92 POULTRY CULTTJRE 



light, and if dark birds are bred together their progeny will be 

 dark. That is, in this case hke begets like, but when you 

 cross the shades the results will be disastrous as you will have 

 neither, but a mixture. Three points are then to be remem- 

 bered. These are as follows: 



There are two varieties of Barred Plymouth Rocks, the dark 

 colored and the light colored. 



To breed them right, you must keep them absolutely 

 separate. 



You must mate dark colored males to dark colored females 

 and light colored males to light colored females. 



In the selection of the Rocks it is essential to pay particular 

 attention to conformation. The Rocks are required to have a 

 long back, deep breast, and a large body. 



The male White Plymouth Rock must possess plumage pure 

 white and free from brassiness. He must be strong, vigorous, 

 and active, and his comb should be rather low and he should 

 possess a full hackle. 



The back should be rather long and broad with a concave 

 sweep toward the tail. The tail should be fairly well spread, 

 carried rather low, and should be short. The breast should 

 be broad and full. His legs should be yellow in color, wide 

 apart, and he should stand squarely on his feet. 



In all matings type is of first importance. 



The Rhode Island Reds should possess proper length of 

 body, possess an even red, not a buff, and a rich undercolor 

 free from sooty or slatiness. 



The greatest difficulty in breeding reds is in color. There 

 are many color factors not yet fixed, though careful selection 

 and breeding has been in progress a long time. 



Card says, "the darker or blood-red variety produces birds 

 of almost an exact even shade, very rich and brilliant and red. 



Light-colored males are likely to throw buff and even white; 

 on the other hand, very dark males may produce smut in the 

 undercolor or black on the surface. Some breeders maintain 

 it is best to select a male of medium red color. Another 

 serious tendency in male defects is white in undercolor of 

 hackle and saddle. Such a male should not be bred from. 

 The quill of the feather should always be red, not white or 



