220 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



existed continuously from the date of the first edition until it 

 became a requirement of the 1898 Standard. Then, too, the term 

 "golden-buff" was more accurate and descriptive than "rich, 

 clear, deep buff," and that it, as a descriptive term, met popular 

 approval is amply attested by the fact that it has continued to be 

 the descriptive color term in all subsequent Standards. In the 

 light of the now known general acceptability of this color de- 

 scription, it can be wondered that it was not used before in the 

 Standard, since it appears in the description of hackle, back, 

 wings, and saddle feathers of females in the first or 1874 Edition, 

 and is frequently used in descriptions found in the early books, 

 notably Burnham's "New Poultry Book," published in 1871, 

 from which we quote the two following extracts : "The color of 

 the Buff Cochin is more of a golden hue than simply buff. The 

 under shade upon the downy or fluffy portions of their plumage 

 is pale, but to look at when in their best feather, they are of a 

 rich, luminous yellow shade, sometimes aptly called lemon- 

 colored." * * * "In the cock of this variety portions of his 

 plumage are red, or darker, as the wings, neck, hackle^, etc., but 

 the yellow color prevails in both." To show how early this de- 

 sire to produce specimens even in color of all sections developed, 

 we quote still further from the same work. "A very desirable 

 recommendation to the Buff Cochin is that the fowl be strictly 

 uniform in color to answer the requirements of the present aimed 

 for standard." 



Contrast the description of male and fema 1 e, which is almost 

 identical, found in the Standard of 1898 and the subsequent edi- 

 tions, with the descriptions found of the importations from fcr 

 eign countries a little later than the middle of the nineteenth 

 century, and we can recognize the wonderful skill of the Ameri- 

 can breeders, even had this been their sole accomplishment. 



BUFF PLYMOUTH ROCK COLOR 



In years past, a diversity of opinions existed as to what con- 

 stituted a golden buff, and at an earlier period, the same diversity 

 of opinion existed as to what shade of buff was most desirable. 

 Prior to 1898 Buff Plymouth Rocks had varied from cream to 

 very deep shades that were often so deep that red and even 

 brown cropped out on the wing-bows and even on the back. This 

 variation is not at all surprising now that the different sources 



