500 



POULTRY CULTURE 



FIG. 495. White Plymouth Rock hen 



(Photograph from owner, Rockandotte 



Farm, Southboro, Massachusetts) 



breeds nearly the same in size are 

 arbitrary. It is no advantage to a 

 Plymouth Rock to have a body a very 

 little longer than that of a typical 

 Wyandotte, or to weigh a little heavier ; 

 but the heavier fowl furnishes more 

 meat (if the proportion of bone, offal, 

 and edible meat are the same), and 

 (other proportions being approximately 

 the same) the longer-bodied fowl fur- 

 nishes more of the preferred white meat 

 than the other. This last is true as to 

 all poultry ; if a breeder, whatever kind 

 or variety he is working with, wants to 

 get the largest possible proportion of 

 white meat, he must give particular 

 attention to length of body, not be- 

 cause length is more important than 

 the other dimensions, but because the 

 lack of it gives an impression of 

 plumpness and meatiness that is often 

 misleading. 1 If Standard type is not to be considered, the longer the body 

 can be made without unduly lengthening legs and neck, or making the bird 

 unsymmetrical, the better. 

 When Standard require- 

 ments as to shape must be 

 observed, the body should 

 be as long as may be with- 

 out departing from the ap- 

 proved type; that is, in 

 selecting breeding birds, 

 the breeder of table poul- 

 try of a Standard variety 

 should always keep away 

 from the short-backed and 

 short-bodied types of that 

 variety. 



1 In the open market 

 this is an advantage to 

 the short bird ; for a regu- 

 lar trade where the buyer 

 practically relies upon the 

 seller to give him satisfac- 

 tory goods, the long-bodied 

 bird, if properly filled out, FIG. 496. White Plymouth Rock cock. (Photo- 

 is better. graph from Rockandotte Farm) 



