(c.) Othe^color points that I wish to touch upon are under-color, and 

 legs. I believe that too much stress is laid on under-color. Some breeders 

 would have Ancdnas disqualified if their under-color was not very dark. 

 Now if under-color was an essential in producing any intrinsic value I 

 would emphasize it. If under-color governed the production of a shoW' 

 room plupiage' it might well be worth while. If under-color added one 

 whit to th'et)eauty of an Aricona I would say it should be considered! But 

 the nnost beautiful sp^ejmen of an Ancona cock and hen may not ha,ve the 

 desired dark under-(;olor; and parent stock With medjum li^ht under-color 

 produce !as near beriect Specimens as ever entered a show room, and it is 

 as foolish to insist on very dark under-color for perfect plumage as it would 

 be to claini that -a person is not well dressed unless they have on under- 

 clothes of 'a certain tmt. The points on plumage are only to please the 

 eye.^-there is no other value: then why so much stress on what the eye 

 dpes not see.' 



Now about the' leg color. ' Let it be understood in the beginning that 

 fl,yeHov<^l(fgndb'es'tibl'^o with a black fowl. The breeder'of too dark An- 

 conas should hav^ their birds with black or green legs. They may have 

 badk of legs and ijpttom of feet yellow, but should not have all yellow 

 legs. Anconas hafe legs either pure yellow, or yellow mottled with black; 

 the latter are preferable. A green or willowy leg was often remarked when 

 Anconas were being bred too black, and this sign if no other should have 

 been sufficient warning to halt in the matter of producing very dark 

 Anconas. - 



A parti-colored fowl to be a success in the fancy must have a Standard 

 that is not too difficult to attain. Remember it is not the handful of ex- 

 pert breeders that Meps the game going. If a color standard is so difficult 

 that the general riai of -breeders cannot get within show-room distance of 

 it, it is good-bye to that breed for popular favor. Then again if you breed 

 away from the natural tendency of Anconas for size or color, you encour- 

 age the introduction^ foreign blood, as the quickest and easiest way to 

 distort an Ancona t6 the idea of the faddist is by cross- breeding with those 

 fowls that are what Anconas are not, — and will create a mongrel that will 

 answer the pattern set by the faddist. We should not have a Standard 

 that encourages the introduction of foreign blood. It takes years of pains- 

 taking and expense to overcome one season's work of false breeding. 

 Ancona interests are best served by a liberal and broad plan, rather than 

 restrictive and narrow ones. 



(d) And a word about tail carriage. An extremely low sweeping 

 tail is not desirable, and is not characteristic of the true Ancona. 

 Breeders who make an effort to have an Anconas tail drag in the mud 

 like a Leghorn are making a bad mistake, and I wish to register a protest 

 against the very low sweeping tail. It is unattractive, detracts from the 

 style of the bird, and is anti- Ancona. Ed. Weber, one of the best An- 

 cona authorities in the world says, "Anconas with low sweeping tails are 

 not true Ancona type," and several leading breeders in this country 

 make the same contention. Our English bretheren make no pretense of 

 breeding low-tail Anconas. Don't do i-t! 



