3 1 6 The Illustrated Book: of Poultry. 
whatever that was — had been by this time chiefly merged into the White bieed, while the Coioure > 
variety had retained it in less degree, or had perhaps been even formed by crossing the V\ hite 
Dorking with those large speckled fowls which for many generations have been indigenous to the 
counties of Surrey and Sussex, being probably produced by the fine dry soil of that pait of 
England more than by any special causes ; though for years lately the demand for the London 
market has caused them to be largely cultivated, with peculiar care, and on a scale which brings in 
yearly no small share of the income of those counties. 
COLOURED DORKINGS. — The change from the old Speckled or really Grey Dorkings 
just described, to the larger and darker fowl now shown was undoubtedly effected by Mr. John 
Douelas, and by means of a cross. This cross has been often alluded to, but very vaguely, by 
previous writers on the Dorking fowl ; some saying that the Cochin was employed, whilst recently 
the statement has been made that the alien stock used were Indian birds of the “ Malayan” type. 
Mr. Douglas himself, however, must obviously be the very best authority upon this point, and 
has at our request kindly given the following interesting account of the process. We may add, 
that in seeking these details we were not only desirous of clearing up the matter as regards the 
Dorking fowl itself, but of publishing a valuable “ lesson in crossing” for the benefit of breeders 
generally ; this being a branch of the art which is as yet little cultivated, and by which we believe 
very valuable results might be secured. 
“ Dorkings, in 1857,” says Mr. Douglas, “were considered of a good show weight if the cocks 
attained nine pounds and a half, and the hens seven pounds and a half. The hens were then 
either of a grey or brown ruddy colour, and the cocks always showed a great deal of white in the 
tail, with breasts inclined to be speckled of various colours ; not any standard colour, as shown at 
the present day. 
“ The first and only time I made a cross was with a dark grey cock, which had come from 
India, weighing thirteen pounds. This bird was a model single-combed Dorking in all but the 
fifth toe, which was absent ; and it is quite wrong to say he was of the Malayan type, for there 
was not the least type of Malay about him — he had white legs and all the characters of the 
Dorking, except, as before stated, the fifth toe. I firmly believe he must have been a cross from a 
bird of the Dorking tribe taken out before to India, with what cross I could not say, but certainly 
not the Malay. I put to this bird seven hens eighteen months old, and the produce turned out fai 
beyond my expectations — all were decidedly of the Dorking type, and very few but what had the 
Dorking toe. Some of the pullets when seven months old weighed nine pounds, and cockerels ten 
pounds and a half ; while at eighteen months several hens reached ten pounds and upwards, cocks 
coming up to thirteen pounds ; and one bird in particular, when two years and six months old, 
weighed as much as fourteen pounds and a half, which was the heaviest weight I ever obtained in 
the Dorking fowl. 
“ So much for the first cross. The following season I mated one of the cockerels thus 
produced to thirteen of the old hens, and the imported cock to seven of his own cross-bred pullets 
Erom the cockerel with the hens I chiefly obtained my uniformity of colour in the pullets, and also 
my very dark cockerels ; but I also found I had obtained a much stronger constitution. From this 
year’s breeding many yards obtained the new blood, both by eggs and birds bought of me ; and 
from that date (1858) we began to find at our shows a steadily increasing number of the Dark 
Greys, and heavier weights began to be shown. 
“ After the second year I lost the imported cock, and had then to work with the two yards 
r had formed, but which I found no difficulty in doing. The stronger constitution thus introduced 
