168 THE AMERICAN BREEDS OF POULTRY 



the next season with such splendor as had never before been known 

 in any new variety. 



Starting at the New York State Fair in September, 1911, and 

 including such shows as Hagerstown, Philadelphia, Grand Central 

 Palace, Madison Square Garden (New York), where only sterling 

 quality could win, Bean exhibited fifteen times under fifteen different 

 and well informed judges, and won eighty-three out of a possible 

 eighty-five first prizes, forty-nine out of a possible fifty-five second 

 prizes, and seventeen club ribbons out of twenty offered. At the 

 Philadelphia show of December, 1911, he won all cups and show 

 specials offered on the variety. The sweepstakes special for the best 

 pullet in the American classes was awarded to his first prize Colum- 

 bian Plymouth Rock pullet, indicating that this strain had been bred 

 to a very high standard in order to enable it to beat all the older 

 established varieties of Rocks, Wyandottes and Rhode Island Reds, 

 all of which competed for this special in the American class. Bean 

 missed only one big eastern show that season, and that was Boston, 

 where the club meet was held and where he was engaged to judge 

 the class. 



Unfortunately for Bean's own financial success and for the future 

 of the variety, this breeder was not a business man in any sense of 

 the term, and after beating all comers and hanging them on the fence, 

 he was unable to follow up his showroom success in a business way, 

 and during the period of Bean's leadership the variety stood still. 



Other prominent breeders. New life was injected when the large 

 breeding establishment of Wilburtha Poultry Farms, Trenton Junction, 

 New Jersey, took up the variety; and later, when they sold their entire 

 flock to Henry L. Wilbur, of Rhode Island, the stock passed into 

 the hands of a breeder who was able to breed the birds in numbers 

 and who exhibited large strings at the Boston and New York shows. 



New England long has been ^known as the home of the Light 

 Brahma, and Light Brahmas, White Rocks, Barred Rocks and 

 Light Brahma-Rock crosses have been favorites with Yankee poultry- 

 keepers for many years. It was to be expected that some of the 

 best Columbian Rocks should be bred in New England. Among 

 the early breeders, Samuel Bradley, of Lime Rock, Connecticut; 

 Howard M. Munroe, of Lexington, Massachusetts, and George H. 

 Dexter, of Everett, Massachusetts, were the leaders. Munroe resorted 

 to Light Brahma blood after the variety was established, and as a 

 result had the finest color markings of any breeder of his day. The 

 hackle striping in his males was of a greenish-black color, thus 

 presenting the life and luster so desirable in the plumage. Munroe 

 produced a number of winners at Boston, and the course that he 

 pursued in going back to the Brahma could be repeated with advan- 

 tage today. 



Mating Columbian Plymouth Rocks. The strength of this color 

 type lies in the strong contrasts of black on white. The back, breast 



