THE TENDER DORKING. 85 



of the Middlesex South Agricultural Society for the year 

 1858, and it is also reported, I think, in the State Agricult- 

 ural Report of that year. The Black Hamburg is, I believe, 

 the best of the family to raise chickens, and that, perhaps, is 

 attributable to a cross. I think there is a Black Spanish 

 cross that went into the original Hamburg, that produced the 

 Black Hamburg. The other varieties of the Hamburg family 

 are the silver and golden-spangled and the silver and golden- 

 peucilled. The white and black are two varieties of that class 

 produced within my recollection. 



Mr. Hadwen of Worcester. I have bred and kept poultry 

 for nearly forty years, and I can truly say that I have no 

 prejudice against any of the breeds. If they are well cared 

 for, as Mr. Felch has said, they will all pay a person a profit. 

 But it is often a question what kind of poultry we shall keep. 

 Now, that depends upon various circumstances. In the first 

 place, AVhat do you want the poultry for? If you want eggs, 

 there are the egg producers, — the Black Spanish, the Leg- 

 horn, the Hamburg, — and that class of poultry. If you want 

 flesh only, there are the Dorkings, the Brahmas, and Cochins. 

 But formers want a kind of poultry that is adapted to the pro- 

 duction of es^s and flesh, and with a constitution that will 

 withstand our climate. Now, the question is, What kind of 

 poultry is the farmer to choose? The Englishman says, the 

 Dorkinsr. But it is a well-known fact that the Dorking is a 

 little tender in our climate, and requires a great deal of care. 

 The man who successfully raises a Dorking must feed that 

 chicken some eight times a day, and the last thing at night. 

 A gentleman once told me that he bred Dorkings successfully. 

 He said he had a man on his farm, and he lost quite a number 

 of chickens. Upon inquiry, he found that the man fed 

 them but three times a day, and he said to him, "Unless you 

 can feed those chickens eight times a day, you are not equal 

 to your place." When they received that food, he was 

 successful. 



Now, a question has come up in relation to the roup. I 

 have no doubt there are many farmers present who do not 

 know what roup is. I kept hens for more than twenty-five 

 years before I knew what roup was ; but after I began to 

 exhibit hens at our exhibitions, I found out, and as long as I 



