ORIGIN OK THE AMERICAN IIREEDS 



13 



a pen of the birds, Henry 

 Clay wrote: "To my 

 stock on hand your birds 

 will be a congenial and 

 valuable addition; and if 

 we succeed with them, I 

 will take care not to mo- 

 nopolize the benelit of 

 them." Daniel Webster, 

 in response to the arri- 

 val of some of the stock, 

 wrote: "The coop of 

 chickens arrived safely 

 and are noble specimens 

 of the Chinese fowl. I 

 thank you for the con- 

 signment, and consider 

 them a most valuable 

 addition to my stock of 

 poultry." 



In England, the peo- 

 ple, from Queen Victoria 

 and the nobility down, 

 were enthusiastic about 

 this new stock. Before 

 1850 very few people ex- 

 cept farmers had paid 



attention to fowls, and such as they kept were the native stock of the 

 home districts. There were a few old breeds fairly well established 

 but not generally introduced. The advent of the Cochin, however. 

 gave to purebred poultry an impetus that has continued ever since. 



Crossbreeding that led to the production of American breeds. The 

 Asiatics were bred in increasing num'bers, particularly in the New 

 England states, and their blood was diffused into the common stock 

 of the country. "They, more than any other race, had the size which 

 degenerate native stock everywhere lacks," writes John Robinson. 

 It was stated by the same authority that, as a result of the infusion 

 of Asiatic blood into the native stock, "the average size of the fowls 

 brought to the Boston market was doubled within a few years." 



While the Asiatics were being used largely for immediate results, 

 there was a designed effort on the part of an American breeder to 

 employ the Chinese stock in the production of a new breed. Refer- 

 ence is made here to Dr. John C. Bennett, of Plymouth, Massachu- 

 setts, and the product of his effort was shown as "Plymouth Rocks" 

 at the first poultry show in America, held in a tent erected on the 

 public gardens, Boston, 1849. 



These Plymouth Rock fowls were the result of crossing Cochin- 



Dr. Bennett's Original "Plymoutli Rock" Fowl. 



