Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1911-07-28
I BREEDING no i COT on
The orpinpton.l

The orpington.
Among the most fascinating bran
ches. Of work among our. birds, breed
Ing for color perhaps atakea the lead
and many are the men IN all coun,
tries who have given the best years
Ct their life to discover the nayster-
les OF nature and often without sue
cess.
TO the artist It seems q simple
matter to take two separated shades
and by mixing to obtain the desired
resultsin breeding. however. little
can be depended on and many are
the startling discoveries and dis
4heartensng aisap posntments one
meets on the road to success.
ss It is a curious point to note that
whilst the feather Of the Wild bird,
untouched by man, is capable Of car.
rying almost every hue and variation
or the rainbow, our domesticated
fowl is clad In sombre attire of brown
in tints from gold to red and black
or white, the nearest attempt to blue
or green being found In the irredes-
canoe of some Of our black yarities
or the wing bow of q few OF the
spangled laced breeds, and the work
of years in the hunt Tor a true royal
blue has only brought us as yet to the !
dull slate grey Of the socalled
blues tn ID tsr7i + = y
Glance for a moment at the remain.
der Of the feathered tribe and note
the gorgeous display Of the peacock,
the dazzling beauty Of the king
fisher and the jay, the grand attire
CT the parrots and parroquets and
the flaming color Of the flamingo and
the thousand exquisite tints Of our
little wild birds and songsters, yet
why this impossibility to Introduce
one of these beauties into the poul.
try world? What is it in the blood
that produces all this wide variation
Ill color and how is it that the same
food eaten by one bird will produce
. blue bird and by another blacK
or white and no effort of man can
at present alter some of the existing
laws of nature.
Fifty years ago the same restric-
ton of color was to be found in the
flower world under cultivation, each
variety having but very limited
range of which red and yellow form
ed the chief shades. Now, since the
laws of hybridizing have become
more generally known, to the gard
ner it q simple matter to introduce
almost any tint into his roses or
sweet peas and many other kinds
that he fancies. Is 1t lack Of inter
est and lack Of knowledge that pre-
vents our birds from sharing the sue
cesses Of modern science or Ii it, real
impossibility that keeps us tied to
the monotony of our present range.
AS regards existing coloring it Is
astonishing what alteration can be 4
made in few years time by system.
attic and careful attention to breed
ing. Take the present golden buff
orpington now so popular and which I
only few years back in many coun-
tries was almost brick red. Year
by year by selection Of the lightestt5
males that carried their color right
down to the skin and the subtle use
o. females Of varying shades from
lighter to richer tints sound even
color has been secured which can be d
relied on to breed so per cent true to
exhibited color almost entirely free
from white and black, yet take again
this same breed and mate year by
Year only ideal exhibition speci-
mems Of the most fascinating light
shades, what is the result--probably
a yard half full of MASTERS males
white in flight or tail white In under
color and general deterioration in
stead of enhancing of beauty. One
little error of judgment at mating
time may mean ruin to an entire
flock when perfection is near attain
,ment and the whole success rests on
system of such perfect blending of
points that the breeder of today
needs to be an artist of no small tai.
ent to handle his yard successfully
year by year.
But of all the difficulties that face
the breeder of today it is the secur-
ing Of pure hard white that does
rot turn brassy with. the sun and
here again it is not always the mat
ing of ideal that gives the best re-
suits but the introduction of such
blood as will diffuse and break up
the yellow and purify and harden the
white and here, too, only years of
experience can help as what will
suit one bird bred on one system will
JINa g on 49, j, teal