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STANDARD-BRED

ORPINGTONS

Black, Buff and White

Their Practical Qualities; The Standard Requirements; How to
Judge Them; How to Mate and Breed for Best Results, With
a Chapter on New Non-Standard Varieties

J. H. DREVENSTEDT, Epiror
\\

CONTRIBUTED TO BY THE BEST KNOWN AND
MOST EXPERT BREEDERS AND JUDGES IN AMERICA

BULEY ILLUSTRATED

Text and Illustrations are Based on the Requirements of the 1910 Edition of the
American Standard of Perfection

PRICE, SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

PUBLISHED JOINTLY BY

Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Company, Quincy, Ilinois
AND

American Poultry Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York

COPYRIGHT BY
RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
QUINCY, ILLINOIS
. 1911

©c1.A284109

Table of Contents

Pen of Black Orpingtons, - = 2 2

Introductory, - - - - 5 = E

Chapter I
Orpington Type, - = 2
Chapter II
Orpington Origin, - - = = :
Chapter III
Black Orpingtons, - - = 2 2 -

Chapter IV
Buff Orpingtons, - - - -

Chapter V
White Orpingtons, - - = -
Chapter VI
Non-Standard Varieties,
Chapter VII
Orpingtons as Exhibition Fowls, - .
Chapter VIII

What Breeders Say, -

Chapter IX
Orpingtons as Utility Fowls,

Chapter X

Conditioning and Training Fowls for Exhibition, -

Frontispiece

page 9

19

36

60

69

76

ic,
Paints

INTRODUCTORY

HIS BREED BOOK, devoted to the Orpington race of domesticated poultry, is the
first and most complete of its kind published in America. England has produced

many Standard-bred varieties of superior merit and surpassing beauty in the past,

Px

England, but in Australia, Canada, and the United States as well, are Orpingtons enjoying un-
bounded popularity. The intrinsic merit of the Orpington fowl for utilitarian purposes, its

but we have no hesitation in stating that its newest production, the Orpington,

is the most universally popular breed ever originated in Great Britain. Not only in

commanding size and solid type, combined with beauty of plumage, are invaluable assets that
assure its permanent popularity.

That a book giving an authentic history of the origin of the Orpington, its develop-
ment as a Standard-bred fowl, its value as a layer and meat producer, and a description of its
fine exhibition points, with proper illustrations for mating, breeding and judging all varieties
of Orpingtons, is needed, is obvious.

In undertaking the task of compiling a book of this character, I did it with a feeling of a
responsibility greater perhaps than the results may show, but readers can rest assured that a
careful research has been made into the history of the breed from its origin to its final de-
velopment into three Standard and eight non-Standard varieties. For most of the im-
portant data relating to the above I am indebted to the Lewis Wright’s “Book of Poultry,”
E. Campbell’s book, “The Orpington And Its Varieties,” both standard English works;
also to letters and articles written by the originator, William Cook, Captain Gedney, Har-
rison Weir, Wallace P. Willett, and others.

To the Reliable Poultry Journal, American Poultry World, D. E. Hale, A. O. Schil-
ling, and many prominent American breeders of Orpingtons grateful acknowledgment is due
for. their valuable contributions to the different chapters of this book. Special attention is
directed to the beautiful illustrations by Franklane L. Sewell, Arthur O. Schilling and I. W.
Burgess. This art work is one of the great features of this book, unrivalled and unapproachable
in beauty of design and finish.

Having made a study of the Orpington fowl as a judge at the earlier exhibits held at Mad-
ison Square Garden Shows, New York, and at other large shows in the East, South and Canada
up to the present day, the task has been a congenial one and the conclusions arrived at are the
result of an impartial judgment of the facts as they appeared to me. That “The Orpingtons”
will prove a valuable aid to breeders of one of the most popular breeds in the world is the sin-

cere wish of the undersigned.
J. H. DREVENSTEDT.
New York, 1910.

THE FAMOUS PEN OF WHITE ORPINGTONS SOLD FOR $7,500.00 TO MADAME PADEREWSKI
BY THE KELLERSTRASS FARM.

GHAPTER |

Orpington Origin

Authentic History of the Origin of Black, White, Buff, Spangled and Jubilee Orpingtons—Black Orpington
First Produced and Exhibited in America in 1890—Claims of Other Originators in Producing Buff
and White Orpingtons—History of the Different English Strains of the Three Standard
and the Eight Non-Standard Varieties of Orpingtons

J. H. Drevenstedt

WENTY years ago Orpingtons were exhib-
ited in America for the first time, the Single
Comb Black Orpington being the original
variety shown. It was the first of a dis-
tinctly new breed of fowl originated in 1886
by William Cook of Orpington, County of
Kent, England, whence Orpingtons take
their name. Being “English, you know,” it

took American poultry breeders some years to become

interested and enthusiastic over Orpingtons. Objections
to fowls with black
legs and white skin

were lodged against
Black Orpingtons and
later the white or
pink legs and white
skin of Buff and

White Orpingtons
was considered a ser-
ious market handicap,
as American markets
demanded yellow-
skinned and _ yellow-
legged poultry. So
the doom of the
Orpingtons was pre-
dicted before breed-
ers on this side of
the Atlantic became
acquainted with the
good qualities of this
new Enelish race of
fowl, or realized that
a master hand at pro-
moting and advertis-
ing new breeds was
at work in England,
Australia and Amer-
ica, boosting the breed
he originated, by lav-
ish use of printer’s ink
which included much
free advertising for
himself—for the originator was a clever writer on poultry
topics, as well as a very shrewd breeder and dealer. The
superior qualities of his Orpingtons were “laid on with a
thick brush,” the defects he kept in the background. The
result of all these persistent and insistent claims of su-
periority over all other breeds is that Orpingtons are
today the most popular fowl in England and have made
such rapid strides toward popularity in this country,
notably in White Orpingtons, that they have become dan-
gerous rivals of the American Plymouth Rocks, Wyan-
dottes, Rhode Island Reds and Leghorns. The originator,

THE

LATE WM.

Originator of the Orpington Fowl,

William Cook, died in 1904, at a time when Orpingtons
were beginning to boom rapidly, thanks to the late and
lamented Mr. Cook and the hustling and able efforts of
Wallace P. Willett of East Orange, N. J., editor and
publisher of “The Orpington.” This was before the day
of Owen Farms, Ernest Kellerstrass and other “big guns”
oft the Orpington fancy of today, Charles Vass, Dr. Paul
Kyle, Wallace P. Willett, Frank W. Gaylor and William
Davis being the pioneers in the early Buff Orpington
days; but when Mr. Cook appeared at the Madison Square

Garden, New York,
in 1903 with a great
string of English
Orpingtons and_ re-
ceived fulsome press
notices in the daily
papers of his exhib-

its, arranged in a
clever manner at one
of the
arena, the

end big show
Orp-
ington boom in the
United States and

Canada was launched,

real

As an advance agent,
William

a class by himself; as

Cook was in

a salesman he

Was a
star, the prices real
ized by him for Orp-

ingtons at that mem-

orable show

being
exceedingly high. The
purchasers were men
of wealth, asa rule,
who realized that
aside from the fancy
end, it would be a

good business invest-
ment as well. A study
COOK, of the comparative
growth in popularity
of Orpingtons in D.
E. Hale’s article on another page of this book, will justify
the judgment of these shrewd fanciers who bought at that
time.

Orpingtons First Exhibited in America in 1890

Single Comb Black Orpingtons were first exhibited at
the show of the Massachusetts Poultry Association, held
in Boston in 1890. Single Comb Buff Orpingtons were
first exhibited at the Madison Square Garden Show, New
York, in 1899, twelve single entries and one pen being the
total. In 1901 the entries increased to nineteen single and

FIRST PRIZE PEN S-C:- WHITE ORPINGTONS AT PITTSBURGH 1910. :
BRED AND OWNED BY

LAWRENCE JACKSON — | : HAYSVILLE PA..

THE ORPINGTONS 13

one pen of Buff Orpingtons, Charles Vass, Wallace P.
Willett and Doctor Paul Kyle being the exhibitors. At
New York in 1909-10 157 Single Comb Buff, 122 Single
Comb Black, 134 Single Comb White, 17 Diamond Jubilee,
5 Spangled, 25 Rose Comb Buff, 13 Rose Comb Black and
5 Rose Comb White Orpingtons were exhibited, making
a total of 478 Orpingtons—a remarkable showing for a
breed of English origin in a country where there was
supposed to be little demand for poultry with white skin
and white or black shanks.
Early Orpington History

Wallace P. Willett of East Orange, New Jersey, sends
us the following interesting data relating to the early his-
tory of the Orpingtons: ;

“T have been keeping fancy fowls as a hobby not as a
business, except in certain instances, for the past fifty
years, and have handled in that time almost every name-
able breed from the Shanghai, my first purchase in the
eighteen fifties, up to the present time. I was always on
the lookout for something new and promising in the poul-
try world—at home and abroad. When the Anconas
started to boom in England I brought them here and
trap-nested them for four years or more, but gave them
up as not filling the bill for an all round purpose fowl.

“The October, 1897, number of Farm Poultry printed
a picture of Wm. Cook and of his Black and Buff Orping-
tons and the editorial correspondence of A. F. Hunter,
who was then visiting poultry plants in England, gave an
interesting account of meeting Mr. Cook, who personally
showed him about his poultry farm near Orpington vil-
lage. Mr. Hunter said that Mr. Cook’s business included
the shipment of 10,404 sittings of eggs in nine months.
This and more written by Editor Hunter gave me the
Orpington fever at once and I immediately entered into
correspondence which resulted in one importation early
in 1898 of Black, Buff and White Orpington eggs, direct
from Mr. Cook’s farm, from which my first Orpington
chicks of these varieties were hatched. I made a second
importation by steamer in September of the same year.
Up to that year, 1898, no Buff or White Orpingtons had
been brought into the United States, but perhaps a dozen
Blacks had come in.

“Daniel Love exhibited a Black cock and two hens at
Worcester, Mass., in January, 1891, and Wm. McNeil,
London, Canada, entered one Black cockerel at the Boston
show, in 1897. Four Blacks were exhibited at New York,
in 1896 by C. S. Williams, New Jersey, and five Blacks
were shown at New York, in 1898, by Geo. M. Shaw.

“A careful examination of poultry records shows no
other entries at poultry exhibitions in the United States.
The few Black Orpingtons exhibited had not caused the
breed to make much progress here.

“In 1898 C. E. Vass, Washington, N. J., brought over
a pen of Buff Orpingtons from “a successful breeder in
England,” not from Wm. Cook direct, and exhibited them
at Mount Gretna, Pa. This was the first exhibit of Buff
Orpingtons in America.

“In September, 1898, R. S. Templin, Colla, Ohio, ad-
vertised ‘A few Buff Orpington pullets wanted in ex-
change for one or two cockerels.’

“In 1899 Mr. Vass made two entries at Boston and he
and his neighbors made seventeen entries at New York.
At Philadelphia in 1899, there were two exhibited and this
is the record of Buffs up to January, 1900.

“The exhibits of 1899 served to call attention to their
merits and there was quite a little demand for Orpington
eggs. At the New York show, in 1900, there were some 43

entries. The writer made his first exhibit at this show,
entering two Blacks and two Buffs, winning two firsts on
Blacks but nothing on Buffs. The ‘Cook Type’ of Buffs
had not been judged before and differed somewhat from
the ‘Vass Type’ which had already been judged. It was
the only type known previous to the showing of the
‘Cook Orpingtons’ but the latter came to the front im-
mediately after.”
William Cook’s Story of the Origin.

In 1890 Mr. Cook contributed several articles to the
English poultry press, which purport to give the true
origin of the Black Orpington—the pioneer of this new
breed—at the same time setting forth in bold relief the
claims of its being the possessor of the finest flesh and skin
in existence. As a matter of history we give William
Cook’s own story of his object in creating the Orpington
fowl, as follows:

“T have heard it said by some persons when going
around a big poultry show that there are so many useful
varieties, it is difficult to decide which breed of fowls to
go in for. It certainly is puzzling to an amateur, and
even those who have kept fowls for years, when they
make a change in their breed are somewhat in a fix as to
which is the best for them to go in for. Those who have
kept a breed successfully for years are loud in their praises,
and say they are the best breed which can possibly be
kept (and very often they have not kept any other breed
at all). It is usually the amateur poultry keepers who are
so enthusiastic over their results. Unfortunately many
practical men and women will not take the trouble to
place their poultry results on record, by writing to say
how they have obtained such results, etc. I have heard
some say: ‘If we tell others of our success and mode of
working they will be as wise as ourselves.’ Since poultry
papers have become so popular the truth of the old adage,
‘Giving does not impoverish, has been proved. There is
a class of people who say that we have enough breeds of
poultry as it is, without making any fresh ones. The
Americans, however, have not paid any heed to murmur-
ings, but have kept pace with the times, and have brought
out some breeds of poultry which have been much ap-
preciated, not only in America, but throughout the world,
and perhaps more in this England of ours than in any
other part of the globe. The Plymouth Rock originated
in America, and no breed has held such a reputation as a
useful fowl all through England as the Plymouth Rock.
The Americans saw that they went well, and they soon
had another for us, viz., the Wyandotte. This breed
has taken fairly well, and has been much improved since
its arrival in England; but what the Americans believe
to be perfection the English object to. They think that
a good yellow skin is the best for table fowls to possess,
whereas English customers like to see a nice white skin
on fowls, especially when they have to go through the
markets.

“T may mention here that I have had many years’ ex-
perience in crossing fowls, and I have tried as many as
fifty crosses in a year, for the purpose of testing which
cross is the most suited to various circumstances. I used
to have birds at different parts of the country, so as to
enable me to try experiments with the various breeds and
their crosses, and this I did for many years, but had not
at that time the least idea of publishing the result. The
idea did not enter my head until after I had had twenty
years of experience in this line. I commenced very young.
To try so many crosses I had, of course, to use pure va-
rieties of almost every breed, and in doing so I had a fair

14 THE ORPINGTONS

opportunity to judge which were the best pure breeds. I
have found good layers of every breed, and I have never
yet kept any breed of fowls some of which did not lay all
through the winter months. In this way I proved that the
laying powers of the fowls are not so much regulated by
the breed as by the strain. I found that the Plymouth
Rock stood at the head of the list, for laying and table
qualities combined, for some years, but an idea occurred
to me that I could improve even on this. I will mention
(1) how I did it, and (2) why. I believed that a better
all round fowl could be produced for laying and table pur-
poses, which would at the same time suit the public.
I found out, by visiting many exhibitions and poultry
yards, that some liked the Minorca fowls, but that their

white-shelled eggs and big combs, which so soon get frost-

BLACK ORPINGTON COCKEREL—ENGLISH-AMERICAN
TYPE
Picture shows first prize Black Orpington cockerel at Mad-
ison Square Garden, December, 1908-January, 1909, as exhib-
ited by Wm, Cook & Sons, Kent, England and Scotch Plains,
New Jersey, U. S. A. The Cook Farm at Scotch Plains is in
charge of Perey A, Cook, eldest son of the late Wm, Cook,
principal originator and early promoter of all varieties of
the Orpington fowls,
bitten, were drawbacks to them. Then others fancied the
Langshan, but did not like the feathers on their legs.
Some had a fancy for the Black Rocks, but as they were
only sports from the speckled, and not an established
breed, they did not take as they otherwise would have
done. I took this all in, and resolved that from these
three useful breeds I could and would produce a bird to
suit the public. I took the three breeds, and commenced
mating Minorca cocks with Black Rock hens, then Lang-
I may mention that I used
exhibitors would have termed
Minorca cockerels with red in their ear-lobes. which caused
them to be unsuitable for breeding pure birds; the black

shan cocks to the above hens.

birds which ‘useless’—

Plymouth Rock hens thrown on one side by exhibitors as
being sports only from the grey; and the clean-legged
Langshans of no use whatever to breed birds such as were
required by the standard of the Langshan Club at that
time. Such birds as these were put on one side for laying
purposes or for the pot.

“Now, it is generally admitted by the breeders of all
these varieties (Langshans, Minorcas and Plymouth
Rocks) that the birds which I selected—the so-called
‘useless’ ones—are the best layers of their kind. Take
Minorcas, for instance, which have red or otherwise bad
ear lobes. They are usually the finest birds and lay be-
fore their more perfect sisters. Black Rocks frequently
lay a month or six weeks before the speckled birds and
they grow into the finest shaped birds also.

“Langshans that come clean on the leg are also the
best layers. When I began to breed I started with four
pens of birds so that I might have unrelated strains to
avoid in-breeding, and then I only kept those which were
the type which | had in my mind’s eye. It is only by care-
ful selection that a good bird or animal can be produced.
This breed has been before the public for three and a half
years, and they have made such rapid strides that they
have increased and spread over the country with wonder-
Wherever a pen of birds or setting of eggs
20, more are sent for. They are capital winter and sum-
mer layers and very hardy, as they stand the wet and cold
climates well. I have found them the best winter layers
of brown eggs that I have ever kept, and hundreds of
other breeders say the same. At the same time they are
very handsome fowls. The first year they were out I
only exhibited two birds at Crystal Palace, two at the
Dairy Show and two at Birmingham, and I received orders
for them from all parts of England. I was not prepared
for these orders and could not supply them. I only had
about sixty stock birds on hand and could not spare any
of these until after I had done breeding.

ful rapidity.

“T sold about two hundred sittings of eggs from them
the first year. Classes were provided for them in 1887, and
they were acknowledged as a pure breed. The leading
shows provided classes for them in 1888, including Crystal
Palace, Dairy and Windsor shows and others. I may
mention that in 1887 a club was formed, which did a good
work in providing specials, etc., at the various shows
for the further development of the breed. Of course, this
interested secretaries in the variety and induced them to
provide classes.

“The Orpingtons have the finest flesh and skin of any
fowl in existence, unless it is the Langshan, and they de-
velop more quickly than do the Langshans or Plymouth
Rocks; and if chickens of the three kinds are reared to-
gether, it will be found that. the Orpingtons will gen-
erally grow right away from the others. I have seen cock-
erels turn the scale at nine, nine and a half and ten pounds
at six months old. They are spoken of by those who have
tried them as the best of table fowls. Of course they
have black legs, which is against them in the London mar-
kets, but after a person has once dined off one he puts up
with the black legs for the sake of the delicious meat,
which is much the same as a young turkey’s in flavor and
color. As regards the eating part, I am sure no breed
can surpass them. As I have said, they are splendid table
fowls, good winter layers of brown eggs, and very hand-
some in the bargain. My pens are always open for in-
spection six days in the week.

