THE KUKAL NEW'-VOKX 
b43 
Natural and “Exhibition” Leghorns. 
For 15 years Tom Barron and prob¬ 
ably other English breeders have been 
breeding White Leghorns with a view 
only toward increased egg production. 
That is, little or no consideration was 
uiven to the looks of the bird if it was a 
good layer, or the son of one. It is worth 
while to note what kind of a bird this 
trap-nest selection has produced. It goes 
without saying that a hen to produce 200 
, 11 * more eggs in a year, must have plenty 
,,f vitality and vigor, and breeding from 
this vigorous stock has increased the size 
to some extent, many of the English 
"Natural” Type of Leghorn. 
birds of both sexes are larger than the 
American Leghorns, the writer owning 
a cock, imported a year ago. that weighs 
7Vi pounds, and cockerels that weigh six 
pounds. That this gain in size has not 
been at the cost of loss in egg produc¬ 
tion the records tit the contest fully 
show. 
Now, what does this natural Leghorn 
look like? First it will be noticed that 
it has an extra large comb, both hens 
and cocks; second, that it is frequently 
squirrel-tailed, that is, carries the tail 
so high that it pitches toward the head, 
forming an acute angle with the line of 
the back. Drawing a perpendicular line 
from the front base of the tail, if any 
of the feathers are forward of this line, 
the bird is called squirrel-tailed. But 
this is the natural Leghorn; this is what 
is produced when no attention is given 
to anything but eggs. Why then should 
the fancier consider this a disqualification 
or even a defect? Simply because it is 
not as pleasing to the eye as the low 
i ail which slopes back at an angle of 
about 40 degrees from the perpendicular, 
the tail forming a graceful curve where 
it leaves the back, instead of the acute 
angle of the high-tailed bird. Breeders 
of show birds have spent years in ac¬ 
quiring this low tail, and the price of a 
show bird, other things being equal, goes 
u]). as the carriage of his tail goes down. 
To be perfectly fair I must admit that 
the medium-sized comb, and the low-car¬ 
ried tail, are more pleasing to the eye, 
are more graceful, and there can be no 
objection to anyone’s breeding that type 
if he wants birds to look at. But the 
business hen must not be spoiled to in¬ 
crease her beauty. The production of 
eggs for human food is of far more con¬ 
sequence. Mr. Barron says that he has 
tried to reduce the size of the comb on 
his Leghorns; but the trap-nest won’t 
have it; the high-producing birds will 
nearly always have the big combs. In 
the end, all fowls must go to market; 
and the small size of the Leghorn carcass 
has always been a handicap, causing a 
reduction in price per pound. Hence the 
value of the increase in size mentioned 
above. If we can add a pound or more 
to the weight of the bird, and still retain 
its good laying qualities it seems to me 
we are doing something of far more value 
than lowering the carriage of its tail. 
Above is shown one of the Leghorn cock¬ 
erels which weighs over six pounds. 
GEO. A. COSGROVE. 
The “ Big” Leghorn. 
I notice your article about the 7V4- 
pound Barron cockerel. You might tell 
that man he has nothing but a piece of 
meat. When Air. Barron was at Moun¬ 
tain Grove I was with him when he 
looked over his birds there, and he picked 
"Ut the poorest Wyandotte layer and 
said to me, “She is holding the pen back; 
she's too large.” lie said his smaller 
birds laid the largest and most eggs; that 
the largest ones never did so well. This 
regarding both Wyandottes and Leghorns. 
It seems natural that meat and a large 
'■gg production will not go together. Mr. 
Duisenberry says his records at Moun¬ 
tain Grove, show that all the big record 
Birds run away under weight. It is too 
much like getting beef from a Jersey. 
Missouri. j. r. mooney. 
As I take a keen interest in the laying 
contests, especially Storrs, needless to 
I go very carefully into any returns 
which you may publish from time to time 
in The R. N.-Y. and have been waiting 
patiently for the’ return showing the 
amount of feed consumed by the two lead¬ 
ing pens. On page 92 you treat your 
readers to a summary comparing the 
number of eggs produced in each month 
and their marketable value. In this I 
wish to point out a clerical error in 
favor of the Leghorns for the month of 
May. Mr. Lincoln's birds laid 237 eggs, 
and 19% dozen which at 21 cents per 
dozen come to $4.14 not $3.14; this adds 
$1 more to the net income, making it 
$39.41. To make matters plain. I champ¬ 
ion the Leghorns and therefore, take ex¬ 
ception to adding the value of the in¬ 
creased weight to the income divided 
from the eggs produced by the Wyan¬ 
dottes. as no poultryman would think of 
selling birds of their tested value for 
meat, further than that they have in all 
probability lost this gain in weight dur¬ 
ing molting. When the addition of $1 is 
made to the income derived from the Leg¬ 
horns and the 64 cents deducted from that 
of the Wyandottes, the 10 birds of the 
Mediterranean class lead with a comfort¬ 
able balance to their credit. 
