182 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



want to breed males that are rich colored or deep blue" in general 

 appearance, it is not desirable that the birds of both sexes should 

 have absolutely clear, light bars in their plumage, but it is advis- 

 able that it should be present in one side of the mating. 



Selecting the Male. Standard colored males are placed at 

 the head of all matings intended to produce exhibition males. 

 The nearer they are to perfection in form, color and markings, 

 the more valuable they are as sires of exhibition males. This 

 statement holds with the single exception of shade of color. In 

 that particular, a male that has a slight tendency towards an 

 overly strong shade, is, in other words, inclined to be too dark 

 or has an overly strong, dark bar, should be given the preference 

 for females whose dark bar shows little or no sheen. A male 

 of the same description should be selected for females that have 

 the clean, light bar. As a mate for females with plumage of this 

 description, males that have rich blue appearance, together with 

 the strong, dark bar, should be selected. 



Close attention to the type of barring is necessary. Those 

 males that have the straight-across-the-feather bar with little 

 tendency to show the V-shaped bar comply with standard re- 

 quirements and are very valuable assets in any breeder's yards. 

 The breeding of this type of barring in male plumage is one of 

 the ambitions of the Barred Rock breeders that is not fully real- 

 ized as yet. 



The Undercolor. The underbarring is a feature that must 

 be made a matter of moment. The strength of this feature is an 

 indication of the breeding strength of the male. Underbarring 

 should be strong in all sections. Do not fail to examine critically 

 these sections for this characteristic : Neck, back its entire 

 length, wing bows, and insist that the bars extend to the skin. 

 This should be true also of the breast and as nearly true of the 

 long, rear body feathers as possible. The straighter and clearer 

 these underbars of a male are, the better he is, both as an exhibi- 

 tion specimen and as a breeder. 



The Surface Color. Evenness of surface color is one of the 

 first essentials of good exhibition male and it is just as essen- 

 tial in a breeding male. 



For females that are otherwise very good but are too light 

 in the neck, males that are very strong in barring of this sec- 

 tion and even in color of all sections are very desirable. For 

 females that are extremely dark, that is, dark to a point where 



