Gold ex Wyandottes. 
439 
two. As long as solid lacing is kept up, though the ground may tend to be spotted or sooty, the 
breeder has something to work upon ; but once lose the lacing itself, and the marking is gone. 
This latter result is what much of the prevalent breeding of Wyandottes constantly tends to do ; 
and whilst it is continued no real progress can be made. 
We have laid stress on these points, because they seem little understood in England, and, if they 
are not attended to, the difficulty of breeding Wyandottes will be vastly increased, and there will 
be great danger of losing all its useful qualities in keeping up the marking. That danger must be 
considerable in any case. The hardiness and prolificacy of the fowl are largely due to the recent 
crossing which created it, and which is also the cause of its erratic breeding. To overcome this, and 
produce some uniformity in the most difficult marking of all to breed, will in any case demand 
severe selection, which will more and more tend to be made for marking alone, irrespective of useful 
qualities. We have seen the result already in many strains of Leghorns, which are now worthless 
compared with what this breed originally was as a laying fowl ; and by the time the Wyandotte 
is made as definite in marking as a Sebright, even by legitimate breeding, we shall feel veiy great 
anxiety as to what will have become of its hardiness and prolificacy. But these difficulties will 
be enormously increased if a false standard of matching be allowed to prevail. 
We make these statements and give this advice with the greatest deliberation and con- 
fidence, and after attentive consideration of the largest Wyandotte classes. We have, of course, 
no experience of Wyandottes themselves to set against that of breeders who have acted or who 
still think differently ; but we have to guide us an amount of attention to the subject of 
poultry marking in the two sexes, and careful comparative study of it, which has probably 
never been bestowed by any one else ; and in the case of lacing, all our experience goes 
to establish what we have here insisted on, as a general law. It is the case in Polish, the 
best and most established other laced breed we have, and in which the cock’s breast has 
to be more heavily laced than the hen’s ; and the tendency also appears in Sebrights, 
and has to be kept down by contra-selection for the show-pen. As Sebrights have nothing 
but marking to recommend them, it does not much matter in their case ; but in a breed 
which has really good qualities, defiance of Nature’s general laws would be lamentable ; and it 
is because we think the Wyandotte worth preserving, that we emphasise these remarks. It does 
not follow that the dark breast need to be quite the character or degree of the American standard, 
or that the white spot, for instance, should end in a point. On such a question we do not pro- 
nounce. But heavier lacing on the cock's breast , so that the black predominates, especially at the 
top and throat ; and also heavier lacing on the cushion of the hen— this we would strono-lv uro-e 
upon the practice of breeders and the consideration of judges. 
Golden Wyandottes were, we believe, first imported by M. Geffcken, about three years after 
the Silvers. For the following remarks upon them we are indebted to Mr. J. Penfold Field, 
one of their most enthusiastic admirers : — 
“ The general characteristics and markings of a standard Gold should be, with the exception of 
ground colour, identically the same as that of a Silver. But in England this is not the case, for 
it is rare indeed to see a really standard Silver female, and next to impossible to find a Silver 
male at any one of our exhibitions that is anything approaching standard form. Now, in 
comparing the two varieties it would be palpably unfair to take selections from all the Silvers in 
England in order to compare them against the Goldens ; for I do not think I am far out when 
I say the proportion of Silvers to Golds in this country cannot be far short of a thousand 
to one. But a fair comparison I suggest would be to take a mating from the best strain of 
Silvers, and likewise one from the best strain of Goldens ; breed them ; and the result, I will 
