THE BANTAM FOWL. 



31 



point. The fluff or under-color should also be black to the 

 akin, not grey, which is often found in blacks, although 

 birds with sound black fluff are few and far between, still, 

 if bred pure and not allowed to cross with 'the Whites, they 

 can be bred sound in fluff; it,is the crossing with Whites to 

 strengthen the strain and obtain the length of feather that 

 is the cause of grey in under-color and hackle, which we fre- 

 quently find in Blacks. To breed Blacks, although it is quite 

 possible to breed exhibition specimens of both sexes from 

 one pen, I should advise, where practicable, to mate up a 

 cockerel-breeding pen separate from the pullet pen. In the 

 cock pen I should select the shortest backed bird I could 

 find, one possessing plenty of feather on shanks and around 

 the hocks and carried out to the end of the center toe. I 

 should like him low on the leg, excelling in lustre and free 

 from white or grey in under-color and foot feather. The 

 male bird in the pullet pen should be de- 

 scended from a pullet breeding strain. A 

 good guide in the selection of cockerel for 

 pallet breeding. Is to notice If he possesses, 

 more or less, a tinge of red in the saddle 

 and neck. If this is found, you can mate him 

 up with confidence that he will produce the 

 glossy sheen in the pullets, but the hens 

 in both pens should be free from any foreign 

 color and as shapely as possible, discarding 

 those grey or white in fluff or white in. lobe. 



White Pekins have found many admir- 

 ers during the past few years, and are mak- 

 ing steady progress. When kept under fav- 

 orable circumstances, 1. e., shaded by covered 

 runs, or kept in small wooiis or orchards 

 from the sun's rays — ^White Pekins are a 

 very pretty variety to keep, but should never 

 be attempted where the only accommodation 

 is a back yard. To be successful with Whites 

 they must have grass and a run with covered 

 top and a portion of the sides and ifront, 

 w'hilst the floor of the house should have 

 fine sea-sand, to the depth of three or four 

 inches, to protect the foot-feather and keep 

 It clean. Whites are easy to breed true to 

 color by keeping them pure and Inbreed- 

 ing, but should your chicks corne weakly 

 through too much inbreeding then the best 

 plan would be to introduce a sound colored 

 Black cock and mate him to the White 

 hens. From these you would get both 

 Blacks and Whites; the former would 

 less grey in under-color, and show perhaps a little white in 

 foot feather, which, as a rule, disappears before the bird is 

 exhibited; the Whites will be found very pure In color, al- 

 though perhaps not quite so rich a yellow in leg bolor, but 

 the produce will be found stronger than the previous year, 

 and more feathers will have been obtained as well. It would 

 not be wise to breed from the Blacks produced in this way, 

 even should they be perfectly sound in color. 



Cuckoo Pekins are a much later addition to the fancy 

 than Blacks or Whites, and do not appear to be making any 

 headway at all. Doubtless this is greatly due to the difficul- 

 ties of producing them true to color. It is very rarely we find 

 a single first-class etxhibition specimen at any of the provin- 

 cial shows. In markings they should be similar to the 

 Scotch Grey Bantam, the ground color should be a very pale 

 blue, with dark (almost black) bars; the more clearly de- 

 fi-ned in barring (as in Plymouth Rocks) the better. Like 

 the Scotch Grey and Plymouth Rock, the ground color varies 

 cbnsiderably, but the color should be as uniform as possible. 



and the barring fine and distinct; and not only should the 

 top feather be barred, but the under-color and foot, feather 

 as well. This is very important when mating up the bird 

 for breeding purposes^ I hive seen perfect top-colored birds 

 entirely devoid of fluff baring; but these are not the birds 

 that should be selected for the breeding pen, and, again, 

 never select birds that show any great amount of white in 

 tail or flights. This is a great weakness in all barred varie- 

 ties, and should be strictly guarded against. 



In mating up the breeding pens, it would be as well to 

 use two pens. For the cockerel breeding pen, select a very 

 uniform colored bird of the medium shade. See that his tail 

 and sickle feathers are well barred down to the root, and 

 that his flights when opened out are sound and free from 

 white. With him mate up three hens or pullets of a nice 

 level cclor and clear in ground color. In the pullet pen I 



be more or 



A J?AIR OF JAPANESE BANTAMS, BRED BV HENRY HALES. 



should use a darker shade of ■ color in the bock, biit riot 

 brassy on top. This is a- serious fault. See that his breast 

 is clear and fine in markings, not blurred or indistinct;' a 

 little dark on tail is no objection, but he must show no tr&ce 

 of white either in tail or *ing. By mating him to three or 

 four distinctly barred 'hens, nice and clear in ground color, ' 

 and especially sound in the black of the barring, yoti should 

 be rewarded by a good percentage of exhilsition pullets, arid 

 the cockerels the following year will be found useful if 

 mated back to the hens again as well as breeding cock- 

 erels arid pullets together. By doing this you will 

 have two strings to your bow as it were. Should any of the 

 pullets come black, by mating these to a finely barred cock- 

 erel of the lighter shade you would in all probability breed 

 the very best of cuckoo pullets, and- pullets bred In this man- 

 ner are very useful as future pullet breeders. 



Shape of course Is of the greatest Importance and the 

 chief difficulty lies in getting shapely birds that are at the 

 same time diminutive. Persistency, however, will overcome- 

 such difficulties in this breed as in all others. 



