Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-11-23

DOminiQues had both single and rose
combs, and it is altogether probable
that the single combed birds were one Of
the progenitors Of the Barred Plymouth
Rock, though that excellent breed
doubtless had a multiple origin But
finally the rose cOmbed birds supplanted
the single cDmbcd ones, just as the pea
combcd Brahmas supplanted those with
a single comb BY constantly selecting
rose comhed fowls with barred plum
age and those that had the largest size,
the Dominique gradually shaped itself
into a distinctive breed. No one knows,
OF if he does he maintains a mysterious
silence, who has the honor of originating
this breed
1t seems to have been like Topsy and
just "growed. " The Dominique has an
excellent shape. 1t is not like that Of
the PlymoL;h Rock, but is longer III
body and fuller in tail and suggests
both the Dvrking and the Hamburg.
Most persons are apt to be careless OBJ
servers, and even some who pose as eN-
ports seem to he ignorant of the true
type of Dominique Hence we some
times see birds winning prizes that are
in reality more like Plymouth Rocks
than Dominiquos and perhaps were pro
ducod by crossing thu two breeds. Their
shape Is an admirable one for Il general
purpose fowl, as it indicates good lay
ing qualities. with table properties Of no
mean order, and, in fact, the Dominique
is an excellent layer and makes really
good poultry
To a fancier the Dominique needs
much improvements The comb il not so
neat as he could wish, though this fea-
ture has greatly improved i'll the past
ten years. The plumage, however, j. the
most defective point i'll the fowl. 1t Is
described in The American Standard If
Perfection in precisely the same words
as are used in describing the plumage
of the Barred Plymouth Rock. 1t ought
to be just like that Of the Barred Plym-
outh Rock, but il is not. The hens are
too dark and have 4 muddy" look. The
beauty Of a barred plumage consists in
1 having the alternate black and white
bars clearly defined and stand out dis
tinctly upon the fowls. This can be at
tanned only by having the light bars
wider than the dark ones, and having
the latter narrow. To "A man who keeps
fowls fol profit these matters are Of lit
tie moment, and farmer unless he also
be a fancior, a some farmers are, will
not he deferred from keeping DOmi-
niques because of the lack of these nice
points.
The Dominique is not a very popular
fowl, despite its great value as "A practi-
cal, everyday, useful breed. This want
of popularity, says as high authority as
Fl. S. Babcock in The American Agri-
culturist, is probably due to two things
first, the defects which have been in
dictated and which breeders have neg
lected to remedy, and, second, the smaller
size of the fowl compared with that Of
its newest rival, the Barred Plymouth
Rock. Americans like large fowls. Even
if it could be demonstrated that there
was Just as much profit III raising 6
small fowl as i'll raising large one, the
large fowl would have the greater popu
larity. Yet we must not forget that size
is a quality that can be obtained. The
American Dominique is much larger
fowl than were its ancestors, and one
breeder informs me that his fowls ar,
constantly Increasing in size.