72 AMERICAN J'Ofl.TltY ASSOCIATION 



versy that was kept alive for years, and though the fire of debate 

 smoulders, it rekindles occasionally and burns freely for the time 

 being. 



The Ramsdell Account. The other side of the controversy 

 rested upon the statement made in an article by H. S. Ramsdell 

 of Connecticut, published in the Poultry and Pet Stock Bulletin 

 of March, 1873, in which is found the following: 



"Our modern Plymouth Rock fowl is in no way whatever 

 connected with the Plymouth Rock produced by Dr. Bennett 

 some twenty-five years since, from a cross with the Asiatic fowls. 

 None of these bloods enter into the composition of the present 

 stock. They are a different bird altogether, and were produced 

 on the farm of the late Joseph Spaulding of Putnam, Connecticut, 

 which is situated about one mile from my own. I was intimately 

 acquainted with the Mr. S - while he lived, and I was thus 

 given an opportunity of knowing the facts of which I speak. 



"Some thirty years since, John Giles, Esq. (well known to 

 the poultry world), introduced a fowl into this vicinity called the 

 Black Java; its plumage was black and glossy, its size large 

 (Mr. G - said the pullets had sometimes reached eleven 

 pounds), they were an unusually hardy bird, with a dark, slate- 

 colored smooth leg, and the bottom of the foot yellow. They 

 proved gocd layers and of extra quality for the table ; not coarse 

 like most of the large-sized birds, but fine and juicy. I sold a 

 few of these birds to a Mr. Thayer, of Pomfret, of whom Mr. 

 George Clark of Woodstock, Connecticut, purchased some -he 

 supposed the same. Mr. Clark passing Mr. Spaulding's yard one 

 day, noticed his fine flock of Dominiques and proposed bringing 

 a few of his Javas to cross with them, to increase the size. Mr. 

 S - accepted the offer and when the chickens were grown 

 rejected the black ones, and those with double comb, reserving 

 to breed from only the single-comb birds which retained the 

 Dominique color or near it. They were usually darker of plum- 

 age than the Dominique, the legs sometimes resembled the Java 

 dark with yellow feet but were mostly yellow, or yellow with 

 a slight streak of dark rn the front of the leg, which with the 

 feet are free from feathers. We received some eggs of this cross 

 from Mr. S - as a present, and purchased some fowls of him. 

 Of the first produce, one hen weighed over eight pounds, and 

 another reached nine pounds and three-quarters. We soon had 

 a fine flock of them. The fowls were spread around the neigh- 



