234 The Illustrated Book oj- Poultry. 



givin<T enough weight to general symmetry or Cochin proportion ; and, 2, and more especially, in 

 takintT no note whatever of the most important Cochin " points" of saddle or cushion. It is true, 

 as we have before remarked, that good development here is generally conjoined with good fluff; 

 but if it be intended that the one point for "fluff" should carry weight for both features, not 

 nearly weight enough is given, or nearly what really is given, consciously or not, to this important 

 point by all good judges. To give exactly equal weight to the four points of head and comb, 

 wings, legs, and fluff, is also perfectly ridiculous, according to any modern judging. Less evident 

 deficiences we need not point out, as our opinion in regard to them will be sufficiently shown by 

 our own table. 



The American scales can best be compared with the foregoing by dividing them by five, when 

 the minor points will be reduced to unity, and can be brought into direct relation to the others. 

 They have the same want of consideration for saddle or cushion, but are superior in the additional 

 weic^ht they give to symmetry, and also to the points of head and comb. To the latter, in fact, 

 they give too vtnch, and they also embody absurdities of their own from which the English scales 

 are free, and which show even more than the latter the most careless haste in compilation. 

 It will be seen that they give five points less to colour in Buffs than they do in Partridge, Black, 

 and White ; and, on the other hand, head and comb receive five points more in Buffs than in 

 Partrid"-e and other colours. As regards colour, if there be any difference, the very reverse would 

 be the truth, according to all sound English judging ; which, lax as it justly is regarding the mere 

 shade of Buff birds shown, is more severe than with any other colour, except perhaps White, 

 regarding good matching and purity of tint. The American scale is also faulty in giving all the 

 points a value of exactly 5 or some of its multiples. No correct scale could be thus mathemati- 

 cally allotted, and the same test to which we have so often referred — simple trial before a few pens 

 well judged — will instantly prove the mistake of such a "hard and fast" line. 



So far all has been comparatively easy. We have now and in the remaining chapters of this 

 work to approach the much more difficult task of framing a set of schedules, which if possible shall 

 represent correct judging, even according to the more advanced and higher standard of merit of 

 the present day. Those we shall give have been arrived at by degrees, and have at last assumed 

 a shape so directly opposite to all which have preceded them, that it may be well to give briefly 

 the reasons why that shape was finally adopted. 



In publishing a few years ago a little work solely on "The Brahma Fowl," and in giving a 

 scale of points for judging that breed, we stated that we had conclusively proved the previously 

 published " Standard" to be not only erroneous, but in its very essence not clastic enough ; and 

 we added the remark, "We feel convinced that to form any [reliable] system at all, it is needful 

 to value marked defects as well as points of merit ; and it is from the want of this that ' The 

 Standard ' has not been found comprehensive enough when tested by actual results." We arrived 

 at this conclusion chiefly from the utter impossibility we had found of reconciling some evidently 

 correct decisions of Messrs. Hewitt and Teebay, in a large Brahma class at Birmingham, in any 

 other way, with any scale it was possible to frame ; and we accordingly, as will be seen from the 

 next chapter, gave a table of positive defects to be valued against a bird, as well as points of merit 

 to be reckoned in its favour. All subsequent experience proved the truth of this principle so far 

 as it went ; and by this means we succeeded in reconciling nine-tenths of the decisions we had been 

 able to collate in most breeds with the scales we had framed, though there still remained a few 

 marked exceptions. Tliese latter we were disposed to think could not be reduced to any s)'stem 

 whatever, and we accordingly had our table of points for judging Cochins actually put in type 

 as on the following page : — 



