224 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 13, 1875. 



may plant a common Ilolly along with the Thorns one in every yard, it being 

 much better &(^ a fence plant than Privet, which is too weak for resisting 

 cattle; but nothing can be better than a good qoickset hedge. 



Allamanda Schotti (Amateur). — The treatment to which the plants have 

 been subjected is proper, providinp they have not been kept so dry in winter 

 as to cause the wood to shrivel. If the wood be plump and sound you may 

 safely purchase the plants. 



Economising Old Lights (Amateur Vinedresser). — Cool vineries oufjht to 

 have a eouth aspect; an east one would not. we feir, receive the requisite 

 Bolar heat nor retain it so as to ensare the ripening of the fmit. It would 

 answer better as an orchard house than as a house for Vines. The lean-to 

 would be the best firm of house. We should pUnt the Vines in front, and 

 ran up each Vine with four rods at about 3 feet distance apart, Chasselas 

 Vibert (white), Esperione (black), and Cambridge Botanic Garden (black) 

 arc the most hkcly kinds to succeed in such a house. We do not, however, 

 advise them, but instead we should form of the lights an orchard house, 

 having the lights fixed perpendicularly at 7 feet distance from the wall, having 

 about 18 inches of boarding at bottom, one half of it to open for ventilation, 

 and an entirely new roof. By having this fixed beneath the coping of the 

 wall you will have about 2 feet 6 inches of fall in the 7 feet of width. A row 

 of bushes and pyramids in front and the walk at back will leave the wall 

 available for fruit trees, and suitable for Peach, Nectarine, or Apricot. The 

 front will be admirably suited for Plums, Cherries, and Pears. 



Fobeman's Qcteries is. H. G.).— You cannot do better than write to the 

 gardener. You are certain to receive a courteous reply, and the information 

 will bo authentic. 



NA3IES OF Plants [J. W.). — 1, Woodwardia radicane: 2, Aspidium angn- 

 lare; S, A. coriacenm (capense, WlUd.). (DoHoKd).— Pomaderris elliptica. 

 {W\n. Eo<l(json\. — Specimeus insufficient. (J. F., Ted'Unf}ton\. — 1. Notho- 

 chlrcna sulphurea ; 2, Pteris longifolia; 3, Adiantum hispidulum ; G, A. for- 

 mosum ; 4, Pelteahastata; 5, As.pleniumviviparnm. (Juvenile). — 1, Adiantum 

 hispidulum; 2, Asplenium fonCanum; 3, Aspidium lobatum. 



POULTEY, BEE, AND PIGEON OHEONIOLE, 



THE EXHIBITION DOKKING.— No. H. 



BY T. C. EL'K.SELL. 



The Dark Dorking Hen should be similar in shape to the 

 cock, with a square, broad, and lengthy body set on short legs. 

 The comb, if single, should be large and failing to one side, a 

 small upright comb being a great eyesore. By some it wag 

 thought impossible to breed cocks with upright combs from 

 hens whose combs fell over, but this fallacy was contradicted by 

 Mr. Hewitt in the Journal of Horticulture for Jane, 1SG7, and 

 I copy his notes, which will be interesting and instructive to 

 many. Mr. Hewitt says: — "In giving my opinion as to the 

 formation of the comb of a Grey Dorking hen, I quite agree that 

 the comb should be of moderate size, well serrated, and hanging 

 over the face on one side. The theory propounded of breeding 

 from what is commonly known as a 'prick- combed' Grey Dor- 

 king hen has been again and again attempted, but I never yet 

 knew a single individual who persisted in the experiment a 

 second year, for disappointment wag the invariable issue, and 

 the chickens thas produced proved utterly useless for exhibition. 

 Anyone purposing to breed Dorkings I would strongly advise 

 to mate together a cock having a perfectly upright comb with 

 hens whose combs fold and then turn over the face, it matters 

 not on which side. He will then find, if well-bred stock birds, 

 that all his chickens will have combs exactly of the same forma- 

 tion as the parent birds. In Spanish fowls the same rule again 

 holds good. It is only great age or want of health and condition 

 that will cause the combs of either Spanish or Dorking cocks to 

 fall over if they are truly-bred birds. In the latter case it very 

 frequently happens that restored constitution causes the comb 

 to become again as exact and firmly fixed as ever. The different 

 formation of the comb is in the breeds referred to simply 

 characteristic of sex, as in the mane of a lion or the antlers of a 

 buck." 