“The Orpingtons have single combs, standing erect
in the cocks, and the hen’s may either stand up or fall

THE ORPINGTONS 15

over to one side; red face and ear-lobes, black beak, very
broad breast and long breast bone; flesh white, plumage2
black throughout, with a splendid green sheen. The cocks
have long tails, with very fine hangers (feathers at the
side of the tail.) They have a number of these feathers
which give the birds a very graceful appearance. The
tail should be carried well back, not straight up; the legs
are black, and free from any tint of yellow, a little red,
however, not being objectionable; four toes on each foot.
The feet should be white underneath. The hens should
in every way correspond with the male bird, except that
the comb should be smaller. If it is evenly serrated and
straight, it may fall a little to one side. The tail, of course,
is smaller.”

Origin of the Rose Comb Black Orpington

Of the Rose Comb Black Orpingtons, also originated
by Mr. Cook, the latter writes, in the same year:

“Lately another variety has been introduced; namely,
the Rose Comb Orpington. This is a breed which stands
from all the rest, and there is no other large

The Black Ham-

burgs are small birds, with white ear lobes, and lay white

right away
breed of black rose combs in England.

eggs, whereas the Rose Comb Orpingtons lay brown eggs
I am often asked which of the two varieties—the Orping-
ton and the Rose Comb Orpington—is the better to keep.
that it is more a matter of fancy, as they
The
Rose Comb Orpingtons lay rather the more eggs. but they
The weight of
eggs produced in a year does not vary, the quality of the

My answer is,
differ very slightly in regard to their useful qualities.

are not so large in size as the Orpingtons.

flesh is equal, and also the fowls’ appearance, except that

they differ in the matter of their combs. Many people, I

ROSE COMB BLACK ORPINGTON COCK, 1890,

find, have an idea that the rose comb variety have Black
Hamburg blood in them, but this is altogether a mistake.

“About fifteen years ago there were some Langshans
imported into England with rose combs. They were mated
with Langshans with the orthodox single comb, but many

of the progeny came with rose combs. No notice was
taken of this, and many were killed and eaten. Fortunately
I got hold of a few, and bred from them, and I bought as
many as I could about the country, until I had a nice flock

together. Then I crossed them in the same manner as I

ROSE COMB BLACK ORPINGTON HEN, 1890.

had done to get the single comb variety, using the Rose
Comb Langshan instead of the others. I wish my readers
to understand that the rose comb is obtained by a freak
not

These freaks of nature are called ‘sports.’

of nature, and from any existing breed of fowls.

All poultry keepers who have had experience in breed-
ing rose comb breeds of fowls know that they do not all
come with rose combs, although their parents all pos-
sessed rose combs. The Rose Comb Orpington is not an
exception to this rule, and being a newly-made breed, it
can scarcely be expected, when an old established breed
like the Black Hamburg throws birds with single combs.
Of the cockerels also, a few come slightly mismarked with
red feathers, instead of being black throughout, as they
should be. Some people think it strange that the cockerel
should be thus marked, but it is a frequent occurrence
that when two black are mated together, their

will throw and

breeds

progeny red feathers in their hackles
saddles.
“The Rose

throughout, with a splendid green gloss upon the plumage,

Comb Orpington cock should be black

broad in the breast, and with a nice flowing tail, carried
well back, black beak well curved, dark or hazel eyes, the
former preferred, and a neat rose comb, closely fitted to
the head, with a short spike at the back, red face and ear-
lobes, black legs with white toe nails, four toes on each
foot; the sole of the foot being white. The hen should
match the male bird in all points, only the comb and tail
are smaller. The chickens are very hardy and can be
brought up in small runs*and often lay at six months old

16 THE ORPINGTONS

No one who has tried them is disappointed with them, as
they fill the egg basket when the snow is on the ground.”

The Rose Comb Black Orpington cock and hen illus-
trated on page 9 are reprints from the “Fancier’s Gazette,”
England, 1890, and represent the Ideal Orpington of
that time. As might be expected, there was much adverse
criticism at that time over these newcomers in the poultry
field, not only in England but in America. Our own com-
ments on Mr. Cook’s article were published in the Fan-
cier’s Journal, Philadelphia, Pa., July 19th, 1890, which
read in part as follows:

“Our information regarding this breed comes from a
gentleman who visited the yards of the originator in Eng-
land for the express purpose of buying Orpingtons. He
was thoroughly disappointed in the latter, and stated to
us that there was nothing uniform about the look of the
birds.

“Tn reading Mr. Cook’s article one can plainly see the
attempt to push these birds ahead of all other breeds. It
is a transparent dodge to catch the usual dollar. They
are so immensely superior to other varieties that about
the only thing we can do is to invest at once and buy a
few. The Black Java is one of the best fowls we have,
and the Single Comb Orpington could scarcely be men-

WINNER OF FIRST PRIZE , NEW YORK,DEC:19 07.
| BRED AND OWNED BY OWEN FARMS, VINEYARD HAVEN,MASS|

SS

BUFF ORPINGTON PULLET—AMERICAN

TYPE

tioned in the same breath with that thoroughbred fowl.
The assertion that the Rose Comb Orpington fills a place
of its own is erroneous, as we have a black Wyandotte in
this country which will fully equal the Orpington in useful
qualities and surpass it in breeding qualities. The Black
Wyandotte is a true sport—not a cross.

“In bolstering up the excesgive good qualities of the
Orpington the originator makes some very queer state-

ments. He says: ‘Take Minorcas, for instance, which have
red or otherwise bad ear-lobes. They are usually the
finest birds and lay before their more perfect sisters.’
This will surprise many breeders who pin their faith on
white ear-lobed birds as layers. The great records made
by Hamburgs, Leghorns and Andalusians as egg-pro-
ducers would, according to the above statement, be vastly
improved if the white ear-lobes were bred out. He goes
on to say: ‘Black Rocks frequently lay a month or six
weeks before the speckled birds, and they grow into the
finest shaped birds also.’ This is another surprise. Close
observer, that Mr. Cook, but Plymouth Rock breeders will |
smile at the assertion. It reminds me of the statement
made by a friend who bought some White Rocks. He
claimed that they laid ‘way head of the Barred,’ but sub-
sequently found out that he was breeding a cross-bred
Leghorn-Brahma instead of a White Rock.

“The most radical statement made is that ‘Langshans
that come clean on the leg are also the best layers.’ Any-
thing to boom the clean-legged, black, red ear-lobed Orp-
ington will answer the fertile-brained originator. The
feathers on the legs of birds have nothing to do with lay-
ing eggs. If so we had better discard all feather-legged
breeds.”

The above was written twenty years ago when we had
the Missouri habit, “wanting to be shown,” as well as hav-
ing a membership in the Doubting Thomas Club. The
world, especially the poultry world, moves rapidly, the
scenery changing suddenly in unexpected places, so we
must take off our hat to the Orpington fowl today and ac-
cord to William Cook the honor of having built not better
than he knew, but what he knew in the beginning would
prove a new and popular breed of poultry.

Origin of Other Varieties of Orpingtons

Although the general belief is that William Cook
originated not only the Black Orpington, but also the
Whites, Buffs, Jubilee and Spangled varieties, there are
English authorities on poultry who dispute Mr. Cook’s
claim as the originator of the Buff and White varieties,
but accord him the sole credit of producing the Blacks,
Jubilee and Spangles. Mr. Cook as far back as 1880, be-
fore the Black Orpingtons made their appearance, was
busy crossing White Leghorn cocks with Black Hamburg
pullets, and mating the white pullets from this cross with
White Dorking cocks; but it took him nearly ten years
to get a perfect white fowl and eliminate the fifth toe of
the Dorking, specimens of which he exhibited in 1889.

In order to get the true facts regarding the origin of
all the varieties of Orpingtons, D. E. Hale, Associate
Editor of the Reliable Poultry Journal, made a careful
study of the English poultry press and books and pre-
pared a special article on the subject for this book. Ex-
cepting Black Orpingtons, which are described by the
originator in the preceding pages, the origin of all other
varieties is clearly stated by Mr. Hale as follows:

The Buff Orpington

There has always been considerable dispute as to
how the Buffs were originated. Mr. Cook claimed he pro-
duced them by making the following crosses: He first
crossed Golden Spangled Hamburgs with Buff Cochins.
The offspring he crossed with dark or colored Dorkings;
the progeny of this cross were bred back to Buff Cochins
and produced the Buff Orpington. The following diagram
will perhaps give a clearer idea of how the crosses were
made:

THE ORPINGTONS 17

Dark Dork. Ck. Gold. Ham. Ck.

Hamb. Coch. Dork. Ck.
Buff Orp. "?
P eae Cochin Heue Ham. Coch, P'I'ts Bf. Coch. Fem'l

There had been in existence for a long time a fow!
that was raised mostly in the county of Lincoln and was
known as Lincolnshire Buffs. Mr. E. Brown says as fol-
lows:

“Birds of a similar type have been personally known
to us for more than twenty years, especially in the Spald-
ing, Boston and Louth districts, under the name of Lin-
colnshire Buff. They were, however, more of the Cochin
type, due to want of definite aim in breeding and careful
selection, but were, as a rule, white skinned and legged,
and the great majority had feathers down the leg. Hence,
what Mr. Cook states he had accomplished by specific
matings, was already in existence, only needing the at-
tention of breeders to secure uniformity and refinement
of type.

“Lincolnshire breeders regard the breed as
been formed thus:

Buff Cochin Male

Dorking—Common Cross { Dorking
Common Fowl

having

Lincolnshire Buff {

“Even if we accept the statement that some of the
Buff Orpingtons were produced in Kent, there is an abund-
ance of evidence that the great majority of many present-
day Buffs are directly bred from Lincolnshire Buffs, without
the slightest relationship to Mr. Cook’s strain; or, as Mr.
R. de Courcy Peele, in his book, ‘Orpingtons and All
About Them,’ says: ‘The foundation had been laid many
years previous to Mr. Cook’s time in the shape of the
Lincolnshire Buff, a variety, if it may be so called, which
has for many years been the acknowledged farmer’s fowl
in and about Spalding and the neighboring towns.’”

Owing to the controversy which was carried on in
England for some time, relative to the origin and name
given the Buffs by Mr. Cook, and as we have never seen
the matter explained in print in this country, we again
quote from Mr. Brown’s Book, “Domestic Races of
Fowls,” in order to give the American fanciers both sides
of the question. We have heard how Mr. Cook originated
his Buffs; now let us see what others said about it.

“Around the Buffs a fierce contest arose, not in re-
spect to the qualities or the characteristics of the variety,
but the name. It is not our purpose to go over this
ground, as the doing so would be futile. Apart from all
questions as to the claims put regarding the origin, as to
whether—which is our belief—the Buff Orpington is a re-
fined Lincolnshire Buff, as to whether Mr. Cook did not
buy Lincolnshire Buffs before he introduced Buff Orpin-
tons, as to whether he did not sell Lincolnshire Buffs as
Buff Orpingtons, and as to whether birds identical and
bred from the same parents have not been, and are still
sold under both designations, there is an important ques-
tion as to name.

“When Mr. Cook brought out the breed in 1894 the
Orpington Club protested strongly against the use of the
name Orpington, and others did the same. The question
was ably summed up by Mr. Lewis Wright in his book en-
titled ‘The New Book of Poultry,’ as follows: ‘A breeder
might justifiably use any name he likes really open to
him; but when a man has already appropriated the name
of his residence to one breed, of which he tells us the com-
ponents were A. B. and C, there are the gravest objections
to his giving, years afterwards, the same name for merely
trade and advertising purposes, to another breed which,
according to his own account, has no particle of A, B, and
C, but was built up of X, Y, Z.’

“With these observations we absolutely agree, and the
Poultry Club failed lamentably in recognizing the name
under these conditions.

“The thing is done, and cannot now be altered. The
‘canniness’ which designed the coup has had its reward.
But we feel that a grave injustice has been done to Lin-
colnshire breeders. The advertising they would have
reaped has gone elsewhere.

“Fortunately ‘a rose by any other name would smelf
as sweet,’ and nothing could injure the economic qualities.
of the Buff Orpington, which proved to be very great.

“No breed of fowl has attained so universal a popu-
larity, in spite of the many disqualifications met with.

“The demand for these birds grew so rapidly that it
was impossible to meet it.

“Large numbers of half-breed Buff Cochins and
Dorkings were sold as Buff Orpingtons.

“We have seen the progeny of high-priced birds sold
as pure stock, of which 75 per cent were yellow-legged
and feather-legged. Anything bearing the name ‘Buff
Orpington’ was saleable, or as a Lincolnshire breeder
wrote us, ‘If I call my birds Lincolnshire Buff, I cannot
get more than 4s. each for them; if I call them Buff Orp—
ingtons, they readily sell at 10s. each.’

“But that stage has passed. At first the resemblance
between the Blacks and Buffs was more imaginary than

Now the latter are longer in leg and more upright.
“But the different types have been brought nearer to-
gether. Even yet there is a tendency to yellow and feath-
ered legs, but not nearly to the extent met with formerly”

real.

White Orpingtons
Mr. Cook claimed to have originated the white variety
by crossing White Leghorn males with Black Hamburg
pullets. The pullets from this cross that came white were
mated to White Dorking males.
The following diagram will perhaps give a better idea
of how the various crosses were used.

White Dorking Male

Leghorn-Hamburg Cross BUA ean ale

Black Hamburg Pullets

In spite of the above claim, many English breeders
claim that the Whites are sports from the Blacks.

Judging from the size and type of the Whites seen in
our American shows, I do not see how this could be pos-
sible, as they seem of a different type entirely, although
during the past two years the type of the three varieties
seems to be getting more uniform.

The Rose Comb White was produced in the same
manner as the Single Comb, the only difference being
that a Rose Comb Dorking was used instead of a single
comb, according to the information received from Mr. P.
A. Cook.

White Orpington

Diamond Jubilee Orpingtons

Mr. Cook claimed to have originated this variety and
we have never heard the claim disputed. They were given
the name “Diamond Jubilee Orpingtons” as they were
brought out in 1897 during Queen Victoria’s Diamond
Jubilee. One of the best pens was presented to the late
Queen. She was an ardent poultry fancier and on her
estate was to be found a fine, up-to-date poultry plant.

Mr. P. A. Cook says: “The Jubilee Orpingtons were
produced by mating the same breeds together as were
used in the Buff Orpingtons, only a Speckled Dorking was
used instead of a colored one, this being used for the last
cross.”

18 THE ORPINGTONS

The Jubilee Orpingtons have never been very popular;
why, we cannot say. They are a three-colored fowl. The
ground or main color is a rich, reddish brown, then a
black bar, which is usually a beetle green and then tipped
with white.

Spangled Orpingtons

Mr. Cook also claimed to be the originator of the
Spangled variety and produced them by crossing a dark
or colored Dorking cock with Barred Plymouth Rock
hens. The pullets from this cross were of large size and
mostly black. These were mated with a Silver Spangled
Hamburg cock.

Of course it took some time after this to perfect the
color, as the males were inclined to come drab or straw
color. The Spangled Orpingtons are a black and white
fowl, the feathers are black, tipped or spangled with white.
They are not, as yet, a very popular fowl.

Blue Orpingtons

Blue Orpingtons made their appearance at English
shows last season and are most likely a cross of the
Whites and Blacks.

Ermine or Columbian Orpingtons

Ermine Orpingtons were originated by Angier L.
Goodwin of Melrose Highlands, Mass., and first exhibited
by him at the Boston Show of 1909. They were produced
from accidental crosses of the Black, White and Buff
Orpington varieties. The color markings are the same as
those of Light Brahmas, which lead other breeders of new
varieties to make Orpington-Light Brahma crosses for the
purpose of producing a Columbian Orpington, which is
identical in color markings with the Ermine Orpington.

Cuckoo Orpingtons
The newest of the Orpington family is the above va-
riety, introduced in 1901 (?) by William H. Cook of Eng-
land, but none have been exhibited in America, that we
are aware of.
Admitted to the Standard

Single and Rose Comb Black and Single and Rose
Comb Buff Orpingtons were admitted to the English Poul-
try Club Standard in 1901. The American Poultry Asso-
ciation admitted the Single Comb Buff, Black and White
Orpingtons to the Standard of Perfection in 1904.

CHAPEER

Orpington Type

Variations of Shape and Breed Characteristics in Black, Buff and White Orpingtons—Comparison of
American and English Standard Types—Chart*Illustrations Showing the Correct Cobby
Type of the Orpington—Enéglish Type of the Past and Present Illustrated

HAPE makes the breed; color the variety” is
an old familiar expression coined by F. B.
Zimmer twenty years or more ago. It has
been used ever since by writers on Standard
bred poultry because it most briefly and em-
phatically defines the type of all varieties
bearing the family name of the breed as being
the same for all. This is, or should be the
Standard law for all breeds recognized by the

American Poultry Association and the English Poultry

Club. 5

When we speak or write about Plymouth Rock, Wy-
andotte, Rhode Island Red or Leghorn type we have in
mind only the ideal Standard shape of the breed. There
can, or should be no difference in the shape of the White,

Barred, Buff, or Penciled Plymouth Rocks, even if some

Barred and White Plymouth Rock faddists are at odds

over what the correct type should be. Individual prefer-

ence in such cases is departing from a universal Standard
accepted by all breeders as a rule, and ignored by a few
who have a type of their own strain. Compare the win-
ning specimens of the Barred Plymouth Rocks with those
of the White, Buff and Penciled varieties and departure
from Standard Plymouth Rock type in the former will
be far more frequent than in the latter. Barred Plymouth
Rock fanciers have gravitated toward the Wyandotte type
as the Standard illustration of the Barred Plymouth Rock
male clearly shows. The breeders of other varieties
have adhered more closely to the correct type and have not
sacrificed shape for color. The remarkable evenness in
type of White Plymouth Rocks seen at our leading shows
is a convincing illustration of Zimmer’s old saying,

“Shape makes the breed; color the variety.” We make the

above comparison of Plymouth Rock types because in a

similar, but greater degree, the Orpingtons are affected.

