JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
224 
[ March 17, 1881. 
modem Dorking, which they believe to be in some points an 
improved fowl, and if a good specimen be taken, in all ways 
equal to any Dorking ever produced. The difference of opinion 
seems reduceable to these heads—1st, The form and size of the 
breed ; 2nd, The colour ; 3rd, The feet; 4th, The ears. On some 
of them the difference is certainly merely one of the degree of 
weight to be given to certain merits and defects. I will, if I 
may, briefly give my humble opinion on each of them. 1 have 
not the advantage of the years of some of the great authorities 
on the subject, though I hope that a very careful observation of 
poultry from sis years of age, specially the Dorkings in the old- 
fashioned farms of Middlesex and Surrey, may in some degree 
compensate for this disadvantage. 
1, Form and Size. —There can, I think, be little doubt that in 
size the breed has appreciably advanced within the last twenty 
years. The records of the weights of the prize birds at Birming¬ 
ham when they were judged chiefly by weight, and when conse¬ 
quently exhibitors fattened their show birds far more than they 
do at present, will prove this ; but then, has this size been 
obtained at the loss of some form ? I think, taking the Dorkings 
all round at one of our great shows, that it has. There are 
always to be found a number of leggy ungainly birds not suited 
to the table. I do not, however, see any necessary connection 
between this general increase of size and deterioration of form in 
some specimens. There are always birds to be found of great 
weight and size with the true Dorking shortness of leg and round¬ 
ness of breast. The number of leggy birds still to be seen is, I 
fancy, due to the unfortunate favour shown to such, as I have 
said, a few years ago. Harm was done, too, by the saying of a 
once great breeder of Dorkings that a short-legged bird could 
never have a frame to carry much flesh. That idea is now quite 
exploded, and many of us—nothing daunted by being for two or 
three seasons beaten in the show pen by birds which we knew 
were, as Dorkings, inferior to our own—have stuck pertinaciously 
to the old form, and have been rewarded for it. Certainly I can 
never remember seeing more perfect Dorkings in form than many 
of the winners at the great shows of the past season. It is quite 
true, as I have said, that leggy bad birds were to be found, but 
seldom in the prize pen. Some breeders have not disposed of the 
strains which to the great regret of real Dorking fanciers won for 
a time, and will, I fear, find it difficult to do so without a general 
slaughter and a fresh start. 
2, Colour. —Here I think harm has been done, and that almost 
entirely in the case of the Dark variety, by the arbitrary require¬ 
ment that the hens should be of an almost uniform shade of rich 
brown with black neck hackle. Nothing is so fatal to the utility, 
as apart from the fancy beauty of a race, as the requirement that 
cocks and hens shall respectively have markings or colour not 
obtainable generally from the same parents. The colour which 
has of late been fashionable for Dark Dorking hens is one which 
frequently, at least in my opinion, produces many nearly black 
cockerels, and thereby shows that it has been obtained by some 
cross. I do not say that this is always so, for some years ago I 
obtained two pullets—not large, but models of Dorking shape, with 
perfectly white feet—descended from an old Dorking race; they 
were of the favourite dark brown colour, and yet never produced 
a too dark cockerel; indeed, when the son of one of them took the 
cockerel cup at the Crystal Palace the only fault found with him 
was the lightness of his hackle. What I disagree with is not 
admiration of this rich colour in the hens, but the exclusion of all 
other colours, even when combined with size and other excellence. 
There is a lighter type of hen, certainly not quite so handsome, 
in which the tips of the feathers are of a darker shade than the 
rest of them ; sometimes this darker marking approaches lacing, 
sometimes spangling. I have almost invariably found this colour 
to accompany great size and white feet, and to go with handsome 
moderately dark plumage in the cocks ; it was formerly often 
seen in the show pen, but of late has been somewhat tabooed by 
judges, and most unfortunately so I think. During last season I 
occasionally showed a very fine pullet of this type, but she never 
received more than a “very high commendation ; ” while one at 
least 1^ lb. lighter, but of the favourite brown hue, took the 
highest honours. In the case of the Silver-Grey variety there is 
some difference, for it is confessedly to some extent a breed of 
feather ; however, I have usually found with it, contrary to one’s 
experience in many breeds, that the most approved form and 
colour go together. 
