IG 



THE ORPINGTONS 



No one who has tried them is disappointed with them, as 

 they fill the egg basket when the snow is on the ground." 



The Rose Comb Black Orpington cock and hen illus- 

 trated on page 9 are reprints from the "Fancier's Gazette,'' 

 England, 1890, and represent the Ideal Orpington of 

 that time. As might be expected, there was much adverse 

 criticism at that time over these newcomers in the poultry- 

 field, not only in England but in America. Our own com- 

 ments on Mr. Cook's article were published in the Fan- 

 cier's Journal, Philadelphia, Pa., July 19th, 1890, which 

 read in part as follows: 



"Our information regarding this breed comes from a 

 gentleman who visited the yards of the originator in Eng- 

 land for the express purpose of buying Orpingtons. He 

 was thoroughly disappointed in the latter, and stated to 

 us that there was nothing uniform about the look of the 

 birds. 



"In reading Mr. Cook's article one can plainly see the 

 attempt to push these birds ahead of all other breeds. It 

 is a transparent dodge to catch the usual dollar. They 

 are so immensely superior to other varieties that about 

 the only thing we can do is to invest at once and buy a 

 few. The Black Java is one of the best fowls we have, 

 and the Single Comb Orpington could scarcely be men- 



IViNNEi?. OF FIRST PEiZE NEW YORK DPC,l9o7. 



BSCp a:IP owNEi^ BY OWEN PARMS.VINEYAP^SHAVEN.MASSl 



BTFF ORPIXiITdX PULLET— AMERICAN 

 TYPE 



tioned in the same breath with that thoroughbred fowl. 

 The assertion that the Rose Comb Orpington fills a place 

 of its own is erroneous, as we have a- black Wyandotte in 

 this country which will fully equal the Orpington in useful 

 qualities and surpass it in breeding qualities. The Black 

 Wyandotte is a true sport — not a cross. 



"In bolstering up the excessive good qualities of the 

 Orpington the originator makes some very queer state- 



ments. He says: Take Minorcas, for instance, which have 

 red or otherwise bad ear-lobes. They are usually the 

 finest birds and lay before their more perfect sisters.' 

 This will surprise many breeders who pin their faith on 

 white ear-lobed birds as layers. The great records made 

 by Hamburgs, Leghorns and Andalusians as egg-pro- 

 ducers would, according to the above statement, be vastly 

 improved if the white ear-lobes were bred out. He goes 

 on to say: 'Black Rocks frequently lay a month or six 

 weeks before the speckled birds, and they grow into the 

 finest shaped birds also.' This is another surprise. Close 

 observer, that Mr. Cook, but Plymouth Rock breeders will 

 smile at the assertion. It reminds me of the statement 

 made by a friend who bought some White Rocks. He 

 claimed that they laid 'way head of the Barred,' but sub- 

 sequently found out that he was breeding a cross-bred 

 Leghorn-Brahma instead of a White Rock. 



"The most radical statement made is that 'Langshans 

 that come clean on the leg are also the best layers.' Any- 

 thing to boom the clean-legged, black, red ear-lobed Orp- 

 ington will answer the fertile-brained originator. The 

 feathers on the legs of birds have nothing to do with lay- 

 ing eggs. If so we had better discard all feather-legged 

 breeds." 



The above was written twenty years ago when we had 

 the Missouri habit, "wanting to be shown," as well as hav- 

 ing a membership in the Doubting Thomas Club. The 

 world, especially the poultry world, moves rapidly, the 

 scenery changing suddenly in unexpected places, so we 

 must take ofif our hat to the Orpington fowl today and ac- 

 cord to William Cook the honor of having built not better 

 than he knew, but what he knew in the beginning would 

 prove a new and popular breed of poultry. 



Origin of Other Varieties of Orpingtons 



Although the general belief is that William Cook 

 originated not only the Black Orpington, but also the 

 Whites, Buffs, Jubilee and Spangled varieties, there are 

 English authorities on poultry who dispute Mr. Cook's 

 claim as the originator of the Bufif and White varieties, 

 but accord him the sole credit of producing the Blacks, 

 Jubilee and Spangles. Mr. Cook as far back as 1880, be- 

 fore the Black Orpingtons made their appearance, was 

 busy crossing White Leghorn cocks with Black Hamburg 

 pullets, and mating the white pullets from this cross with 

 White Dorking cocks; but it took him nearly ten years 

 to get a perfect white fowl and eliminate the fifth toe o* 

 the Dorking, specimens of which he exhibited in 1889. 



In order to get the true facts regarding the origin of 

 all the varieties of Orpingtons, D. E. Hale, Associate 

 Editor of the Reliable Poultry Journal, made a careful 

 study of the English poultry press and books and pre- 

 pared a special article on the subject for this book. Ex- 

 cepting Black Orpingtons, which are described by the 

 originator in the preceding pages, the origin of all other 

 varieties is clearly stated by Mr. Hale as follows: 



The BufI Orpington 



There has always been considerable dispute as to 

 how the Buffs were originated. Mr. Cook claimed he pro- 

 duced them by making J:he following crosses: He first 

 crossed Golden Spangled Hamburgs with Buff Cochins. 

 The offspring he crossed with dark or colored Dorkings; 

 the progeny of this cross were bred back to Buff Cochins 

 and produced the Buff Orpington. The following diagram 

 will perhaps .give a clearer idea of how the crosses were 

 made: 