The original Orpington is the Single Comb Black. All

other varieties of the Orpington family are such in name

only. There is no blood relationship between the latter
and the Simon-pure Black Orpington, except in the case
of the Rose Comb Black, the latter having a Rose Comb

Langshan male progenitor instead of a Single Comb Lang-

shan. Some strains of White Orpingtons are claimed to

be white sports of the Single Comb Blacks, which, if true,
should entitle them to the claim of being true Orpingtons
in the blood lines and also claim heritage to the massive
type of the original Orpington. With the knowledge of
the origin of each variety of Orpington as given in the
previous chapter, it is readily understood why there is
such a variation in type in Black, Buff and White varie-
ties. To look at the three classes exhibited at shows sev-
eral years ago, no disinterested observer would have
thought the Buffs and Whites belonged to the Orpington
family, the type being distinct in each from that of the
Black Orpingtons. In the last two years the type of the

J. H. Drevenstedt

Whites has grcatly improved, the best specimens exhib-
ited rivaling the Blacks in massiveness and size and ap-
proaching closely the outline of the original type. So,
also, in a lesser degree have the Buffs gradually ap-
proached the Blacks in size and type but there is still
much room for improvement in this respect, as hundreds
of. Buff Orpingtons, albeit sound and beautiful in color,
are too long in shank, too narrow in breast and lacking
depth and length of body, breadth of back and fullness of

EARLY ENGLISH BLACK ORPINGTONS

The above illustration appeared in the book ‘“‘The Orpington
and Its Varieties’’ by E, Campbell and represents the Orping-
ton type of that day. The influence of Langshan blood is
readily noticeable in the shape lines of the back and tail of the
female and to a lesser degree in the shape of the tail of the
The fullness of the neck and the depth of the body are,

male.
characteristic of the original Black Orpington.—

however,
Editor.

hackle and tail. They resemble the Rock more than they
do the Orpington type. But here is the same old
rock which Plymouth Rock breeders have struck in their
path to uniformity of type, many breeders of Buff Orping-
tons desire a longer shanked and bodied bird than pos-
sessed by the Black Orpington of today. They find it
difficult to obtain the size, massiveness of body and the
profusion of feathering characteristic of the modern Black
Orpington, also believing the latter has been allowed to
depart from the original type of the Cook Orpingtons in-
troduced twenty years ago. A study of the illustrations—
Figures 1 and 2 of Chapter I—will show the original type
in 1890. The illustration on this page shows the English
type of 1902.

General Shape, Carriage and Plumage

In the English Standard the above is described as fol-
lows: “Cobby and compact; erect and graceful; plumage

close.” In the American Standard of 1905 Orpingtons are

20

described as follows: “Large and stately in appearance,
with long round deep bodies and very full breast and back
development. The abundance of hackle and saddle feath-
ers on the Orpington male gives him the appearance of
having a short back, whereas it is both broad and long like
that in the female Orpington.”

The revised American Standard of 1910, gives sub-
stantially the same description as the one of 1905, but in
clearer and more detailed language placing particular im-
portance on the maintenance of the cobby type, which the
original English Orpington possessed. In other words:
Keep away from the loose fluffy feathered Cochin body and
thighs seen on some strains of Black and White Orping-
tons which have been “sized up” by the introduction of
Cochin blood.. The English carriage horse, the Cob, with
his fine head, strong full arched neck, deep, full and
rounded, albeit compact, body, is the correct idea of what
constitutes the cobby type in horses, and this in a cor-
responding and modified degree, can be applied to the ac-

THE ORPINGTONS

English Standard Type.

The illustration on the opposite page represents the ideal
English Standard type of Orpingtons. It was drawn by J.
W. Ludlow, England’s greatest poultry artist now living,
and printed in Lewis Wright’s comprehensive and invalu-
able publication “The New Book of Poultry” 1902, Cas-
sell & Co. Limited, London, Paris and New York, from
which we reproduce it.

Comparison of English and American Standards

Comparisons may be odious, as the old saying goes,
but frequently, when applied to Standard type variation,
may prove more instructive and interesting that otherwise.
To fix in the minds of our breeders the true and original
type of the Orpington, no better method than the com-
parison of the American and English Standards can be
presented to the student of form. Consequently, we re-
produce in the “deadly parallel columns” below the shape
variations as found in the English Standard of 1901 and

cepted and correct type of the Orpington fowl.

the American Standards of 1905 and 1910.

STANDARD SHAPE OF ORPINGTON MALE

Section English Standard 1901 American Standard 1905 American Standard 1910
WHeadit aac. -c secs Small, neat, fairly full over eye} Medium Rather large
Beak Strong and nicely curved Short, stout, regularly curved Short, stout, regularly curved
Eyes Full, bright, intelligent Large Large
Comb Medium Medium size in proportion to] Rather large
specimen
Ear-lobes Medium size, rather long Medium size Medium size
Wattles Medium Medium size Medium
Neck ces aches Nicely curved, abundant hackle| Medium length, large, well] Rather short, well arched,
j arched, abundant hackle abundant hackle
Back Short with broad shoulders,| Broad, long, rising with slight] Broad, medium with full con-
saddle rising slightly concave sweep to tail. cave sweep to tail
Breast 4.5 Sonne Broad, deep and full, carried; Broad, deep, full Broad, deep, well rounded
well forward, long straight
breast bone
Bodyjneecnere ae Note: In English Standard the} Long, broad, deep keel, bone} Broad, deep; keel bone rather
Body section includes breast, rather long, straight, extend- long, extending well forward
back, saddle and wings.—Ed. ing well forward
Wings-s.02 foeces el formed, carried close to} Medium, well folded Medium, well folded
body ;
Tail Medium in size, flowing and in-| Medium length, fairly well] Moderately long, fairly well
clined backward spread; carried at an angle of spread; carried at an angle of
45 degrees -45 degrees
Legs and Toes..| Thighs short; shanks short and| Thighs large, rather short;} Thighs large, rather short;
strong Toes—4 in number, shanks short shanks short, stout in bone
well spread Toes of medium length,) Toes of medium length,
straight, strong, well spread straight, strong, well spread

STANDARD TYPE OF ORPINGTON FEMALE

Section

English Standard 1901

American Standard 1905

American Standard 1910

Head, Comb and

Breastsz sata cen
Back, Wings and
Body) sea guac aioe

Tail

Legs and Toes..

As in the male

As in the male

Cushion: small but sufficient to
give back a short and grace-
ful curved appearance

Medium size, inclined backward|
and upward

As in the male

As in the male

As in the male
As in the male

As in the male

Carried at an angle of 40 de-
grees

As in the male

As in the male

As in the male

Neck: Tapering to head, hackle
moderately full

Back: Broad moderately long,
rising with concave sweep to
tail

As in the male

Carried at an angle of 40 de-
grees

As in the male

THE ORPINGTONS 21

Evolution of Orpington Ideals in America

A, O. Schilling, who has made a careful study of Orp-
ington type at our leading poultry shows and examined
and handled many specimens in prominent breeders’
yards, in the Reliable Poultry Journal, July, 1910, clearly
illustrates the evolution of Orpington ideals in America
by pen and ink drawings with explanatory remarks, which
are reproduced as follows:

“We desire to show by the accompanying cuts and this
short article the variation or changes in the ideals that
have from time to time pleased the fanciers. A little study
of the accompanying pen and ink illustration will show
what has been done to the Orpington type by American
breeders. On pages 22 and 23 we show a pair of ideal Buff
Orpingtons drawn to conform to the ideal of their orig-
inators, Wm. Cook & Sons, and of other prominent breed-
ers of that time, which was prior to the revision of the
Standard of 1905. It will be noticed that this type is
much shorter in body, which emphasizes its great depth
and the fullness of the breast and it shows to good ad-
vantage the U-shape in body and back of male, which was
an expression used by the late Wm. Cook in describing the
typical Orpington. It is quite evident that breeders on this
side of the Atlantic are striving to produce a longer bodied
bird than was originally advocated. In Figs. A and B we
have illustrated the difference in type between the earlier
ideal and the present-day Standard Orpington.

“There has been some discussion among prominent

breeders in regard to the advisability of doing away with
the short shank and thigh of the present-day ideal, mainly
for the reason that it will not fit the Buff variety. Whether
or not this will be done or whether it will benefit the
breed or the breeders, remains to be seen. In the writer’s
opinion an ideal that fits one variety should also fit all va-
rieties of the breed in order to enable’ us to have a Stand-
ard that will not be open to criticism and productive of
much argument.

“Even though we have an accepted standard and ideal
which. meets the approval of a large majority, differences
of opinion will always exist in regard to standard poultry
as well as in other matters, but we shall aim to show in
the forthcoming Standard an ideal that will represent the
modern Orpington as it is exhibited by the most success-
ful breeders in this country.

“We have in our possession photographic studies of
many prominent winning specimens in nearly all varie-
ties of Orpingtons that have been shown at the greatest
exhibitions held in this country for a number of years and
the new Standard ideal will be a composite made from the
ideal parts of the best specimens shown in recent years.
These ideals will be submitted to the specialty clubs for
approval before final adoption by the American Poultry
Association at the next annual meeting.

“There is no doubt in our minds that adding to the
length of body which seems to be the general tendency in
most of our American breeds today, has been of benefit

STANDARD BLACK ORPINGTONS. ENGLISH TYPES

Illustration is reproduced from “The New Book

pany, Limited, London, Paris and New York.

of Poultry,” by Lewis Wright, published in 1902 by Cassell & Com-
Delineation is by J, W.

Ludlow, England’s best poultry artist now living.

The Standard shape of all varieties of Orpington fowls is identical, male and female respectively, therefore this picture
gives the English type or shape outline of all the Orpingtons, as interpreted by Mr. Ludlow.

29 THE ORPINGTONS

EARLY IDEAL ORPINGTON MALE

to the breed and we find the specimens approaching near-
est our Standard ideals for Orpington type, fowls of
beauty and usefulness.”

Type Variation in English Orpingtons

In his excellent book “The Orpington and Its Varie-
ties” London, England, 1908, the author, E. Campbell, fur-

EE: —
EO -

he 4 LAG

A and B.

=A

Composite outline drawings of Orpington m7'e and
cepted American Standard ideal and the early U-shape type of body.

nishes the following interesting comparison of the differ-
ences in Single Comb Black and Single Comb Buff Orping-
ton types: “Although it is generally accepted in theory
that there is nothing but color to distinguish the two
varieties, there are in reality very great and material dif-
ferences. In type for instance, a difficulty in Black is to
keep the tail within its symmetrical limits, for if ill bred it
generally develops quite a large and high pitched tail. In
the Buff, on the other hand, a difficulty is to get sufficient
tail with a broad enough feather.

“Type in Blacks insists on a short leg and a square,
massive, well let-down body. Type in Buffs at the moment
is almost a minor matter, and you can go to any leading
show and find half-a-dozen different types carded—color in
feather mostly determining the awards.

“Size, too, is a sime gua non in Blacks. It only comes
into the judging of Buffs when birds are otherwise level
as to color and type. ;

“For these reasons Buffs, as a whole, do not exhibit
that grand massiveness and bulk which one can find in
the best Blacks. But now that the value of type has been
given a proper place in the Buff Orpington Standard, we
may hope for an improvement, for size follows type in the
breed as certainly as day follows night.

“Tt is urged that the buff color is so difficult to secure
that its value from a breeder’s point of view far transcends
type or size, and no one who has bred Buffs will deny the
great cogency of this argument. But many thoughtful
lovers of the breed have, like myself, deplored the ex-
treme lengths to which some breeders have gone, and
which some judges have sanctioned, in search of purity of
plumage alone. I have seen a Buff Dorking cockerel, so
far as type and characteristics go, even at the Dairy
Show, and, truth to tell, he had to win or the judge, him-
self a sound Buff breeder, would have been attacked from
every quarter.

“The very pronounced advance made in color, within
the last couple of years, has so altered the situation that
I think the Buff breeder who loses sight of type and size
may find himself awkwardly situated.

“As black breeders know it is very difficult indeed to
breed in type and size. As a rule it is not attempted, be-

a
27 -
~ OA

female, illustrating the difference between the ac-
The dotted lines show the type that was in favor

some five years ago. The heavy lines show the type of bird that finds favor with the best breeders and judges of the

present day.—A. O. Schilling.

THE ORPINGTONS

cause it is cheaper, easier, and more satisfactory to get
fresh blood and start afresh. Should it occur, as is not
improbable, that type and size shall be demanded as im-
peratively in Buffs as in Blacks, then the breeder who has
neglected these points will find himself out of the running
for some time.

“To secure feather color, in-and-in-breeding has been
resorted to by some breeders, with such success that in
many instances long backed and narrow chested types
have been so fixed that their prepotency is very strong,
and they will resist change accordingly and revert back in
a most irritating manner.

“That in-breeding of this sort is absolutely necessary
to secure color we have been told by some authorities, and
their success shows that it is sound in practice at least.
But that it has been retained by more than one noted Buff
breeder who indulges in fresh blood each season for his
best pen so as to maintain type, substance and stamina,
is proof to me at least that although a ready method it is
not quite indispensable. And as it brings other dangers in
its train, only dire necessity can justify it—such a neces-
sity as is gradually being swept away by the general ad-
vance towards a pure Buff feather.”

The Goodacre Chart

A. G. Goodacre of California, one of the earliest breed-
ers and importers of Orpingtons, who was associated with
Mr. Willett in the east at the beginning of the Orpington
boom in America, contributed an instructive chart repre-
senting Orpington type to the National Single Comb Buft
Orpington Club catalog of 1906 which we reproduce here.

Mr. Goodacre offers the following explanation of the
above chart:

“We give a chart showing an Orpington pullet, the
inner dotted line where the actual carcass of the bird is
carried. This aptly illustrates how the back of an Orpington
is shortened by a slight cushion, a strong hackle and a

EARLY IDEAL ORPINGTON FEMALE

caw)
is)

GOODACRE CHART

rather short, neat tail; where the dotted line approaches
the superficial line the feathers will be found shorter; the
typical Orpington has a long under line and a medium
long back; the great length of body has been moulded in
such a way as to cover up harsh lines on the surface and
stamped it with a character entirely different to all other
breeds of poultry. We desire a rather long tapering head,
with very prominent eyes, a comb in proportion to the
specimen, medium in size with five serrations, arched so
that the spikes point uniformly outward; the largest spike
in the center, the others shortening to outer edges. The
comb should have a good broad base setting well on skull,
the neck hackle full, in the males a continuation of lustrous
feathers from head to tail, not broken across the shoulders
with coarser feathers; the saddle should be full, and tail
medium in male; the tail in female should rise gradually
from back, being rather short and pinched; both sexes
should show great depth from back to hock, the shanks
rather short with toes apparently long, a broad back
across shoulders, flat, with a deep well rounded breast,
coupled with an arched neck, good red lobes and wattles,
a sprightly walk, and always that great depth of body at
any angle viewed. These are the characteristics of a fowl
with a strong constitution, and the Orpington everybody
wants; the commercial fowl as well as the show bird.”

This chart is an excellent object lesson for those, who
year in’and year out, keep advocating long backs on
fowls and condemning short ones, as well as the blocky or
cobby type of Orpingtons and other breeds. These critics
judge the length of back by the feathered outline and not
by the carcass line. Feathers like religion, cover up a
multitude of bad qualities, but they frequently also hide
the good ones. But feathers, when perfectly developed in
each section, fix the type of the breed as unmistakably as
two and two make four. It is but another illustration of
the old truism: “Shape makes the breed and color the va-
riety.”

Evolution of English Types of Langshans, Orpiietens
and Cochins

An Interesting and Valuable Study of the Relative Types of Three Allied Breeds with Sketches
Showing Changes in Shape During the Past Thirty-Five Years

J. W. Ludlow, England

Y idea in drawing attention to these three varieties
M of poultry is to show the alliance, progress and
gradual development which has taken place with-

iin the past thirty-five years.

As I am about to write from memory, I may not be
strictly accurate in dates. I suppose it is about thirty-
five or forty years since the introduction of the first
Langshans into this country. Anyhow, about that
period Black Cochins (never a large number, owing
to the stupid insistence of yellow legs and beak) had
run down to almost total extinction. There were but
few fanciers who were willing to make an effort to
breed up to an ideal so exacting as a big, bulky, squat,
fheavily feathered Black Cochin with yellow legs and
beak. The object was too much of an unreality, yield-
-ing so small a percentage of progeny anywhere approach-
ing the desired yellow leg and beak points, together
with the massive fluffy proportions, such as attained,
-and more easily, in the more naturally produced Buffs.

Thus Black Cochins were at that period a compara-
ttively used-up, puny, neglected sort, and remained so
‘until the advent of Langshans, at which time a ray
of hope shone upon the few scattered remnants. The
idea of a “cross” between our British Black Chinee
and his newly-imported brother (the Croad Langshan)
soon took root, and it was not long ere the influence
of this harmonious union became apparent not by yellow
leg and beak. Oh, no! That color anomaly had to be
abandoned, and rightly so, for it had already been a too
serious impediment in the way of Black Cochin breeding
to be longer insisted upon as a standard feature.

Fifty years ago the few Black Cochins we had were

in the main narrow, flat-sided, half-breeds in appearance, not
good enough to class with the Buffs nor numerous enough

to be called a strain. They were chiefly “sports,” in-
evitable variations from the early day, less purified, but
pedigreed, mixed-color stocks—the days when Buffs were
anything from cinnamon to yellow, with black tails,
flights, foot-feather, and black-striped hackle. From such
as these, blacks came occasionally, whether wanted or not,
as did also whites, partridge and cuckoos. “Buffs,” being
the grand centerpiece of attraction, were “all the go.” Buff,
buff, buff was the craze then with Cochins, as it is now
with Buff Orpingtons. The same questions were asked
then as now as to “exact shade of color” preferred.

It has been my lot and my pleasure to watch these
changes from the very earliest period to the Cochin
era, even to the fulfillment of one’s hopes and expecta-
tions, as exemplified in the ideal specimens of the Buffs of
today, in which the names of Tomlinson, Proctor, Felton,
Bailey, Wade, Bagshaw, and Riddell will long remain
most prominent, as will also the names of Chase and
Darby for Whites, Harriss, Southon, and Felton for
Partridge, and Colonel Williamson and the Rev. Dodd for
Blacks, the variety to which my notes especially apply.

So great is the change which has taken place in Buff
‘Cochins in fifty years that I feel almost tempted to depict
zand describe the wonderful alteration in them also, but

my theme here is Blacks only and their alliance with
Croad Langshans, and, as a sequence, at least a link also
with the Black Orpington.

What I particularly want to show is that the best
Black Cochins of today are in perfect line in point
of size, fluffy massiveness, heavy foot-feathering and
general Cochin rotundity and other all-round character-
istics, well up in all good points, level, or nearly so,
with their brethren, the magnificent Buffs of today. Such
a raising of the standard Black has only been possible by
reason of the skillful infusion of the thickest set, shortest
legged Langshans of thirty-five years ago. Today the ex-
traordinary massive features of George Proctor’s Buffs
and Colonel Williamson’s Blacks each can toe the line of
equality, each models of excellence, neither having any
point needing improvement.