New Jersey. geo. h. somers. 
A Few Poultry Notes. 
It is rather late to write of poultry 
shows, although the reports of the last 
shows have just been received. This is 
my excuse for mentioning them, and a 
style of nomenclature in many premium 
lists that seems wrong, almost ludicrous, 
to me. Domestic fowls and all birds that 
belong to the same family are called cock, 
cockerel, hen and pullet, according to sex 
and age. Never till I made the acquain¬ 
tance of premium lists did I see these 
names applied to waterfowl. After read¬ 
ing these I was not surprised to receive 
a letter enquiring for hen ducks. Me- 
thinks I’ll write to some dairyman and 
ask if he has any mare cows. Amid the 
multitude of the above-described premium 
lists it was refreshing to receive one from 
the poultry association in Derry. N. H., 
and see “adult male,” “young male,” etc., 
applied to all birds. 
I want to pay a belated tribute to this 
show in a New Hampshire town that in 
everything but size compares well with 
those in the large cities. Everything 
that is up-to-date is always to be found 
at the Derry poultry show. White Rocks 
are the favorite fowls in the town, and 
a large exhibit of this breed is always a 
prominent feature of the annual shows. 
The lady who raised and exhibited the 
first White Rock cockerel last Winter 
sold him before the show was over for 
$50. She is now raising more to take his 
place. 
The increasing interest in waterfowl is 
largely due to the persistent work of the 
American Waterfowl Club. There was a 
time when show officials didn’t care a rap 
whether the club held its annual meeting 
at their respective shows or not. Now 
there is brisk competition for its presence, 
and promises of good-sized sums for cash 
premiums, and the club has but to accept 
the best offer. With these increased ex¬ 
hibits of waterfowl there are increased 
sales of birds, not only to wealthy in¬ 
dividuals who wish to adorn park or 
pond, but to those who have only the 
financial side in view. 
Twins among birds are rarer than with 
quadrupeds, but are an occasional phe¬ 
nomenon. Last Summer a customer 
wrote me of such an occurrence. At the 
end of the season three goose eggs were 
put under a hen. When the third egg 
hatched she refused to remain on the nest 
longer. The egg from which the third 
gosling came was found to contain an¬ 
other behind a membrane that had sep¬ 
arated it from its twin. Both goslings 
were taken to the house and the un¬ 
hatched one put on a warm water bot¬ 
tle. With assistance the gosling suc¬ 
ceeded in getting out. When I received 
the first information the twins were two 
weeks old. Later I heard that they were 
approaching maturity. 
Muscovy ducks are singular members 
of the duck family; in fact I am in¬ 
formed that Mr. W. T. Hornaday classi¬ 
fies them as geese. Some of their pecu¬ 
liarities would seem to place them with 
swans. It is possible, if not probable, 
that they are an intermediate form be¬ 
tween ducks arid geese on the one hand 
and swans on the other. However, duck 
has been their name for so long that it 
will probably stick. Natives of South 
America, they are still to be found wild 
in the Brazilian forests roosting on trees, 
nesting in hollow trunks whenever possi¬ 
ble, and flying or swimming silently 
through the wilderness. A harsh breath¬ 
ing is the only vocal sound of the drakes. 
The ducks add to this a peculiar little 
squeal and a quacking, the latter only 
when alarmed ov excited. The colored 
Muscovy, black and white, most nearly 
resembles the wild bird. The white va¬ 
riety was undoubtedly developed by in¬ 
terbreeding the individuals with the most 
white in their plumage. Occasionally a 
white Muscovy will have a few dark 
feathers inherited from remote ancestors. 
The Muscovy has never been so generally 
popular as the other breeds, although 
some raise them for the market, pre¬ 
ferring them to Pekins. With all its 
peculiarities, one of them preferring to 
roost at night, the Muscovy may never 
attain the popularity of Pekins. Ayles- 
burys and Rouens. They ought, however, 
to find a place with those who object to 
the noise of the other breeds, w. ir. ir. 
Preceptor : “Where was the great 
Magna Charta signed?” Student: “At 
the bottom.”—Princeton Tiger. 
Jp 
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