18 SPECKLED DORKINGS. 



I have omitted the usual long, dull, and uninteresting introduc- 

 tion that generally precedes the practical matter in works of this 

 kind, treating of the origin, <fec., of the gallinaceous tribes, which 

 must of necessity be mere speculation, inasmuch as the truth can 

 never be developed. 



L. F. Allen, Esq., of Black Rock, N. Y., was among the 

 first, if not the first person who imported the speckled Dorkings 

 into this country. He has bred them some ten years, and has 

 kept them pure, if they can be called a pure breed. They 

 must, however, now be considered a pure breed, I think, or 

 they would have degenerated and " cried back" to their pro- 

 genitors. Crosses generally when bred in-and-in, will rapidly 

 degenerate, and sooner or later run into the breeds from which 

 they originated, or show the main characteristics of such breeds. 

 This is termed " crying back." To produce in time, a pure 

 breed from a cross, is asserted by some writers as possible to 

 effect, and if so, the speckled Dorkings are probably an instance 

 of such a result. 



Mr. Allen is still rapturous in praise of his speckled Dorkings 

 as a table fowl. He challenges the whole country to show 

 Dorkings with him. He exhibited his best specimens at the 

 New York State Fair at Rochester, in September, 1851, and 

 took the premium on that breed. 



He writes me under date of April 20th, 1851 : 



"The Dorking fowls are no better than the well selected common 

 fowls of our own country, in any respect, except their fine, full, com- 

 pact, broad bodies, as an article of food. For that they exceed any 

 other fowls I ever saw. They are tender, do. not lay so well, and are 

 less prolific than the others." 



Here we have the whole story in a nut-shell, so far as per- 

 tains to the colored Dorkings. The authority is the best in the 

 country from ten years' experience, and from one who was 

 some two years endeavoring to obtain his stock in England, 

 through his agent there, because he would have none but the 

 best in Surrey, and the breeders had formed an alliance for the 

 purpose of preventing any of the breed leaving the country alive. 



These fowls have the extra fifth toe, as well as the white 

 Dorkings, but crosses will also produce this extra toe, hence 

 it is difficult for the purchaser to ascertain whether the 

 fowls he wishes to buy are pure, or not. I have no hesitation 

 in saying, that a large portion of all the various fowls in this 

 country alleged to be pure, are more or less tinctured with cross- 



