Barred Plymouth Rocks — Standard Requirements. 21 



tion of eggs and the growth of table poultry, for hardiness, for ease 

 of keeping, adaption to all circumstances, whether it be a narrow 

 yard 12 x 20 feet in dimensions or the unlimited range of a western 

 ranche, has few equals and fewer superiors, that is known as the 

 Plymouth Rock. In this breed the sexes are not of the same shade, 

 the cock being of a lighter shade than the hen. The breed has many 

 of the characteristics laid down in the Standard, but it is not the 

 breed described therein as Plymouth Rocks. 



Within the memory of man there was a gigantic bird in Aus- 

 tralia, I believe — known as the Dodo. This bird has become extinct. 

 It died out before I ever saw it. There may have been such a 

 breed of fowls as Standard Plymouth Rocks ; the makers of the 

 Standard may have seen them ; their description may be a correct 

 one ; but if this is so, like the Dodo, they have become extinct. It 

 may be well to retain a description of them to be referred to by the 

 student of natural history ; the past with its wonders will always 

 fascinate many. As such, and for such purposes, I think the detailed 

 description of a lost breed has its value. But do not let us mistake 

 the past for the present, I hope that at its next meeting, the Ameri- 

 can Poultry Association will admit to its Standard this modern breed 

 of Plymouth Rocks. The breed has been tested, it will breed true, 

 it is a valuable addition to domestic poultry and deserves this official 

 recognition too long delayed already. Let not our appeal be in 

 vain. The Plymouth Rock of the present must be admitted to the ■ 

 Standard." 



Although it is our sincere wish to enter a plea of extenuation in 

 behalf of Standard makers, knowing, as we do, that it is one of the 

 most difficult, arduous and thankless- tasks that a breeder is called 

 upon to perform, and if the work assigned to him is performed to 

 the best of his ability and agreeably to his honest and hearty convic- 

 tions that it will redound to the general welfare of the fraternity, he 

 is deserving of thanks and praise, even though his work is faulty in 

 some respects. But when such faults have become chronic and an 

 eyesore to every breeder, when they have time and again been pointed 

 out as conflicting with the best interests of the breed, unscian- 

 tific in principles and obviously at variance with the experience of 

 breeders, we cannot face the broad fact and say the Standard for 

 Plymouth Rocks should not give just cause for criticism and censure 

 in the past. 



Now that a new or revised Standard is being prepared for the 

 Plymouth Rocks, it is hoped it will be free from those glaring and 



