50 



THE ORPINGTONS 



White Orpingtons in England 



The boom of the White Orpington in the United 

 States has traveled across the seas reaching England sev- 

 eral years ago and it looks as if English fanciers have 

 been caught in the boom most completely. White Orp- 

 ingtons are certainly booming in England; judging by 

 the following remarks of R. H. Davis in "Poultry," Eng- 

 land: "Whites, which are going ahead by leaps and 

 bounds, and bid fair to become the most popular variety 

 of the day since they are capital layers and table birds. 

 can be thoroughly recommended as a good investment. 

 One of the highest prices (if not the highest), namely 

 $375, was paid for a White Orpington Cock last year 

 (1909)." The illustrations of noted winners at the Crystal 

 Palace Show in 1909, which we reprint from the "Feath- 

 ered World," on pages 48 and 49, convey an excellent idea of 

 the type and size of English White Orpingtons, showing 

 the great improvement ma:de in this direction by the 

 breeders on the other side. As our English cousins are 

 very proud of white-legged and white skinned poultry and 

 like plenty of "beef" or size in utilitarian breeds, the 

 White Orpington ought to become the most popular all 

 around fowl in England. 



White Plumage Hereditary 



Color is due to hereditary sources, the excess or ab- 

 sence of one of the primary colors that are found in do- 

 mesticated races of poultry influencing the strength or 

 weakness of the various shades produced. Black and red 

 are the two pigments that play an important part in de- 

 termining the shade of buff and white. The excess of 

 one over the other influences the plumage of white 

 fowls. Where red is the strongest the white is apt 

 to be creamy in the under-color and brassy on 

 the surface; when black is the strongest, we are apt 



I FIRST RRIZ: WHITE- opplhOToIKoCK CHICAGO lyoy. 



FIRST PR\llW'0n?mt}10N HEN M tlE^tUN^ 19D9. 



A NOTED WHITE ORPINGTON WINNER 



0«N£T) B'f 



V LAWRENCE JftCKSON Hf\-(SV) Ll-i Vh- J 



A TYPICAL ORPINGTON HEN 



to get the whitest birds, i. e. of that snow white or silvery 

 tinge so popular among fanciers of white fowl. This is 

 easily noticeable in chicks when first hatched showing 

 gray backs, and in matured cockerels and pullets showing 

 gray ticking. Such birds have silvery white quills and if 

 selected as breeders will reproduce the same color, re- 

 gardless of the color of the grain fed. On the other hand 

 matured specimens with creamy plumage and yellow 

 quills will not be made to produce silvery white plumage 

 and quills by feeding white grains only. The hereditary 

 tendency of the red pigment is there and can only be 

 bred out by careful selection and mating of the whitest 

 breeders each year, or by using a black out cross. Some 

 strains of White Wyandottes, White Plymouth Rocks and 

 White Leghorns rarely produce anything but silvery white 

 progeny, notwithstanding the fact that their owners have 

 fed yellow corn year after year. Neither has climate any 

 effect on such silvery white birds, as we have seen just as 

 fine ones raised in the Sunny South as in the colder 

 northern, eastern and western states, where Old Sol is 

 only in his glory for a few months of the summer. It is 

 true that exposure to the sun and rain in summer and 

 fall will often cause brassy hackles, backs, wing-bows and 

 saddles in old males, but as a rule where the silvery white 

 blood is strongest the brassiness is aljsent regardless of 

 exposure to sun and rain. 



Handling and Feeding for Exhibition 



There are, howexer, many good breeders who firmly 

 believe that the color of the grain fed affects the color of 

 the plumage of white fowls, and their views are entitled 

 to considerable respect and demand careful considera- 

 tion. One of the best articles on this subject appeared 



