THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



upon anyone's prerogative. The birds shown 

 by Mr. Upham created quite a sensation, not 

 only from their appropriate size for table use 

 and laying qualities, but for being the first 

 real American creation they aroused and grati- 

 fied national pride, and every fancier tried 

 to buy birds or eggs. Some wiseacres, guess- 

 ing how the new breed had been created, set 

 about developing strains of their own. Some 

 used Brahmas, others Cochins, to gain size. 

 Even now, one occasionally hears of the 

 Ramsdell, Gilman, Essex, and May strains 

 of Barred Plymouth Rocks. The amateur 

 who tried to breed Plymouth Rocks twenty 

 years ago had to fight the legacies bestowed 

 by the original mixed ancestry. Sometimes it 

 would be the feathered legs of the Cochin; 

 sometimes the black coloring or red feathers 

 and poor breeding of the old-time hawk bird. 

 Years of careful breeding have almost en- 

 tirely eliminated such troubles in up-to-date 

 stock. But allow a flock of originally good 

 birds to mate indiscriminately for three or 



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