378 POULTRY CULTURE 



early modifications of the initial type of the domestic fowl, and, as 

 we saw in the case of the Leghorn and Minorca, and shall find in 

 the modern general-purpose type, the English tendency is to de- 

 velop the meat qualities rather than the laying qualities in fowls. 



Sussex fowls (called also Surrey fowls), not so well known as 

 the Dorking, are probably the progenitors of that breed. The an- 

 tiquity sometimes attributed to the Dorking rests only upon a tra- 

 dition of little value, and upon the recent finding, in Italy, of fowls 

 with the characteristic fifth toe. The most authentic records (going 

 back only a little over a hundred years) indicate that the Sussex 

 was the earlier type. The Sussex, or Surrey, was developed as a con- 

 spicuous type, if not the predominant type, in the counties of Sussex 

 and Surrey, which from very early times supplied a great deal of 

 choice table poultry to the city of London. The type of the breed 

 throughout is exactly what would be expected of Italian fowls bred 

 for centuries for the table. It is larger and better-meated than the 

 English style of Leghorn, is rather short of feather (suggesting 

 occasional Game crosses), has a medium-sized single comb, and 

 is four-toed. The predominating colors are red brown, and yellow 

 or buff. A speckled variety (mottled red, black, and white) and a 

 " Light " Sussex (with the color pattern of the Light Brahma) are 

 also recognized. These are the modern varieties. The Sussex of 

 the middle of the last century are described by writers of that 

 time as of " all colors " and mostly four-toed. 



Dorking fowls seem to have developed as a strain or race of 

 the Sussex in the vicinity of the town of Dorking. Compared 

 with the Sussex they present a more highly developed table type, 

 having the fifth toe as a regular feature, and having different color 

 patterns in the modern breed. In the middle of the last century 

 they were of quite as many colors as the Sussex. There are three 

 modern varieties of the Dorking, the Silver Gray (with the 

 black-white color pattern), the Colored, or " Dark " (a crude and 

 somewhat irregular variation of the black-red combination), and 

 the White. The last-named has a rose comb, is smaller than the 

 others, and lacks much of the characteristic Dorking size, shape, 

 and carriage. Typical specimens are not often seen in America 

 outside of drawings. Red and Cuckoo, or Barred, Dorkings are 

 also occasionally found in England. 



