PLYMOUTH ROCK STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 195 



at the present time. It is, then, reasonable to suppose that in 

 their endeavor to get the females lighter, which endeavor nat- 

 urally followed where too dark females were in the majority and 

 even black ones sometimes appeared, lighter and lighter matings 

 were used. In fact, within the Editor's recollection, males nearly 

 white in color were used by breeders in their efforts to produce 

 exhibition pullets of the desired shade. The result was what 

 might have been expected, a few white chicks. 



As an instance of such an occurrence, a certain mating of 

 Barred Plymouth Rocks made by the Editor in 1895 produced 

 five white chicks, four cockerels and one pullet. During the sea- 

 son, following the advice of a prominent breeder, the male 

 had been changed. No white chicks were produced by the first 

 male, a much darker one than the second, which was very 

 coarsely barred and very light colored. The year previous, the 

 writer saw three white sports in the yards of Mr. D. J. Lambet, 

 of Rhode Island, well known as a breeder of Barred Plymouth 

 Rocks exclusively. The same year another prominent breeder 

 won first, fourth and fifth on White Plymouth Rock cockerels 

 which he said were sports from his Barred Plymouth Rock pullet 

 matings. The Editor assisted him in showing these birds, and 

 that they were found in the same flock or pen as the pullet breed- 

 ing Barred Plymouth Rock males, he can attest. Furthermore, 

 these spirts were of the same strain as the five bred by the 

 Editor. That white sports did occur from the lighter or pullet 

 matings was well understood by the breeders of Barred and 

 White varieties of that period. This much can be noted all 

 species or nearly all have produced an albino, some frequently, 

 others very rarely. An albino from Barred Plymouth Rocks is, 

 for that reason alone, not to be considered an improbability, even 

 though a white ancestry is not proved. 



FACTS ABOUT THE ORIGIN 



The Originator. The credit for having originated the White 

 Plymouth Rocks has been accorded to Mr. Oscar F. Frost of 

 Monmouth, Maine. This has been, perhaps, because he was the 

 first to proclaim their appearance. Directly following his ad- 

 mission of their existence, other breeders began to report their 

 presence in their flocks. One breeder in Indianapolis wrote to 

 me prior to 1876, telling of the hatching of white chicks from 

 Barred Plymouth Rocks. I went to see them and induced him, 



