NEW AND POPULAR BREEDS OF POULTRY. 1147 



VI. The Orpingtons. 



To a Mr. Wm. Cook is credited the honor of having originated the 

 Orpingtons, which were named after his own home. It is admitted also 

 that he originated all the varieties, we believe, except possibly the Buffs, 

 but there was some little dispute about this, some claiming that what he 

 called Buff Orpingtons were the fowls originally known a.s the Lincoln- 

 shire Buffs. In any event they are all Oi-pingtons and to IMr. Cook be- 

 longs the honor of their propagation. 



The Bujf Orpington. — The Buff Oipington is a compact fowl, created 

 through the Golden-spangled Hamburg, Buff-Cochin, and Colored-Dork- 

 ings. The Orpingtons are a large-sized, compactly-built, general-purpose 

 fowl, broad, deep, with a fairly good length of back and body, built a little 

 more after the Cochin type than any other of the general-puiiDOse fowls. 

 They have wonderful vitality, are good egg producers, and highly valued 

 as table poultry. They have good length and fulness of the breast and 

 plumpness of the carcass. They are very attractive fowls in all their 

 varieties, and have gained great reputation throughout the world in a 

 very few years. 



The Black Orpingtons. — The Black Orpington was produced from 

 Black Minorca male birds, black sports from Plymouth Rocks and Black 

 Langshan males, only clean-legged specimens being selected. This united 

 the blood of the Minorca, the Plymouth Rock and the Langshan, after 

 carefully selecting their offspring to produce the present-day Black 

 Orpingtons, both single and rose-combed. 



This variety has the same general breed characteristics demanded of 

 all of the varieties of the breed. 



The shape of the Black Oqjington conforms to the Buffs, except that 

 they lean more toward the Langshan than the Cochin. They arc larger 

 than the Buff variety, but are not so much like the Cochin as the Buff 

 and the Jubilee varieties. In color of plumage they are a rich, glossy 

 black, some of them beautiful in finish; bottom of the feet showing the 

 pinkish white; eyes, dark; face, wattles and ear-lobes, bright red; skin, 

 pinkish white. The only difference between the single and rose-combed 

 specimens of this variety lies in the combs. 



The White Orpington. — The White Orpingtons are believed to have 

 been produced from White Leghorns, White Dorkings and Black Ham- 

 burgs. 



The same general type of breed conformation pertains to all the Orping- 

 tons. It varies, however, an appreciable difference in the type of the sev- 

 eral varieties. The Buffs and Jubilee varieties lean toward the Cochin 

 type, while the Blacks and White favor the Langshans. 



The Jubilee Orpington. — This variety is produced by crossing Ham- 

 burgs, Cochins and Speckled Dorkings. These crosses produced birds of 

 fine size, possessing prolific egg-producing qualities. They have four toes 

 on each foot, white legs, light horn or white beaks. They are bred in both 

 the single and rose-combed varieties. They have a deep body, long, promi- 

 nent breast, skin and flesh very white, with round, bulky formation, 

 typical of all the Orpington family. 



