208 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



qualities and especially pure white plumage. No fowl of this 

 variety should be used for breeding that has pinkish white 

 shanks, which is a disqualification. Lemon-colored shanks are 

 permissible, but there must be enough of the yellow shade in 

 the shanks to prevent the possible loss of a prize in consequence 

 of the shanks being called another shade than yellow by the 

 judge, which would disqualify the specimen. 



It is quite a problem to breed the pure white so much ad- 

 mired in the plumage of White Plymouth Rocks, a clean, clear 

 color down to the skin, with the quill of the feathers of the same 

 shade of white ; but it is one that is being accomplished by close 

 selection of breeding stock and sound common-sense methods of 

 rearing. Beyond selection, good care must be accorded both the 

 breeding and the young stock. The breeding stock must be kept 

 in the best of condition or inferior chicks will be produced. 

 Chicks that have not strong constitutions are never winning 

 specimens in strong competition nor do they make good breeders. 



Breeders of White Plymouth Rocks, almost without excep- 

 tion, use the single mating system, even when seeking to pro- 

 duce the very highest class of exhibition specimens. (T. F. McG.) 



FEEDING WHITE BIRDS 



Because foods of an oily nature have a perceptible influence 

 on the color of the plumage, only the minimum amount required 

 for the growth of the young should be given. These include 

 corn, and corn meal, principally among cereals, and beef scraps 

 among animal food products. Cottonseed and linseed meals are 

 foodstuffs that should be restricted or omitted altogether. Wheat, 

 when available, barley and oats, are all proper grain foods for 

 adult birds. The wheat by-products bran, shorts and middlings 

 are the best selections for ground foods. White corn is also 

 considered much less injurious to white plumage than., yellow 

 corn. For growing chicks, oats or barley must be hulled and 

 cracked. -'**" 



