SILVER LACED IVYANDOTTES. 



13 



Fig. 12 shows a wattle that fits badly onto the head, is 

 a trifle long, lobes are not well proportioned and run down 

 into small wrinkles at the bottom. A lobe like this should 

 be discounted % of a point. 



Neck. 



This is one of the most important sections In our parti- 

 color breeds, and especially so in the color of males. Many 

 breeders will discard a male with poor colored neck, no 

 matter how strong he may be in other sections, claiming 

 that without this section good it is only guesswork as to 

 his' power to reproduce. 



The Standard is quite plain on this section, both as 

 regards shape and color, and especially so in shape. The 

 neck should be "short, arched; hackle, abundant." In 

 color, "surface silvery white, with a narrow black stripe 

 through each feather, tapering to a point near extremity of 

 feather. The white, free from black or brown edging; shaft 

 of feathers may be white." 



This last clause is something of a puzzle, and we are at 

 a l,oss to understand, it, for, as it now reads, either the solid 



reproduced here for the information of the breeders and 

 judges several feathers taken from the neck of birds that 

 have been placed on exhibition within the past few years. 

 These are found in Figs. 13 and 14. 



Feather No. 1 is our ideal of a hackle feather. It is 

 strong in undercolor, has good black center, the white runs 

 entirely around the outside, lacing the end of feather as it 

 should be, and the white shaft shows in proportion as we be- 

 lieve the Standard makers intended it should, and where 

 you find a neck so good as this then it cannot be dis- 

 counted. 



Feather No. 2 is good except at the point where the 

 white lacing fails to run around the end, giving the bird 

 a smutty appearance at the end of hackle. A neck like 

 this should be discounted 1 point. 



Feather No. 3 is faulty in the center, the white shaft- 

 ing being entirely too wide, and, while valuable as a pul- 

 let breeder, should be discounted in the show room 1^ point. 



Feather No. 4 shows two serious defects. It is entirely 

 too light underneath and fails in the white lacing at the 

 end. It should be discounted 1 for the light undercolor 

 and 1 for black at lower end of feather. 



Fig. 15. 



black center or the feather with the white shafting should 

 be passed without discount, provided the remainder of the 

 feather is perfect. 



I have the original typewritten report of the commit- 

 tee and I find the Standard wording correct, but I am 

 positive that there was a change ordered in this wording 

 by the general committee which the stenographer undoubt- 

 edly failed to put in. My recollection of this is that the 

 latter part of this description was made to read: "Shaft 

 of feather white from near the center to end."* But since 

 we have only the Standard for our guide, I would take it 

 as it reads, but would suggest to old and young judges 

 alike that in case of ties in scores where only one of the 

 specimens has a white shaft to give it preference over the 

 other, as we have found this white shafting of great value 

 in producing the silver surface, as well as the clear open 

 centers in both sexes. 



It is seldom that we find a male bird of the Wyandotte 

 family that is decidedly faulty in shape of neck. The 

 most common defect is scanty feathering when the birds 

 are in moult. For such defect, the specimen should be dis- 

 counted from 1^ to 1%, as in degree. Where neck is too 

 long, the out is 1; when too straight, from % to 1. 



The correct color being hard to understand, we have 



*The writer was a member of the Revision Committee. 



Feather No. 5 has a serious defect and one that is 

 quite often found in the neck of Silver Wyandotte males. 

 The black and white are fairly well proportioned, but there 

 is a smutty, brassy end to the white, giving the neck a sort 

 of a coppery surface color that is very objectionable and 

 should be discounted 1% poihts. 



Feather No. 6 is entirely too light, both surface and 

 under. There is no black in it; what little that does ap- 

 pear shows more of a bronze tinge and then runs to the 

 surface on one side. The undercolor is decidedly too light 

 — in fact, both the white and black are defective, and it 

 should be discounted 3% points. 



The Standard valuation for color in this section is 6 

 points,. and where the defect. is only in the one color, then 

 3 would be the limit to be cut, but in this feather you 

 can discount both the white and black and can exceed the 

 50 per cent, limit allowed in the scale. 



Back. 



No section in any variety is of so much importance 

 as the back, both in shape and color. This the Revision 

 Committee fully realized when they made a change in the 

 scale of points, allowing 6 for shape and 6 for color in each 

 of the American varieties. This gives more prominence to 

 back than any other section of a fowl and it is as it. 

 should be. 



