94 Profitable Poultry Keeping. 



and is now thoroughly acclimatized here. It is espe- 

 cially worthy of the attention of those who have not a 

 very dry or warm soil, or who desire a good layer, and, 

 at the same time, a plump, large table fowl ; or of those 

 who have to fight against the black leg prejudice, and 

 yet from the nature of their place cannot keep Dorkings. 

 The breed has undoubtedly been produced in the first in- 

 stance by crossing, but the same can be said of many of 

 the other breeds, and it is no disadvantage to it, as it 

 certainly breeds pure, and is one of the best farmer's or 

 cottager's fowls we have. As will be seen from the illus- 

 tration we give, the head has a small crest ; the plumage is 

 black and white spangled, the legs are pinky in colour, the 

 fifth toe is present, as in Dorkings, the form is bulky and 

 the size large. It bears confinement well, can be kept on 

 any soil, is very hardy, lays well, its flesh is all that can be 

 desired, and it is a non-sitter. We should not, however, 

 advise purchasers to take birds simply because they have won 

 in the show pen, but get them from some place where Houdans 

 have been kept for years, and bred chiefly for economic qualities. 

 They are then most valuable, and as Mr. Tegetmeier says, 

 they " may certainly be regarded as the Dorkings of France. 

 Large, heavy, short-legged, five-toed fowls, with small 

 light bone, a remarkable absence of offal, and with irregularly 

 speckled or mottled plumage, they strongly recall to mind 

 the old-fashioned coloured Dorking, as it existed before 

 any attention had been directed to uniformity of feathering 

 by the poultry shows. Their merits as table fowl are of 

 the highest excellence. No pure bred chickens mature with 

 greater, or perhaps with as great, a degree of rapidity ; they 

 feather early, are extremely hardy, and consequently easily 

 reared. The old birds are robust, and the eggs which are 

 numerous, are remarkable as being almost invariably fertile." 

 Of all the French breeds La Fleche stands at the head for 



