:;o 



THE LEGHORXS 



A pure white plumage throughout is tiemanded, and 

 from the way this subject has lately b;en taken up a per- 

 son would almost be led to suppose that heretofore breed- 

 ers had not made a proper effort to produce white birds, 

 but I assure you that many have been doing all they 

 could in this direction. 



During my lirst year as an exhil)il ir, pure v.-hite birds 

 were not uncommon at New York, liut a ric'i yellow 

 =hnnk ai-.d licak were never to be found 'h • ■ ;v:rr- 



( FIRST PRIZE C'KRU. BUFFALO SHOW \907 

 Bt-ed And Ov-nedBy 



O.U.WHE&I.&R 



WHITE LEGHORN COCKEREL, 

 Winner ot first prize at Buffalo. 1907; also winner fi 

 honors at Boston. 1908. An exceptionally fine Leghorn m 

 type and sprightline^s. the erect carriage being char 



white birds. One of the most successful birds I have ever 

 owned — a winner of three firsts at New York — never had 

 even so much as a yellow tint to his shanks. He was pure 

 white — plumage, shanks, beak and all, but he won. Then 

 the reaction set in and a rich yellow leg was demanded 

 and soon appeared, but with a creamy tint t.i the plum- 

 age. 



I have seen birds with yellow shanks and white pliv.r- 

 age, but I have never yet seen a pure white bird with the 

 rich, deep yellow shank and beak — such a colored shank 

 and beak as is wanted and such as we should have < n 



all young stock. Many claim this to be a possible combi- 

 nation: may be it is, but I have never seen it, and I have 

 seen most of our best eastern show birds of recent years, 

 and have been a careful observer of them. By mating 

 pure white birds you will in a very short time entirely 

 lose the color of the shanks and beak, and in order to re- 

 store this color you must use a bird with the deep, rich 

 yellow shanks and beak and a creamy tint in the plumage. 

 By a creamy tint I do not mean a straw-colored bird, a 

 yellr.v bird, or a brassy bird. I believe in sticking to the 

 rich, f'cep yellow shanks and beak, and then get as white 

 birds as you can. 



Personally, I prefer young White Leghorns with the 

 creamy tint and rich yellow shanks and believe them to 

 be the best and the correct color. The creamy tint in 

 plumage is merely condition and not lack of good breed- 

 ing. Take a flock of pullets showing this tint very dis- 

 tinctly and after they have been busy laying eggs for a 

 year or two, without once stopping to recuperate by set- 

 ting, you will find that they are white enough; the creamy 

 tint will have altogether disappeared with loss of vigor; 

 the shanks and beak will also have lost their deep, rich 

 yellow appearance, and will have become a much lighter 

 shade. If these birds were white to start with, they will 

 have become white throughout — shanks, beak and all. Old 

 birds immediately after molt also show this creamy tint in 

 plumage, but soon lose it as the feathers ripen, or, as we 

 call it, harden down. 



It the creamy tint was not condition, it could not dis- 

 appear or change as it does, and I consider it entirely 

 wrong for judges to cut a bird for color as they always 

 do when shown in this condition. If they cut at all it 

 should be for condition and nothing else. An old bird 

 showing this tint (that is, soon after molting) is not in 

 good show condition and should be cut, but a young bird 

 should have this tint when in the very pink of condition, 

 and should not be cut either for color or condition. 



In the winter of 1892 and 1893 I purchased the best 

 eight White Leghorn males and the best fifteen females 

 I could find, at a cost of $345. These birds won every first 

 and second prize at the New York show of that year, and 

 at once gave me something to advertise and the founda- 

 tion stock of my present strain. With this number of 

 birds I was able to make a sufficient number of matings 

 to enable me to continue without once going outside for 

 new blood, and I consider this the only safe and satis- 

 factory way of breeding. There might have been a better 

 way of starting, but if I was to start again it would be in 

 pretty much the same manner, or as near to it as my 

 means would permit. 



(The above article was written by the late Ezra Cor- 

 nell for the first edition of "The Leghorns," and being 

 of such instructive merit it is reprinted in the present 

 edition. .As Mr. Cornell was one of the most careful, in- 

 telligent and conscientious breeders of White Leghorns 

 oi hi.s day, the advice on the correct mating of Single 

 Comb White Leghorns so clearly presented by him 

 should prove not only interesting but valuable to all 

 breeders of this popular variety. — Editor.) 



