202 THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER. 



seems now to have permeated all strains ; but the process 

 should not be carried on indefinitely, and will not be 

 needed unless the exaggerated lobe of the Spanish be again 

 indulged in. 



Comb is one of the chief difficulties in breeding. It 

 should be handsomely arched, with few and broad spikes : 

 more is not now insisted upon. Even more than in Spanish, 

 it is necessary to choose hens for breeding whose combs are 

 thick at base and " start " well before falling over. For 

 breeding, cocks often have to be dubbed, the large comb 

 causing great infertility, which disappears when it is taken 

 off. In frosty weather the combs and wattles should be 

 greased, to avoid frost-bite. Fine lobes for exhibition re- 

 quire care, as in the Spanish fowl, to keep them from cold 

 winds. 



The Minorca is not a bad table-fowl, being pretty plump 

 and with white skin. Its cross with the Langshan has been 

 already referred to as a splendid layer, and is also a good 

 table-fowl. The cross with Houdan is generally of a very 

 nondescript appearance, but almost always a splendid layer. 

 Perhaps the flesh of the pure breed is a little dry, and 

 there is no fowl in which larding the breast makes such a 

 difference in the result. 



A white variety of Minorcas is occasionally seen. Its 

 general qualities are similar, but it is not, so far as we have 

 heard, so good a layer. The legs in this breed are either 

 pale slate, or we have seen white. 



ANDALUSIANS. The first birds known under this name 

 were really imported from Andalusia in 1851, and purchased 

 by Mr. Coles, of Farnham, from whom the stock got distri- 

 buted, again chiefly in Devon and Cornwall. This stock 

 differed considerably from the fowls now shown, having less 

 Minorca and more Gamey style, the comb of the cock being 



