color or not ticked with brown or 

 black feathers in those early days and for years after- 

 ward it was a rare instance when a male was found free 

 from creaminess or brassiness. I started twenty-two 

 years ago to produce pure white plumage by breeding 

 from the greatest layers which were always the whitest 

 birds and feeding only food that was free from any color 

 pigment, tising white instead of yellow corn, as an illus- 

 tration. 



The eye of the Leghorn j'ears ago was pale, being yel- 

 low or daw in color. This by careful selection has been 

 bred out and replaced by the brilliant red eye, which adds 

 greatly to the beauty of the bird, also giving it a more 

 snappy and vigorous appearance. The yellow and red 

 ear-lobe has disappeared and the beautiful, almond 

 shaped, pure white lobe has taken its place. 



These improvements in shape and color have given us 

 a variety that stands unequalled among our domesticated 

 races of poultry as an exhibition and utility fowl. The 

 White Leghorn breeds perfectly true to type and feather 

 from single matings if line bred. Our first prize hen at 

 Madison Square Garden in 1909 was the dam of our first 

 prize cockerel at the same show. He was also 1st cock 

 Madison Sqtiare Garden 1910. Both are illustrated in this 

 article. We use a pedigree or line breeding chart for all 

 of our matings, so can trace the breeding of every 

 breeder ana show specimens back for many generations. 



Standard Ideals 



The old Standard ideals for both male and female 

 were correct in type, except in the male, which should be 

 longer in back and carry tail at an angle of 40 degrees 

 and combs still smaller in both sexes. 



