The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1895-08-03


different environment, when brought
together have something of the effect
of q 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. Its size is hardly what
Its admirers could wish 1t to
be, and hardly, 1t seems to me,
what IL was ten years ago. IL
IS now a small fowl and yet with
I'm ten years have seen birds of
this breed that were of good size,
and, owing to their plumage, looked
really large. 1t Is also possible that its
constitution would not be injured by
IN outcross with 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 it's admirers TO make 1t all that it is
capable of becoming. The plumage Is
q 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 siclxlcs and abundant coverts al
most sweeping the ground. The comb
IL triple, not as perfect as the pea
comb, and might be improved by care
full selection. The legs are rather
abort and, as they ought 10 be, black
I'm collar. The outlines of the fowl are
graceful In the extreme. One pecul-
hrity 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 domestic
fowls a single spur upon each shank
serves the cock as q weapon of offense
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 cx-
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. bnt while pheasants and domestic
fowls do sometimes produce hybrid on
sprlng. 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 DO incapable of breeding with
another hybrid of like parentage. Hy-
birds are sometimes fertile when bred
with either parent. but when bred inter
scare almostinvariably sterile Sothere
Is no good reason for supposing that
tie Sumatra is of pheasant origin.
The Sumatra Is u plump fowl, and
though small must make a toothsome
bit Of poultry. IL has the reputation
of being an excellent layer of fair
sized white eggs. But II Is not kept so
much for It's practical as for Its orna-
mental qualities. 1t illustrates very
yell the difficulty Of accurately classi'
{yfngefowls into practical and orna-
mental for all practical fowls are more
or less ornamental, and all ornamental
fowls are more or less practical. There
IN no breed or variety OF domestic
fowls that has not both utility and
beauty. and classification upon such a
principle can DO 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 IL fairly over
shadows It's utility, and one does not
hesitate In classifying It as an orna-
mental fowl H =. Babcock, in Orange
Judd Farmer.