Mr. Urf. o.v Matching. 
ioi 
the exception of colour they have oftener come nearer the ideal standard than any other. They 
arc, so far as can be judged, as old as the standard colours, and it is now impossible to say how 
they were first produced. The best, I am inclined to think, are those with blue blood in them, 
though they are produced by other colours. Some have recently written strongly against them, 
and other off colours, but it is a mistake. We cannot do without them, and, besides, a fine Mealy 
is a very good-looking bird. 
“ Chequers come next. They are, I think, originally the result of matching Blues and Blacks 
together, but this is a mere guess. Now, however, they seem to be more allied to the Blacks. 
They are often well-marked birds, with cleaner thighs than the latter, though with a tendency to 
the same fault — heaviness of style — of the Blacks. Those with blue blood in them are not so 
valuable, as they will neither improve the colours of Blues nor Blacks. 
“ Silvers I have seen, and bred some, but all were poor in quality. 
“ Whites I place last, though no doubt many will differ from me in this. They, however, 
want the great beauties of colour and marking , which, besides, give so much trouble to the breeder 
that they must, in the estimation of every genuine Pouter fancier, hold a secondary place. A 
White, when fine and perfectly clean, is certainly a beautiful bird ; but it is only country fanciers 
who can keep them in good condition, and this is another thing that tells against them. Birds of 
this colour (though properly speaking it is not a colour at all) ought to be produced better than we 
generally see them, there being nothing but the shape of the bird to attend to. Legs in particular 
have of late years got too short, while the other points are often very good, but this fault destroys 
in a great measure the beauty of the bird. 
“ I had nearly forgotten to notice the Sandies. They are very useful birds, though the colour 
is the worst of all, but they are nearly always handsome in shape and of good style. 
“ Having noticed all the colours, I will now say something of matching, though on this 
I dare say many will differ from me. I only give them as the results of my own experience , which 
now goes back a longer way than I care to state. 
“ To begin with Blacks. If birds of this colour were in general long in limb and light or thin 
in girth, they would require no crossing with other colours ; but as they are too often the reverse, 
the Sandies and Chequers are the best to bring them up in these properties, and to assist in giving 
clean thighs. When properly selected, the number of Blacks produced will be largely in excess of 
either of the two ‘ off’ colours. A pair of Black and Sandy birds will often breed pairs of Blacks ; 
and the colour does not suffer as in crossing with Blues or Yellows, and I may add Reds also, as 
these have now too much yellow in them, and the latter colour agrees worse with black in Pouters 
than any of the others. 
“ In breeding Blues again, Mealies are used something in the same way as the Sandy and 
Chequer birds with Blacks. They give a nice soft blue, and correct foul thighs, and often assist in 
giving shape and style. 
“ As to Reds, they certainly have lost colour more than any of the others ; and it is not easy 
to say how this is to be regained. Breeding with Yellows (in my own case, at least) I think has 
been the principal cause of the deterioration in colour, and also of the foul limbs. Crossing with 
Blacks will not do it, as the Reds have now too much yellow blood in them. I can see no way but 
to make a judicious use of the few good-coloured birds now to be got. 
“Yellows, as already mentioned, are falling off, and I confess I cannot take upon me to give 
advice as to how they are to be improved in colour. Matching with sound Reds appears the most 
likely way ; but last season I put a very sound-coloured Red cock with a rich Yellow hen, and it 
was a failure so far as colour, the young being of a very pale straw-colour, though not chequery. 
