CHAPTEIR V 



White Orpingtons 



Rapid Rise lu Popularity autl Remarkable Boom of tlic Variety in America — Shrewd Business Methods of 

 Promoters — Improvement iu Color, Size uud Type — Breeding and Feeding for Color and Character 



J. H. DreveiiMtedt 



llVE years ago, White Orpingtons were trail- 

 ing behind the Buffs and Blacks; today they 

 are being trailed by the latter, so great has 

 been the increase in their popularity, not 

 only in this country, but in England as well. 

 This sudden boom of the White Orpington 

 was not entirely due to the surpassing merit 

 or beauty of the new variety itself, but due 

 to the shrewdness and ability of Ernest 

 Kellerstrass in advertising and pushing it to the front. 

 Mr. Kellerstrass, like other 

 breeders of White Orping- 

 tons, was impressed with 

 their intrinsic value as layers 

 and for market fowl as well 

 as their attractiveness as a 

 large and beautiful exhibition 

 fowl. But vinlike others he 

 believed in telling the poul- 

 try raisers of the United 

 States all about these good 

 qualities in a way unheard of 

 in the history of poultry cul- 

 ture of America. Just before 

 he started on his campaign 

 of advertising the White 

 Orpington, we happened to 

 be at a noted fancier's yards, 

 and after looking over his 

 favorite Barred Plymouth 

 Rocks, we came across a fine 

 pen of White Orpingtons. 

 '"What are you doing with 

 those Orpingtons?" we in- 

 quired. "Nothing," he re- 

 plied and added: "I never 

 had a breed of fowl I liked 

 better thav. these White Orp- 

 ingtons; they breed well, are 

 hardy and the hens are 

 splendid layers in winter, ex- 

 celling other breeds in this 

 respect, and no better table 



fowl can be asked for. But nobody wants White Orping- 

 tons, so I am going to seU them the first chance I get." 

 Shortly after that he disposed of the entire flock at three 

 dollars a head. The following year, 1907, Mr. Kellerstrass 

 sent a few White Orpingtons to the Jamestown Exposi- 

 tion among the lot being the now world-famous "Peggy," 

 a White Orpington hen of some merit, in fact she was the 

 class of the Orpington exhibit, shape, size and color being 

 almost perfectly blended in this sensational and most 

 widely advertised chicken in the world. "Peggy" became 

 an attraction at leading fall fairs and winter shows, being 

 advertised and exhibited in true showman's style, press 

 and advance agents creating curiosity and widespread in- 



"PEGGT" 



The Sensational Hen That Made White Orpingtons Famous 

 and Popular in America 



terest among visitors. There was a rush to see "Peggy" 

 wherever she was exhibited, the crowds being greater at 

 the Southern State Fairs held at Nashville, Memphis and 

 Atlanta, thanks to the clever newspaper notices which ap- 

 peared in the daily papers. The gold leg band presented 

 to "Peggy," the golden cage decorated with choice flowers 

 and a dozen other little wrinkles illustrating the great 

 value of "Peggy, the 10,000 dollar hen" all conspired to make 

 White Orpingtons the most talked of fowls in America. 

 Then came the great Paderewski sale, by which Mr. 

 Kellerstrass transferred a 

 very fine pen of White Orp- 

 ingtons to Madam Pader- 

 ewski and the latter trans- 

 ferred 7,500 dollars in Uncle 

 Sam's yellowbacks to Keller- 

 strass' bank account. This 

 was the largest price ever 

 received for a pen of chick- 

 ens and will stand as a record 

 for years to come. 



This was followed by a 

 boom in White Orpingtons, 

 such as has never been 

 equalled by any other variety 

 of poultry in the past. The 

 man who gave up White 

 Orpingtons because nobody 

 cared for them,' had a good 

 thing but did not know how 

 to push it. It's the men be- 

 hind the breed that make or 

 break it. 



W. H. Cook in "The 

 Orpington and Its Varie- 

 ties," London, England, 1908, 

 writes: 



"One of the most hand- 

 some and profitable varieties 

 of tho Orpington family is 

 certainly the White. Intro- 

 duced in the year 1903, they 

 have grown in popular favor 

 ever since, simply on their merits as a perfect all-round 

 fowl, and whether used for utility or exhibition purposes, 

 or in hot or cold climates, the same report is heard, — 

 they thrive splendidly, are most popular, and there is 

 always a ready s.ale wherever they are introduced. 



"Their origin is somewhat remarkable, as, in the first 

 place, the originator, in breeding the Buff Orpington, 

 was surprised to find many chickens coming pure white, 

 and as these sports grew, their color remained absolutely 

 snow white; they appeared to be thicker set or more 

 cobby specimens than the then existing Buffs, and by ex- 

 perimenting in mating these sports (which by the way 

 were all pullets) to White Cochin, White Dorking, and 