It is not pleasant, perhaps, to be told that one’s
stock is the result of a “cross.” It is preferable to regard
them as pure and undefiled, clear of the mongrelizing ele-
ment, but in this case there is none of the “mongrel” in
the alliance—none whatever. It has been simply the
bringing together of long-parted strains of the same tribe,
and I conceive there is far more credit due in working a
strain up to perfection in accord with the generally ac-
cepted model than working at a ready-made type until
they degenerate in constitution and points of merit. If in
the exposition of these alliances I offend any Langshan,
Orpington, or Black Cochin breeders, I am sorry, but I
am writing from an experience extending over sixty
years’ watchful, practical experience. I have seen many
ideas put into practice, and have lived long enough to have
seen most of them worked out to perfection.

If you look at the illustration on the opposite page,
take the top row, note the (No. 1) Croad Langshan to
the left, and then see present-day British 1910 type to
the extreme right (No. 6). The difference is great, but the
object is clearly achieved.

Look again at the middle row, “Orpingtons” (7 to
12). Many fanciers objected to the scanty foot-feather-
ing of the Langshans. It was said to be neither one
thing nor the other. So clean-legged strains were soon
started, leading up from leggy No. 7, on the left, and fin-
ishing off with the up-to-date short-legged ideal as de-
picted on center line to the right (No. 12).

Then take the bottom row, Black Cochins. The
meagre-looking No. 13 to the left represents one of
the best of a poor lot in 1875, and those not reliable

for reproduction. Compare him with the modern type
of bird on the right (18), and you will realize there has
been something more than theory in the scheme.

To the late William Cook is rightly ascribed the
credit of producing and naming the Black Orpington.
Certainly he brought them out, named them, and kept
them up in prominence until their merits and value
were fully assured. Then they went up by leaps and
bounds in popularity. The contest for supremacy was
strong between such staunch breeders as the ever genial
Cook himself, Johnstone, Peele, Bell, Partington, Cross

LANGSHANS

ORIGINAL NN

ELAGh Cocrin
a

IS Keans Ago’ = =

EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH TYPES OF LANGSHANS, ORPINGTONS

A pictorial record of thirty-five years at intervals of seven years.
These illustrations were drawn by the eminent Rnelish. artist, J. W. Ludlow,

and 18 the up-to-date ideal.

connection with his explanatory article in the Feathered World, England, September 2,

AND COCHINS.
Nos. 1, 7, and 13 show the original types, and 6, 12,
and appeared in

1910. We are indebted to the latter

excellent poultry journal for the reprints of both illustrations and the article. —Editor.

Brothers, Bloomer, Hallam and Litting, Galway, Fawkes,
Lewis, and many other enthusiasts. In fact, there has
been a lot of money spent on Orpingtons, and although
Blacks are now stationary, they are ready to rise again
when the Buff craze has somewhat subsided, and when
Whites have advanced a bit.

By-the-bye, Blacks being the safest occasional cross
for the produce of bulky Whites it will become necessary
to carefully examine and guard against grizzly under-
fluff in all and any of the black progeny thus produced.
An occasional dip is good, over-much leads to spoil the
glossy splendor and produce a dull black plumage. In
fact, the advantage is to the Whites only to the detri-
ment of the Blacks thus crossed. I name this because I
know that, in the effort to get size, bulk, and character

in Whites, some of the biggest Blacks have been and are
being used for the purpose.

Returning, however, to the kernel of the nut—viz.,
the alliance, progress and severance of these three sorts—
those of the old brigade, like myself, who remember the
first imported Cochins, and thirty-five years later the
first draft of Langshans, and still later the making of
Black Orpingtons, may have solved the problem of
descent for themselves, and therefore probably will regard
these notes as unnecessary, but in the interval there has

sprung up a new generation of fanciers, who, less ex-
perienced, would be justified in doubting the alliance
of these three up-to-dates, Nos. 6, 12 and 18, which
have now become so dissimilar in structural points as

to baffle those of limited experience as to their pedigree.

‘SSPIN ‘USABH{ PledoulA ‘Suey UIMO Aq polg pue pouUMO
‘OI6E ‘NOLSO@ LY SNOLONIGHO ALIHM WO NAd AZIud LSYIA

THE ORPINGTONS

I have heard the British bred Langshans described as
Ostriches, as Storks, as Malay-crossed, because of their
abnormally long legs. I have heard and also read of
the Black Orpington being the result of crosses with
the Minorca, the Java, and the Black Rock ( I could
accept a judicious infusion of the latter), but in the
whole course of my experience have never observed even
a suspicion of Minorca in their composition. I have
also heard it suggested in the usual strictly confidential
whisper that Mr. So-and-So obtained his brilliant green
sheen by a cross with the Black Hamburgh! Well, when
one hears such stuff uttered by young men or chattering
professors, it seems in the face of such ignorance ex-
cusable in me to expose the real position.

I have seen pure-bred Langshans, both Croad and
modern, with red feathers in hackle and saddle. Per-
sonally I did not look upon these blemishes as indicative
of outside or alien color cross. Certainly not; if there
are not such occasional reversions how are we to
expect a maintenance of the brilliant sheeny plumage
so essential a finish to an otherwise tip-top specimen?
Some would say, ”Ah, this is a bit of the Malay coming
out, this is!” Others perhaps, with a wink of cunning,
would suggest it as sight influence, owing to close prox-
imity to an adjoining pen of colored fowls.

The late Major and Miss Croad denounced the red
feather as no part of their—‘the true’—strain; but
they had it all the same in some of their best birds, and
need not have been ashamed to admit the fact, for such
reversions come occasionally in the purest of well-estab-
lished strains. The profound student in his search for
true permanent characteristics has to look deeper for
proofs of lineage than a few or even many red feathers
in a green-sheened Black strain.

As an artist and judge of vast experience, extending
over sixty years, I have carefully watched the evolution
of these three sorts from the beginning of their history;

ras)
a J

have studied every little detail of their composition,
from the egg to the chick, their habits, their growth, their
structure, their flesh, skin, and fat, their expression, the
texture, wrinkles or puckers in their faces, even to the
deep-toned gutteral, gurgling sound of their crow, and I
find them each and all more or less partaking of the same
heavy Asiatic characteristics,——enough to stamp them as
members, it may be, of various near or distant strains or
families, but certainly of one and the same tribe or origin.

Well, it may be said, what good end has been served
in thus severing and purifying and raising each to
exhibition dignity? It is only adding more to the already
over-purified “fancy poultry.” Yes, a good deal might
be said on this score, more than I can explain in these
brief notes. There has been much said of late for the
“utility” side of poultry culture, very much good done
by able advocates of that special branch, but if we are
to make real premanent~ progress we must look to both
sides of the subject. Personally, I hold the exhibition
side to be of first consideration, as an absolute necessity,
as a means, perhaps the only means, of making sure of
success in the greater, the national, section. It is out of
the “fancy’”’ stocks (the perfected, pedigreed, tabulated
types) that one can look to from time to time for re-
liable “crosses” for the produce of the strictly speaking
“utilitarian” market poultry.

The illustration’ (sketch and notes) of these three
sorts should furnish a fair example of what can be done
by unity of effort in the right direction. It is one of
the many instances in which much has been got out
of nothing. Three distinct classes and types of high-
class, valuable show birds have been obtained from
plain, common-place looking ancestors, a distinct gain
to the nation, to say nothing of the immense pleasure
and profit gained by the multitude of fanciers who have
from time to time taken their parts in these praise-
worthy, interesting, useful, and profitable pursuits.

Type Variations

Comparison of Buff and White Orpington Shape with that of Black Orpingtons—The New Standard Type
the Correct Ideal for AJl Three Varieties

M. F. Delano

HE above topic is one that gives me the greatest
T pleasure to write about, and it should appeal very
strongly to every thinking breeder in the United
States. A variety is made or marred by the correctness
of the ideal type which is established for that breed.
There have been instances galore where grand good
breeds and varieties have been absolutely ruined as util-
ity birds by breeders taking as their ideal a type sufficiently
different from the one nature intended for the variety to
impair and ruin their utility qualities. In considering the
future type of the Orpington it is the earnest desire of
the writer that we make progress in type one that will
allow us not only to retain but improve the wonderful
utility qualities of the Orpington fowl today.

The Blacks were the first of the Orpingtons to be
brought before the public. They were a grand, big fowl,
profusely and loosely feathered, inheriting the latter char-
acteristic from their Cochin ancestors. They had all of the
fine qualities. of the Langshan and the other heavy laying
blood that went into their make-up and were naturally
low down and close to the ground, and this characteris-

tic appealed to the fanciers and they tried to make it an
inherent one in the variety as a whole and bred with this
ideal in view.

In the course of time the Buff variety and then the
White were brought before the public and placed on the
market and they were given the same name and called
Orpingtons. The blood that went into the make-up of
these two latter varieties was widely differing from that
from which the Black was formed. They had been given
the same name and therefore it was deemed necessary to
breed them to the same type. So for years the fanciers
on this side of the water have been endeavoring to bring
about this result. In England they have not demanded
the same type in the Buff and the White possessed by the
Black, but have developed the two latter varieties along
normal lines to make them the grand utility fowl that
have become pre-eminent in England over all other va-
rieties and have taken a leading place in France as well.

The American Poultry Association has admitted
three varieties of the Orpington to our American Stand-
ard of Perfection, the Buff, Black and White Single Comb

28 THE ORPINGTONS

varieties. The rest of the varieties of Orpingtons that
have been placed on the market have never proven gen-
erally popular and no concerted action has been taken to
get any of them admitted to the Standard. Each one of
the varieties has been made up of different blood lines
and no two varieties naturally have exactly the same
type. There are specimens in each of the varieties that
approach very closely to the best of the Blacks in type
but they are not plentiful, and a great many of the leading
Orpington breeders feel that the Standard requirements
have been made too stringent for the future good of the
Buff and White varieties, and for that reason the present
Standard was a little modified at the Niagara Falls and
St. Louis meetings of the American Poultry Association
and the new Standard will have an ideal picture more
normal and nearer the true ideal for the average Or-
pington.

With few exceptions the extremely large, low down
birds have not been remarkably~ good layers, whether

their color has been black, buff or white. The females a
trifle higher on legs, with good long bodies and plenty
of depth, have made the producers, and this is the type
that is becoming more and more popular as time goes on.
The Buffs and the Whites are the most popular varieties
and probably always will be, and it is not right to make
them suffer because they were not bred from the same
sources as were the Blacks.

There is no better utility fowl today than the Or-
pington. There is no handsomer fowl, or a fowl that is
more fascinating for the gentleman fancier or the pains-
taking breeder, and their future is absolutely safe when
bred along the conservative lines required under the new
Standard. The writer predicts that their present pop-
ularity is almost nothing to what they will attain as time
goes on and that the birds themselves have the intrinsic
merit to hold their place as one of the four leading breeds
of America.

ENGLISH TYPK WHITE ORPINGTONS, 1908

CHAPTER

Black Orpingtons

Exhibition and Market Qualities—Mating for Size and Shape—Breeding for Color—Comments and
Contributions by Noted English Authorities and American Breeders

J. H. Drevenstedt

HE Blacks being the first of the Orpingtons to
arrive in the poultry world, they must be
accorded the priority claim in the chapters
on the different varieties of Orpingtons, re-
gardless of their rank in popularity among
Orpington breeders. They gave the family
name to the breed and deserve the honor.

When we first judged and handled Orp-

ingtons some eight or nine years ago, the Blacks im-
pressed us the most, being distinct in type, grand in size
and beautiful in the color of the plumage, the latter, at
least in the best specimens, we handled at that time, hav-
ing the rich beetle green sheen so much fancied by all
breeders of Black Hamburgs and Black Langshans. A
Black Orpington cockerel and pullet hatched in April,
and exhibited by Mr. Kerr at Newark, N. J., in December
of the same year, filled their cages, so to speak, the im-
mense size of these massive youngsters being a revelation
to all poultry breeders present. There has been no diminu
tion in size since that early period, the Black Orpingtons
of today being fully as large and massive, if not larger,
than the early comers from across the seas. Their im-
mense size and beautiful color caught the fancy of many
conservative breeders, the plack plumage being no handi-
cap in this instance. The importations grew in volume
and it did not take long before the choicest feathered
specimens from the yards of Cook, Partington and Bell
found their way to the United States and Canada.

Exhibition and Market Qualities

The origin of Black Orpingtons has been given in a
previous chapter, but the evolution of the different strains
and the value of the breed as a utility fowl remain to be
presented. We can seek no better source for authentic
information relating to the matter than in the land of its
birth. The late Lewis Wright, in his great work “The
New Book of Poultry,” treats this subject in a clear and
authoritative manner, so that the following extracts from
his comprehensive chapter on the Orpington fowl will
prove valuable and interesting to American breeders:

“There is no doubt that some original Black Orping-
tons were produced as stated; but there is as little doubt
that the breed has since considerably changed in two dis-
tinct directions. As stated in our next chapter, there
is little question that one of the components of the Ply-
mouth Rock was the Black Java fowl; and as stated in the
preceding, it is equally obvious that this Black Java has
much in common with the Langshan, however that fact
be interpreted. This darker and more typical component
in the Asiatic blood had thus a double prepotency, and its
predominance over the more Shanghai component would
be intensified by breeding for clean instead of feathered
shanks. This doubly strong element therefore rapidly
overpowered the Minorca element, and the Orpingtons
quickly became to all intents and purposes clean-legged

Langshans, taking the place of that shorter-legged, sym-
metrical type once popular, but subsequently discarded by
the personal feeling of the Langshan breeders. In ad-
dition to this mere tendency, however, it is within our own
personal knowledge that clean-legged pure Langshans,
from perfectly orthodox sources, were sold to Orpington
exhibitors, and appeared immediately in exhibition pens,

“LADY WASHINGTON”

Black Orpineton hen, winner of first prize at Madison
Square Garden, New York, 1909-10, pronounced by Judge Oke
the most typical Orpington in the show. Reproduced from
photograph furnished by Black Diamond Poultry Farm.

as well as being used for breeding with their stock. This
still further strengthened and hastened the reversion to
Langshan type, which has been so pronounced that at
many shows only one class for ‘Langshan or Orpington’
(or the converse) has been provided for the two breeds.
The index of this change has lain chiefly in the size of
the eggs, which. has somewhat lessened since the Minorca
element lost power; and in the color of the eyes, which
was often red while any foreign element remained, but
has now almost everywhere reverted to the Langshan
brown or black.

30 THE ORPINGTONS

“There has been, however, quite another change, a
Black Orpington of practically new blood coming upon
the scene about 1891. In that year Mr. Joseph Partington
exhibited at the Dairy Show in October two cockerels and
two pullets, which secured first and second prizes in each
class, three of the four birds being immediately sold at
£30 each; notwithstanding which at the Palace Show a
few weeks later he brought out fresh birds of each sex
that beat these previous winners. These birds were of a
size that had never before been seen, creating quite a sen-
sation and considerable curiosity. Mr. Partington assures
us that these Orpingtons also were cross-made birds, but
had none whatever, of Mr. Cook’s original strain in them
at all, and that he had deliberately started with the idea
of breeding himself something in the same line, but more
striking and handsome. They were very large, and of
splendid color, with massive shape, and all had dark eyes.
These points made them invincible in the show pen, and
the new strain soon spread all over the country, and also
abroad, and has supplied most of the winners of the pres-
ent day. Many of the birds display so much more fluff
than former Black Orpingtons, that we cannot help think-
ing large females of either Black, White or perhaps even

‘INNER OF FIRST PRIZE MADISON SQ.GARDEN, }
NEV YoRK 1909-1910. :
BRED no OWNED BY FoXHURST FARM LIMEROCK CNN USA

Se SSS ee es Peni Oe en Sc

Buff Cochin, may have been employed with Langshan
males. Mr. Partington describes this type of the breed as
follows:

‘Black Orpingtons are really a very useful breed of
birds. They are very handsome, good layers, and one of
the best for table use. They always look well all the year
*round, as they never lose their color. They will do well
in either small or open runs, being a very hardy bird;
but they will not stand heavy feeding.

‘The color of the cock should be a rich green black; beak
either black or dark horn with a dark eye. He should have
a firm straight comb, not over large. The back should not
be too long, and tail not too large; legs not long, the thigh
just showing; weight 9 lbs. to 11 lbs. The color of the hen

"WINNEROF FIRST, MADIS© SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK, 1908- 09: A
BRED AND OWNED BY FOXHURST FARM,LIME ROCR CONN USA: ff

is the same, and similar remarks apply as to her back.
tail and legs; her weight should be 7 lbs. to 10 lbs.’

Breeding Black Orpingtons

“Color should be bred for as in the Langshan, but the
crimson between the toes is not required. Particular at-
tention should be given to preserving the correct shape,
with a broad and deep breast, the whole body looking
miassive and solid, and set rather low. Excessive fluff
should be avoided, as tending to decrease laying, and being
often accompanied by thicker skin; too small combs, also,
are apt to be signs of diminished egg production. We
have seen one or two specimens distinctly keeled, almost
like some exhibition ducks, and this ought certainly to be
deprecated. It is probably due to carelessness of these
points, that statements have lately appeared to the effect
that some strains of the Black Orpington have not kept up
its reputation as a good layer. Both abundance and size
of eggs would, however, quickly respond to selection for
these qualities, in the manner insisted upon ins former
chapters of this work.

“Tt is not at all necessary in Black Orpingtons to mate
different pens for breeding cockerels and pullets; typical
birds of good color on both sides will produce in their
turn exhibition specimens.”

Breeding for Color
To produce the proper greenish black color of Orping-
tons is one of the problems that breeders in England and
America are called upon to solve each succeeding breeding
season. Although sound color in Blacks may be consid-
ered by many fanciers less difficult to produce than in
Buffs, it is safe to assert, that the Black Orpingtons pro-

THE ORPINGTONS 31

duced with absolutely sound black plumage having lus-
trous greenish black sheen on the surface, free from any
trace of purple barring, are just as scarce and as diffi-
cult to breed as an absolutely sound Buff Orpington. That
this color problem is a serious one, the following remarks
on “Mating for Color in Blacks,” by E. Campbell in his
book “The Orpington and Its Varieties,” London, Eng-
land, 1902, prove:

“In Blacks there are three general faults to be guarded
against :—

“Firstly, a dull brown feather which, however it has
been produced, is rightly condemned by every judge, no
matter how big the bird that carries it. It is possible to
use pullets of this sort if
they have sufficient merit in
size, type, and bone to war-
rant it; but since they re-
quire extra bright green
cockerels, with sound blue-
black under-color and fluff—
birds difficult to get—or in
more experimental breeder’s
hands a red-hackled or sad-
dle-splashed cockerel, since
these invariably throw good
colored pullets, they are sel-
dom worth persevering with.

