Leghorns Abroad
The Leghorn in England today is quite a different bird from her sister on this side of the
water. They are somewhat larger. Their combs are like our "old fashion" Leghorns, coarse
and beefy. The male's comb follows the curve of the neck like the Minorca's comb. The
Brown male's saddle has very little striping in it, and the female has very little if any
striping in her hackle. They seem to be what we Amercaa fanciers are aiming at in back and
wing bow, but Sharpe Butterfield declares some of their wings decidedly grey and some of
the flights with two inches of white of the winners he examined at the Crystal Palace
show. Some of them also have down between the toes. Withal the American Leghorn,
according to our version, is decidedly the more typical of beauty and utility combined,
of the two. The Black and Buff Leghorn of England is much the same as our American birds.
The Black as well as the Brown and White are very widely known throughout Europe. Rev. T.
W. Sturges in travelling through Switzerland stated that fifty per cent of the fowls
there were Black Leghorns and were used entirely as egg producers.
He stated that the Swiss called them Italiens as we first called our Browns. Lately in
reading the German book upon poultry written by Durigen in 1886 he states that there they
are called Italiens or Leghorns. Also South America, Australia, New Zealand, and even
Japan have imported eggs from the United States and their Leghorns are on the same high
order as our own exalted fowl. The Leghorn has won her way to the hearts of the people of
Australia by the place she took in a notable egg-laying contest in which she took part.
What the Leghorn of tomorrow will be is left in our hands as breeders and fanciers. As I
have repeatedly stated the Leghorn won her reputation by the great number of large white
eggs she could lay in a year and on account of the minimum amount of feed consumed.
There are plenty of other breeds and varieties that claim first honor at anything from an
egg contest to being a beef steak or turkey roast. Let them challenge and dispute. If we
breed our Leghorns in the future medium size and smooth, compact, five-pointed, medium
size combs with an eye to conforming to their symmetry, and with the long (not too long)
back, which seems to be an essential to great egg production, and with a general view to
symmetry, beauty and utility, our beloved Leghorn will still remain the world's chief egg
producer. Personally I have bred the Brown, White, Buff and Black, and of the strains I
had I found the Brown and the Black the best egg layers, I also liked them better because
they kept their beauty throughout the year and did not fade or show dirt so easily. It is
all a matter of fancy as to which variety you should choose. Don't try to raise more than
one though, unless you are an experienced fancier. Show your birds. Boost them. Advertise.
The second year after having the Browns I showed five birds and won everything, and I had
some old competitors, too. Since then I have won at some of our National shows.
WARDING OFF DISEASE
Poultry is subject to the same laws of health and disease
as pertain to the human family. Pure air, pure water, pure food, and cleanness are
necessary in both cases. The fowl's power to resist disease is measured by its
constitutional vigor the same as in man. Food in amount and quality must be right in
each. Both succumb to the ravages of certain gum diseases when the power of resistance is
weak. Imperfect digestion also fills the system with poison. In either case the highest
science and the greatest care are necessary to the preservation of health. — T.C.K. Look
after the proper culling of your flock at all times. Imperfect cocks and non-laying hens
sink profits and should be turned into cash at the first opportunity.
UTILITY BIRDS
The farmer especially wants utility birds — those that bring
results in the way of eggs and meat. He does not care so much for feathers and form. Yet
to these he can have no objection, other qualities being equal. The farmer's flock should
also have strong vitality. If he can get birds that have been bred with a special view to
vitality, so much the better. It stands to reason that his fowls can not have the same
careful attention which the fancier bestows. His birds are usually expected to do a good
deal of shifting for themselves and will need more vitality to back them. This does not
mean that scrub fowls should be adopted. Specimens can be selected from the pure breeds
whose blood has not been impoverished by form and feather breeding alone. Vigor and
vitality must be main characteristics if we expect a high order of eggs and meat
production. — T.C.K. A poultry woman on one the largest farms in Utah prefers White
Leghorns and Plymouth Rocks as utility fowls. The former eat less, she says, than any
other breed.
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