FARM- YARD FOWLS. 



123 



layers, though not quite so early in the season 

 as the Asiatic and some others ; they are good 

 feeders, good sitters, good mothers, hardy, and 

 are well worthy of promotion in the poultry- 

 yard. 



Merits. Dr. Bennett, in his "Poultry Bookj" 

 says, " I know of no fowls which have stood the 

 test of mixing without deteriorating better than 

 the Dominique. They are said to be from the 

 island of Dominica, but I very much doubt it. 

 I should incline to the opinion that they took 

 their name from being ' tenants at will' of some 

 feudal sovereignty. Why it is that so perfect 

 bloods should have escaped description of poul- 

 terers, I am unable to divine. It is true they 

 are rather small, and that is the worst thing that 

 can be said of the Dominiques. They were in- 

 troduced by the French, and not a Dutch fowl, 

 as some suppose." 



In the Appendix to "Browne's Poultry- Yard," 

 the late venerable Samuel Allen, when speak- 

 ing of the comparative merits of the different 

 breeds of fowls, says: "The Dominique fowl 

 is another breed becoming more and more in 



favor, as they are universally pronouced as be- 

 ing hardy, good layers, careful nurses, and af- 

 fording excellent eggs and flesh. Besides, their 

 beautiful appearance, when in full plumage, is 

 quite an acquisition to the farm-yard or lawn." 

 Mr. G. C. Pierce, of Danvers, Massachusetts, 

 a breeder of merit, says concerning the Domi- 

 nique fowls : " Taken all in all, I believe them 

 to be one of the very best breeds of fowls we 

 have, and I do not know of any breed that al- 

 ters so little by in-and-in breeding; they are 

 first-rate layers, and although they do not come 

 into laying so young as the Spanish, I think 

 them far better sitters and nurses." 



THE DORKING FOWL. 



" It is our firm belief that the fowl now known 

 as the Dorking," say the authors of the " Poul- 

 try Book," " a very valuable and favorite variety, 

 which takes its name from a town in the county 

 of Surrey, might be much more correctly desig- 

 nated the 'English fowl.' It is supposed to 

 have originated in Surrey, where, and in its vi- 

 cinity, they are still said to be found in great 

 plenty and perfection. This opinion is founded 

 on the probability that they are the lineal de- 

 scendants, of course of various intermixtures, 

 from those which our British forefathers bred 

 at the time when they first became intimately 

 known to the Romans ; or that they are simi- 

 larly descended from fowls introduced by those 

 conquerors of our island. 



"It is in vain to endeavor to follow their 

 origin farther ; but those who would trace our 

 gallinacious birds to an Eastern source, will take 

 comfort from the certainty, or all but certainty, 

 that the world's merchants in the days of Solo- 

 mon the Phoenicians visited the British Isl- 

 ands, the Cassiterides, for their tin. These mer- 

 chants who bought goods to exchange for it, 

 seeing the Britons' fondness for domestic poul- 

 try, may have brought fowls to barter for the 

 metal. 



"The Romans probably weakened the preju- 

 dice of the Britons against eating the domestic 

 fowl ; and, as it is well known they strove to im- 

 prove the British farming and gardening, so it 

 is more than reasonable to conclude that poultry 

 shared in the progressive effort. Our most prev- 



