522 



POULTRY CULTURE 



Fig. 542. Single-Combed White Leghorn cockerel 



popular, crosses with both Light Brahmas and Silver- 

 Penciled Wyandottes were made to strengthen the 

 black color. The variety was largely in the hands of 

 breeders not familiar with the behavior of the colors 



in the pattern. 



Most of them 



continue popular is uncertain. 

 Extensive black striping in 

 white backs cannot be se- 

 cured without more black 

 than is desirable in other 

 white sections. The general 

 tendency in the development 

 of color patterns in fowls is 

 to clean color in sections 

 where there is no definite 

 pattern. For these reasons 

 it is most probable that there 

 will be a gradual return to 

 the older type. The Colum- 

 bian Wyandottes, during the 

 decade after their introduc- 

 tion, in which they were bred 

 by only a few breeders, were 

 very poor in color, the white 

 brassy, and the black very 

 weak. After they became 



Fig. 543. Head of Rose- 



CombedWhite Leghorn 



cockerel ^ 



Fig. 544. Rose-Combed White Leg- 

 horn pullet 1 



were insistent 



for black wings 



(flights)andfor 



strong striping 



in the hackle 



and saddles of 



males, — points 



which cannot 



be regularly obtained without bringing 



out a great deal of black elsewhere, 



particularly in the backs of the females, 



where it appears as mossiness. 



The most reliable method of mating 

 this color pattern to secure clean white 

 surface and strong black points is to 

 use males with a white edging on the 

 lower web of each flight, with clean, 



' Photograph from owner, Turtle Point Farm, Saratoga, New York. 



