THE ORPINGTONS 



53 



take them in any breeder's hands or in the hands of our 

 experimental stations, and look through the poultry jour- 

 nals and size them up and you will find that they are as 

 good if not better than any other known breed, when it 

 comes to egg producing. 



There is only one thing that I would like to guard all 

 breeders against, and that is be careful when breeding 

 for show purposes. Some of the best breeds in this coun- 

 try have been ruined by people just trying to breed for 

 feathers, and forgetting the utility end of it. 



Now my main object is jus't to 

 try and see how good egg producers 

 and how large fowls I can produce. It 

 is eggs and meat I am after. Take 

 the commercial end of it away from a 

 breed and it will soon fall by the way- 

 side. It does not matter how good 

 your birds are in the showroom, nor 

 how many ribbons they will take, if 

 they do not produce the eggs and 

 meat, they will soon lose in popu- 

 larity. Every day I am writing to 

 my various customers telling them 

 especially when it comes along about 

 mating time to be very careful in se- 

 lecting their birds and not breed them 

 for feathers alone, but to always re- 

 member the most important part is 

 just meat and eggs. Of course lots of 

 people say today that the White Orp- 

 ingtons are now on a wonderful 

 boom. I think that is wrong; there is 

 no wonderful boom. There is simply a 

 demand. The farmers and the breed- 

 ers and the city fellow and all of us 

 want meat and eggs, and the Orp- 

 ingtons produce those two things. 



and that is the reason why everybody wants them. 

 There is going to be a steady demand for the White 

 Orpington for years and years to come. They are a fowl 

 that is here to stay and to stay just as long as they will 

 "deliver the goods," not forgetting the commercial end of 

 it; just as soon as they do that, the White Orpington, like 

 a good many other breeds, will fall by the wayside. 



White Orpingtons Best Layers 



Comparisou of the Three Varieties as Utility Fovrl 

 E. A. Harinii 



IN THE beginning I wish to say that I realize that 

 some strains or families of fowls are better than 



others of the same breed, having seen this proved 

 time and again. 



There has been so much written as to the origin of 

 the Orpington that I will not attempt to go into that. I 

 was first attracted to them by seeing a photo of Whites in 

 a poultry paper, and made up my mind that they were the 

 coming breed. I bought a few pullets from one of the 

 foremost breeders and a sitting of eggs from another 

 from which to establish a strain of my own. 



From the time those pullets started to lay, they out- 

 laid any stock I had ever handled. Afterwards, in taking 

 charge of one of the largest and best flocks of Orpingrtons- 

 in this country, I found the same trait there as with my 

 own, i. e. — eggs in large numbers when most wanted. 



In my experience I have found the Whites to lay the 

 best, with Buflfs second and Blacks next. For an all- 

 around fowl, the Whites are probably preferable for the 

 largest number of people in all localities. 



In the old days it was very difficult to breed the 

 Whites free from creaminess and the males became very 

 brassy; we are now breeding them as white as the Rocks. 



The Blacks are grand birds for size, type and plum- 

 age, and when bred free from purple barring (which some- 

 times appears), they are truly beautiful and stand without 

 an equal. 



I do not like the tendency of some of the breeders. 



