174 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF 



unless the strain of that breed is recognised 

 for the laying propensity of the birds it 

 produces. On the other hand, it is quite 

 possible to judge of the meat-producing 

 power of birds from their appearance. Thus 

 the Dorking, like the Shorthorn among cattle, 

 the Lincoln, the Hampshire Down, the Oxford, 

 and the Shropshire among sheep, or the Large 

 White among pigs, is, in its formation, a 

 typical meat-producer. It possesses a long, 

 deep, broad breast which carries abundant 

 meat, and that of the highest quality. If we 

 contrast it with the Brahma or the Cochin, 

 we may find similar size, but form of quite 

 another type. The breasts are narrow and 

 contracted, the keel short, the meat 

 deficient in quantity and defective in quality, 

 less white in colour, less tender, and less 

 agreeable on the palate; and these remarks 

 apply with still greater force to such 

 varieties as the Hamburg, the Leghorn, the 

 Minorca, and other breeds of poultry which 

 have no claim to table purposes. 



When, however, we come to the group of 

 modern fowls to which we have already re- 

 ferred — the Wyandotte, the Orpington, and 

 the Plymouth Rock — we find something 

 approximating more closely to the Dorking. 



