Rearing Chickens in Sussex. 



319 



the natural weakness of constitution having to be prudently allowed for. In the case of farm or 

 market stock, colour is of no importance, and crosses may be freely used, only taking care that 

 every cock purchased be a massive and thoroughly healthy bird ; but in breeding for exhibition 

 we would take all practicable means of rather repurchasing distantly-related scions of the home 

 strain, descended from similarly-coloured parents to the birds it was desired to recruit, than having 

 recourse to thoroughly alien blood. We have also good practical reason to believe that the 

 judicious use of " Parrish's Chemical Food," already so strongly recommended by us, would often 

 work wonders in this breed, by imparting both size and stamina. 



We have often been asked to describe the large "Surrey" or "Sussex" fowls which are so 

 largely reared for. the London market ; but the truth is it is utterly impossible to do so. They are 

 of no standard of colour, and even no fixed type of breed, except that a strong dash of Dorking 

 blood can be traced in them all, the fifth toe being often observable ; but this and all other features 

 vary considerably. They appear in fact to be simply a fine race of barn-door poultry, improved 

 by long and careful breeding for the London markets, which are to a large extent supplied by 



these southern metropolitan counties. They are all much like Dorkings in squareness of form, and 

 perhaps a colour as general as any may be described to be a whitish ground, freely but irregularly 

 covered with black and brown, or other dark-coloured feathers ; some white or nearly white colour 

 being observable in a very large proportion of the birds. Very often Dorking cocks or Dorking 

 hens are purchased to cross with, which accounts for the strong Dorking type presented ; but a 

 proportion of the " Sussex" blood is always much preferred to pure Dorking, as being hardier and 

 less expensive. 



The mortality among these Sussex chickens is usually very small indeed, but this arises in 

 great measure from the natural and hardy manner in which they have been reared for generations, 

 and strongly corroborates what has been already advanced as to the advantages of keeping the birds 

 — young and old — in a natural way.* This is the more worthy of remark, as hatching is carried 

 on very nearly all the year round, but more especially from January to September ; chickens in the 

 latter month being greatly valued for the Christmas markets, but even these having frequently no 

 better shelter than a cart-shed. The coop used in Sussex is almost invariably that represented in 

 Fig. "jQ, measuring about thirty inches wide by twenty-four inches in depth and height. It is 

 boarded close at the sides and back, and about half-way down the sloping top, so as to give a 



* Another stion" t( 



to the same fact will be found in Mr. Teebay's notes on his Spanish, in the next chapter. 



