120 
PURE DORKING FOWLS. 
PURE DORKING- FOWLS. 
In the portrait below, the reader will recog¬ 
nise a true Dorking, a fowl which has received 
as jealous a care in its breeding at Surrey, Eng¬ 
land, as suits the pleasure of a. fancier, who goes 
for purity of blood. So careful are the inhabi¬ 
tants of Dorking, of retaining these fowls in 
their own neighborhoods, that it has been with 
extreme difficulty that they could be obtained 
at any price. 
When I secured my first lot of Dorkings, some 
ten or twelve years since, through a friend who 
was making a periodical visit at Dorking, he 
assured me that it was only after a trial of some 
two years, that he could obtain them, and then 
only by allowing a resident to go down to the 
Dorking Fowls.—Fig. 39. 
ship and see them safely off for America, the 
producers of the stock being fearful that other 
sections of England might secure the breed. 
As corroborative of others finding a like dif¬ 
ficulty, I extract from the “ American Agricul¬ 
turist,” vol. iv., p. 204, the following :— 
“ As Dorking fowls are likely to be in vogue 
now, we think it advisable to caution all those 
who wish to possess good ones, to be very care¬ 
ful what they buy. Choice birds are extremely 
difficult to be had, as we found to our cost when 
in England, and it was only by special favor we 
procured some at last. 
“Capt. Morgan has been upwards of two 
years endeavoring to obtain this importation, 
and finally succeeded only through a worthy 
clergyman, Mr. Courtney, of the town of Dork¬ 
ing, a passenger with him on a recent voyage 
home from the United States. 
“ He accompanied them by a note, apology¬ 
sing for the high price he had to pay, and fur¬ 
ther saying: ‘ The chicken breeders of Dorking 
have adopted a sort of principle, that they will 
send away no birds alive, except capons, as they 
desire to retain them, as much as possible, 
among themselves, in which, by caponising, 
they carry on quite a profitable trade, and they 
can only be had by particular favor.’ ” 
Among the first fowls which were imported 
for me, most of them were white or cream-col¬ 
ored, and a few speckled. The contour of the 
white being most pleasing to my eye, I selected 
that color, or the cream- 
colored, for my own yard, 
and handed over to a 
friend all those which 
were speckled, or of a 
greyish tint. 
Since the first importa¬ 
tion, I have received from 
the same source, addition¬ 
al supplies from time to 
time, with the view to 
avoid an in-and-in breed¬ 
ing of the stocks. 
The pair of fowls fig¬ 
ured above, will be two 
years old the coming sea¬ 
son, showing a more full 
development than would 
those of a less mature age. 
The weight of the cock is 
8£ lbs., that of the hen is 
fully 6i lbs. When ca- 
ponised, this breed has 
been known to weigh 9 to 
12 lbs. 
Of this breed, Dickson, 
in his last work on poul¬ 
try, (1847,) says: “These 
fowls, [Dorkings,] which 
form the principal supply 
for the London market, are 
distinguished by having 
five toes, instead of four, 
on each foot. Their flesh 
is extremely white, suc¬ 
culent, and delicate, and 
they have the advantage of feeding rapidly, and 
growing to a very large size, when properly 
managed. Capons and poulardes, though by 
no means so common in England as in France, 
are sometimes made of these fowls, which, when 
castrated, grow to an enormous size, a well-fed 
capon having been known to weigh 15 lbs.! 
The feathers of the Dorking fowls are almost 
always white, and their legs are short, white, 
and remarkably smooth.” 
As Mr. Browne has so fully spoken of the 
good qualities of the Dorking, in his excel¬ 
lent work, the “American Poultry Yard,” it 
would be superfluous in me to add anything 
further than to say, that after a long experience 
as a fancier in fowls, having nearly every breed 
