SILVER LACED WYANDOTTES 179 



est in the breed and tried to trace out its early origin. He deserves 

 much credit; and Houdlette has openly stated that "the man who 

 stamped the present markings more firmly than anyone else prior 

 to 1883 was L. Whittaker of Michigan." Whittaker was a modest 

 man, and remarked to us in 1910: "I never claimed to be the 

 originator." Whittaker was, however, the originator of our modern 

 Wyandotte. He bred for "a large, round-bodied bird with Sebright 

 lacing, rose comb, and clean yellow shanks." He bred for rose 

 combs, clean shanks, and modern Wyandotte type when others 

 were breeding pea combs and feathered shanks and had no clear 

 conception of what type should be selected. He was the one man 

 who brought order out of chaos. 



Early popularity. Two things did much to bring the Wyandotte 

 prominently before the public. One was the scrambling for an 

 appropriate name. The other was a Standard written for the breed 

 by I. K. Felch and offered to the poultry fraternity for criticism 

 and adoption. The Wyandotte, therefore, came forward as every- 

 body's breed; all were privileged to suggest names for their favorites 

 and all could participate in criticizing the proposed Standard and 

 shaping the ideals for their breed. 



Moreover, in the words of Felch, "the breed is fortunate in the 

 position it holds, being with the Plymouth Rock the only two breeds 

 that hold the middle ground between the Asiatic and smaller breeds. 

 They grow two weeks quicker than the Plymouth Rocks, and fully 

 forty days quicker than the Brahmas and Cochins, making them 

 highly appreciated by both the farmer and the fancier. As show 

 birds they are handsome." Again, he said of the Wyandotte, in his 

 book, "Poultry Culture," published in 1885: "As a producer of 

 broilers to weigh four pounds to the pair at twelve to thirteen weeks 

 old, it has no equal. It is more than an average producer of eggs 

 of good size." 



The demand for Wyandottes after the breed was admitted to 

 the Standard had been enormous. In 1885 I. K. Felch wrote: "The 

 breed is having a 'boom' no other word expresses the wild interest 

 manifest in it." 



Following the admission of the Wyandotte to the Standard, 

 excitement reigned among the entire poultrybreeding fraternity. 

 Those who had been breeding the fowls under various names fell 

 in line under the caption of "Wyandottes" to participate in the profits 

 and to supply the great demand. All kinds of stock was bred and 

 sold good, bad and indifferent. Anything that had any semblance 

 to a Wyandotte was sold at a good profit. The result of the dis- 

 tribution of inferior specimens brought disaster, the public becoming 

 disappointed with the results from the stock foisted upon it, and 

 many beginners who would have made good future breeders were 

 killed in the embryo. Quite naturally, reaction then set in, and only 



