December 1, 1907 
Bike Pia eRe ee ee eee 
side springs. ‘These faults are too often 
overlooked in the hens, Ear-lobes, wattles, 
and face should be bright red, with smooth 
even tenure, 
The head is rather large but not coarse, 
and with tha neck is silvery white, 
Feathering of neck full ; and here Nature 
‘insists on one of her own prerogatives. 
The feathers of the neck have a dark 
stripe in the centre and no amount of 
selection changes it with the other colors 
of the body; but the narrower the stripe 
the lighter is the color of the nesk. As 
the feathers approach the head the smaller 
the stripe. till the head feathers are all 
silvery white, and thisis best without a 
tinge of brown towards the throat. The 
neck should be well arched, the full 
feathering sitting well over the shoulder. 
As in all Dorkings the eyes are red, or to 
be strictly correct, the color is a deep 
orange or light red. 
. Body should be deep, long and broad ; 
breast salmon color, blending to grey on 
the sdes. The term salmon color, or 
salmon red, is often misunderstood ; 
salmon color is a reddish pink, softened 
on the Dorking breast with the least tinge 
of grey in it which gives it a subdued 
shade. The deep red of some houns is too 
dark for silver grey hens; that was the 
color of the old ‘Grey Dorking’ before 
the Silver Greys were bred. oo light or 
faint colors are also defective. A good 
rich, soft, salmon color, with as little light 
shafting and edging as possible, and 
entirely free from dark spots or tip 
feathers, is the handsomeet breast. A 
good evenly colored breast isa point of 
great desirability in a Silver Grey Dorking 
hen. This color is not found in any 
other breed of fowls except Game and 
then it is seldom as rich, For the sake 
of getting light backs and neaks, the 
bresst color is ofcen overlooked or under- 
estimated in the Sho pen, Many hens 
and pullets are awarded prizes on account 
of their backs, whiie their breasts are poor 
in color. The breast color rhould be more 
regarded, as it is a distinctive Dorking 
feature. 
We now come to t e color of the back 
of the Silver Grey hen, which gives the 
name to the breed. Jt is not a solid 
color, but when looking at it closely we 
see a very fine mottling of deep grey 
and light grey. On examining a feather 
wo find it is made up of very fine etchings, 
short wavy lines and fine longish dots, 
neither round spots nor straight lines. 
Some term it pencilling, but pencilling is 
more applied to fine lines on the edges of 
feathers, This mottling is very oeautiful 
and ig seen in some species of wild birds, 
especially game birds, but in none purer 
than the Silver Dorking. The light and 
dark are about equal in quantity ; when 
the dark predominates the color is defec- 
tive. The shafts of the feathers are light, 
but the less conspicuous the better. Very 
few birds are seen without the light shaft- 
ing; yet there is a possibility of breeding 
out the light shafts, so that the back 
would resemble a piece of broken steel at 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
the fractuee. There is reason to believe 
that this result can be brought about, as 
we have seen in Partridge Cochins, which 
once had light shafts toa great degree. 
bué still no other quality should be sacri- 
ficed for the absence of shaft color. [ 
have seen small inferior birds awarded 
first prize over large ones with good backs, 
fine in all other respects. 
Many birds have lightes or darker tips 
to the feathers, which mar the even steel 
coior. A shade of brown or drab often 
appears, and in the latter part of summer 
most backs incline that way in the old 
faded feathers before moulting, but come 
out bright and clean in new feathers— 
under part of body and fluff are grey. 
There is a tendency on the shoulder and 
upper wing coverts to have a reddish 
tinge. This is a persisteut feature of this 
breed and it should be avoided in the 
Show pen and bred out as much as pos- 
sible at all times; it is gradually disap- 
pearing, bnt it is a decided bore to 
breeders of Show birds. The wings 
shouid be closely folded and carried well 
up. Coverts and bow, silver grey with 
white centre lines, Primaries and secon- 
daries, upper webs brown, lower webs 
slaty, mottled with grey. The tail of fair 
size to match the body color, and carried 
in a fairly elevated position. The large 
feathers are grey on the outsides, dark 
brown on the insides. Thighs strong, also 
grey in color. Lyggs white, and the fifth 
toe must be perfect in form and develop- 
ment. It will be seen that a bird with 
such fine coloring, form and size, is not to 
be overlooked, for added to all this, it is 
a bird of fine carriage, graceful movement 
and symmetrical proportions. 