As regards the colour of a Dark Dorking hen a good deal of 

 latitude is allowed, provided the general appearance of the bird 

 is of a rich dark colour. Whatever a few may say to the con- 

 trary, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the old Brown and 

 Light Grey birds do not now meet with favour either from 

 judges or exhibitors, partly owing to the fact that the Dark hens 

 handle the best from being more tightly feathered, and partly 

 because they present a more attractive appearance to the eye. 

 My taste inclines in the hen to a jet-black neck hackle and tail, 

 the back and wings being of a dark grey colour, and each feather 

 spangled at the ends with a darker marking, the shaft of each 

 leather being distinctly white. 



This latter feature is invariably found in all good Dorking 

 hens, and adds very much to the general appearance by con- 

 trasting with the dark feathers. With a black hackle I like to 

 see a salmon-coloured breast, but the hackle is often striped with 

 white, and the breast colour may be of any tinge from light 

 salmon to dark chocolate, as long as it does not present a 

 washed-out appearance. 



Colour is far more difEcnlt to obtain than size. The latter 

 may be obtained by good and judicious feeding and breeding 

 from large-sized birds not too nearly related; but nothing will 

 bring colour unless it is in the strain. Beginners are apt to 

 think that all they have to do is to buy a couple of good hens 



and a highly-commended cockerel at a large show, and to breed 

 from them, but this will nine times out of ten end in failure 

 unless the cock comes from a good strain ; as, ncj matter how 

 dark and good the hens are, if the cock be not also bred from 

 dark-coloured birds it is impossible to say what the chickens 

 will turn out. Before buying a cockerel to breed from I like 

 to see what the stock hens of the yard are like. It is very bad 

 policy to take the show birds as a sample, as these have very 

 likely been bred by someone else. Though the darker-coloured 

 cocks as a rule are most likely to breed dark chickens, this is 

 by no means a certainty, and we shall never know what our 

 chickens are to be like unless we know for certain that the cock 

 comes of a good strain. 



Fig. 55. — Dark Dorkiug Hen, 



The principal defects to avoid in a Dark Dorking hen, in 

 addition to what I have alluded to when speaking of the cock, 

 are upright comb and " sooty " feet, the latter being much 

 commoner in the hens than in the cocks, as also are white 

 earlobes. A red or rusty colour on the wings is also to be 

 avoided. 



Dorking eggs are white and unusually large. The chickens 

 when hatched are very pretty, and should be uniform in appear- 

 ance, with a broad dark band down the centre of the back, and 

 with two narrow white stripes on each side of it. As a rule the 

 little chickens with the broad band of colour down the back of 

 a sound dark tinge are more likely to male dark chickens ; and 

 even from the very best birds it will be futile to expect more 

 than two or three in a brood to reach the required standard of 

 shape, size, comb, colour, and feet, while not one bird in a 

 thousand is perfect in every respect. 



The best of rearing a number of Dorking chickens is, that 

 the " wasters " — birds which can never pass muster — are at the 

 very best for the table when at about ten weeks old, and should 

 then weigh from 2J to 3 lbs. each. I constantly weigh my 

 chickens, and find that cockerels at two mouths old should 

 weigh from 1\ to 2! lbs. if they are ever to be the heroes of a 

 show pen. At four and a half months old 7 lbs. is a fair weight, 

 and at six months many weigh 9 lbs., and some 10 lbs. Old 

 cocks will weigh from 9J to 14 lbs., and hens from 8 lbs. to 11 lbs. 

 I of course allude to show specimens ; but a cock weighing 

 10 lbs., if dark and perfect, is likely to win many prizes, as is a 

 hen of 8t lbs. These weights are mentioned only for the sake of 

 comparison, and birds may generally be made 2 or 3 lbs. heavier 

 by fattening ; but this would be worse than useless, as birds 

 now are never weighed, and it is frame and bone which carry 

 the day. 



It is impossible to give a standard of points of any real use, 

 as judges will always differ as to the amount to be allowed for 

 condition, nor will they agree as to the relative value of shape, 

 size, and colour ; but the following scale gives my own idea on 

 the subject. Allowing one hundred marks for a bird perfect in 