“The next, and more
general fault, is a dull black
that seems to carry no sheen
on the pullets and to bring
a bronze lustre on the cock-
erel’s tail. A bird so handi-
capped must carry great size
and type to beat a better col-
ored bird.

“The last—some would
put it first—is the objection-
able blue or purple Minorca
sheen with which some of
our best typed and biggest
’ birds have been exhibited.
This blue does not often ex-
tend beyond the back, breast,
and wing-bow but sometimes
it shows even in the tail cov-
erts and sickles. It is almost
as difficult to breed out as
the brown tinge, but al-
though it is equally contrary
to the Standard, I, and very

ORC ARE STON

;
&
F
r

BRED AND OWN’
G-E- GREENWOOD

many others, do not (be-
cause it gives the bird a
more brilliant appearance)

class it so objectionable as the brown or lack lustre blacks.
“T am inclined to think that blueness is a result of too
much color, that is to say, of breeding too much for high
sheen. I think it arose and arises from using red-hackled
males in the breeding pens without discrimination. Why
I think it a result of excess in color is that I have noticed
a blue cockerel who runs out in a bright sun fof some time,
loses much of the blue color where the sun has got at the
feathers, while underneath, and where the feathers have
overlapped, the blueness remains. Similarly, when such a
bird is well shaded the blue often loses its vividness in a
subdued purple—which is an excess of blue. The sun ap-
pears to draw out the blue to some extent, just as it
would extract the brightness of a buff or dim the most
vivid green.
_ “A blue pullet—though not a cockerel—often moults
into a good green hen, but all the same, blue is a great
fault in color and is at times difficult to breed out. If you
examine a Black Orpington’s feather, say from the wing-
bow, in a strong light, you will find that each feather con-
sists of traversing and alternating bars of yellowish, rich
purple, green and bronze green lustres. These vary in
vividness and intensity with the general color of the bird.
If the bird appears blue in plumage the purple bar will
dominate the others and often run down the shaft as well.
If the bird has a dull green color the bars are nearly equal
in strength, but their sheen is subdued. If it has a real
satiny green sheen the green bar will dominate and the

FIRST PRIZE BLACK ORPT'N HEN CHIGAGO DEGC.1908.

bronze green will be absent, the purple dwindling away to
a mere line.

“Tt is by studying the various strengths of these bars
that I hold you can best improve the color of your birds.
The laws of color tell you that the infusion of red into
green and blue will turn green into blue and blue into
purple. I have never met anybody who has gone into this
matter or even noticed this peculiar barring in Blacks, and
I have gone into it here with an idea of showing that it
accounts for the difficulty one sometimes encounters in
improving color. It is obvious that the fact that these
sheens or lustres lie in distinct bars makes it necessary to
broaden or intensify the green bar only if we want good
color. Now, most black breeders know that the greenest
of pullets throw red-hackled or saddled cockerels, and are
thrown by them. That fact has led the indiscriminating
breeder to assume that a red-
hackled cockerel is the
proper mating to secure the
highest green sheen. But,
as I have pointed out, the
excessive use of a bird of
this description usually ends
in a blue or purple cockerel
being evolved, and pullets
which lose their vivid green
to assume a purplish black.

“The worst point about
the use of a _red-splashed
cock is that the pullets very
seldom indicate it save in
their brilliant color, and, it
may be, in a narrow line of
feathers at the root of the
comb. As it is possible to
breed equally brilliant pul-
lets without using a _ red-
splashed bird, the unknow-
ing will purchase a hen of
this red cockerel character
only to find that the money
has been largely thrown
away, for the resulting cock-
erels seldom fail to show red
in hackle or saddle.

“There are two ways of
getting rid of the objection-
able purple. One is to breed
back to the green, the other
to overpower the purple by
a sound satiny green which

has been secured by true
breeding and not infusions
of red. The most satisfac-

LAKE MILLS WIS.

tory is the latter, but since
one must needs know the
antecedents of the stock
used, it is most difficult at times to adopt it.

“To breed back I would simply procure a cock of the
preceding generation of the same strain and in which the
blue had not appeared. Failing this I would get a cockerel
on whose feather the purple and blue bars were as in-
distinct as possible, even tolerating a sad colored bird for
the sake of the correction, since the result would probably
be brighter colored chickens than the cock and better col-
ored ones than their mothers.

“But the shortest road is undoubtedly through a deep
vivid satiny green cock, in whose feather no trace shows
of either blue. purple or red. The overpowering nature of
this bird’s color is such that the yellow bar is narrowed
and the green widened until the blue is almost swamped
or pushed farther into the purple.

“There is no use mating up blue and bronze birds or
blue and brown birds. These require that brilliant green
that I have just written of. To improve merely sad col-
ored birds you may use a red-hackled cockerel if you are
content to throw away all th resulting cockerels. It will
be cheaper at the start than mating up a good green bird,
but in the end it may not. If you have a good blue cock-
erel which you must go on with, give him green or dull
pullets.”

Economic Qualities of Black Orpingtons

Professor Edward Brown in his latest Standard work,
“Races of Domestic Poultry,’ London, England, in re-

ae
ES nie ee ae

SBT

viewing the economic qualities of Black Orpingtons, re-
marks:

“The Black Orpington is a big, bulky fowl; hardy, but
not very rapid in growth, as it is somewhat heavy in bone.
It carries a fair amount of flesh, which is greyish-white in
color, but is fine and delicate in skin. There is too much
flesh upon the legs to regard it as a first-class table fowl,

though that flesh is juicy and decidedly superior to what™

is found upon more active fowls. The bird fattens fairly
well, but its grey flesh detracts from its appearance when
dead. The breast meat is not very abundant, considering
the size of body. The hens are good layers, especially in
winter, and the eggs are medium in size and in tint. For
general purposes, and especially for birds which must be
kept in confinement, in towns and manufacturing districts,
its black plumage is a great recommendation. All varie-
ties of Orpingtons are good sitters and mothers.”

The views of prominent American breeders of Black

Orpingtons on breeding for exhibition and market are ex-
pressed in the following articles contributed by them to
this chapter.

Breeding for Color and Shape

Feeding Does Not Influence Color—Correct Type in
Both Male and Female Not Necessary
to Produce Best Results

G. E. Greenwood

; Y experience with the Black Orpington dates back
M to the year 1904, when I imported a trio of birds.

In this short.time there has been a wonderful
change in the type of the Black Orpington, especially in
the American bred birds. Nearly all of the imported birds
are very large and of good color, but are too high up on
legs to suit the American breeder. The type that is win-
ning at our largest shows is the low down massive type,

THE ORPINGTONS 33

and to produce birds of this type, you must breed from
both male and female with these characteristics. Do not
expect to strike a happy medium by using low down fe-
males and a male bird up on legs. It requires patience
and a great amount of skill to produce a flock of birds of
uniform type. Another point of vital importance in
breeding good Black Orpingtons, is breast shape. Never
use a male or female in your matings with a flat breast;
it is not Orpington type. An ideal Black Orpington has
short, stout legs, broad back, deep body, full round breast,
short, well spread tail, black eyes, and a beautiful beetle
green color. Such birds are hard to get, but by close cull-
ing, and breeding from the best each year you are bound
to get a few good ones. Color seems to be the stumbling
block of all Black Orpington breeders, although in the
past year several birds were shown at New York, Boston,
and Chicago, that were nearly perfect in color. Having
bred Minorcas a great many years I was well qualified to
help in perfecting the color of the Black Orpington.

In selecting the male for the breeding pen be sure
he has a rich, black under-cclor, a male with light
under-color is sure to produce poor color in his off-
spiing. I have often seen the statement that two
highly colored birds mated together would produce
birds showing purple barring. Now, how in the world
are we going to get birds of
good color, if we do not use
in our mating birds of the
best color obtainable. To
get rid of this plum color
you must use birds, both
male and female, as nearly
perfect in color as you can
get them. From such a mat-
ing you may expect a good
percentage of finely colored
birds.

Feeding Does Not Influence
Color

I do not believe feeding
has anything to do with the
color of Black Orpingtons. I
have experimented along this
line for a number of years,
and have found the only
way to get good color is to
breed it by proper mating.
Avoid using a male bird
with white in flight feath-
ers, especially in both wings.
I have used a bird in my
matings with white in one
wing without serious trouble.
The better way is to cull
out all birds showing white
in any part of the plumage,
because when once bred into
your flock it is hard to eradicate. The Black Orping-
ton is truly a grand fowl and is becoming more popular
each year. In fact, it is destined to become the most
popular black fowl on earth. I have bred Plymouth
Rocks, White Wyandottes, Black Minorcas, and White
Leghorns in the past twelve years, and I can truthfully
say that the Black Orpington is the best winter layer, and
the best table fowl of them all.

Value as Utility Fowl
The points of utility which make a breed of most

Second Prize Hen,

“LADY RUTH”

Indianapolis,
owned by Blue Ribbon Poultry Farm, Columbus, Ind.

value to farmers and small breeders are egg production,
good size, hardiness, good sitters and mothers, and a
good table fowl. In all these the Black Orpingtons have
been tried and not found wanting. They are a full
breasted, heavy quartered bird, both valuable character-
istics in a table fowl, and they also possess that other
quality, a white skin, so desirable in that it indicates ten-
derness of flesh, both in broilers and in full grown birds.
The Black Orpington can justly be termed the best all
purpose fowl in existence. They are making rapid pro-
gress in America, and have behind them one of the best
specialty clubs devoted to the breed, composed of true
fanciers and business men, who will see that the Black
Orpington is placed at the head of the procession, where
it justly belongs.

Merits of the Black Orpinégtons

Breed True to Type—Great Layers—Superb Table Fowl
—Hardy, Quick Maturing, Quiet Disposition

D. N. Foster

EFTER twenty years it can be truly said that Black

Orpingtons breed perfectly true to type and color,

and the veriest amateur canproduce as fine Black Orp-

ingtons for the show pen
as the most expert.

This is proved over and
over again in England, where
a beginner at the shows fre-
quently takes the prize away
from the old fancier. The
Black Orpingtons have a
lovely gloss on their plum-
age, of a beautiful beetle-
green shade.

Their faces and combs
are a rich ‘red; they have
dark eyes, the darker the
better; in the best birds they
are almost black.

They lay brown shelled
eggs and their flesh is light
colored.

The cocks weigh ten to
twelve pounds and the hens
from eight to ten pounds.
The plumage should be close
and not loose, the skin thin
and fine in texture, and flesh
firm.

Quick Maturity

No heavy all-purpose
fowl matures so quickly. The
pullets begin laying when
about five months of age and
the cockerels when well fed
and cared for, weigh a pound
for every month of their age, up to nine or ten months.
As early broilers they cannot be excelled.

Indiana, 1910. Bred and

Hardiness
I have no other variety so vigorous and healthy. A
sick Orpington is a novelty in the chicken yard.
The “Duke of Kent,” at this writing five years old, is
as active as a cockerel of ten months.
Meat
The Black Orpington is the greatest table fowl ever

34 THE ORPINGTONS

produced. The skin is white, thin and tender, not yellow,
thick and tough, and so greasy that children will not eat it.

Like the markets across the ocean, the best American
markets are already demanding a white skin fowl, and
ithe day is not far distant when its greater desirability will
be generally understood.

The Orpingtons are especially noted for their deep
bodies and broad, full breasts, the long breast bone carry-
ing almost as much white meat as is found upon a turkey.

Eggs

They are wonderful layers of large, smooth, brown
eggs. Pullets hatched in April and May commence laying
in early winter, when eggs are most desired, and will keep
up laying until spring, if warmly housed and fed green cut
bone and green food, after winter sets in. In the cele-
brated Australian contest in egg laying, where all breeds
competed, a Black Orpington pen headed the list, the
second being a pen of Silver Wyandottes and the third a
pen of White Leghorns.

Out of forty-one pens, the Orpingtons held seven of
the highest thirteen places,

Plumage
The plumage is most attractive, excelling the Lang-
shan in that beautiful green sheen, for which it is so
greatly admired. Makers of hat trimmings and ladies’
boas, are today offering 20 cents an ounce, ($3.20 per
pound) for the neck, saddle and tail feathers, and from 14
cents to 18 cents an ounce for the best of the feathers from
some other parts of the body. Dust, smoke and coal dust
does not show upon their plumage, making them a par-

ticularly pretty fowl for town life.

Disposition
They are quiet and peaceful, do not fly, and bear con-
finement well. They are easily kept from sitting, but
when desired make good sitters and mothers.

Easily Bred

They breed truer to color and type than any other va-
riety, and frequently from high-class fowls or eggs, hardly
a single cull bird will be found. They are, therefore,
especially adapted to the beginner, :

Shape and Size

Black Orpingtons Immense in Size, with Characteristic Shape Possessed by No Other Breed

M. F. Delano

O MOST PEOPLE there is no handsomer sight than
[ a flock of big black fowl running around on

a nice green lawn, with their bright, bril-
liant green sheen, red combs and wattles, and
their beady black eyes. As long as the writer
remembers the leading black varieties have been

tightly termed a gentleman’s fowl. As I understand this
term it means a grand, all-around fowl that is a fine table
fowl, a splendid layer and of unsurpassed beauty, but
which for some reason is handicapped from a utility
standpoint. For many years the Black Langshan enjoyed
great popularity. In fact in the early nineties it enjoyed a
remarkable boom, the writer being among the breeders to
take it up at that time, and a more satisfactory fowl for
home use was never produced than was the Langshan of
the early nineties.

The Black Orpington is made up largely from Lang-
shan ancestors. With the Langshan was combined the
blood of the Cochin, the Minorca and other varieties, all
yielding together the desirable points of each, and the
Black Orpington today is far and away the finest black
fowl that has even been produced. The old expression,
“As lordly as a Langshan,’ can be applied with even
greater force to the Black Orpington of today. Their
immense size, profuse feathering and attractive type com-
bine to make them “The fowl of beauty and a joy for-
ever.” The Black Orpington was the first Orpington
produced and they were the product of skillful scientific
breeding in an effort to produce an all-around utility fowl
of greater value than any then in existence and the orig-
inators were certainly successful in getting what they
were after.

In England, where the Orpington was originated, a
white or pink skin commands the highest market price in
both poultry and ducks. They prefer it there to a yel-
low skin. In this country we have always been partial to
yellow skinned fowls, but today the tremendous merit of

the Orpington as a table fowl has broken down the bar-
rier of prejudice and they are commanding the top prices
in the best markets where a really fine table fowl is most
highly appreciated.

The Blacks are the cobbiest and lowest down of all
the Orpington family. This effect is brought about to a
very great extent by the abundance and looseness of the
feathering which they inherit from their Cochin ancest-
ors. They have a type that is very distinctively their
own and I do not believe that the other varieties of Or-
pingtons will be brought to this type without seriously
impairing them as utility fowls. They are of tremendous
size and average very large, fully developed cock birds,
often weighing fourteen and fifteen pounds, and hens ten
and eleven pounds. They are very long, extremely deep
from the back to the hock, and have great breadth. Not
only do they show this effect while living, but the carcass
has the same characteristic and they have an abundance
of delicious breast meat on their well-rounded breast that
is of quality that will delight the epicure.

As I said above, the beauty of outline of the Black
Orpington is helped greatly by the profusion and length
of the feathers. This is true of every part of the bird.
The male has an abundance of saddle hangers and tail
coverts which cover a fairly long main tail. There is not
an angle of any kind in a really good shaped Black and
their lines are drawn with the length and breadth of the
Plymouth Rock and Brahma and the curves of the Wyan-
dotte. <A truly attractive bird that is rapidly gaining a
high place in the public favor, that stands today as the
most popular black fowl that has even been produced and
that has the intrinsic merit to hold the place which it has
won and to gain new friends and admirers every year.
Every lover of a black fowl should take up the Orpington
and I have never known a case yet where they have not
given absolute satisfaction. As a table fowl, as layers of
large brown eggs, and as an adornment to any place, they
are without a peer.

English Black Orpingtons

Selecting, Mating and Breeding for Type, Size and Color to Produce the Massive
Black Orpingtons of England

W. M. Bell

RIGINATED some twenty years ago, the Black Or-
O pington has maintained a _ steady popularity
this

as an exhibition fowl. The reason of
is not far to seek, for it is first, a very hand-
some bird, second, easy to prepare for exhibi-

tion, and third, no double mating is required, equally
good birds of either sex being produced from the same
pen. The late Mr. W. Cook, who originated the breed,

is stated to have used a cross between a Minorca cock
and black sports from Plymouth Rocks, mating the prog-
However,

eny back to clean-legged Langshan cockerels.
this may be, the result has been

a short-legged, deep-bodied bird
with brilliant sheen and broad,
full front.

Taking the three main char-
acteristics to aim for in the
breeding of Black Orpingtons as
shortness of leg, color, and, most
important of all, type. I will first
speak as to shortness of leg. Oc-
casionally we see birds penned,
that almost touch the ground, so
short are they, and, although we
want short-legged birds, this is 1,
rather overstretching the mark. ;
Being full-bodied fowls, they or
must have a certain amount of
day-light under them to show off
the full effect of their body type.
Birds that are as short in leg as I
speak of very seldom attain a
good size, and an Orpington
must have size. The color should
be brilliant beetle-green sheen,
free from purple or bronze and
one of the chief aims in breeding
is to get this color not only
on the top, but carried
right down the breast into the
fluff. At the present time there are very few birds that
can show a really good color throughout. In type they
should have a broad, full front, showing an unbroken
curve from the beak to the tail. Many birds have a ten-
dency towards being pinched in the breast, and one of
the main objects is to get this perfect curve. The body
should be deep through, as it is no use having a broad,
full-fronted bird if it has not the depth of body to set it

page 54.

at Boston,

BLACK ORPINGTON COCK—LATE ENGLISH
TYPE

Reproduced from ‘‘Races of Domestic Fowls,”’
Bird was bred by W. M. Bell, England.
He has exhibited with success in America, winning
recently at Madison Square Garden, New York and
Mr. Bell accompanied his exhibit and
made numerous friends on this side of the Atlantic.

off. The back should be short, with broad shoulders, with
the saddle rising in a gentle sweep up to a neat, flowing
tail. The saddle itself should be broad, with a full hackle.
The comb should be fine, evenly serrated, and free from
side sprigs. It should be medium size, set on a firm base.
If too small, it makes the cock look effeminate; but, on
the other hand, a comb like a Minorca’s tends to lessen
the compact appearances of the bird.

The eye is an important point and its color is some-
times the subject of controversy. I have often heard
people talking of a jet black eye, but have never seen one
yet. However good a bird’s
eye may be, if held in the light
it will show a dark brown iris
with black center.

