52 POULTRY BREEDING 
in the markets, having given way to more practical 
breeds. 
French Class.—This class is composed of three separate 
breeds, each of one variety coming from France, viz: 
Houdans, Crevecoeurs and La Fleche. These breeds can 
not be said to be common, although a considerable num- 
ber of Houdans are bred in this country and they seem 
to be gaining in favor to some extent. They are all very 
good layers, their eggs being large and white. They are 
also very highly esteemed as table fowls, their flesh being 
considered as first-class. Authorities disagree on the or- 
igin of this breed. It has been claimed that it has both 
Polish and Dorking blood in it, because it has the crest 
of the Polish fowl.and the five toes of the Dorking. On 
the other hand, a French writer, M. Perre De La Roo, 
in his book, “Monographie des Races de Poules,” Paris, 
1902, points out that neither the crest nor the plumage 
is similar to those of the Polish fowl. Other authorities 
claim that the Dorking gets its five toes from French 
fowls taken over from Normandy by William the Con- 
queror, while still others try to connect it with fowls 
bred in Britain since the days of Julius Caesar. Certain 
it is that it has been bred practically in its present form 
in the Department of Seine-et-Oise, France, for at least 
a century, an infusion of Crevecoeur blood having been 
made in that time, without materially changing it. Brown 
is inclined to think that the breed was made from crosses 
of Black Polish, Crevecoeuer and a common five-toed 
breed. 
Houdans were introduced into this country in 1859, 
according to Thomas F. Rigg of Iowa in his “Origin and 
History of Breeds of Fowls.” Later importations were 
made in the 60's and many since that time. The Houdan 
