22 DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE GEORGIA. 



The comb is red in color, and in form what is known as a rose- 

 <eomb, flat on top and covered above with spikelets, and terminating 

 in a longer spike at the rear.; ear-lobes and wattles red ; legs yellow, 

 and in size a little above medium. As a combination fowl for the 

 farm they have few superior?. 



There is no breed more popular as a combination fowl than the 

 Plymouth Rocks. They are above medium in size, the cocks 

 weighing ten pounds and the hens eight, some even exceeding 

 these figures. The hens are good layers, of medium size, reddish- 

 yellow eggs, which resemble, in size and color, those of the Cochin. 

 They are reasonably good sitters and excellent mothers. The chicks 

 -are hardy, grow rapidly and produce a superior table fowl. 



There is an unfortunate disposition on the part of some breedeas 

 "to increase the size of these birds, to their detriment as a breed. 

 They will prove more profitable and give more general satisfaction 

 if bred to the standard size of ten pounds for cocks and eight for 

 liens. 



The breed has originated in America, and is a triumph of the 

 skill of its originators. Mr. I. K. Felch, in his " Amateurs' Manual," 

 spedks of their origin as follows : " This breed, in its different 

 families, is cross-bred in foundation blood, with top-crosses of the 

 'Dominique to secure the color. To notice some of the modes 

 -which have produced these beautiful birds, we cite : 



'"1. Black Spanish on White Cochin top-crossed with Domi- 



" 2. Black Spanish on Gray Dorking top-crossed with Domi- 

 .mique. 



u 3 f Dominique on Buff Cochin liens, reaching the result, through 

 "the strong breeding-color quality of the Dominique, by years of 

 Breeding. 



"4r. White Birmingham on the Black Java top-crossed with 

 Dominique. 



a 5. White Birmingham on the Black Java, and the progeny 

 "bred together, the progeny coming white and black and Domi- 

 nique. These Dominique-colorod birds, bred with the males pro- 

 duced by mating No. 4, produced the best and surest breeders for 

 color of plumage and legs, and were known by many as the Essex 

 strain, being the same in foundation blood as seen in the eo-called 

 Mark Pitman birds, of 1872-'3." 



