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FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



The eyes large, perfectly free, and open. Altogether the 

 head is comparatively large, it being long, broad, and deep 

 sided. The neck is long and gracefully arched. Hackle 

 abundant and extending well on to the shoulders. In ap- 

 pearance the breast is prominent and well rounded, the body 

 narrowing and slanting toward the tail, which is amply 

 adorned with gaily curved sickle feathers, and is carried 

 nearly upright, but should not lean toward the head (on ac- 

 count of which defect it would be called "squirrel tailed"). 

 The wings are held close to the body. The thighs and legs 

 are long and neat, the latter being of a dark, leaden hue. 

 The plumage is of the richest and glossiest black, with a 

 metallic lustre on the higher parts. He carries himself 

 nearly upright and very proudly, and in this respect he is 

 excelled by no fowl, except the Game; and no breed, except 

 the Malay, stands so high upon the legs as the Spanish 

 fowl. 



The shape, face, and plumage of the hen are also very 

 trim and graceful, and much the same as that of the cock, 

 allowing for the difference of sex ; but the comb, though 

 large, single, and deeply serrated, falls entirely over one 

 side of the face, which is smaller than that of the cock, and 

 should he free from ridges or coarseness, and there should 

 be no apparent division of the face and ear-lobe. During the 

 moulting season the comb of the hen will sometimes assume 

 an upright appearance, and must not be condemned on that 

 account, as a return to previous " condition " will have the 

 effect of resuming the former shape. We would also add 

 that the ear-lobes should be perfectly open, flat, and free 

 from folds or wrinkles. The laying qualities of these non- 

 sitters are excellent, averaging about ten to twelve dozen 

 eggs each per annum when properly managed, though high 

 breeding has perceptibly diminished these qualities in many 

 strains. The egg is proportionately large, with a white, 

 smooth shell, and of delicate flavor, which make it a most 

 desirable market variety. The pullets usually lay at six 

 months old, and will continue through the winter, but the 

 hens rarely begin laying before January, after which, how- 

 ever, they rarely stop more than a day or two. 



As table fowls they do not present so fine an appearance 

 as their forms when covered with plumage would indicate, 

 and are not so juicy and highly flavored as are those of 

 many other breeds. When in good order and full of eggs, 

 the hens, in their general make-up (heavy plumage, etc.), 

 appear when alive much more meaty than when stripped of 

 feathers and offal. The breast really lacks in plumpness. 

 This sparseness or difference in appearance may be proven 

 also by weighing them before and after dressing. 



It is very difficult to distinguish the ultimate qualities in 

 young chickens. The very best points of the least prom- 



ising are often the longest deferred, but eventually exceed- 

 ing the choicest appearing ones at first selected. Young 

 fowls which show at first a plain blush or red may be dis- 

 carded at once or assigned to the stew-pan ; but generally 

 those which present early, a bluish shade of the face, change 

 slowly but gradually to the desired white, as they grow 

 older. The choicest specimens only should be mated. To 

 keep the yard up to a high standard, make the most careful 

 selections, generally rejecting every bird which shows the 

 slightest traces of deterioration. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



SMALL COOPS FOR POULTRY. 



Having frequently heard persons say they would like to 

 keep poultry if they had the room, having the idea that 

 fowls must have a large range to be of profit, I will give 

 the result of my experience with five different coops of fowls 

 for two months, March and April. 



No. 1. One cock and five Dominique Leghorn pullets. 

 Received 160 eggs ; average, 32 to each hen. 



No. 2. One cock and two Black Hamburg pullets. Re- 

 ceived 88 eggs ; average, 44. 



No. 3. One cock and four Golden Spangled Hamburg pul- 

 lets. Received 160 eggs ; average, 40. 



No. 4. One cock and five Silver Spangled Hamburg hens, 

 four years old. Received 165 eggs ; average, 33. 



No. 5. One cock and ten Grade Hamburg pullets. Re- 

 ceived 370 eggs; average, 37. 



Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 have been confined the four months 

 past in coops made of lath, 13 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2 

 feet high. 



No. 5, Grades, have the range of a yard 24 by 40 feet. 



My fowls are in good health, and the eggs hatch well ; 13 

 chicks from 15 eggs. Chas. Selser. 



DOYLESTOWN, Pi. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



"POINTS" AND "MARKS." 



Jos. M. Wade. - 



Dear Sir : Tours, inclosing an inquiry from Mr. G. W. 

 Black, with a request for me to answer, is at hand. The 

 subject is one that has puzzled very many amateurs, and I 

 have found a great number of fanciers, of several years' 

 experience, with a very erroneous idea of its meaning ; 

 therefore I have thought best to answer through the columns 

 of the Fanciers' Journal. 



Mr. Black asks, in effect, "What is the meaning of the 

 numbers affixed to the scale of points? He says, " The points 

 are numbered, but do not explain how many pounds a fowl must 

 weigh, but states so many numbers or points in weight." 



A great deal of confusion exists from the indiscriminate 

 application of the word " points." It is applied to the char- 

 acteristics of the fowl, and also to the numerals representing 

 the value of such particularities. To obviate this, I suggest 

 that the term "points" should be applied exclusively to the 

 parts of the fowl ; as, for instance, head, comb, breast, wings, 

 symmetry, &c, and that the numerical value of these points 

 be designated as "marks." Thus we may say "symmetry, 

 10 marks ; size and weight, 15 marks," and so on. 



The numbers affixed to the points in the scale do not signify 

 any specified amount, weight, or size, but simply the compara- 

 tive value of the point designated. Take the number affixed 

 to size in the Asiatic class, 15. This does not signify any 