2,000 Hens in One House. 
Almost all pouliry books and writers in 
the poultry papers say that not over 40 
to 50 heas can be successfully kept in one 
house. ‘his involves a ijarge amount of 
-work. The keeping of 400 hens in that 
way means the care of eight or ten sepa- 
rate houses and a great many steps. 
The ‘Rural New Yorker’ has found a 
man who keeps 2,000 hens in one house, 
and has engaged him to describe his 
method. We copy his article below, but 
will add that in our climate a much cheaper 
house will answer just as well, We must 
take exception to his style of roosts. 
Being permanent, they are always in the 
way. A much better plan is to take your 
scantling, or, where they can be had, a 
peeled pole 3 or 4 inches in diameter and 
nail short legs to it, making a bench not 
over 12 to 18 inches high. This answers 
the purpose quite as well, and can be 
taken out doors to burn off vermin if 
desirable, or moved to one side when the 
house is to be cleaned. 
Dr. B. Burr, of Maryland, U.S.A., thus 
describes the house :— 
The “ Burr 2,000-hen one-man house,” 
the writer believes, is a solution of the 
problem of keeping poultry on a paying 
“upstairs and down. 
I5 
scale. The superstition that hens kept 
in flocks larger than 20 to 30 would not 
give as good results as the smaller flocks, 
giving 10 square feet of house room and 
100 square feet of yard room as the 
smallest area compatible with good re- 
sults, is absolutely false, being based on 
theory entirely, while the basic law is 
that results are governed by the cubic 
feet of clean, fresh air available for each 
bird. While hens require warmth only 
during four months of the year, and 
during the other eight months all the 
active air they can get, most poultry 
houses are constructed to keep them 
warm for twelve months. The further 
disadvantage of a divided house is that 
the conditions of light, heat, and air are 
not alike in any two pens. In regard to 
yards, ‘ unlimited’ healthy range for 
1.000 hens can be had in a yard 100 feet 
square, provided this yard is kept ploughed 
and sown to green feed as often as it be- 
comes bare. Asa matter of economy is 
green feed and labor, three or four yards 
are attached to each house—front, back, 
and at either end, in a single 1,000-hen 
house—and a continual: crop of green 
food is produced. the growing of which 
keeps the yards from growing ‘sick? 
The same sanitary care of the dirt in the 
house accomplishes the same ends—viz., 
the dirt from the lower scratching floor 
is thrown to the upper roosting floor, and 
raked out gradually with the manure, 
thus keeping the lower floor always sweet 
and clean, The straw or other litter used 
for scrntching is changed every few weeks 
and spread on the land for top-dressing, 
The house is built long and narrow to 
give the most Jight and air and control- 
lable ventilation. It is built in two storys 
to economise roof, cost, and labor, and 
ensure dry and airy sleeping quarters. 
The lower story frent is partially enclosed 
with glass doors in winter to keep out 
rain, snow, and wind, and the house is 
faced a trifle to the east of south-east to 
give the greatest amount of sun in winter 
and the last insummer. Take any unused 
building, preferahly one that can be 
placed in a lot and faced as above, and if 
your studding is long enough put in a 
floor, giving head room for the attendant 
If not, raise the 
building high enough from the ground to 
make the distance-from ground to plate 
11 to 12 feet. Set on posts 3 feet in the 
ground (this is the only foundation that 
is rat and mouse proof), and raise the 
grade of ground 12 inches under house, 
sloping away from it. 
- Undertakers. 
ADDY, J. C., & SON, Funeral Direc-: 
tors and Carriage Proprietors. 
All Funerals. conducted. under personal 
supervision. 113 Flinders St., Adelaide 
Phones—Adelaide 1677, Port 110, and 
Semaphore 255. and Jetty Road, Glenelg. 
Phone 78, 
