428 The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



the same time adapted for wear ; the flesh very good ; the growth quick ; and the eggs both large 

 and numerous. 



The published American "Standard" merely describes the plumage of the cock, and says no 

 more than that the breast should be black splashed with brown, and the wings reddish-brown. 

 This is both incomplete and grossly inaccurate. We have, however, been so fortunate as to receive, 

 by Mr. Halsted's kindness, a copy of a carefully-revised Standard, which he has prepared for the 

 corrected editions shortly to be issued ; and wliich, though copyright, we have his permission to 

 publish in these pages. We shall ourselves, from the birds sent us, describe one or two points a 

 little differently ; especially as, from our actual experience with the chickens, we are disposed to 

 doubt the wisdom of insisting upon the black stripes in hackle and saddle of the cock. Our 

 own impression is, and it is confirmed by the long experience of Game breeders, that heavily- 

 striped birds will have a tendency to breed cJdckens too dark, as we found to be the case ; and 

 that as breeding the variety settles down more, it will be found best to allow the hackles to be 

 simply various shades of red or orange-red, with more or less of black in the bottom hackles 

 only. It is somewhat singular that we are in this corroborated by a description sent us by 

 Mr. W. E. Bonney. In brief, we believe the true colour for fi.xed breeding will be that of the dark 

 or "No. 2" Black-red cock, described by Mr. Douglas at page 283 as the proper mate for "rich" 

 partridge hens, which precisely describes the colour of the Brown Leghorn hen. By this mating 

 alone, we believe, will the proper balance of colour be preserved, so as to breed both sexes alike 

 good and with the minimum of variation. 



Of the birds sent to us, the hens had pure white ear-lobes, but those of the cock (an old bird) 

 were stained round the edges, and more bluish than white in the centre. With every successive 

 season this point may be expected to improve in imported birds ; and the white ear-lobe should 

 certainly be sought by all who want the fowl for anything but farm-stock. For this latter purpose 

 it is excellently adapted where eggs are an object; indeed, we cannot but repeat our opinion that 

 as a productive fowl the Brown Leghorn cannot possible be excelled under any circumstances. 



The greatest practical difficulty in keeping any non-sitting breed of poultry, like Leghorns, is 

 that of obtaining a sufficient number of hens from other sources to hatch and rear the broods, 

 which in a large stock is sometimes a serious obstacle. From the introduction of two such valuable 

 races of non-sitting poultry as Houdans and Leghorns during late years, the need of a really 

 practical incubator is more felt than ever ; but even in the absence of this,* much can be done 

 to remedy the inconvenience by bringing up the chickens artificially, or without the hen, leaving 

 her to hatch a second brood, and then dismissing her. We have already (page 74) given Mr. Halsted's 

 views in favour of this practice, coupled with somewhat oi a doubt as to this mode of rearing being, 

 however, quite equal to the care of a hen, much less superior to it. We had, however, never applied 

 the system ourselves to the wliole chickens of a season, which we have since learnt is essential to 



* Since our rotes on Incubators in Chapter V. were written, Messrs. Graves & Cq.'s Incubator has been largely sold, and 

 we hear from numerous American correspondents has achieved a great amount of real sticcess in work. At the great Boston Show 

 in the spring of 1S73, it hatched throughout most successfully, and one old and valued correspondent, hitherto an entire sceptic, 

 wrote to us saying, "Jacob Graves' machine has convinced me ; he has unquestionably made the incubator a success." Mr. Wren 

 has also brought his apparatus nearly to perfection, and though we are not at liberty, and are not even able, to give particulars 

 as to the means by which particular difficulties have been overcome, we may state that the great secret of this gentleman's success, 

 as we have already hinted would probably be the case, has been so siiWple a thing as the mere provision of a constant circulation 

 oi fresh air. This has been overlooked, more or less, in all previous machines; for a mere "ventilating pipe" by no means 

 answers the necessary ends. In nature, every movement of the hen gives air, which also percolates freely through her fe.ithcrs ; 

 and attention to this one simple point has given more success than all the complicated contrivances hitherto so uselessly brought 

 to bear upon this problem. 



