The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-07-23
THE COLOR LINE IN POULTRY.
are WHITES In Amy Way Superior!-Ho'
the New Breeds Originated.

Are Whites In Any Way superior?-HoS
the New Breeds Originated.
l. Are the White Plymouth Rocks
superior to the Barred as general pur-
pose farm fowls? If SO, IN what respect?
2. Are White Wyandottes superior to
the Silvers and Goldens? If so, why?
B. Which Of the Leghorn breeds is SUI
per1or for general purposes and why? a.
How are these newer breeds originated?
5. What of the Bluffs in the different
breedsp
The foreg Ding queries were replie d
to as follows in The Rural New Yorker:
T. Il. Jacobs said l, 2, 3. There is
no difference whatever in the breeds
named, except in color. Any claim
made for one is also made for the 9th
ers. They are alike in hardness, size,
market quality and prolificacy. 4. Usu-
ally they are said to be sports, but the
majority originate from the selection of
those which approach nearest to the
desired color. Sometimes crossing is
resorted to. Such breeds %, however,
are IN no manner uniform. s. Some of
them are new and not firmly estab-
lished, but they differ in quality, when
perfect, from other kinds in color only.
James FL. Seely considered (D the
white Plymouth Rocks superior as a ia
BILE fowl, especially as young chickens,
for they don't show the dark pinfeather-
ing when dressed He said: 2. The same
reason applies to the Wyandottes as to
the Plymouth Rocks. They are about
equal as layers, but the white are SUI
perior for market. 8. With the same
treatment, there is little difference.
They are poor as table fowls. The dark
ones, when not in perfect feather, make
very poor showing. The White Leg
horns are not equal to the Plymouth
Rocks Or Wyandottes for table use, but
think they are little larger than the
dark or colored varieties of Leghorns. 4.
The new breeds are mostly sports, but
some of them are made by crossing with
other breeds. They require close in
breeding to make them breed true to
color, and consequently are rather deli
cate for some time until new blood can
be obtained from other yards. would
not advise new beginner to try them
until they had been thoroughly tried
and proved all right by older breeders.
5. The Bluffs are a new diversion and
may prove to be of great value in few
years, but at present they are rather
weak and imperfect
The White Plymouth Rock is not su-
perior to the Barred for any practical
purpose, says Henry Hales, who ex-
plains where the "White'' comes from.
Select birds from either the barred or
laced breeds with more than usual
white, mate them and select the whit
est till the progeny become white. But
a shorter cut is to mate Barred Plym-
outh Rock or a Wyandotte to white
bird, especially if the white one is OF
no special breed, and select from theis
progeny the best types in white, until
the ideal form, color of legs, size, coml,
etc.. are attained. There appears no
doubt but that such white fowls have
been used to hasten the permanency OF
the perfect white of many varieties. As
q matter Of fact, the birds show it, as
few of the white birds Of most varie
ties are perfect type of the original
coloced breeds.
AS to (which of the Leghorn breeds
is supe1ior for general purposes" none
of thepi can lay claim to that quality,
as they are poor sitters, if not nonsit-
tiers, and are rot much esteemed as ia
BILE fowls. AS layers they are unsurpass-
ed. The White lay the largest eggs
The Brown lay few more eggs in a
year, but their eggs are smaller than
the White. As to the making of Buff
Leghorns, it would not be as necessary
to GLOSS on buff of any breed, as there
are 80 many yellowish fowls in this
class that selections for few years
would seon bring buff variety.