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Photo 4 is a good example of side-by-side comparing of 'pedigree'. I
can
only see the tips of the back feathers of the capes, but it's easy to tell the one on the left is a bar-ginger variant, and the one on the right is a badger variant. The left one is somewhere on the way to being a cree, but is only a nice variant. The right one is a Heinz 57 and could be anything in cross-bred colors- that's why the cape as a whole looks 'speckled', as there is no pattern emerging. Also, note the lack of ginger color that the left one has. I have one mottled saddle that is a true variant. The feather changes colors back and forth- dark brown to white- down the length, and the cross-bars (fine lines) are broken up, looking mottled in the natural state, but speckled in the palmered state. It is a very interesting genetic anomaly- only one Tom has ever found. Many yeas ago, as you well know, these necks in your photos were the 'Status Quo' of tying hackles. There is no comparing these to today's hackles, especially Whiting's. They are still very useable, as I tied many Platte River Special streamers with outer feathers of these varieties, and they were very effective. It would just take a couple-dozen of these necks to tie what one gold neck would tie, and many many dozens to tie what a gold saddle would tie. Whiting's neck feathers are so genetically select- even the large ones- that to get those nice streamer feathers I have to buy the cheaper grades of necks to get them. For $.50 each, they were a steal, but I don't think I'd pay $10 for them, unless the color of the large streamer feathers was perfect for a specific streamer pattern. Hope that helps, DonO |
