PLYMOUTH ROCK STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 185 



outh Rock wing and, as a rule, there is no difficulty in breeding 

 it to an approximate state of perfection. 



The markings of the shoulders, wing-fronts and wing-bows 

 partake of the nature of those of the back, breast and rear body. 



The Undercolor. The underbarring of the cockerel-bred 

 female should be very strong, clear and distinct. The light bar, 

 of course, will not be as clear as that of the exhibition colored 

 female, but the dark bar is so much stronger that we obtain 

 very distinct underbarring in the best selected cockerel-bred 

 females. This, of course, is very desirable because of the neces- 

 sity for underbarring in our exhibition males, which it is im- 

 possible to secure without strong underbarring on both sides of 

 the mating. 



The alternate bars of light and dark should color the shaft 

 as well as the fluff of the feather. Very often the dark bars 

 particularly stop at the quill. This is an indication of weak and 

 irregular barring. The males bred from such females will not 

 show the strength and regularity in barring that exhibitors 

 desire. 



The Tail. The larger the feathers, the coarser is the barring. 

 Constant observation teaches us that this feature of barred plum- 

 age is natural. Bars that are comparatively narrow, straight, 

 clean and sharply defined are desired just as much in this as in 

 any section. A slight amount of greenish sheen is not objection- 

 able in either sex, because this section is fully as much inclined 

 to weakness in color as any section of the male plumage. 



CHAPTER III. 



MATINGS TO PRODUCE EXHIBITION FEMALES 



Matings for this purpose are popularly called pullet-matings 

 and consist of pullet-bred males and females, so-called. A pullet- 

 bred male is a son of an exhibition female, or at least, one of 

 exhibition or standard color. (In accepting this definition or 

 rule, the reader must allow two exceptions or modifications : 

 first, that the term "standard color" must have general rather 

 than special application that is, some range of shades must be 

 allowed ; second, males bred from strictly pullet-matings would 

 be classed as pullet-bred. In all cases, males considerably lighter 

 than Standard are produced from matings that are of the pullet- 

 line.) 