In the mating of Black Orp-
ingtons I am never particular as
to the size of the male. In fact I
would prefer a small bird, if he
is of really typical shape. The
female should be as large as pos-
sible, provided she is a fairly
good type and other small points
are good. In both cases they
should have good bone and
should stand on short legs, this
applying more especially to the
male. Never mate two very
highly colored birds together, as
by doing so one is liable to get
purple barring on the wing, or a
bronze color, either of which
goes against a bird in the show
pen.

I have mentioned double
mating as not being necessary
for this variety. For the ama-
teur who only keeps one pen this
is a great consideration. I have
known a case of a cockerel win-
ning at the Dairy Show and a pullet getting second on the
same day both birds being hatched on the same day and
bred from the same father and mother. :

In conclusion, the perfect bird has not been produced
yet, but should this happy consumation of the breeders’
wish be obtained, it will be difficult for any man to pro-
duce a more perfect picture of the feathered tribe than a
Black Orpington.—Illustrated Poultry Record, England.

CHAPTER

IV

Buff Orpingtons

Severe Criticisms and Condemnation of the New Variety when First Exhibited in England—Rapid Growth
in Popularity of Buff Orpingtons when Their Good Qualities Became Better Known—Mating for
Size, Type and Color—Contributions by Noted American Breeders of Buff Orpingtons

J. H. Drevenstedt

UFF Orpingtons followed closely on the heels
of their black namesake, but even with
no claim as blood relations, they shared
the growing popularity of the Orpington
fowl in England with the Blacks from the
start, while in this country they became the
most popular variety from the time they

first exhibited at the Madison Square Garden in

were
1899 and continued in the lead up till the present time,
although the White variety has come along with a rush in
the past few years, and bids fair to overtake its Buff rival,
as it already has its Black in number of entries at our

leading poultry exhibitions. But Buff color is so im-
mensely popular with American fanciers that any
variety of a breed possessing it, is bound to remain
among the leading races of domestic poultry, provided
it meets the necessary other requirements which make
up the much sought after, but rarely found general pur-
pose fowl.

The new Buff Orpingtons were launched upon a
stormy sea and were tossed about roughly in their youth-
ful days. The originator, William Cook, was severely
criticised and even roundly abused in his native land, for
offering an imperfect cross-bred fowl to the public, as well
as for his temerity in calling these Buff crosses “Orping-
tons” when no trace of the

original Black Orpington
blood flowed in the new Soy. 5
comers’ veins. Gh ee

The American Fancier
in the fall of 1901 published
several caustic comments by
the late Harrison Weir, one
of England’s most noted and
respected poultry authorities,
which handled Mr. Cook’s
Orpington productions with-
out gloves. Capt. C. W. Ged- '!”
ney, Bromley, Kent, Eng-
land, in the October 27th is-
sue of the American Fancier
contributed another severe
criticism of Buff Orpingtons,
which in part read as follows:

“T read with much de-
light the well merited casti-
gation administered by Mr.
Harrison Weir to William
Cook, the Orpington poultry
dealer. But it will make no
impression upon this Bar-
num of the English poul-
try world. I hope, how-
ever, that it will counter-

act some of the log rolling of

Reproduced from

Races

W. Cook, which has been so long rampant in the Amer-
ican poultry journals. The English people—at least some
of them—like being gulled, and W. Cook apparently found
this out in 1883. He has gulled them successfully ever
since and waxed fat upon the proceeds.

But to get to one of his latest mongrels—the Buff Orp-
ington. I induced a friend of mine at a distance to obtain
for me a sitting of these birds’ eggs from W. Cook direct.
There were eight chickens hatched from the 13 eggs, but
two of them were white! Seven out of the eight had perfect
Dorking feet, with five toes, and six of the brood were
feather legged! Such a lovely lot of mongrels! And this
does not exhaust the list of ‘Orpington’ varieties which I
got for my money. Two of the Buff chickens are now in
adult plumage and they are distinctly marked upon their
backs with dark lacings, suggestive of Plymouth Rocks!
The feathering on the legs is very slight and it has a ten-
dency to disappear as the bird gets older. At any rate, I
was told so by one of W. Cook’s representatives. He did
not, however, explain, as Mr. Harrison Weir does, that the
feathers are to be pulled out and the holes filled up with
wax! As I said before, the British public like being gulled,
and they took William Cook’s mongrel Black Orpington
in preference to the pure Langshan, because he boomed it
and lied about it wholesale.”

ENGLISH BUFF ORPINGTONS, 1906.
by Edward Brown,

of Domestic Poultry, England.

THE ORPINGTONS 37

No doubt, Captain Gedney was somewhat prejudiced
in favor of his Langshans, which, added to his neighborly
feelings toward Mr. Cook, may have caused the above se-
vere condemnation. Our English cousins when they at-
tack each other in print, do not hesitate to call a “spade
a spade,’ or refrain from personalities. But every man
has his friends, so Mr. Cook was not left alone to fight
his battles, as the following letter, in answer to Mr.
Gedney’s, which appeared in the January 12th, 1902, issue of
the American Fancier, will prove:
“As a breeder and admirer of the Orpington, I have
read with much interest the correspondence that has re-
cently appeared in the American Fancier regarding the Buff
variety. Mr. C. W. Gedney’s letter in your issue of 27th of
October was evidently dictated by a spirit of personal ani-
mosity towards Mr. Cook, who, I am sure, from per-
sonal knowledge of him, does not merit the severe and
wholesale condemnation passed upon him by Mr. Gedney.
Surely the English public must be very stupid indeed if
they have allowed themselves to be ‘gulled’ for 17 years,
and we in the Australian Colonies must be equally stupid,
for as each new variety of Orpingtons is introduced at
home it is very soon thereafter imported here and eagerly
welcomed. I think Mr. Gedney must have drawn largely
upon his imagination in his description of the chicks
hatched from the sitting of Buffs he refers to, for I have
hatched scores of sittings during the past three years
and have never had or heard of anything approaching
‘such results. Mr. Cook, instead of attempting to conceal.
has frankly told both verbally and in writing the composi-
tion of the Orpington fowls, and so those persons who
breed Buffs are neither surprised nor disappointed when
some of the chicks are not a true buff color or have a few
feathers in their legs. My
own experience has been
that the chickens are very
free from feathers on the
legs and only a very small
percentage have specks in
the body feathers. Admit-
ting that such flaws occur
occasionally, these are only
regarded at all seriously by
exhibitors and in no way
detract from the value of
the Buffs as utility fowls of
the highest standard. In
this Colony the Orpingtons
are bred in large numbers,
being held in high estima-
tion on account of their su-
periority as early and pro-
lific layers and as quick
maturing table birds. The
government poultry expert
here stated in a recent re-
port that the Orpingtons
were by a long way the
best breed of utility fowl
ever imported into this Col-
that account
the praises be-
stowed upon them not well
merited and may not the
deprecatory remarks about
the breed and the personal

ony. On
alone are

abuse of their clever creator

COCKEREL INFIRST PRIZE PEN, BOSTON. JAN 1910. ;
BRED 4%» OWNED BY OWEN FARMOVINEYARD HAVEN, MAS5.US.A. |

be treated with contempt? The Diamond Jubilee Orping-
tons recently imported here have already proved their
immense value as utility fowls and, like the others, have
come to stay. I would only add that in my opinion, Mr.
Cook has deservedly earned the warmest gratitude of
poultry keepers in this Colony as elsewhere for having
produced a breed of fowls which is second to none, if not
superior to all others, for utility purposes, and are more-
over wholly undeserving of the name of ‘mongrels’ which
Mr. Gedney applies to them. E. BUTCHER.

“Sydney, New South Wales.”

The above correspondence appeared at a time when
Buff Orpingtons began to gain a foothold in America. In
1901 at the New York Show, Buff Orpingtons were out in
great force and showed high quality, according to the re-
ports at that time. Such well known fanciers as F. W.
Gaylor, Chas. Bennington, Chas. Vass and S. D. Fur-
minger became interested in breeding Buff Orpingtons,
and as it fell to our lot to judge Orpington classes in
those days we could readily note the rapid advance made
in comparatively few years in the color and combs of the
English American bred speci-
mens. But type was still far removed from what the
Standard called for. The birds were leggy and lacked
breadth and depth of body. In 1902 the Orpington fever
took firm hold of American breeders, as the following
report of the Orpingtons at the New York Show of that
year written by the enthusiastic Orpington champion,
Wallace P. Willett, indicates.

importations and in the

At the New York Show in 1902 there were 63 Orping-
ton birds shown by eleven breeders against 23 by five
breeders last year.

This shows how rapidly this breed is
coming into favor, making
its own way quietly and
without any pushing thus
far. The breeders exhibit-
ing this year were C. E.
Vass, Washington, N. J.,
Frank W. Gaylor, New-
port, R. I., Wallace P. Wil-
lett, East Orange, N. J., P.
Kyle, Flushing, L. I., Chas
Edw. Faber, Plainfield, N.
J., Arthur J. McCain, Dela-
Wate, Ne else bles eles Gar
penter, Ossining, N. Y.,
Jas. S. Warne, Washington,
N. J., Edmont Poultry
Farm, New Milford, N. Y.,
and Mrs. J. G. Osborne,
Fabius, N. Y.

“The first on Buff cock
went to Mrs. Osborne; Ist
hen and cockerel to C. E.
Vass; lst Buff pullet to Mr.
Gaylor; lst Black male and
female to* Mr. Carpenter;
Ist Buff pen to Mr. Willett.
Mr. Willett exhibited the
Spangled and Jubilee varie-
ties as well as the Buffs and
Blacks.
- tary Crawford promises
Buff,
Black, Jubilee, and Spang-
led, Wm. Cook & Sons,

Next year Secre-

special classes for

38 THE ORPINGTONS

the originators of the Orpingtons having agreed to see all
classes filled. Mr. Wm. Cook, Senior, had made arrange-
ments to be present this year with four pens but was pre-
vented by sickness.

“The American Orpington Club held its first annual
meeting and elected Mr. C. E. Vass, president; Mr. Frank
W. Gaylor, vice-president; Mr. Wallace P. Willett, secre-
tary and treasurer; Mr. P. Kyle and Mr. C. E. Faber,
members of executive committee. Standards were adopted
for all the varieties. A new paper appeared called ‘The Orp-
ington,’ by Wallace P. Willett, devoted entirely to the in-
terest of the breeders of the fashionable, fancy and utility
of Orpingtons, l-cent stamp for copy. This paper gives
the English Standards of all the Orpingtons and a fine
illustration of a typical
Black Orpington cock. The
wonderful progress made
by the Orpingtons in Eng-
land and the Colonies in
the few years since their
introduction is only a fore-
runner of what will come
about in the United
States.”

In 1903 came the flood-
tide boom of the Buff Orp-
ingtons, when William
Cook arrived from Eng-
land with a ship-load of
Orpingtons of all varieties
and made such a display of
them at the Madison Square
Garden. That exhibit firmly
and permanently established
Buff Orpingtons, as well
as the Black and White va-
rieties in America. The
boom was on in full blast,
and has shown no signs of
“blowing up.” Buff Orping-
tons are here to stay.

Buff Orpingtons in Eng-

land

The late Lewis Wright
in his “Book of Poultry” re-
lates the history of the first
appearance of Buff Orping-
tons in England as follows:

“The first pair of Buff
Orpingtons ever shown as
such were exhibited by Mr.
W. Cook, at the Dairy Show,
October, 1894, when Mr. Cook drew our especial attention
to them, and made the same statement which has been
made on many other occasions, that they were produced
by mating a Golden-spangled Hamburg with a colored
Dorking hen, pullets from the produce being mated with
a Buff Cochin cock; the main characteristic of the birds
being the combination of buff plumage with white legs
and feet. We remarked on this earliest possible occasion,
that a fowl with such points might probably prove both
valuable and popular; but that there was grave objection
to calling them Orpingtons, since he had already appro-
priated that name to another fowl, which had, according
to his own account, not one single element in common.
He asserted, as he has done since, his right to

call any fowl he introduced by any name he pleased; to
which we replied in substance, as expressed more
definitely later, that a breeder might justifiably use ‘any
name he likes really open to him; but when a man has
already appropriated the name of his own residence to
one such breed, of which he tells us the components were
A, B, and C, there are the gravest objections to his giv-
ing, years afterwards, the same name, for merely trade
and advertising purposes, to another ‘breed,’ which, ac-
cording to his own account, has no particle of A, B. and
C, but was built up of X, Y, and Z.’ Such nomenclature
would not have been allowed by the Poultry Association
of America, and objection to it was widely expressed by
the most prominent authorities in England with scarcely
an exception; the already
existing Orpington Club
also protested against the
same name being given to
another fowl which had not
in it one atom of the same
constituent as theirs. A.
considerable amount of dis-
cussion took place later
emphasized by the fact that
precisely similar fowls were
exhibited under another
name at the Smithfield
Show of dead poultry. Ow-
ing largely to this latter
circumstance, the question
was finally brought before
the Poultry Club, who de-
cided that it was then too
late to interfere, but inti-
mated that such a _ case
would not again be allowed
to pass unnoticed; and in
this way it is to be hoped
that the circumstances may
have produced a more
definite understanding con-
cerning such matters in the
poultry world.”

Of the subsequent de-
velopment of Buff Orping-
tons by English breeders
Mr. Wright writes as fol-
lows:

“There is an abund-
ance of evidence that all
breeders who took up the
new breed found plenty of
work to do in it, and
that some of them selected simply the best specimens
they could find, wherever they could find them, in Sur-
rey or Lincolnshire, or anywhere. That birds have been
bought in the latter county of people who have bred
nothing else for a quarter of a century, were shown di-
rectly as Buff Orpingtons, and used by Buff Orpington
breeders, is quite certain; and various successful strains
have no doubt had different local origins which accounts
for the fact stated by Mr. Richardson presently, of the
evil results found to follow from crossing these different
strains. None of the early show specimens had the shape
of the Black Orpington, all being higher on the leg, longer
in the back, and less massive in the body; but breeders

THE ORPINGTONS ay

have ‘recently been paying more attention to weight and
-shape, which are accordingly improving.

“The merits and utility of the breed stand apart from
‘its origin and name. Those who objected to the latter,
were. accused of making a ‘virulent attack upon the breed,’
‘but without, as far as we know, any foundation. The fowl
itself was recognized by nearly all as a most valuable one,
-endorsed already by the long experience of the Lincoln-
shire breeders as a first-class breed for the market; and
speedily found, as soon as kept alive for other purposes
‘than market, to ke a most hardy bird and prolific layer.
‘Putting aside claims and proceedings to which there are
serious reasons for taking exception, Mr. Cook may be
given full credit for ‘booming’ and making known in other
‘than poultry-fattening circles, what is recognized as one:
of the most attractive and useful of all classes of poultry,.
combining the beautiful and popular buff color, with ad--
mirable table and laying qualities. It is probable that the:
Buff Orpington, as now known, comes as near to the ideak
of an all-round, general purpose fowl as is humanly pos-
sible; and it is not a small service, however we may re=
gret the methods employed, to have made such a bindl
popular amongst breeders generally.”

Buff Orpingtons Admitted to the Standard in 1903;

Single Comb Buff Orpingtons were admitted to: tle
American Standard of Perfection of 1903, but the: 1905
edition of the Standard contains the first revised ideal
shape illustrations of Orpingtons, the color description
being the same in both. No material change is made in
the description of buff color in the revised Standard! of
1910, but changes in shape were made by the Revision
Committee at Chicago, IIl., April, 1909. These changes
will be found in the “Comparison of Type Columns?’ of
Chapter II. of this book.

WINNEROF FIRST PULLET BOSTON - 19°9

-FOR BEST PULLET. OWNED Sno EXHIBITED B

ANDNATIPNAL S.C BUFFORPINGTON CLUB SEE CAL
HENRY BPRESCOTT.VILLAGE STATION DERRY.NH. 2)

Buff Color

The Statdard color for all American Buff fowls is
defined as‘a rich golden buff, free from shafting or meali-
ness, the stirface of the head, neck, back, wing-bows, saddle
sickles ‘being of a rich golden sheen in the male; the same
surface color predominating in the female, the glossy
lustre ‘on the surface harmonizing in shade with it in all
sections. Under-color is a lighter shade of buff, which,
must be free from foreign color, while black or gray ap-
pearing in wings or tail is a serious defect. A first-class.
specimen is of one even shade of color from top of head
to tip of tail over back and wings and around breast and
Ipody. This is the ideal American Standard buff color,
hard to attain, but the true guide for the breeder, one that
thas been instrumental in producing magnificent speci-
mens of Buff Cochins, Buff Wyandottes, Buff Plymouth,
Rocks, Buff Leghorns and Buff Orpingtons in America..
There is no flexibility in this Standard. color ideal, for itt
means that only true buff color can win, other points
being equal in exhibition specimens. English breeders are
less strenuous and considerate over this buff color section
than American fanciers as the following definition from
the English Standard for Buff Orpingtons will show:

“Plumage: Any shade of buff from lemon buff to
Tich buff, om the one side avoiding washiness, and on the
other side a reddish tinge. The color to be perfectly uni-
form throughout, allowing for greater lustre on the hackle
and saddle feathers, and of the wing-bow in the case of
the cock only.”

This will explain the variation in color of imported
Buff Orpingtons which frequently disappoints American
purchasers. But English breeders are great sticklers for
type, and size and color take a back seat when a corking
good big and shapely Buff Orpington makes his appear-
ance. But it is a very good law in breeding all kinds of
feathered live stock to get shape or type first and color
afterward.

Size and Weight

Orpingtons are large fowls, so that size without cor-
responding weight is apt to kill the type and the breed.
That is the chief reason why many Buff Orpington breed-
ers objected to a reduction in the Standard weights of
Orpingtons, and justly so. A comparison of weights in
England and America shows:

English American
Cock:—Between 9 and 10 Ibs 10
when fully matured. j
Hen:—About 7 or 8 lbs. & {
when fully matured.
Cockerel:—Not given 8Y%

Pullet:—Not given 7
So on the weight question the English and American
Orpington Standard agree.

Disqualifications

The English Standard “passes” Buff Orpingtons for
the following: “Serious Defects; other than four toes; wry
tail or any deformity; the slightest feather or fluff on legs
or feet; long legs; yellow skin; twist or side spikes to
comb or comb over to one side; yellow legs or feet; any
white or much black in tail or flights; legs any color but
white.” The American Standard of Perfection gives the
following color disqualification: “Positive white in ear-
lobes covering more than one-third of the surface; yellow
beak or skin; shanks other than white or pinkish white.”
Other disqualifications for deformities come under the

40 THE ORPINGTONS

head of “General Disqualifications;” which are nearly the
same as in the English Standard except that no mention is
made in the American Orpington Standard of the number of
toes an Orpington is required to have on each foot, al-
though it is generally understood that five-toed specimens
are to be disqualified by the judges.

