80 THE AMERICAN BREEDS OF POULTRY 



Not exclusively ornamental. The American breeds are not orna- 

 menal to the same extent as the White Crested Black Polish, whose 

 lustrous-black body plumage is crowned by a large, open, white, 

 crysanthemum-like crest. The general make-up of the American 

 breeds is in keeping with their employment with enough design and 

 color in their attire to lift them above the commonplace. 



The important thing is for breeders to so thoroughly understand 

 the inheritance of color-types, to so completely master the subject, 

 that standards will be written which call for details that are con- 

 sisent with the breeding tendencies of varieties. Then we shall see 

 parti-colored fowls rivaling the self-colored varieties in popularity 

 because they are equally dependable breeders of their own likeness. 



At the Sixth National Egg Laying Contest held at Mountain 

 Grove, Mo., the following records for egg production were made by 

 the different groups of hens: 



All hens of all breeds in the contest laid an average of 175.2 eggs 

 each for the year. All parti-colored varieties of the American breeds 

 laid an average of 176.2 eggs per hen. All white varieties of the 

 American breeds averaged 192.1 eggs per bird for the year. 



Records of the First National Egg Laying Contest held at Moun- 

 tain Grove, Mo., show that the parti-colored fowls of the American 

 breeds averaged 136 eggs each and the white varieties of these breeds 

 averaged 121.5 eggs per hen for the year. Compared to the records 

 of the sixth contest, we find that the intervening years has seen both 

 groups of fowls advance, but the advantage has laid with the self- 

 colored varieties. It is particularly important, therefore, for breeders, 

 judges and Standardmakers to always bear in mind that while it is 

 just as natural for a penciled fowl to be penciled or a laced fowl to 

 be laced as it is for a fowl to be white or black, the color require- 

 ments as set forth in the Standard text and aimed for in the breeding 

 yard or show room, must not be in conflict with the nature of pen- 

 ciling or lacing, for the difficulty of obtaining artificial require- 

 ments adds greatly to the complexity of the breeder's matings. Work- 

 ing under a natural standard, the breeder can produce good color 

 coupled with good utility. 



The fancier as a student. The constructive type of breeder devel- 

 oped the breeds with their size, type and breed characters, and he 

 also established the color. We are apt to think of the fancier as 

 given to breeding color alone and devoting his time to fine points 

 but the bird of good substance is also of his production. 



It is true that the fancier will spend hours in the breeding yard 

 sudying a minor detail of color. He may take a hackle feather from 

 a Rhode Island Red and observe an orange red ground color and 

 black stripe extending through it, and ask himself whether he can 

 produce a rich, red ground color by tolerating this black stripe, or 

 whether in reality the stripe is a factor that belongs to another color 

 type and is not an excess of color that can diffuse itself into a darker 



