LEADING STANDARD VARIETIES 



The three pomts to be considered in breeding Buff Orping- 

 tons are: First, color, which should be a sound buff, free from 

 black and white feathers; second, shape, which should be similar 

 to that of the Black Orpington; third, clean, white feet and 

 shanks, free from feathering. 



Serious defects in Buff Orpingtons are: More than four 



BLUE-RIBBON BUFF ORPINGTON COCKEREL 



This cockerel won first prize at Madison Square Garden, New York, 

 1905. He was owned and exhibited by W. Barry Owen, Owen Farms, 

 Vineyard Haven, Mass. 



toes; wry tail; feathers or stubs on legs and feet; yellow skin; 

 yeUow in legs 01* feet; any colored feathers other than buff. 



Orpingtons were originally bred for utiUty only, and al- 

 though fanciers have taken them up so warmly that at all big 

 poultry exhibitions they form a show of themselves, the econo- 

 mic qualities of the breed have not suffered. 



SILVER GRAY DORKINGS 



The Silver Gray Dorking as a table fowl enjoys the dis- 

 tinction of surpassing any other English breed for the excellent 

 quality and abundance of meat. Being deep and full as to body, 

 with broad, plump breast, the Dorking probably leads for the 

 greatest quaUty of choice meat. A prominence and plumpness 

 of the breast is especially noticeable in the cock bird, which 

 viewed side ways should form a right angle with the lower part 

 of the body. There is probably no other breed so easily placed 

 in good marketable condition. The size, form, and weight, in 

 judging the Dorking hen counts much more so than in any 

 other variety of fowls. The hen is a fine sitter and excellent 

 mother, caring for her brood until they are well grown. If 



allowed unlimited range, the breed is hardy and the young easy 

 to rear if not hatched too early in the season. The hens are 

 fair layers. 



MEDITERRANEAN BREEDS 



These are the so-called egg machines of poultrydom, the 

 White, Buff and Brown Leghorns and Black Minorcas, all non- 

 sitters. Where good-sized white eggs alone are wanted the 

 Leghorns will be found to fill the need. If a heavier fowl pro- 

 ducing large white eggs is desired the Minorcas can be depended 

 upon to give satisfaction. 



The above mentioned fowls are all bred with both rose and 

 single combs, making six separate varieties. Those who hve in 

 the milder cMmates will find the single comb birds entirely to 

 their hking. The rose combed varieties are well adapted to 

 cold climates and those who want either Leghorns or Minorcas 

 for cold latitudes will do well to consider them. 



WHITE LEGHORNS 



D. W. YOUNG, Ridgewood, N. J. 



There is no family of the domestic fowl so imiversally known 

 as the Leghorn. I have been in nearly every country on the 

 globe, and being a breeder and lover of the "Little Italians," 

 have spent a good deal of time in the farming districts, in search 

 of information as to their origin. In no country where domestic 

 fowls are kept did I fail to find a trace of the Leghorn blood. 

 In fact, some of the best specimens that I saw in the Mediter- 

 ranean countries were in a Httle town just outside of Constanti- 

 nople, Turkey. 



I find that lovers of White Leghorns are apt to consider 

 them the originals, and to regard the Browns as "sports," ' (also 

 vice versa); but it seems to me that the old Leghorn family of 

 Italy was very much like our mongrel fowls of today, i. e., would 

 breed to almost any color, but would hold the Leghorn char- 

 acteristics which are so much admired in these days. 



Antonio Conto, who has one of the best established poultry- 

 ranches in Italy, just in the suburbs of Florence, told me in an 

 interesting conversation that I had with him, that he started 

 over fifty years ago to breed the Whites and the Reds (as the 

 Browns are called in Italy), by selecting here and there a bird 

 as near to his hking as possible, and after mating the Whites 

 together found that he got almost as many Browns, Blues and 

 Blacks as he did Whites, and same way with the pen of Browns. 

 This seemed to be the general opinion of the breeders I met in 

 many parts of Italy. 



I have often heard my father say the same thing of the 

 first birds he imported from Italy, between the years of 1853 

 and 1860, which were brought over by an old sea captain named 

 Stratton, of Lewisburg, N. Y., who made a business of taking 

 merchandise from tliis country to Leghorn, Italy, and bringing 

 back marble for ballast. Those early birds were very much 

 the same as may be seen today in Italy, or in the other Mediter- 

 ranean countries. The Whites were small, with yellowish 

 white plumage, squirrel tails, roach backs, short, low set bodies, 

 having large, beefy, unevenly serrated combs, long pendulous 

 wattles, red faces, red ear-lobes and yellow eyes. The majority 

 of them had yellow legs with stubs or down on the shanks and 

 between the toes, but they always were very sprightly and alert 

 and were known for their great laying quahties. 



Take the show specimens of today and one can readily see 

 what the American fancier, by persistent study and hard work, 

 has done to beautify this noble variety which, without a doubt, 

 is the most profitable of any of our domestic birds, as is proved 

 by the great number that are kept by the most successful egg 



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