PART FIRST. 



Barred Plymouth Rocks. 



ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 



This popular breed is doubtless one of the best, if not the very 

 best of our domestic fowls. They are said to have originated from a 

 cross between a Dominique cock and a Black Java hen. The pro- 

 geny, though combining the well known qualities of both sire and dam, 

 did not resemble either in plumage, contour, size, color of legs, beak 

 or relative points, but the mating produced very dark plumaged 

 chicks of a cloudy or inky color with lighter hued edgings, indistinct 

 and variable in the bars as if the elements were in conflict for ascend- 

 ency, or a combination had been effected to blend the characteristics 

 of both breeds together. 



At the time of making the Plymouth Rocks, the Brahma and 

 Cochin fowls were creating a furore throughout this country and 

 England. The original Plymouth Rocks of Dr. J. C. Bennett, which 

 sprang from a Cochin cock, and a hen of fawn colored Dorking, 

 Great Malay and Wild Indian crosses died a natural death, as they 

 produced an offspring with red or speckled colors, sometimes dark- 

 ish brown and gray, with bluish bars, and frequently some with a 

 fifth toe and feathered legs. 



The present Plymouth Rock is nowise connected, only in name, 

 to the fowl produced by Dr. Bennett. Who originated the modern 

 Plymouth Rock is a matter of dispute. Giles, Drake, Ramsdell and 

 Upham are mentioned, but to whom the honor is due will, perhaps, 

 forever remain unknown. However, it is a fact, that other breeds, 

 at one time or another, have been crossed on the Plymouth Rocks 

 to give them size, type, greater uniformity of plumage, and the 

 coveted yellow beak and legs. Mr. Felch asserts that the Essex 