The excellent articles on Mating, Breeding and Rear-
ing Buff Orpingtons contributed to this chapter by fore-
most American breeders which follow should prove of
great value to all lovers of this popular and useful variety.

Mating Buff Orpinégtons

Proper Selection of Breeders to Overcome Defects
in the Buff Orpingtons—Extremes of Color in
Mating are to be Avoided

Maurice F, Delano

VERY true fancier is a member of a large family
which includes the men whose bread and butter
depend on their ability to produce the highest ex-

cellence; the men who breed pure-bred poultry as a side
issue, but also as a means of augmenting their incomes,
and the men who breed thoroughbreds for recreation or
for the love of it, but to whom the commercial success or
failure of their hobby is not of particular moment. At
heart these cousins of differing personalities are very sim-
ilar, and they are equally fascinated in watching the chicks
shape up, and can hardly take their eyes from the speci-
mens that promise to land the laurel wreaths at the com-
ing shows. No class of fanciers in the world are abler
men, better sportsmen, or have a harder color to produce
in its perfection, than those devoting their energies to per-
fection of buff color in the various breeds.

Considering its hybrid origin, the Buff Orpington has
made wonderful advancement, and the best specimens aver-
age fully as good in color as do the Buff Rocks and the Buff
Wyandottes. These latter varieties were originated just
a little earlier, but had much less alien blood of absolutely
foreign color that must be eliminated to produce the
soft even buff color so coveted by all breeders of buff
fowls.

The Buff Orpington of today breeds remarkably true
to both type and color and the percentage of decided culls
is but little larger from flocks bred from properly mated
pens than it is in flocks of the older buff breeds. A few
more years of careful selection will put them on a par
from a fancy stand-point with any of their sister varieties.

The commonest shape faults in the variety as we find
it today are; a little too much length of shank; breast not
quite full enough, and keel not quite level enough for true
Orpington type, which should be long and broad as well
as deep, in fact a low down bird of tremendous frame. A
tail carried too high will shorten the apparent length of a
bird, and the majority of males show this defect to a
more or less degree. Great strides are being made every
year in correcting these shape or type faults and the pro-
gress made is most encouraging.

The list of color defects will take longer to eradicate,
but this is true of any variety in existence. If it were pos-
sible to produce birds approaching perfection in a ma-
jority of our flocks, our interest in the science of breeding
would cease. White showing in under-color of hackle,
in wings, and at base of tail is a fault it will take
many years to completely rectify and not lose our rich-
ness and evenness of surface color. Minor color defects
that are fast disappearing are: red wing-bows in males:

FIRST PRIZE BUFF ORPINGTON PULLET
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN N-Y: 1909-40.

DUNROBIN FARM CGHATHAM N-dJe

penciling or ticking in females; bluish legs, a trace of their
Hamburg ancestors; and mealiness and patchiness in both
sexes. Other defects that will be a little troublesome for
some time are stubs on legs, and yellow shanks showing
Cochin blood; side sprigs on comb, and white in ear-lobe,
two more reminders of the Hamburg blood. The writer
has seen but one specimen showing the fifth toe of the
Dorking, so that possible defect can be ignored.

The above list of defects appears quite formidable but
is no more so than can be written of any variety if we
tabulate all the faults appearing in the poorest specimens
raised. In the proper mating of any flock of poultry we
should strive first to produce the breed type, second, to
improve the color of plumage; and third, to perfect the
minor points such as comb, eye, lobe, and legs. I will take
them up in this order.

Breed Type Emphasized

Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of
breed type in any variety. A poorly shaped Orpington can
approach the Plymouth Rock, the Wyandotte, or worse
yet, the original Hamburg in type. This. last is getting
rare and of the other two, the first is least objectionable.
Select a male as good in type as you possess that is not
really bad in other desirable sections; and mate with him
the best colored hens you have that are up to, or over
Standard fveight. If your male is poor in comb, be care-
ful to have hens as good in this section as possible. (Do
not, however, sacrifice shape and size to comb. Our
American taste demands a low Plymouth Rock comb on
our Orpingtons and this is not natural to the breed. It
will require patience to produce good combs without sac-
rificing size.)) Such a mating will produce large boned
birds that have size and type in a goodly percentage. -If
the chicks lose in color, this weakness can be rectified in

GHE ORPINGLONS

succeeding matings. Asa rule the male will influence the
color,and type more than the female does, while the latter
influences the size. For this reason I would prefer a
smallish male of really good type to a tall gawky male
having nothing but size and color to recommend him.

Among the first principles of color mating there are
a few points I wish to make most emphatic. Never, under
any circumstances, use extremes of color. Never use a
female in your best pens showing mealiness over the
wing-bows. Never use a reddish female with the web of
the feather very pronounced, or as we say, “shafty.”
Never use a male with a red hackle, and, at the same
time white in under-color of hackle. Good buff color was
never produced by using birds indicated above, excepting
in an occasional chance
specimen.

How to Obtain Color

In mating for color, I
first select the best colored
males I have available that
have no bad outs in other
sections. These birds [ line
up, and carefully compare
their breeding possibilities
from a. color stand-point,
taking the known qualities
of their direct ancestors
into consideration. After
selecting the most promis-
ing bird, I go through our
flock of females and select
even colored birds ranging
from the same shade as the
male to two tones darker. I
make color the first consid-
eration in selecting these
females, but also carefully
weigh their breeding, and
choose only those that have
the proper blood lines to
nick with the male, and that
are strong in the sections
where he is weakest. This in-
sures improvement all along
the line. This process is re-
peated with each one of my
selected males; in each case
using females that are not
over two tones away from
the maleincolor. The light-
er males are mated with females that are absolutely sound
in under-color in every section. It is not necessary to mate
dark females with such a bird, as the lighter females that
are sound under will have the necessary strength of color
pigment to mate with a male whose origin is known. The
darker males are usually very sound in under-color, yet
the same rule applies, and females mated with them are
even and rich in color, with sound under-color. In all
selected females, I avoic absolutely all mealiness and
shafting when possible. Also give the preference to hens
that have moulted right, and to pullets that my experience
has taught me will make fine hens.

“CHAMPION”

all Varieties.”’

Extreme matings containing dark birds of one sex
and light birds of the other will never produce medium
shades. The result will be unattractive patchy pullets
with dark hackles, and uneven cockerels with dark hackles

First prize Buff Orpington Cock at Madison Square Garden,
New York, 1909-10; also winner of cup for ‘‘Best Orpington Male,
Owned and bred by H. H. Kingston, Jr.

41

and wing-bows. Cockerels from an extreme mating
usually average slightly better quality than do pullets.
The contrary is true of a proper mating as it is easier to
produce sound colored pullets in quantities than it is to
produce sound males.

In correcting comb and eye defects I am careful in
every mating I make, whether primarily for shape, or for
color, to have good eyes and comb on either male or fe-
males. When possible, I avoid a decidedly bad comb in
either sex. I do not believe it practicable just now to
discard an otherwise fine male for a large, or unevenly
serrated comb. This section will adjust itself with time
and should not be allowed undue prominence. We all
admire a five point comb that is perfectly serrated, but
the longer we breed our fa-
vorites the more this sec-
tion seems to diminish in
relative importance. Never
breed from a bird having
side sprigs, or from one
having stubs on shanks.

Leg color runs very
good in the breed. A small
percentage still show bluish
shanks, and a still smaller
number bright
yellow legs. Simply do not
breed from these birds no
matter how good they are
in other sections. Bright red
eyes on birds of extra good
color are not plentiful. Have
made decided progress this
year in this section, and a
few years will largely do
away with our greenish,
yellow, and fish eyes. As
I said before, if you use a
male with poor eyes, rec-
tify the defect in your fe-
males, and vice versa.
There are a fery few fan-
ciers of any breed that do
not admire a buff bird of
the true golden shade, and
of even color. The writer
has bred over twenty va-
Tieties since he began eigh-
teen years ago, and the buffs
have always been first in his
affection. My long exper-
ience in breeding Buff Rocks and Buff Wyandottes is ex-
tremely valuable in producing proper color on the Orping-
tons. Today, I am completely cured of my prejudice
against the white legs and skin of the Orpington and can
watch our Orpington and Rock chicks running side by
side with equal pleasure. It is a keen delight to note the
improvement in both varieties, and it is still an open
question which will produce the best colored bird this
year. That the Orpington stands a chance in such a com-
petition shows decided improvement, and we have cock-
erels and pullets of both varieties without a trace of
foreign color in wing or tail.

come with

== phot? ion
King 10

NEW YORKER

The Buff variety has proven itself to be the best of
the Orpingtons, and has firmly established itself as one
of the six most popular varieties in America. Its intrinsic
merit will retain it in the proud position it has attained,

42 THE ORPINGTONS

and probably place it near the top of the leading six. It
is a fowl for the fancier, the egg farmer, and, as the
popular prejudice against the white skin and legs dis-
appears it will be a very popular fowl! for the broiler and
the capon man.

Some Experiences with Buff Orpingtons

Why I Selected the Buffs and How I Started—
Success in the Show Room

Miss Henrietta E. Hooker

Y first experience with poultry began about ten
M years ago as a necessity or rather economy, in
disposing of table waste from a large family.
They were a mongrel collection of twelve, purchased at
auction for 48c each. A cousin of mine, a fancier of Buff
Rocks, approved my venture, but urged that I keep some-
thing in fowls that my relatives would not be ashamed of
as they neared my house, and generously proposed if I

would eat what I had, to start me with six good Buffs.
This proposition was accepted and my flock was soon

all buff.
A Matter of Sentiment

In company with a friend of mine I made a walking
tour in England a few years ago and was so charmed with
the region about the little town of Orpington, that when
after my return home I began to see Orpington fowls
mentioned in the poultry papers, without knowing any-
thing further about them than what the name suggested,
I decided to own some—for there is something in a name.

A Start

I sent to a man in the Middle States who advertised
imported stock for a sitting of eggs, paying what seemed
to me then the enormous price of five dollars for twelve
eggs. These eggs were put with eggs from my own flock
under two hens and though the Rock eggs all gave me
chicks, not an Orpington peeped. On opening the eggs,
only one chick, a monstrosity, was to be found. In reply
to my report the shipper said he had broken up his breed-
ing pens but would sell me chicks cheap in the fall. This,
followed. up, brought the report that his brooders had
burned, leaving him no surplus for sale. Thus vanished
my first five dollars.

When the first eggs failed I wrote to a New Hamp-
shire breeder advertising for three dollars a sitting and
soon had eggs going with the same result as the first.
The sender said that I must in some way be at fault but
I could have another sitting at half price which I took,
getting therefrom a cockere! and a pullet, the former with
fully feathered shanks, the latter with as much white as
buff and about equally distributed and my labors for that
season ended by finding that the pullet laid well and the
cockerel was fine eating.

About this time I chanced to see in a poultry paper
the question answered as to whether it was practicable to
import eggs, the reply being that the writer knew of
seventeen Buff Orpington chicks hatched from two im-
ported sittings. Here was my opportunity and I impor-
tuned the writer to secure for me a pair of these chicks.
The importer, it proved, was not a dealer and hesitated to
spare a pullet as nine were cockerels, but finally sold me
a pair, five months old, for $6.00.

They were from the yards of the originator, Mr. Wm.
Cook, and were duly named William and Lady Glad-
stone.

I bought a hen from a well known breeder for $3.00
and felt that I was on my feet; but the hen died two
weeks later and the eggs from my pair did not hatch.
Perhaps I should not expect it now from a six months
old pair with no others in the pen.

I knew nothing of “points” at that time, only what the
papers mentioned in descriptions, but I am sure that the
pullet I should today consider choice and also that ‘“Wil-
liam” had some white flight feathers.

Some people might have been discouraged. Some
might have had other feelings. But for years the motto
in my laboratory had been: “Keeping everlastingly at it
brings success,” and in this spirit I determined to per-
severe until I had Orpingtons.

Soon, however, the eggs from my pair began to pro-
duce results and I was encouraged. A year later Mr. Cook,
Senior, came from England with 103 birds.

“PERTELOTE”

First Prize Hen New York, 1908. Owned by Miss Henrietta
E. Hooker,

One of these, a cockerel, I purchased and mated with
a part of my pullets, bringing reasonably good results.

I had no thought of exhibiting birds until a year or
two later. Indeed, I am sure that my attitude toward
what used to be called “hen shows” has materially changed
or I should not now show birds.

Making Headway

After a little I needed new blood, I was told. I pur-
chased a cockerel for $15.00 at a Connecticut show and
felt that I had gone beyond all limits of extravagance. I
ascertained that this cockerel was sired by the first New
York cock in 1903. This bird was beautiful as he de-
veloped and I declined an offer of fifty dollars for him. He

THE ORPINGTONS 43

sired the hen which I still own and which has always won
when shown. She is the mother of my hen, “Pertelote,”
who won first at New York in 1908, and of many good
hens in my flock.

I have made many mistakes but have tried to learn
from every available source. In my early mating I had
expert advice and also in preparing my first birds for
showing. It was money well invested. I visited, when
possible, the poultry plants of others, both of this country
and England, and learned always something helpful.

Introducing New Blood

New blood is introduced with extreme caution and
carefully toemarked more than one year. J have disposed
of every chick from such mating because of undesirable
qualities thus introduced.

I have three times imported cockerels from England;

BUFF ORPINGTON COCK
Winner of first prize and cup at Allentown, Pa., 1908;

first, two silver cups and gold special for best shaped
male at Madison Square Garden, New York, 1908-9; first
and shape special at Boston, 1909, and first at Cleveland,
1909. Bred and owned by Sunswick Poultry Farm.

twice direct from the home estate of Mr. Wm. Cook, Sr.,
and once from Mr. Wm. Bell. I have never paid what
would be considered high prices as I could not afford it
and most of the work of my small poultry plant I do
myself.

My First Exhibition

My first experience in showing birds was at Spring-
field, Mass., and was on this wise: A family of college girls
in my home noticed that at the coming poultry show a
five pound box of chocolate creams was offered to the
woman whose exhibit won the most points and begged me
to send my hens down to secure the creams for them; as
a joke I promised to do it.

I knew nothing of shows, had visited but one, but I
had a slight acquaintance with Mr. Frank Gaylor, and in-
duced him to come and teach me how to select and pre-
pare birds for showing. He was very generous and to his
help I owe more than to any other outside assistance my
success in selecting and showing birds.

Won the Chocolates and Cup

Perhaps no mortal was ever more amazed than I was
at the outcome of this show. Not only did I take the
chocolate creams but the cup and many specials. Since
then I have never failed to win a fair share of the trophies
whenever my birds have shown and the same may be said
of my stock.

Demand for Quality Increases Each Year

At the close of the season I have about fifty hens and
raise about 150 chicks, this being the capacity of my vil-
lage lot. I find there is always a market at proper prices
for first-class stock and could have sold much more this
year could I have spared it. It is very noticeable that the
demand for first quality in stock and eggs increases each
year. In offering eggs this year at $3, $5 and $10 per
sitting, hardly anyone wished the two lower grades. I
have no pens especially mated for myself from which I
do not sell and I also hatch eggs for myself from each
mated pen.

No Secret Methods—Hard Work—Study

I spend much of my time with my fowls and know
them as individuals. I have no secret methods but find
that success comes only from good, hard work and plenty
of it; careful attention to little things, all the time; clean-
liness; good food; fresh air and gentle treatment. These
make strong, quiet birds, easy to deal with. I am very
fond of my flock (especially so of individuals) for which I
care almost entirely myself. This has been a restful di-
version from my life-long work of teaching. I find the
Orpingtons very domestic, generous the year round to my
egg basket, especially good as a table fowl, beautiful to
look at and very hardy.

They Will Sit

from being non-sitters, but easily
season, gentle when sitting and the

They are far
broken if taken in
best of mothers.

As they lay all winter they are ready as early as one
wishes to set eggs, even in January or February.

I believe if we are conscientious in culling for the next
few years and careful in mating we have the foundation of
the most beautiful breed of fowls as well as the most use-
ful that any country can produce.

A Good All-Around Fowl

As broilers they are sooner ready for market than any
I have tried, so we have in the Orpington an all-around
fowl, considered from the standpoint of meat, eggs or
early broilers, and certainly the soft tint of golden buff in
chick or older fowl is a joy to the eye.

Ambitious

I have an ambition, perhaps selfish, one day to raise
as good Orpingtons as are to be had. I am slowly, care-
fully and with great enthusiasm working toward it, fail-
ing oftener than I succeed but learning what not to do
next time and expectant of better results each year.

Buff Orpington Type and Color
H. H. Kingston, Jr.

UCCESS in breeding Buff Orpingtons, like success
S in any undertaking, is the result of careful thought,
diligent application and hard work, though all three

are a pleasure when combined with a business or a hobby
we enjoy. There is money in breeding good Buff Orping-

14 THE ORPINGTONS

tons, but don’t think you can step into success all at
once. I repeat, it takes thought, application and work,
and I might add—time, to build up a paying business,

The Golden Rule in breeding Buffs is:—The male

transmits type and color; the female transmits size. Vol-
low this rule carefully and you will Like all
good rules, it has exceptions. Here is the important one;
do not breed males and females widely different in color.
A golden butt to dark females will never
produce exhibition specimens.

Let us step out in the poultry yards and mate up our
next year’s pens. We will first collect all our well matured
males and make our selections from them. Here is a fine
looking fellow with fine shape but red on the wing bows
and almost white under-color. He is no good—never could
breed good color from such a specimen: put him in the
fattening pen. Well, here is another, of beautiful even
color and nice type, but look at that side sprig on his
We hate to do it, but out he goes.

succeed.

male mated

comb.

Thus we cull them over till there are a select few left.
These have good type, even surface color, though some
are a few shades darker than others, good under-color,
clear buff wings, short, stocky, pink shanks, good head,
comb and eye. The darkest fellows will show some black
in the main tail feathers but none have white in any sec-
tion. We pick out the very best one, band him and enter
his band number in our stock record book under pen
number one, band 19 and so on down the list with the
others.

Next we judge over the hens and pullets, always late
in the fall or winter after the hens have fully moulted.
First, we sort out all the largest hens which have moulted
out a rich even buff, taking it for granted that these have
been culled over for defects when pullets. We select the
best for mating with our best cockerel and record them
in the book under his pen.

Now we come to the pullets. First, pick out the
largest, then cull them over for defects. Throw out all
birds that show any trace of mealiness or shafting and
then select the pullets that have a good even surface color
of rich golden hue, neat, small combs,

red eyes, short, heavy shanks and
good, deep bodies. Mate these with
the best cock we have picked out

that is a shade or two lighter and we
have pen number two.

