22 Barred and White Plymouth Rocks. 



inconsistent faults which have marljed past revisions ; that it will 

 encourage and stimulate every breeder,to renewed efforts in perfec- 

 ting this grand, noble and most useful of our American breeds ; that 

 it will conduce to the best interests of the poultry industry by bring- 

 ing forward the sterling merits of this breed for profit and pleasure; 

 that it will elevate poultry raising and judging by the plain, clear and 

 precise use of words, meaning and spirit of each point, section and 

 clause, that it will for ever settle the wide difference of opinions 

 among breeders on the true color and shade of plumage, and that it 

 will define the degrees of shade between the sexes to enable them to 

 compete and match in the show pen. 



MATING FOR THE SHOW-ROOM. 



The mating of Plymouth Rocks to insure an evenly plumaged 

 flock, with bright yellow legs and beaks, has never yet been attained, 

 because it is comparatively a recent cross-bred fowl, the elements of 

 which are in continual struggle for supremacy. There is no uni- 

 versal rule to go by, for breeders will adopt different methods to 

 attain the same objects. But, of course, there is in all breeds what 

 is considered judicious mating, that is in harmony with the law of 

 evolution, the law of inheritance and the law of variation. The law 

 of evolution, so far as it is understood, is a law controlling develop- 

 ment and keeping types within appointed circles of growth, which 

 revolve forever upon themselves, returning at appointed intervals to 

 the same starting point, and repeating through a succession of phases 

 the same course. The law of inheritance points to that universal ten- 

 dency in all forms of life, by which it transmits and perpetuates its 

 likeness; the law that "like begets like." The law of variation is 

 declared to modify this law of inheritance, individuals in any species 

 having an original and inherent power to vary slightly from the 

 parent form; to transmit such variations by successive transmissions 

 and accumulations; to perfect and fix such variations; and finally, 

 it is asserted that nature or natural selection provokes and pushes 

 this power of variation by that fearful struggle for existence, that 

 widespread and remorseless conflict, under whose steady pressure 

 each living form is forced to develop to the utmost to retain and 

 augment every slight advantage — a conflict that issues in the " sur- 

 vival of the fittest." 



In choosing a sire for the breeding-pen, do not look to excess- 

 ive size, with the idea that large size has a controlling influence on 

 the health and vigor of the offspring. One just larger than the 



