198 COLOURED DORKINGS. 



COLOURED DORKINGS. 



AN esteemed correspondent writes to the Editor as follows, 

 concerning the above-named variety : 



You ask my opinion, whether or not the Coloured, Speck- 

 led, or Gray Dorkings, are thorough breeds ? I consider them 

 mongrels. I have seen many Fowls in this vicinity, which 

 were imported from England and Ireland under these names. 

 I have never known an instance in tyhich the progeny has 

 been like the imported Fowls. I think the only colour which 

 is thrown by the thorough-bred Dorking is white, with white 

 bill and legs, and a supernumerary hind-toe. The hind-toes 

 have a peculiar form and shape in the thorough-bred White 

 Dorking, which are not shown in the Coloured Dorkings. 



The white breed of Dorjkings have, to my knowledge, been 

 bred "in-and-in" without any variation of these peculiar 

 marks, and without the slightest change in colour. The Co- 

 loured, Speckled, and Gray Dorking have not produced their 

 like in any instance, but have reverted to the different breeds 

 from which they were derived. 



The great and well-deserved reputation which the breed of 

 Fowls known as Dorking Fowls, has acquired in England, 

 arises more from the superiority of its flesh over that of other 

 Fowls, than from its beauty of form, splendor of plumage, 

 the quality or size of its Eggs, or the weight of its body. 



In the markets of London, Fowls with white legs and five 

 toes would always find purchasers, on account of the well-known 

 richness and flavour of the flesh, whatever might be its size, 

 whether caponized or not. And as large Fowls commanded 

 much larger prices than small ones, the breeders have been in- 

 duced to increase the size of the Fowls, retaining as much as 



