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‘« As far as regards the exhibition, it was educational. The cross- 
bred Dorking and Indian game were unquestionably the best birds 
exhibited, both for plumpness and quality. Many of them were 
whiter in the skin than the Dorkings, and of much finer texture. 
‘Tt is aremarkable fact thatall these new-fangled feather breeds, 
which are so highly vaunted as proving first-class table fowl, failed 
to put in an appearance, which demonstrated the discretion of the 
owners rather than the value of the bird. 
‘The names Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Langshan, Cochin, 
Brahma, and Orpington are absent from the pure-bred classes. We 
hear much of the merits of these birds as table fowls, but the owners 
appear to be too wise to put them in competition. In the cross- 
bred birds, the Indian game and Dorking were in both classes far 
superior. 
«By far the best pair of table chickens in the Show were a 
couple of pullets that took the second prize in the class. They were 
of very exceptional merit, young, exceedingly plump, of beautiful 
quality, and altogether a first-rate pair of table fowl. They may be 
regarded as a triumphant demonstration of the merits of the Indian 
game and Dorking cross.” 
“The Stock-keeper, in its report on the Table Poultry Class at 
the Crystal Palace Show, says :— 
“The Table Poultry Class at the Great National Show was 
remarkable for the number of birds that had Indian game blood 
for a component part. We noticed that many of the birds were a 
cross between this variety and Dorkings, and notably so the first 
and third prize pens, which had white legs, deep breasts, and large 
size; the latter pair being a particularly massive couple of pullets. 
We suppose that a cross of these two varieties produces the best 
table poultry in existence, and we wonder that they are not more 
bred at the home farms of our country gentlemen.” 
The above shows decidedly that a cross with the Dorking is 
par excellence the table fowl, but crosses with the Plymouth Rock, 
Wyandotte and Langshan, being hardier breeds than the Dorking, 
would grow faster and make good marketable fowls, using a good 
vigorous cockerel with some twelve-months-old hens, as by so doing 
one is more likely to obtain pullets at the early part of the year 
than by using birds of the same season, and pullets come quicker 
to profit than cockerels. 
As regards laying, though the Indian game cannot be classed 
