353 
The Illustrated Bock of Poultry. 
the last Palace show. The spikes should be large and few, rather than narrow and many ; beyond 
that, all asked for should be a handsome contour, combined with straightness. The hen’s should 
“ arch ” well, before falling, to breed stiff ones in the cocks. Comb is, indeed, one of the chief 
difficulties in breeding Minorca cockerels, and unless the hen’s is selected in this way, and care 
taken to choose breeding cockerels whose skulls are very broad on the top, and whose combs are 
thick at the bottom, it is rapidly lost. The combs are very ticklish in frosty weather, and to keep 
them from frost-bite the tips especially, and the wattles, should be greased every now and then ; 
moisture will then be repelled. 
The ear-lobes of Minorcas require care, and at times shelter, to bring them to perfection of 
smoothness and whiteness, like the Spanish, but in less degree. A little shutting-up generally 
makes great improvement in the ears of good birds just off a run. Those kept in yards, with walls 
high enough to keep off the wind, are, however, generally reasonably fit, unless the feeding is very 
injudicious. They are gently cleaned for exhibition as in the Spanish fowl. 
The following is the club’s scale of points for judging (1892) : — 
Defects in face — bloated red, coarseness, or too hairy . . . . . 15 
Comb bad shape or twisted .......... 15 
Lobe wrinkled, folded, or stained ......... 10 
Want of size ............. 15 
De r ects in colour ............ 10 
Want of condition ............ 10 
Want of style and symmetry .......... 10 
Too light legs, eyes, or beak .......... 8 
Crooked breast-bone ........... 7 
loo 
We consider that this would be a very much better standard to judge the fowl by than the one 
we have ourselves given on page 363. It lays less stress on ear-lobes, and makes white face 
disqualify. We shall be very glad if it be really adopted ; but having gone very carefully into the 
matter, we have little hesitation in saying that the actual judging cannot be squared by that 
standard, and is as yet more truly represented by our own. Plain traces of white face do not 
disqualify, and lobe is given the full weight we have allotted ; and so of other points, so far as we 
can gather from recent careful analysis at the Palace shows. We state these facts, not to justify 
our own tables again, but simply in hopes that the statement may cause the really sounder scale, 
as we consider, to actually prevail. 
The best cross of the Minorca is with the Langshan, choosing the shorter-legged type. There 
is no better all-round layer on earth than this cross, and the fowl on the table is very good if the 
birds have “ hit ” well. The Minorca itself, if of the massive type (which we consider the correct 
one) is far from a bad fowl, and much better than the Spanish, though the flesh is a trifle dry. 
The shape is pretty plump, and in this particular case larding a bird before roasting makes 
almost a magical difference in the product. 
WHITE SPANISH AND MINORCAS. — There are white varieties of both the preceding 
breeds, probably formed in each case by breeding from the occasional “ sports to which we have 
already referred. The White Spanish is not by any means a nice-looking fowl, the plumage 
affording- no contrast to the white face, but, on the contrary, giving it a sickly or ghastly cast, which 
is only less conspicuous when high health makes the colour of the combs and wattles as bright 
as possible. 
White Minorcas are much handsomer birds, the red face presenting the contrast which the 
