Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1895-08-08
BLACK sUMArRA FOWLS.

different environment, when brought
together have something Of the effect
of a union of unrelated fowls. En-
vironment seems to have modifying
power upon their blood, and to obviate
some of the ills of inbreeding. The
Black Sumatra is suffering somewhat
from the effects that are common to
rare breeds It's size is hardly what
its admirers could wish it to
be, and hardly, it seems to me,
what 1t was ten years ago. II
is now a small fowl, and yet with
In ten years 1 have seen birds of
this breed that were of good size,
and, owing to their plumage, looked
really large. 1t is also possible that it's
constitution would not be injured by
an outcross with a large, vigorous,
short-legged Black Game, breeding out,
of course, the antagonistic characteris-
tics which such cross might intro
duce. The beauty of the fowl war
rants determined effort on the part
of its admirers to make it all that it is
capable of becoming. The plumage is
a solid black, as lustrous as any color
can be, shining and shimmering in the
sunlight The tail of the cock is long,
full and carried rather low, the beauti-
full sickles and abundant coverts al
most sweeping the ground. The comb
is triple, not as perfect as the pea
comb, and might be improved by care
full selection. The legs are rather
short and, as they ought to be, black
in collar. The outlines Of the fowl are
graceful in the extreme. One pecul-
iarity of this breed, which is possessed
by some pheasants, but which do not
recollect as being possessed by other
fowls, is the number Of spurs the cock
has In nearly all Of our domestiu
fowls a single spur upon each shank
serves the cock as a weapon of ohense
and defense, but nature has provided
more literally for the Sumatra, the
cock frequently having two spurs upon
each leg, and sometimes three. Some
have but one on each leg, and the ex-
ira number is of no practical or orna-
mental value for domesticated fowl
Many have argued from this fact and
from the peculiarly long and some
what horizontally carried tail that the
Sumatra is descended from the pleas
ant, but while pheasants and domestic
fowls do sometimes produce hybrid Off
spring, ! believe there is no recorded
instance where such offspring has been
fertile. Every one has proved to be
sterile, incapable of breeding with
either parent race, and Of course
would be incapable of breeding with
another hybrid of like parentage. Hy-
birds are sometimes fertile when bred
with either parent, but when bred inter
scare almost invariably sterile. Sothere
Is no good reason for supposing that
the Sumatra is of pheasant origin.
The Sumatra is plump fowl, and
though small must make a toothsome
bit of poultry. 1t has the reputation
of being an excellent layer of fair
sized white eggs. But 1t is not kept so
much for It's practical as for Its orna-
mental qualities. It illustrates very
well the difficulty Of accurately classi-
flying fowls into practical and orna-
mental, for all practical fowls are more
or less ornamental, and all ornamental
fowls are more or less practical There
Is no breed or variety Of domestic
fowls that has not both utility and
beauty, and classification upon such
principle can be made only as utility
or beauty seems to be the paramount
quality, and sometimes these elements
seem so evenly balanced that one is in
doubt to which class to assign the
fowl In the case of the Black SUI
matra, however, the beauty of the
fowl is SO great that It fairly over
shadows its utility, and one does not
hesitate in classifying 1t as an orna-
mental fowl.-H 8. Babcock, in Orange
Judd Farmer.