THOROUGHBRED, OR BRED TO A PURPOSE. 
a large part of their living. 
They make excellent sitters 
and mothers. Being very 
hardy and exceptional layers 
of strongly fertilized eggs they 
are readily adaptable to hatch¬ 
ing and raising by artificial 
means. There is nothing 
prettier or that will appeal 
more promptly to the heart 
of a poultry man than an in¬ 
cubator full of sturdy, downy 
white chicks. 
Mrs. J. 1). Barnes of Wen- 
ham, Mass., says: “There is 
no breed like the White Wyan¬ 
dotte for eggs, for broilers and 
roasters, and for exhibition. 
We raise nearly all of ours in 
brooders, as they grow faster, 
do better and look better 
than when we use hens.” 
The Buff Wyandotte. 
Coming into the field at a later day, but pos¬ 
sessing remarkable elements of popularity, the 
Buff Wyandottes are pushing to the front as an 
all-purpose variety; they are proving them¬ 
selves great layers, are plump, full-breasted 
broilers and soft roasters; they are equal to the 
best, and their attractive golden-buff plumage, 
with bright yellow skin and legs, marks them 
as destined to reach the first rank in popular 
favor. 
The Buff Wyandottes, like their Silver an¬ 
cestors, had two or three different origins, and 
it is certain that Rhode Island Red blood was 
used in the making of them, just as in making 
the Buff Plymouth Rocks. In the U. S. Bulle¬ 
tin on the Wyandottes, Mr. McGrew speaks of 
the Buffs as being formed from a Wyandotte- 
Buff Cochin cross, others being from a Rhode 
Island Red-Wyandotte cross and others from 
still different crosses, and says: 
“The Buff Wyandotte is nearer related to 
the Asiatic family than any of the older Wyan¬ 
dotte varieties, as the latter were crossed again 
upon the Cochin to gain the desired color. The 
original Fall River strain (so-called) came as 
the result of an unguided cross of Silver-Laced 
Wyandottes and Rhode Island Reds. The 
Rhode Island Red, a cross-bred farm fowl, in 
union with the Wyandottes, which were placed 
among the Reds to advance their value as market 
Buff Wyandottes. 
poultry, gave a product that was molded into 
the proper form and color for the Buff Wyan¬ 
dottes. The Rhode Island Red was largely 
descended from the early Asiatics, and thus 
gave renewed strength to these later blood lines, 
and adding to, rather than detracting from, the 
tendency toward Asiatic form. This strain was 
badly handicapped with black in tail and wings, 
an inheritance from both ancestors. The 
union of these two strains gave strength and 
character and better color. 
“As an all-purpose fowl, or the combination 
egg and dressed-poultry producer, the White 
and Buff Wyandottes would be very hard to 
outclass.” 
The Rhode Island Reds. 
The Rhode Island Red, as its name indicates, 
originated in Rhode Island and is red in color. 
Unlike some of the other breeds we have been 
considering, it was not so much “ made ” as the 
result of rather promiscuous crossing, and it is 
of decidedly mixed ancestry. The story is 
interesting. Mr. Wm. Tripp of Little Compton, 
R. I., and Mr. John Macomber of the adjoining 
town of Westport, Mass., both drove teams to 
New Bedford as marketmen, selling dressed 
poultry and eggs. Desiring something better 
than the common fowls of that region, they 
began crossing different strains to get better 
layers and also better looking poultry for the 
market. Mr. Tripp is said to have bred his 
29 
