FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



121 



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(For Fanciers' Journal.) 

 Editor Fanciers' Journal. 



Dear Sir: I read with interest Mr. I. K. Pelch's article 

 on the Light Brahma Standard, in No. 2 of the Journal, 

 but I beg leave to differ with him on one or two points at 

 least. He says : " If the Standard is revised or altered at 

 all, I suggest that in the department I refer to especially, 

 size should read weight, and that five points be taken off 

 and added to legs and feathering thereof, excepting the 

 feathering of the middle toe, to which I most emphatically 

 object." 



Now, Mr. Editor, as a Light Brahma fancier, I most 

 emphatically object to the substitution of the word weight 

 for size, simply for this reason : the exhibitor whose fowls 

 are gorged and fatted so as to attain the greatest weight, 

 must, of necessity, receive the highest award. Eor ex- 

 ample: A and B are two rival breeders, their fowls being 

 nearly equal. A, being desirous of preserving the vigor 

 and stamina of his stock, pursues a judicious course of feed- 

 ing. B, on the other hand, does not care for his fowls, but 

 is bound to have the premium, cost what it will, stuffs and 

 gorges his birds, so as to make them weigh more than A's, 

 to their utter ruin, and bears off the palm. 



With regard to leg-feathering, I say, let the Light 

 Brahmas be heavily feathered on the outside and middle 

 toes ; and I insist they can be so bred without vulture-locks, 

 to which I object as strongly as Mr. Felch does. Profuse 

 leg and toe-feathering, I think, is one of the chief beauties 

 of the Light Brahma; and I see no reason why they should 

 not have it, as well as the Dark Brahmas, Buff Cochins, or 

 any of their Asiatic brethren. If five points extra are 

 given to legs and feathering thereof, give it to the bird with 

 feathers on its" middle toes, be it hen or cock. 



In his description of the body, Mr. Felch says : " Body 

 round, carrying the breast well forward." Now, as far as 

 carrying the breast is concerned, I agree with him; but 

 about the body being round, I do not. For example : on 

 page 69, chapter iii, of The Brahma Fowl, Wright says: 

 " The breast-bone or keel should be deep and well down be- 

 tween the thighs." This would give the bird a broad and 

 deep appearance. I think it should read, " Body wide and 

 deep." This, I think, is the true shape of a Brabma,-which 

 every true fancier of Light Brahmas will insist on main- 

 taining. 



Hoping that Mr. Felch will not be offended at me for 

 thus criticizing his article, I am 



Your obedient servant, 



W. E. Flower. 



Shoemakertown, December 30, 1873. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



Mr. Jos. M. Wade : 



I have to thank you for the two first numbers of your ex- 

 cellent Journal, and take pleasure in contributing my mite 

 towards its support. 



Dr. Morgan's articles are of the right strain, and well 

 calculated to encourage the amateur fancier; and the photo- 

 lithographs of Mr. Chandler will doubtless prove as attrac- 

 tive to the columns of the Journal as have the illustrations 

 of Nast to Harper's Weekly. 



I am pleased to see such a variety of articles from dif- 

 ferent pens. This is as it should be. Fanciers must con- 

 tribute brains, as well as money, in order to make the Jour- 

 nal a success ; and an exchange of experiences and ideas are 

 highly conducive to the healthy action of the former. 



I have been thinking of Allen Carter's article upon 

 Rumpless Fowls, and hope they will not be noticed in the 

 American Standard. A few weeks since I had a pair of 

 rumpless Light Brahmas, and consequently a chance to 

 propagate a new variety, but sensibly concluded to do no 

 such thing ; so I killed the cock, a'nd, upon examination, 

 found the os coccygens entirely wanting, and in its place 

 had grown a fibrous tumor the size of a chestnut, which, I 

 presume, in this case, had something to do with the non- 

 development of the terminal bones of the vertebral column. 

 Now, either some such pathological occurrence has pre- 

 sented in the progenitors of all rumpless fowl, or it has 

 resulted from the same cause as hare-lip, cleft-palate, or 

 bifid spine in human beings, namely, an insufficiency of 

 vital power in procreation, or a lack of vital power in the 

 embryo or mother to develop it into a perfect being. Why, 

 then, should we seek to fix this worthless characteristic 

 upon any variety? for it will be but a sub-variety at best. 

 Certainly not for its beauty, nor utility. My opinion is 

 that we had better cultivate the valuable traits we have in 

 so many of our present breeds, and of which we have variety 

 enough, even for a person of vitiated taste. 

 Tours respectfully, 



E. W. Goodwin, M.D. 

 Moro, Madison Co., III., February 5, 1874. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



Joseph M. Wade, Esq. 



Dear Sir: Can you, through the Journal, give a novice 

 some information? My hens have lately shown signs of 

 distress in a peculiar way — new at least to me. I first 

 noticed a favorite Leghorn Hen on the perch in the morn- 

 ing, staggering along, occasionally kicking back ward,. pre- 

 cisely as if there was an invisible string holding the foot. 

 After taking her off the perch, I found her ready to eat and 

 drink, but could not walk three steps without sitting down ; 

 she, however, laid her usual egg during the day, and now 

 seems all right again. Since, several of my pullets have 

 been affected the same way. None of the cocks have suf- 

 fered. What can it be? H. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



EAR-LOBES OF WHITE LEGHORNS. 



Mr. Editob: 



I have not heard whether any change was made at the 

 Buffalo Convention to revise the "Standard of Excellence" 

 in respect to White Leghorn fowls, and I do not know that 

 any special change was necessary, except that it should be 

 decided, one way or the other, whether a xohite ear-lobe is 

 to be the standard, or a cream or st?-aw-co\or. I breed both 

 kinds, and find invariably that those with the cream- 

 colored lobes are the hardiest. I think it is noticeable in 

 our exhibitions that those with pure white lobes are most 

 liable to disease. 



Mr. I. K. Felch, well known to the poultry fraternity, 

 and who bred White Leghorns for fifteen years, in an article 

 to the Poultry World, Vol. II, No. 10, says: "But when 

 we go back and claim that the pure white ear-lobe is heredi- 

 tary, I do know, and here affirm, that the ear-lobes of the 



