ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS 45 



The following interesting facts as to the making of this 

 breed are given by Miller Purvis: "All over the country, 

 men who had sailed the seas, brought home fowls from India, 

 China and Europe. These fowls were crossed and mixed in 

 indiscriminate confusion. Red Malay, Shanghai, Chitta- 

 gong, Brahma and Leghorn were bred and crossed in every 

 conceivable way. ' ' The idea of making a new breed finally 

 came to Dr. Aldrich and Mr. Buffington. "They did not 

 agree on the exact shade the bird should be, and each se- 

 lected those which suited his fancy. Mr. Buffington called 

 his Buff Plymouth Rocks and Dr. Aldrich invented the name 

 of Rhode Island Reds for his, and each took hold of the 

 public fancy and two new breeds were born from the 

 same flock, both of them being of mongrel blood pure and 

 simple. ' ' 



The Dorking. The Dorking has frequently been spoken 

 of as the grand old breed of Great Britain. It is an ancient 

 breed, attaining popularity long before the introduction of 

 the Cochin or Brahma into Europe or America. So ancient 

 is it that some enthusiatic writer has said of it : ' ' It would be 

 vain to attempt to trace the origin of a breed which was ac- 

 curately described two thousand years ago by a Roman writ- 

 er ; and as Roman stations abound in Cumberland it is quite 

 possible ;that a poultry-fancying praetor fifteen hundred 

 years ago might send or carry in the same year the first 

 couple of Dorking fowls to the bank of the Thames/' 



Be that as it may, it is certain that Dorking is a breed of 

 antiquity, as well as a breed of great merit for meat qual- 

 ities. The Cochin craze of sixty years ago threatened its 

 existence, but the English breeders stood to their guns and 

 saved it from amalgamation with an inferior race. "While 

 a large proportion of our general-purpose and meat breeds 

 have an infusion of Asiatic blood to the extent of dominance, 

 the Dorking successfully weathered the craze, and is to-day 



