,THE ASIATICS. 



23 



tion of such altered strains sixteen to twenty-five per cent. 

 I have seen this demonstrated under my personal observa- 

 tion during my long years 'With the Brahma. To bring the 

 race back to its old time prolificness and beautiful shape, 

 we have only to breed them according to the early models. 

 They should have a close, smooth surfaced plumage. The 

 neck, back, thighs and shanks should be of medium length 

 and the general appearance should be oblong. The Honor- 

 able Geo. Loring, as he stood looking at them at the Middle- 

 sex South Fair, exclaimed; "They are a vertitable oblong 

 band-box on legs," a quaint expression, but to the men and 

 women of his time it was a forceful one, telling of the equal 

 breast and posterior weight, with their clinging plumage, 

 the hocks showing in profile below the body line, with the 



THE STANDARD MALE AND FEMALE 



A cock in his second year should weigh twelve pounds 

 or more in exhibition condition. A cockerel in his adult 

 coat should weigh ten pounds, a hen nine and a half or more 

 and a pullet eight pounds. The birds should be sufficiently 

 fat to have their plumage show its best sheen when on exhi- 

 bition. During the breeding season the birds should be al- 

 lowed to fall one pound under these weights, which will put 

 thpm in their best working form. Weight is valued at ten 

 points on the score card and is as much a part of the stand- 

 ard's demand of excellence as any other section, and a judge 

 in scoring must cut two points for every pound that a bird 

 lacks. 



The judging of fowls is no longer confined to exhibi- 



Jj^lisJr " *=^>~ Copyright 

 BrM^r ni:i>«u.EPauixmrj«>umwi 

 sat. --' puBVSMtia c?. 



1903 — 



Ideal Ught Brahma Male and Female Shape, Advocated by I, K. l-'elch. 



thigh plumage curling closely and smoothly about the hock 

 joint 



In 1876, there appeared in the American Poultry Exhi- 

 bition in New York City, a Light Brahma cock which was 

 named "Autocrat." It was a bird that was found in Fulton 

 market and no trace was ever discovered of its antecedents. 

 He varied little from the bird from the Chamberlain strain 

 known as the Imperial 300, but afterwards called the Felch 

 strain. These two males, "Autocrat" and "Imperial 300," 

 are the founders of the two strains of Light Brahmas, the 

 Autocrat and the Felch, whose progeny are to be found in 

 every state in the Union. The popularity of the Light 

 Brahma has declined occasionally, when some new variety 

 has been boomed and amateurs have been tempted to try 

 them t but each time the Light Brahma has regained its hold 

 and has even grown more popular. 



tions, although articles upon this subject generally refer to 

 birds in the show room, as they vary less than the speci- 

 mens constituting a whole flock. 



The first article I ever wrote treated of the general de- 

 fects found in flocks as they existed in the days when our 

 first standard was compiled. To-day so much private scor- 

 ing is indulged in that there seems to be a necessity for an 

 exposition of the subject of judging the average merit as 

 seen in the whole flock. Lest the novice and beginner may 

 incline to be satisfied with mediocrity, we illustrate this 

 article with perfect male and female shapes, while stating 

 that divergencies from these ideals are faulty in proportion 

 as they differ. 



THE HEAD. 



The plumage of the head is white. The beak should be 

 stout at the jucture with the skull, and should be nicely 



