OF STANDARD FOWLS 
the taint of the rose comb; occasional colored 
feathers in black or white birds mean that at 
some time in their history colored ancestors were 
in their line; and many other characteristics 
more apparent such as shape, and even disposi- 
tion. All this proves this great law as one to 
be reckoned with by the successful breeder of 
domestic animals. Notice that along this line I 
am persisting in writing ‘‘domestic animals”’ 
instead of domestic fowls, because I wish to 
impress the Rhode Island Red breeder, as well 
as the Cochin breeder; the Bantam breeder 
equally with the Plymouth Rock breeder, that 
nature’s laws hold good and are absolute and 
equally applicable in one breed as in the other. 
With this thought well established and fixed, the 
intricacies of breeding are no longer the bug- 
bears of the fancier and breeder. 
What men daily do, aye yearly do, not know- 
ing what they do, strikingly illustrates haphazard, 
blind breeding of fancy fowls the world over. 
Haphazard is the gambler’s chance throw; inves- 
tigation, study and method mean knowledge 
and surety. Haphazard is a paint-filled brush 
thrown at random on a canvas with an ugly blot 
the result. When reason and intelligent deduc- 
tions direct the brush a beautiful picture appears. 
One proof of the generality of haphazard as re- 
lated to fancy fowls is the frequent use of the 
word ‘‘phenomenon.’’ Webster defines the word 
as an appearance whose cause is not immediately 
obvious. A phenomenon in the show pen is 
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