84 THE AMERICAN BREEDS OF POULTRY 



Male plumage. If we take a saddle feather which grows from 

 the hip of a cock we find that there is a web in the center of it, 

 and the outer portion is composed of barbs not hooked together. 

 The hooklets on the barbs are absent and the barbules are reduced 

 and the bare barbs extend. If this feather is from a Partridge Wyan- 

 dotte, the black stripe is confined to the webbed portion. 



If the feather is from a Barred Rock, we find the barring goes 

 straight across the web and then becomes irregular. This may be 

 due to the way the feather grows. Probably there is a mechanical 

 process which runs to putting a straight bar across the feather, but 

 due to the structure of the feather, there may be a difference in the 

 growth of the individual barbs at different times, based on a differ- 

 ence in nutritional factors, and the feather grows unevenly. This 

 is a matter of concern. Straight barring is one of the prime requisites 



Long Male Saddle Feather, Showing Web in Center. 



of a good Barred Rock. Clear cut barring, that is, the white stopping 

 short and the black beginning sharply, affording a strength of color 

 that comes from contrast, is not more important than straight-across- 

 the-feather barring, for the ringy effect is due to straight barring, 

 and if the sharp bars are to appear in bands around the bird, they 

 must be straight. It is not enough to breed a bird that displays its 

 feather pattern when you handle it; a chicken must show its quality 

 when it is in its environment on the green of the farm. For a view 

 of barring as it may appear to advantage in the poultry yard, see 

 page 29. 



One of the features of masculinity is the character of plumage 

 common to the male sex. The male has the greater wealth of 

 plumage. He carries long, pointed feathers on his neck and back, 

 and they have a firm web only in the middle portion; the outer half 



