32 



COMMERCIAL POULTRY RAISING 



gers. Perhaps their most striking feature is the comb, which is 

 almost ponderous in size and quite thick. This feature is often 

 raised as an objection because of the susceptibihty to frost bite. 

 In climates where the winters are long and severe Minorcas are 

 not to be recommended on this account. This huge comb and 

 proportionately pendulous wattles offer another disadvantage in 

 marketing the fowls for table poultry. Large combs are con- 

 sidered an indication of age, which makes it difficult for dealers 



Fig. i6. — White-Faced Black Spanish. 



to secure top prices. Then, too, buyers do not want to pay fancy 

 prices for this extra weight, which is, after all, waste. To obviate 

 this drawback the combs of dressed birds are often torn off, but 

 this removal presents an unattractive appearance, and is suscep- 

 tible of deception. 



Black Spanish fowls, sometimes called White-Faced Black 

 Spanish, constitute one of the oldest varieties of domestic poul- 

 try, and are probably the oldest pure-bred fowl in the Mediter- 



