WHITE ORPINGTONS. 



299 



standing on good, stout, white legs, the head 

 should be neat and the eye red, the worst 

 fc-ults to be noticed being blue in leg and white 

 in lobe. 



" The White Orpington is a marvellous 

 layer of a nice large brown egg, surpassing, I 

 think, the Buff in that respect, though some 

 buffs run them very close. I have known a pen 

 of my whites to average 206 eggs in the year. 

 In conclusion, may I add that it has given me 

 much pleasure to write these notes on three of 

 the finest breeds of poultry in existence, and I 

 hope they may be of some assistance to those 

 fanciers who wish to breed them." 



We have thought it of interest to reproduce 

 an illustration from The Feathered World of 

 October 26th, 1900, of Albions exhibited at 

 the Dairy Show of that year, and for compari- 

 son therewith a photograph of the winning 

 White Orpington cockerel at the same event 

 in igio. There is no doubt that, consequent 

 upon the success of the Black and Buff Orping- 

 ton, other breeders were working concurrently 

 with Mr. Godfrey Shaw and Mr. Richardson 

 upon the production of a white fowl of 

 Orpington type. It may be of service histori- 

 cally therefore to quote here an extract from 

 " The Orpington and Its Varieties " {Feathered 

 World) from the pen of Mr. Wm. H. Cook: — 



" The origin of the White Orpington is 

 somewhat remarkable, as, in the first place, 

 the originator, the late Mr. W. Cook, in breed- 

 ing the Buff Orpington, was surprised to find 

 many chickens coming pure white, and as these 

 sports grew, their colour remained absolutely 

 snow white ; they appeared to be thicker set 

 or more cobby specimens than the then exist- 

 ing Buffs, and by experimenting in mating 

 these sports (which, by the way, were all 

 pullets) to White Cochin, White Dorking, and 

 White Game male birds, the White Orpington 

 was produced, and is to-day perhaps the most 

 popular variety of the Orpingtons. It might 

 be advisable to here add that occasionally a 

 single specimen will revert to one of the above- 

 named male birds used in their production, 

 therefore one may see a little feather on the 

 leg from the Cochin, a fifth toe from the Dork- 

 ing, or a tinge of yellow in the legs, feet, and 

 beak. These defects are now rarely seen on 

 stock bred from the best and most reliable 

 strains." 



It is, comparatively, only recently that the 

 Orpington has been kept to any extent in 

 America, and even now the Black, White, and 

 Buff varieties are alone recognised by the 

 American Poultry Association. In the Ameri- 



can Standard of Perfection (1905) only single- 

 comb Buff Orpingtons were recognised, the 



reference to them being as follows : 

 Orpingtons " These are our latest importation 

 America. from England. They are large 



and stately in appearance, with 

 long, round, deep bodies and very full breast 

 and back development. The abundance 

 of back and saddle feathers on the Orpington 

 male gives him the appearance of having a 

 short back. In colour a harmonious blending 

 of rich golden buff in all sections is most desir- 

 able. The same shade of colour should prevail 

 throughout the specimen." Since 1905 the 



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White Orpington Cockerel. 



White has usurped the Buff's position as 

 regards popularity, while the Black takes third 

 place, the latter variety being now bred less 

 feathery and slightly longer in the back than 

 the English type. The standard weights re- 

 quired in both Buff and White Orpingtons 

 in America are 10 lb. for cocks, 8j^ lb. for 

 cockerels, 8 lb. for hens, and 7 lb. for pullets. 

 Our chapter on the Orpington would not 

 be complete without notes upon the latest ad- 

 ditions to the family, even though, as in the 

 case of the Buffs, exception may be taken by 

 some as to their strict right to the family name, 

 and in at least that of the Jubilee variety of 

 marked similarity to the Speckled Sussex, an 

 old and useful breed. However, the Variety 

 Orpingtons have come and won much popu- 

 larity, and Mr. Wm. H. Cook, of St. Paul's 



