THE OLD RED DORKING. 



3S1 



perhaps by others since, as hinted at by Mr. 

 Smyth ; but much more is doubtless due to 

 wider acclimatisation over the country. When a 

 breed formerly almost confined to the dry and 

 chalky soil of the southern counties, was first 

 transplanted to colder and damper situations, it 

 was necessarily found delicate under such condi- 

 tions ; but gradually this has worn off, until the 

 Dorking has been found to thrive even on the 

 cold clays of Scotland. Much also depends 

 upon the amount of air and run ; and for many 

 years the Dorkings of the late Viscountess 

 Holmesdale, reared on the " natural" system, and 

 at perfect liberty in Linton Park, by Mr. John 

 Martin, were almost invincible at exhibitions, 

 their great weight and glossy plumage carrying 

 all before them. What Dorking chickens will 

 not stand is either bad air or over-crowding ; 

 the latter keeps them from thriving more than 

 almost any other breed. They are also, if 

 hatched under hens, unusually liable to suffer 

 from insect vermin. This is not from any 

 special weakness, but because they feather early 

 and quickly, and the profuse plumage gives the 

 enemy shelter, where the scantier and later 

 clothing of Cochins or Brahmas would afford 

 little or none. All quick-feathering breeds 

 which are also full of feather — and the Dorking 

 is both — are peculiarly subject to this plague in 

 chickenhood, and we have known many broods 

 die off when this matter has been overlooked 

 and neglected. Chickens hatched in incubators 

 should not give any trouble in this way ; but so 

 many Dorkings are hatched under hens that the 

 special caution is by no means unnecessary. 



One of the very oldest varieties of coloured 

 Dorkings, but almost unknown out of the south- 

 eastern district of England, is the Red Dorking. 



This is a perfectly pure race, never 

 Red amalgamated with the Dark as the 



Dorkings. qIj greys and speckles have become, 



and in our own opinion entirely 

 free from any cross with the White. They 

 are not so large as the Darks, are very small 

 boned for the size of the body, and the single 

 upright comb is much smaller, thinner, and 

 finer looking than those usual in the Dark or 

 Silver-grey breeds. As table fowls there can be 

 none better ; and we cannot but think that if 

 the few who possess them would systematically 

 exhibit them in such Dorking classes as arc 

 offered for " Any Other Colour," they would 

 gain more support. The cock is a black- 

 breasted red ; the hen more of a brown-red, 

 some of them laced. Taking the colour into 

 account, in connection with the smaller comb, 

 it can hardly fail to be noticed that this variety 



comes the nearest of any tc the old description 

 of the " best " Roman birds, by Columella, 

 already referred to. There is perhaps just a 

 chance that some of the colour may be due to a 

 far-back cross with the black-breasted Red 

 Game once so diffused over England ; but if 

 such ever did happen, it must have been long 

 ago indeed. The following notes are by Mr. 

 Harry Hamlin, of Windsor, Berks, in whose 

 family the strain has been kept up through two 

 generations :— 



"This little known variety of Dorking is one 

 of the most beautiful as well as the most useful 

 fowls we have. From what I can gather, they 

 appear to have been common throughout the 

 south-eastern counties before the exhibition 

 period began, but for some cause I could never 

 understand, to have been discarded by the early 

 fanciers. These very likely found the Grey 

 Dorkings easier to produce of a uniform colour, 

 as the older Reds were apt to produce white 

 feathers. Fortunately, our family have alwaj's 

 preserved the Red Dorkings, and with careful 

 selection and great care in breeding the plumage 

 has much improved. In these fowls it is partic- 

 ularly beautiful and close, being free from any 

 Asiatic taint, which, in my opinion, destroys the 

 high quality of the Dorking as a table fov\l. 

 Many of the present Dark Dorkings have to be 

 crossed with the Game in order to produce a 

 good table fowl, but a Red Dorking is a perfect 

 table fowl in itself, and requires no crossing. 



" The distinguishing points of the cock are 

 his beautiful deep red hackles, his well-formed 

 single comb, which is somewhat smaller than the 

 present-day Dorking, and which with his face, 

 earlobes, and wattles are of a beautiful red ; his 

 breast and tail are black ; his legs are beautifully 

 white, and very short indeed, and he has five 

 well-developed toes on each foot. As regards 

 the shortness of the legs, I have just measured a 

 very good specimen cockerel, and I find that it 

 is three and a half inches from above the fifth 

 toe to the point of the hock. The bird weighs 

 ten pounds, and I think that for the weight this 

 is very short indeed. The hens have close- 

 fitting plumage of a brown-red colour, with low 

 and shapely bodies. 



" Red Dorkings are very good layers of a 

 nearly white egg, good sitters, and excellent 

 mothers. For those who require beauty, utility, 

 and an excellent table fowl, there is nothing to 

 equal the Red Dorkings." 



Personally, from a careful examination of the 

 very few birds we have seen, we should be dis- 

 posed to say that there was a faint trace of 

 yellow in the shanks, or perhaps more truly, of 

 red. We do not imply in the least what is 



