54 



THE BANTAM POWt. 



that they are perfect little beauties, with all the features 

 well developed. 



Houdan Bantams, Dorking Bantams and Creve Coeur 

 Bantams have made their appearance in England, in a small 

 way, in the last ten years. All of them are splendid models 

 of the larger fowls they miniature. None of these have as 

 yet made any prominence for themselves. So far they are 

 only a matter of record. The most prominent new variety 

 of Bantams is the Langshan now being pushed for honors 

 by their originator, Mr. Hughes, whose description of them 

 is given below. 



In general appearance they are just like the Black 

 I^angshans; in fact, a perfect counterpart of them in minia- 

 ture form. They also have their egg producing trait. They 

 were produced by breeding in direct line from Black Lang- 

 shans by proper selecting and mating and now breed true to 

 size and form; in fact, they breed so true that a large per ' 

 cent of them are quite good enough for either exhibition or 

 brseding. 



Now a few words regarding how I came to breed them. 

 In the fall of 1892 a Black Langshan hen stole her nest and 

 hatched a brood of chicks iE November. The flock which 

 had this h»n a.: a member was running at large in an old 

 orchard and I did not see either the hen or chicks until 

 snow came and I looked to see if all the stock was roosting 

 in the house; then I found the chicks. Well, my first thought 

 on seeing them was, "How much they look like Bantams!" 

 These chicks, five of them, survived the winter, and the 

 thought that they looked like Bantams was father to the 

 resolve to try to breed from them Black Langshan Bantams. 

 The chicks were dwarfed in size and to-day two of the hens 

 that were the foundation of the O. K. strain of Black Lang- 

 shan Bantams are alive and only weigh three pounds each. 



As to how I succeeded in my resolve to breed and estab- 

 lish a strain of Black Langshan Bantams I refer the reader 

 and others interested to my past exhibits of them. 



WILUAM H. HUGHES. 



BARRED ROCK BANTAMS. 

 A Tale of Their Importation and Improvement. 



BY C. II. LATHAM. 



Written for the Reliable Poultry Journal. 



(For Illustration See Frontispiece ) 



During the summer of 1900 there appeared in the Amer- 

 ican Fancier a short article relating to some Barred Ply- 

 mouth Rock Bantams that a fancier in England had orig- 

 inated. Having had for a long time a desire to have Barred 

 Rock Bantams, as well as having Rocks of Standard size, 

 I at once wrote a letter to the originator, asking for infor- 

 mation, sample feathers, etc. Being favorably impressed 

 with my answer and the feathers sent, I placed the matter 

 with a friend who was about to pay a visit to England. 

 Late in September my first importation of Bantams arrived, 

 a cockerel and three pullets, as far as I know the first 



Barred Plymouth Rock Bantams In America. These birds 

 were shown at the Boston show the following winter. In 

 the spring of 1901 I imported two more males and three 

 females. All the birds were very small, the first four birds 

 weighing only five pounds when they arrived, and they were 

 in fine condi'tion. 



I now had a good foundation to build up a flock of real 

 B. P Rock Bantams. They had a good deal of barring, but 

 with color only fair, a long way from one of our fine exhi- 

 bition Barred Rocks. Fortune favored me with a very small 

 stunted Barred Rock cockerel, a present from a friend who 

 was breeding Barred Rocks. This 'bird at six months of age 

 weighed only three pounds. Mating him with two of the 

 females, I succeeded in getting a number of birds of greatly 

 improved color and barring and much stronger Rock char- 

 acteristics. A pen of the best of this cross was shown at 

 the Boston show in 1902. The season before I carried my 

 hatching into September. The little fellows grow and ma- 

 ture so quickly that they can all be hatched and raised after 

 the crop of larger chicks are well along towards maturity. 

 Among the last chicks hatched in September, 1901, was a 

 cockerel bred from the imported birds pure. He was very 

 small, hardy and full of vigor. In the spring of 1902 he was 

 mated to the best of the females bred from the stunted 

 Barred Rock cockerel the season before. The progeny of 

 this mating showed still greater progress, approaching very 

 near to our best show color in the females, very nice Rock 

 shape and nearly down to original size of the imported 

 Bantams. 



I made an exhibit of these birds at Madison Square 

 Garden, New York, the past winter, among them being the 

 bird photographed and shown in frontispiece. Bantam 

 fanciers have taken a good deal of interest in them, and I 

 have made several nice sales of stock and a good number 

 of sales of eggs since placing them on sale. I am promised 

 competition the next time I show at Madison Square Garden, 

 and the day is not far distant when there will be warm 

 times in Barred Plymouth Rock Bantam alley. Having 

 passed through so many hot contests with my Barred Rocks, 

 I can but anticipate with keen enjoyment the battles to come 

 with the little fellows. 



I find the Bantams very hardy, easy to raise and they 

 grow very quickly. They will pick up the most of their food 

 if running at large. Late summer and fall is the time to 

 raise them. At this writing (May 29th) I have not hatched 

 any Bantams. Late June, July and August give me the best 

 birds, and they can be hatched and raised as late as Sep- 

 tember if a warm place can be had to winter the chicks. 

 After the chicks are weaned from the hen, if they can have 

 free range they will need but one small feed a day, wheat 

 or other small grain. They stand confinement splendidly 

 and can be kept in very small quarters, and if properly cared 

 for will lay eggs the year round. For a Bantam they are a 

 very practical bird, make very interesting pets, and I be- 

 !!!!l^"®_^.^^*'''®'^ '° ^^'^°^^ °ie of the most popular varie- 



C. H. I<ATHAM. 



ties Of Bantams. 





