Live Stock, 



40 



[January, 1912. 



ment now has authority to destroy 

 infested plants, and will have authority 

 to destroy suspected plants as well as 

 soon as the "Agricultural Pests Act, 

 1911," is put into force- Hence it is only 

 a matter of time wh9n the Government 

 can effect the destruction of any plants 

 which owners may now decline to have 

 destroyed, or concerning which an 

 agreement as to terms cannot be reached 

 under the present circumstances. The 



new Act stipulates how compensation 

 shall be assessed in cases of disagreement. 



It is inadvisable to use food plants of 

 the insect in replanting ground from 

 which infested trees have been removed 

 until all suspected trees round about 

 have been destroyed. There is no 

 danger in sowing the land with grains 

 or lucerne, or in using it for any veget- 

 ables or other short-lived plants or 

 plants that die down in the winter. 



LIVE STOCK. 



BLACK ORPINGTONS. 



(Prom the Queensland Agricultural 

 Journal, Vol. XXVII., Part 5.) 



Most poultry breeders, not only in 

 Queensland, but in other parts of the 

 world, prefer the Orpington to any 

 other breed. There are some, of course, 

 who pin their faith on those splendid 

 layers, Leghorns. Others have a fancy 

 for Plymouth Rocks, others for Game 

 varieties, but the Orpingtons and the 

 great array of the Wyandotte breed 

 hold a premier place in the estimation 

 of those who keep birds for general 

 utility. The Wyandotte is very much 

 in evidence at Shows, especially in Great 

 Britain, but the Orpington is, without 

 doubt, the most popular fowl in the 

 world. What is the reason for this? 

 It is because of their strong basis of 

 utility. On this point the Rev. T. W- 

 Sturges, in his excellent work " The 

 Poultry Manual," writes :-" They serve 

 the dual purpose of providing large 

 birds for the table with flesh of first-rate 

 quality, and they are good layers of 

 large, brown eggs. They are a docile 

 breed, easily kept within bounds, and 

 the hens make gentle mothers. The 

 chickens are hardy and easily reared. 

 The Orpingtons are not yet old enough 

 as a breed to have been entirely spoilt 

 by the arbitrary selection of fancy 

 points, though the Black Orpington, the 

 oldesc of the family, is dangerously 

 near it. 



The Orpingtons are usually classed 

 amongst the British breeds, because 

 they were manufactured in England in 

 the village of Orpington, near Chisle- 

 huist, in Kent, whence they got their 

 name. Mr. Cook, the originator, in des- 

 cribing how he manufactured the Black 

 Orpington, tells us that, with the was- 

 trels from the good breeds he formed 

 the Black Orpington, using birds that 

 represented the poultry of the three 

 continents — viz., Minorcas from Europe, 



Langshans from Asia, and Plymouth 

 Rocks from America. At first they 

 were called mongrels, and they looked 

 it, but the blending of the several breeds 

 was not complete, consequently tbey 

 did not breed true. Like did not pro- 

 duce like until the innate predominance 

 of first one and then another feature 

 prevailed. But they sprang into popu- 

 larity because of the novelty of their 

 appearance, and, secondly, because of 

 their undoubted utility and hardiness, 

 and they still maintain their popularity 

 because the fancier has seized upon 

 them and fixed their points. 



How it was Done. 

 The method adopted by Mr. Cook in 

 founding the Black Orpington breed is 

 stated, in a paper read at the Poultry 

 Conference, Adelaide, South Australia, 

 on 18th April, 1910, by Mr. F. C. Lampe, 

 to have been as follows : — 



A large black Minorca cock was 

 crossed with black sports from Ply- 

 mouth Rocks, Pullets from this cross 

 were mated with clean-legged Langshan 

 cockerels, and the produce was bred to 

 the short-legged, deep- bodied type so 

 much admired in Black Orpingtons. 

 The result was a black fowl, with a 

 green sheen, clean black legs, plumper 

 than the average Langshan, white skin 

 and flesh, well-shaped carcass, and 

 above all, an excellent winter layer of 

 brown eggs. One of the chief com- 

 ponents of the Plymouth Rock breed 

 being probably the Black Java fowl, 

 which, in its turn, had much in common 

 with the Langshan, the double Lang- 

 shan element gradually overpowered 

 the Minorca element.uutil Black Orping- 

 tons reverted to little else than clean- 

 legged Lhaugshans, The eggs lessened in 

 size as the Minorca element lost power, 

 and the colour of the eyes— often thin 

 re l — reverted to the black or brown of 

 Langshans. Later on, in about 1891, 

 Mr. Joseph Partington, introduced what 



