CHOOSING AMONG THE BREEDS 



23 



an intermediate step. Various breeders may get together, 

 form a Club for the new candidate, formulate a Standard 

 for it which seems to them best fitted for the ideal de- 

 velopment of the new variety, or breed, and offer both 

 the bird and its Standard for acceptance. If accepted, 

 this Standard is incorporated in the Standard of Perfec- 

 tion, with the other recognized laws of the many breeds 

 and varieties. This is done as soon as is feasible after 

 the formal admission. It may be when a new edition is 

 needed ; it may be when the Revision year comes around 

 again. Should it chance to be formally accepted only 

 a year or two after a formal revision, it might be in the 

 Standard, with description, for some time before a spe- 

 cial, ideal illustration appeared. I think this was the 

 case with the Columbian Wyandotte, when it first en- 

 tered the Standard of Perfection after having complied 

 with all the rules for admission. 



The Standard of Perfection separates the many vari- 

 eties of fowls which it describes into ten distinctive 

 Classes, before it reaches the " Miscellaneous " breeds ; 

 of these, there are three, grouped together. Then, 

 there are three additional Classes for turkeys, ducks, and 

 geese. 



The important Classes among those allotted to the 

 domestic hen have been, for many years, the American, 

 the Mediterranean, and the Asiatic Classes. But, with 

 the phenomenal rise of the Orpington fowl, in its many 

 varieties, comparative popularity has changed somewhat, 

 and it is probably true that the English Class, at the 

 present time, stands next after the American and Medi- 

 terranean Classes. This class includes the very old 

 Dorkings, the Red Caps, which have made little head- 



