FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



291 



PodL TO DEf^TfAEflj. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 



This celebrated fowl, which is attracting so much atten- 

 tion of late from farmers and fanciers, is not, as is supposed 

 by many, in any way related or connected with those of the 

 same name originated about twenty-five years ago by Dr. 

 J. C. Bennett. 



The modern Plymouth Bock was originated on the farm 

 of the late Joseph Spaulding, Esq., of Putnam, Conn., by a 

 cross between the " Black Java" and " Dominique." Their 

 color is dark steel gray all over, with distinct white bars 

 across each feather ; the cocks should be a little lighter 

 colored. Legs a bright yellow, with a dark shade running 

 down the front, and perfectly free from feathers. Combs 

 single and standing erect, and should be perfectly straight, 

 with even seratures. 

 They are very close 

 feathered, having 

 little superfluous fluff, 

 and are very heavy 

 for fowls that look so 

 small compared with 

 the Asiatics. Cocks 

 weigh at maturity ten 

 to twelve pounds, and 

 hens eight to ten 

 pounds. They are the 

 best for table use of 

 any fowl, except, per- 

 haps, the Dorking, 

 and as they become 

 better known will 

 stand in this country 

 where the latter does 

 in England, at the head for a table fowl. They are per- 

 fectly hardy and mature early, making very good breeders 

 at eight months old ; flesh yellow, and very juicy. 



G. P. Burnham, in one of his " Beminiscences of the Hen 

 Eever " to the Fanciers' Journal, says of this fowl : 



"Among the best stock shown at Boston, were the new 

 style 'Plymouth Kocks.' This name for fowls originated 

 twenty-five years since, with Dr J. C. Bennett, who in his 

 work on poultry, published by Phillips & Sampson a quarter 

 of a century ago, describes this variety briefly thus : ' The 

 Plymouth Eock fowl is produced from a Cochin China cock 

 with a hen crossed between a fawn-colored Dorking, Malay, 

 and Wild Indian.' The cocks were speckled red and dun, 

 the hens dark brown, and some of them Dominique. I 



never saw half a dozen alike vn color, however, among the 

 originals. They were first bred at Plymouth, Mass. 



"The Plymouth Eocks of to-day are an entirely different 

 bird. They are bred, I judge, from crossing the Dominique 

 with the China fowl. In color they are uniformly Domi- 

 nique, but are generally smooth-legged, and those exhibited 

 this season were very fine, stately, showy birds. They are 

 duly classed in the standard, are bred largely in Essex 

 County, Mass., and have many admirers. It is claimed for 

 this variety that the new strain mature earlier, are excellent 

 layers, come to good size, the chicks are hardy, and alto- 

 gether they are an acquisition to our American poultry, this 

 last cross being a judicious one, as the good qualities of both 

 the China and the Dominique fowl are well known. The 

 name adopted by the origi- 

 nators of this late variety 

 is a good one, but Dr. Ben- 

 net started it years ago for 

 a very different kind of 

 fowl. 



"The 'Wild Indian' 

 hen above alluded to (in 

 Dr. Bennett's ' Plymouth 

 Eocks'), was unquestion- 

 ably a Malay fowl. The 

 doctor procured her from ^ 

 a ship at Boston from Cal- 

 cutta, and she was a very 

 remarkable specimen ; a 

 genuine virago in temperament, and of most pugnacious 

 qualities, fighting and vanquishing any other fowl in his 

 yards, male or female, that came in her way. He produced 

 a very superior strain of Games from this hen, crossing her 

 to an Irish or Earl of Derby cock subsequently, to which he 

 gave the name 'Wild Indian Games.' The old hen was 

 finally sold for one hundred dollars to a Mr. Griggs, of 

 South Carolina. 



"|The original ' Plymouth Eocks' run out long ago. The 

 new variety is a better sized and shaped bird, and having 

 only two distinct strains of true blood in their composition, 

 promise fairly to prove a valuable addition to Americanized 

 poultry. Though an acknowledged Yankee manufacture, I 

 notice that they are recognized as a ' breed ' in the new 

 American standard." 



SCIENTIFIC BREEDING OF LIGHT BRAHMAS 

 FOR EXHIBITION. 



Article VI. 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OP THE BREEDING STOCK AFTER 



THE CLOSE OF THE BREEDING SEASON, AND 



DURING THE MOULTING SEASON. 



As soon as practicable, after the first of June, tho cocks 

 should either be given a separate run for each bird, or, as 

 recommended in our last article, each one may be put in a 

 yard with the young cockerels. The hens may all be put 

 together in one yard ; this should be done in the evening, 

 and there will be less quarreling and fighting ; otherwise 

 some valuable birds may be ruined for the show-pen from 

 losing an eye, or by being completely scalped, both of which 

 are liable to happen, as we know to our sorrow, from hastily 

 putting strange birds together in broad daylight. If put 

 together at night they will rarely fight so savagely as to 

 injure one another. All hens that are intended to be shown 