3, The Colour of Feet. —Of course no one wishes or likes to see 
a dark foot on a Dorking ; the question is, Is the prevalent incli¬ 
nation to darkness to be tolerated in very fine specimens, or must 
it be stamped out ? Here, I think, the old fanciers have the best 
of the controversy. There has of late years certainly been a great 
increase of “sooty feet.” I was perfectly astonished when judging 
not long ago at a great Scotch show to see the number of other¬ 
wise excellent birds failing in this point. What the cause of it is 
I do not pretend to decide ; some say breeding for very dark 
plumage. I formerly thought this, but why, then, is it quite as 
bad in Silver-Greys as in Darks ? I am inclined to attribute it to 
crosses, for I have observed it as specially bad in one strain of 
Silver-Greys which was long famous for very silvery cocks and 
pale-breasted hens, and which I am sure had Silver Duckwing 
blood in it. Dark marks are a great blemish on a leg supposed to 
be white both in the poultry yard and on the table. I have found 
them more prevalent in birds inclined to be leggy than in those 
of true Dorking form ; for these reasons I think they ought to be 
vigorously excluded from the prize pen and the breeding yard 
alike. It is sometimes said that this is a merely fancy point. 
This argument falls to the ground if there can, as I believe there 
can, be shown to be some connection between purity of a race 
which has always been known as a most palatable one and 
whiteness of feet. 
4, Colour of Ears .—For some years most Dark Dorkings had 
red ears, and little was said about the point. Of late some of the 
best specimens have shown some white in the deaf ear. Great 
objection has by some fanciers been raised to this as a proof 
of a cross with Minorcas or other white-eared breed. This I 
doubt, for I observe that white in ear generally goes with good 
Dorking form, and I can remember, too, that the old farmyard 
Dorking almost invariably had some white in ear ; indeed, one of 
our ablest judges tells me that he remembers it being considered 
a point of purity, and Mr. Harrison Weir’s well-known illustration 
confirms this view. In my own yards I shall certainly not exclude 
a white-eared bird when otherwise good, nor do I see any reason 
for looking upon it in moderation as a drawback in a show pen. 
Such roughly are my ideas upon the relative merits of the 
older and newer Dorkings. I give them for what they are worth 
and do not dogmatise, but shall be only too glad to hear and con¬ 
sider the opinions of others of your readers on the subject. Look¬ 
ing at the Dorking all round I fear we have lost something in 
plumpness and smallness of bone ; on the other hand we have 
gained size and greater hardiness, and 1 believe that by the 
present careful selection carried on by several enthusiastic fanciers 
we are likely to combine the excellencies of the old and new 
birds. In one point my own experience is that we have gained 
and are gaining much—that is, “ bumble feet” are much on the 
decrease. This I attribute to a requirement which some may call 
absurd and arbitrary—viz., that the fifth claw should be turned up 
and well separated from the fourth. There is, however, reason in 
it, and I well remember that when the two hind claws were fre¬ 
quently set close together or confused, or even had the abnormal 
addition of a third, inflammation and disease in the feet were far 
more common than I ever find them now. — O. E, Cresswell. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Himalayan Rabbit Skins. —A correspondent desires to know where he 
can dispose of the skins of Himalayan Rabbits'to the best advantage, and will be 
glad if any of our readers can supply the information. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE,LONDON. 
Lab. 51° 32'40" N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude,111 feet. 
GATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1881. 
I Barome- 
! ter at 32° 
1 and Sea 
I Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Rain. 
March. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Sun. 6 
Inches. 
29.426 
deg. 
50.8 
deg. 
47.2 
S.W. 
deg. 
40.6 
deg. 
57.6 
deg. 
46.8 
deg. 
91.2 
deg. 
42.3 
In. 
0.036 
Mon. 7 
20.312 
54.3 
51.0 
S.E. 
42.7 
59.3 
51.3 
100.6 
48.4 
0.218 
Tues. 8 
29.617 
•16.7 
43.7 
N.E. 
43.4 
50.7 
44.4 
94.6 
41.3 
0.124 
Wed. 9 
29.876 
49.0 
48.0 
S.W. 
42.-. 
53 8 
39.7 
65.1 
35.3 
_ 
Tliurs. 10 
30.038 
51.6 
49.6 
w. 
43.fi 
58.7 
47.2 
91.0 
47.6 
_ 
Friday 11 
30.072 
49.4 
47.2 
w. 
44.9 
58.3 
46.4 
103-8 
42.3 
— 
Satur. 12 
30.006 
41.7 
41.7 
w. 
4*.0 
55.1 
39.4 
79.3 
36.3 
— 
Means. 
29.764 
49.1 
46.9 
43.3 
56.2 
45.0 
89.8 
41.9 
0.378 
REMARKS. 
6th.—Fine and warm with bright sunshine; rain in evening. 
7th.—Showery, and high wind ; bright hot sun at intervals. 
8tli.—Showery with bright sunshine at intervals; starlight evening; lunar 
halo 10.45 p.M. 
9th.—Morning showery ; afternoon and evening fine. 
10th.—Fine with bright sunshine during the morning, afternoon overcast; fair 
all day. 
11th.—Very fine; bright sunshine all day ; lunar halo 10.15 P.M. 
12th.—Thick fog in morning, overcast throughout. 
Temperature much higher, several degrees above the average, and about equal 
to that usual in the first week in May.—G. J. SYMONS. 
