ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 



43 



Variety makers have found a fruitful field in the Wyan- 

 dotte family. There are now eight different varieties of 

 Wyandottes, as follows : Silver, which was the first, Golden, 

 White, Black, Partridge, 

 Silver Pencilled, Buff 

 and Columbian. 



The Rhode Island 

 Reds. This is one of 

 the most popular breeds 

 in America. More than 

 any other American 

 breed it owes its distinc- 

 tion to its practical 

 qualities. For many 

 years it had been bred 

 as a farm fowl, estab- 

 lishing a reputation for 

 real merit, before it was 

 taken up by' ' Standard ' ' 

 breeders and admitted 

 to the "Standard" as a 



breed. In weight it is the same as the "Wyandotte, but in 

 type it shows more of the Plymouth Rock characteristics 

 than the Wyandotte. It is less suggestive of the Cochin 

 than the Wyandotte. That it is a fowl of great merit is 

 attested by the fact that in the Little Comptor poultry dis- 

 trict of Ehode Island, where the poultry industry has been 

 developed to a larger extent than in any other district of the 

 continent, with the possible exception of Petaluma, Cal., it is 

 almost universally kept on the farms. The Rhode Island Red 

 has been in existence possibly more than a century, but fan- 

 ciers were slow in taking hold of it, and not until a few 

 years ago was it admitted to the "Standard of Perfection." 

 It is now a prominent class at all poultry shows of the 



WHITE WYANDOTTE COCK 

 (Courtesy of W. D. Kelley, Oregon.) 



