BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS 115 



satisfaction in having produced her. She was the most remarkable Barred Rock 

 hen we have ever seen ; there is no excess from which we would deduct ; there is 

 nothing we would add to make her more complete; she stands in a class by herself, 

 "Ten Years Ahead of the Times." 



"Worth his weight in radium," we read from the coop of an unfinished cockerel, 

 but one of the most promising in the class. He was a dark and very clean-cut 

 bird and was shown by the genial M. S. Gardner. Indeed, the birds Mr. Schwab 

 preferred were dark in color, bordering on black and white, and this in both 

 sexes. The day of light pullet breeding males is gone in the east, and western 

 breeders that continue to head their pullet yards with exceedingly light males will 

 find their pullets further and further from the desired color as the eastern style 

 goes west, and go it will, for it is the east that sets the styles in fancy poultry. 

 That which wins at New York is studied by judges and inquired into by the pro- 

 gressive breeders of the west and north and south. 



Another sign, "First Attempt," was placed on the cage of the fourth prize 

 pullet. We looked in our catalog to see to whom this bird belonged and it made 

 us glad to read, George W. Hillson, Amenia, New York. Air. Hillson having 

 resigned his position of poultryman for E. B. Thompson, has gone into the breed- 

 ing of Barred Plymouth Rodks for himself. He came down to the Garden, the 

 first year, and had this pullet placed. That is enough. To win is the desire of 

 every breeder, but to win at New York is the height of the showman's ambition it 

 is an ultra smart distinction. 



There was one other sign in the Barred Rock alley: "Cackling Giglay's. Worth 

 her weight in smiles, sunbeams and egg orders." It was tied on the 1st prize 

 pullet coop, and the bird was shown by C. H. Latham. 



There were 37 exhibition yards of Barred Rocks. 1st on pen went to Grove 

 Hill. 



Improvement in Barred Rocks. The Garden show of 1907 was 

 epoch-making in Barred Rock history. Writing of the fine quality 

 there shown and of the rapid and encouraging changes that had been 

 made to date, M. S. Gardner said: 



No breeder who visited the recent Madison Square Garden show and saw the 

 wonderful exhibit of Barred Plymouth Rocks there will contradict me, I am sure, 

 when I say that no other breed or variety has shown greater improvement in the 

 last ten years. The average quality at New York was marvelous. The eight winning 

 birls could have been taken from each class and removed from the Garden, and 

 there would have remained a collection equal to any ever seen before in any show 

 room in the east. A prominent New England breeder had in his possession some 

 feathers taken from a first prize male at Madison Square I think in 1896. A com- 

 parison of these feathers with those of the winning birds at New York this winter 

 is interesting. The feathers from the 1896 winner show brdken bars, irregular 

 spacing, poor undercolor and smutty surface. Yet the bird from which they were 

 taken was considered a wonderful good one ten years ago. A bird of that quality 

 could not now win a 20th place at New York. Ten to fifteen years ago the females 

 of this variety, even in the best shows, were very coarse in barring, and showed but 

 little of that ringy effect, now so noticeable in the winning birds. In the male 

 birds, the hackles were very irregular and poor; now the best males show hackles 

 that are beautiful in the extreme so ringy and clear cut is the surface and so regu- 

 lar and straight the under-barring. To one who knows how hard it is to produce 

 birds of a parti-colored variety, this great improvement tells of the amount of hard, 

 painstaking work done by the breeders who have contributed most to the develop- 

 ment of the Barred Rock. 



However, there were still improvements to be made, and E. B. 

 Thompson, with his face set to the future never satisfied, always 

 aspiring pointed out this fact in the following words: 



However, these present-day winners fascinate and are admired no more than 