In all matings aim to compensate
the defects of one sex by good points
in the same section of the other. Fur-
thermore, do not mate a lot of nonde-
script females to one male and expect
to get good chicks on the hit-and-miss
principle for it will usually be miss.
If you haven’t enough females to
mate up a full pen, use two or three of
the very best and you will be rewarded
in the fall by a lot of youngsters that
will make your heart glad.

I have learned through costly ex-
perience that the shortest road to suc-
cess in breeding Buffs, is to buy stock
from reliable breeder, whose
birds have been winning consistently
After getting
such stock, stick to it, and when you
fresh that same
breeder for it.

one
for a number of years.

need blood, go to

By way of closing my advice is that you will make no
mistake in taking up Buff Orpingtons. As a breed they
are the most popular breed of buff fowls and will always
remain so. Their many good characteristics are told on
other pages herein by abler pens than mine.

Why We Breed Buff Orpingtons
J. M. Williams and Co.

HEN the question is asked, why do we breed
Orpingtons, Rocks, Wyandottes, or in fact any
breed, for a profit, the breeder of his particular

variety believes that he has the best birds for making
money, either for the fancy or common purposes, and
will be backed up by scores of other breeders. This we
not only find in the poultry business, but in every vocation
in life. To make a success of any business, we must like
it—believe in it, and love to do the work connected with
it; then with the proper push necessary in any business
and the faculty of letting the people know what you have
to sell, you have the main secret of success in any busi-
ness. é

We like the Orpington family from start to finish, not
only because we have made a financial success of it, but
for the many good qualities they possess. In our several
years breeding them we have become so attached to them
that they seem like one of the family. The general char-
acteristics or make-up of the Orpingtons is such as to
make it easily understood, but they have taken a promi-
nent place among the old breeds in so short a time and
will continue to hold it for all time, not only for a general
purpose fowl, but in the fancy as well.

While we breed and keep the Buff, and White, in both
Single and Rose Comb varieties, we must admit that the
Single Comb Buff is our choice beyond any question, and is,
we believe, the most prominent today in the poultry fra-
ternity, still, there are lots of friends in the other colors
and we will not take issue with them on that score, as we
keep them and like them well.

In taking the Orpingtons for a general purpose fowl

OWEN FARMS

pe Ricca: ? Eo eee = lest
| INNER OF FIRST PRIZE ¢ ON DEN NEVY YORK Br oeedaNH51 >

VINEYARD HAVEN, MASS.VSA. Ld

we want to consider all the points essential to the make-
and we that the
laim early
and table
have

general purpose fowl, sae
land in the front ranks. We
maturity, egg production, hardy constitution
qualities second to none. Under early maturity we
with proper care and feed produced pullets laying at four
but allowing five months as
with any
tests by ex-

up of any
Orpingtons wil

and one-half months of age,

the average will compare favorably breed, and
as to the production we refer to the many
eprimental who are disinterested
which is the only fair test, and we always find the Orping-
tons leading or in the very first ranks.

We farm out a good many birds and we hear the

stations, parties, and

how much better the

While this pleases us

same story from nearly one:

Orpingtons lay than our own birds.

every

still we know that our competitors in other breeds will
say that anyone can get that kind of a testimonial. Any-
way, it pleases us.

We do not feed for winter layers, breeding for fancy,
as we would if for common market purposes, as we are
every year over-sold on our egg orders for early chicks;
so we commence to feed for our egg sales in February;

still we have than we can use in the early winter

months, just feeding some of the coarse feeds, not intended

more

for feed layers.
In table qualities the Dorking blood used in the make-

46 THE ORPINGTONS

up of the Orpingtons is one of England’s greatest table
fowls; the plump bodies of the fine texture of meat is not

only of the finest quality but of sufficient quantity to sate,

isfy anyone in that direction.

We find the Orpingtons of a very hardy constitution,
and one of the most active of the largest breeds of fowls,
the young, middle-age or matured fowls are the same in
this respect—they are working from early morning until
late at night. We believe in letting them hustle at nature’s
way to find at least a part ‘of their living; this not only
lessens the expense, but we think we get results in this
way provided by nature, that is much better than any arti-
ficial food that is used as a substitute. We find our young
birds growing from the start and always show the picture
of a healthy condition in this way of handling young or
old stock.

The Orpingtons are a cold weather bird, as you mtght
say, that is, they stand the cold winters and are not
pinched up as a lot of our small variety birds are. They
seem to have a winter’s dress adapted to that purpose and
stand the cold weather better than some of our people.

The beauty of the Orpingtons is second to none from
the fancier’s standpoint, with that deep, broad, massive
body so characteristic in the Orpington family, with a
golden buff, or a green sheen, or a pure white, whichever
color your choice is, is certainly a picture in itself. We
do not care what breed you are breeding or admire, when
you stop and look at a pen of Orpingtons as bred today by
our leading Orpington breeders you cannot help but ad-
mire them. In the show room you will always see some-
one admiring them, whether a breeder or not.

Some seven years ago when we took up the Orping-
tons, you could count the breeders on your fingers; now
there are thousands breeding them. In every state in the
Union, in the show room, we find the entries challenging
the old breeds of Rocks and Wyandottes, and we look for
the time in the near future when they will head the list
in our big shows of New York, Boston and Chicago.

How We Raise Buff Orpingtons

W. H. Bushell

HE Buff Orpington has come to stay. Why? Be-
a cause they do not disappoint and they come up to
all that has beer said about them by the intro-
ducers, the importers and the American breeders in gen-
eral.

They are a grand all-around fowl.

When we say that their meat is tender, juicy and of
fine flavor, we mean just that. All chickens might be
tender, but there is a difference in flavor and some are
more juicy than others.

As a winter layer they are the equal of the best.

The farmers are beginning to realize their value as an
all-around fowl, and as a winter layer, especially, so the
demand for male birds from farmers with which to im-
prove their flocks, is great.

They are also buying lots of eggs for hatching, and
thus putting thorough-bred Orpingtons onto their farms.

Many of our farmer friends and acquaintances tell us
that the Orpingtons are the best bird they ever raised for
layers, and their heavy weight and fine meat make them
very popular and profitable, when they get ready to turn
them into cash.

Another feature that takes well with the farmer is the
fact that they are such great foragers... They make nice
quiet sitters, easy.to handle and make good mothers.

__ The chicks are hardy and easy to raise. They feather
out rather slowly but that is to their advantage. A chick
that feathers out too fast uses the most of its vitality to
make feathers instead of bodily growth, consequently they
are very susceptible to the many chick ills, and easily
succumb. d

We find in our own experience that artificial methods
are by far the best for hatching and brooding. We have
used the high-grade incubators for the last twelve or fif-
teen years, have done all of our hatching with them, and
have raised the chicks in brooders.

We prefer a 100 chick capacity brooder for 50 chicks.
Lamp brooders are used in our brooder house, which is
12x70 feet. It is a frame building with drop siding on the
outside and lined on the inside with brick. The brick is
laid on edge between the 2x4 studding, and in this way
leaves a one inch air space between siding and brick.

The building is divided by one-inch mesh wire parti-
tions, into pens three feet wide. A hot-water furnace fur-
nishes the heat through two one-inch pipes, which run
the length of the building on the north side. It keeps the
temperature from 50 to 60 degrees in winter.

We feed a patent chick feed and some hard boiled
eggs chopped fine, for the first three weeks, and then add
rolled oats to their rations. A few sods of blue grass are
in each pen for them to pick at. Rolled oats, or pin-head
oats are great bone and muscle builders. As long as these
youngsters are confined in the runs, we keep the yards
spaded up and keep coal ashes, sand and blue grass sods
in them, and we are never bothered with bowel trouble.

After the chicks are six weeks old, they are given free
range and are fed as follows:—

In the morning they get a mash composed of coarse
cornmeal and rolled oat meal, equal parts, that has been
soaked over night in cold skim milk. For dinner they are
given boiled potatoes, carrots and beets. For supper,
whole wheat; wheat bran is kept before them all the time,
but they are never given more than they will eat up clean,
of the other rations.

Our laying stock never gets any corn except on very
cold, winter days; then they are given corn at night.
Wheat screenings are the main feed in winter. We give
them alfalfa leaves to scratch in, no other green food and
no mashes. Eggs run very fertile and hatch good strong
chicks. We use the stoneware drinking fountains, which
are emptied every night in winter. They are filled every
morning with warm water.

Our matings consist of 7 or 8 hens with one male
bird, in the winter time, in a pen 8x20 feet. They do not
go out of the house sometimes for a month or more at a
time, especially if the weather is cold and snow on the
ground. The yards are 100x200 feet, are seeded with blue
grass and also contain plenty of fruit trees for shade.

The chickems never get the best of the blue grass.
Some of the yards were sown to blue grass twenty years
ago and it is still very thick. During the breeding season
we take the male birds away from their mates every night
and put them in a separate pen and give each one all the
corn he will eat, and put him back with his mates in the
morning.

With these methods we not only enjoy the work but
have had good success in raising the best breed of all,

The Buff Orpington.

Gln A Poe ree V

White Orpingtons

Rapid’ Risecn Popularity and Remarkable Boom of the Variety in America—Shrewd Business Methods of
‘Promoters—Improyement in Color, Size and Type—Breeding and Feeding for Color and Character

1

J. H. Drevenstedt

“MIVE years ago, White Orpingtons were trail-
ing behind the Buffs and Blacks; today they
are being trailed by the latter, so great has
been the increase in their popularity, not
only in this country, but in England as well.
This sudden boom of the White Orpington
was not entirely due to the surpassing merit
or beauty of the new variety itself, but due

to the shrewdness and ability of Ernest
Kellerstrass in advertising and pushing it to the front.
Mr. Kellerstrass, like other
breeders of White Orping-
tons, was impressed with

their intrinsic value as layers
and for market fowl as well
as their attractiveness as a
large and beautiful exhibition
fowl. But unlike others he
believed in telling the poul-
try raisers of the United
‘States all about these good
‘qualities in a way unheard of
in the history of poultry cul-
ture of America. Just before
he started on his campaign
of advertising the White
Orpington, we happened to
be at a noted fancier’s yards,
and after looking over his
favorite Barred Plymouth
Rocks, we came across a fine
pen of White Orpingtons.
“What are you doing with
those Orpingtons?” we in-
quired. “Nothing,” he re-
plied and added: “I never
had a breed of fowl I liked
better tha’ these White Orp-
ingtons; they breed well, are
hasdy and the hens are
splendid layers in winter, ex-
celling other breeds in this
Tespect, and no better table
fowl can be asked for. But nobody wants White Orping-
tons, so I am going to sell them the first chance I get.”
Shortly after that he disposed of the entire flock at three
dollars a head. The following year, 1907, Mr. Kellerstrass
sent a few White Orpingtons to the Jamestown Exposi-
tion among the lot being the now world-famous “Peggy,”
a White Orpington hen of some merit, in fact she was the
class of the Orpington exhibit, shape, size and color being
almost perfectly blended in this sensational and most
widely advertised chicken in the world. “Peggy” became
an attraction at leading fall fairs and winter shows, being
advertised and exhibited in true showman’s style, press
and advance agents creating curiosity and widespread in-

“PEGGY”

The Sensational Hen That Made White Orpingtons Famous
and Popular in America

terest among visitors. There was a rush to see “Peggy”
wherever she was exhibited, the crowds being greater at
the Southern State Fairs held at Nashville, Memphis and
Atlanta, thanks to the clever newspaper notices which,ap-
peared in the daily papers. The gold leg band presented
to “Peggy,” the golden cage decorated with choice flowers
and a dozen other little wrinkles illustrating the great
value of “Peggy, the 10,000 dollar hen” all conspired to make
White Orpingtons the most talked of fowls in America.

Then came the great Paderewski sale, by which Mr.
Kellerstrass transferred a
very fine pen of White Orp-
ingtons to Madam Pader-
ewski and the latter trans-
ferred 7,500 dollars in Uncle
Sam’s yellowbacks to Keller-
strass’ bank account. This
was the largest price ever
received for a pen of chick-
ens and will stand as a record
for years to come.

This was followed by a
boom in White Orpingtons,
such as has never been
equalled by any other variety
of poultry in the past. The
man who gave up White
Orpingtons because nobody
cared for them, had a good
thing but did not know how
to push it. It’s the men be-
hind the breed that make or
break it.

W. H:. Cook in) sie
Orpington and Its Varie-
ties,” London, England, 1908,
writes:

“One of the most hand-
some and profitable varieties
of the Orpington family is
certainly the White. Intro-
duced in the year 1903, they
have grown in popular favor
ever since, simply on their merits as a perfect all-round
fowl, and whether used for utility or exhibition purposes,
or in hot or cold climates, the same report is heard,
they thrive splendidly, are most popular, and there is
always a ready sale wherever they are introduced.

“Their origin is somewhat remarkable, as, in the first
place, the originator, in breeding the Buff Orpington,
was surprised to find many chickens coming pure white,
and as these sports grew, their color remained absolutely
snow white; they appeared to be thicker set or more
cobby specimens than the then existing Buffs, and by ex-
perimenting in mating these sports (which by the way
were all pullets) to White Cochin, White Dorking, and

REPRESENTATIVE ENGLISH WHITE ORPINGTON MALES
Reproduced From ‘‘Feathered World,’’ London, England

White Game male birds, the White Orpington was. pro-
duced, and is today perhaps the most popular variety of
the Orpingtons. It might be advisable to here add that
occasionally a single specimen will revert to one of the
above named male birds used in their production, there-
fore one may see a little feather on the leg from the
Cochin, a fifth toe from the Dorking or a tinge of yellow
in the legs, feet, and beak. These «

<

lefects are now rarely
seen on stock bred from the best and most reliable strains.

“There is one great advantage to purchasers, and that
is double mating is not required, as equally good cockerels
and pullets are bred from the same pen, and this alone

has greatly assisted the variety to become so popular in

almost every part of the globe. As layers of large, rich
colored brown eggs they have no equal, commencing at
five to six months old, laying throughout the winter and
spring. They possess sterling qualities as a table fowl,
being auick growers, short on leg, long and full in breast,

and are ready for killing quite twenty-four to thirty days
before other pure breeds. Heavy clay soil has no draw-
backs for them, and as a general all-around fowl for the

cottager, fariner, or fancier, they are today unequalled.

Hundreds of White Orpington male birds are used an-
nually for crossing purposes, as among a mixed lot of
hens, even if mongrels, the progeny grow faster, and the
pullets are better layers than with any other mating;
therefore, as a general all-around utility fowl, they are now
known the world over as the finest and best.

“As an exhibition fowl they are most popular, the
classes pravided for them always being well filled, and the
average visitor to a show will remark upon their hand-
some appearance and symmetrical outline. Even the best
are not hard to breed, as, provided the birds are well bred
and kept growing from birth, no difficulty will be ex-
perienced in rearing specimens to the highest standard by
even amateurs or those who are practically inexperienced
in the raising of high class fowls.”

The above is a fair and comprehensive presentation
of the virtues and faults of the White Orpington from an
English point of view. Few American breeders of White
Orpingtons will file any objections to the above optimistic
and eulogistic opinions expressed by the son of the orig-
inator of these immensely popular white fowls. Neither
is there any serious difference of opinion existing between

THE ORPINGTONS 49

REPRESENTATIVE ENGLISH WHITE ORPINGTON FEMALES
Reproduced From ‘‘Feathered World,’’ London, England

American and English fanciers in regard to the type, size
and color of White Orpingtons as good breeders in both
countries are striving toward the same ideal in shape and
size.

The Kellerstrass harvest was such a bountiful one
that other shrewd fanciers became interested in White
Orpingtons so that classes at our leading shows began to
swell to large proportions. Such noted exhibitors as
Owen Farms, Sunswick Farm, William Cook & Sons,
Lawrence Jackson and others dividing the honors with
the Kellerstrass entries. At the New York and Baltimore
Shows of 1910, one hundred and thirty-four White Orp-
ingtons were exhibited at the former and one hundred
and twenty-seven at the latter, exceeding the Buffs in
numbers at Baltimore by twenty-three specimens and
coming within the same number of equaling the Buffs at
New York. This indicated the present status of the breed
in the East, although at the Boston show the Whites
ranked third to Buffs first and the Blacks second for the
past three years. In the West and South, the Buffs still
have a formidable lead, the race for second place being a
close one between the Blacks and the Whites, with the
latter slightly in the lead. A study of the tables pre-

pared by D. E. Hale showing the relative popularity of
the different varieties of Orpingtons at leading exhibitions,
which appear in the later chapter of this book, will prove
interesting and pleasing to lovers of White Orpingtons.

Improvement in Shape

In shape the White Orpington has progressed rapidly,
rivaling the Blacks in this respect, but not reaching the
size and weight of the latter as a rule. They also show
less softness and profusion of body and fluff feathering
and more length of shank than the Blacks, which in the
opinion of conservative breeders is a very good fault.
There seems to be a tendency among some breeders to-
ward a more Cochiny bodied type, which is more readily
noticeable in the females illustrated by artists on the other
side of the Atlantic. We reprint on page 27 an illustration
ofa pair of White Orpingtons from “The Orpington and Its
Varieties,’ Feathered World, England, 1909, which shows
the large and rather loose feathered and low hanging
body, fluff, departing from the “U” shaped body line and
the original cobby type of Orpingtons. The male retains
this “U” shaped body line and cobby look.

White Orpingtons in England

The boom of the White Orpington in the United
States has traveled across the seas reaching England sev-
eral years ago and it looks as if English fanciers have
been caught in the boom most completely. White Orp-
ingtons are certainly booming in England; judging by
the following remarks of R. H. Davis in “Poultry,” Eng-
land: “Whites, which are ahead by leaps and
bounds, and bid fair to become the most popular variety
of the day since they are capital layers and table birds,
can be thoroughly recommended as a good investment.
One of the highest prices (if not the highest), namely
$375, was paid for a White Orpington Cock last year
(1909).”” The illustrations of noted winners at the Crystal
Palace Show in 1909, which we reprint from the “Feath-
ered World,” on pages 48 and 49, convey an excellent idea of
the type and size of English White Orpingtons, showing
the great improvement made in this direction by the
breeders on the other side. As our English cousins are
very proud of white-legged and white skinned poultry and
like plenty of “beef” or size in utilitarian breeds, the
White Orpington ought to become the most popular all
around fowl in England.

going

White Plumage Hereditary

Color is due to hereditary sources, the excess or ab-
sence of one of the primary colors that are found in do-
mesticated races of poultry influencing the strength or
weakness of the various shades produced. Black and red
are the two pigments that play an important part in de-
termining the shade of buff and white. The excess of

one over the other influences the plumage of white
fowls. Where red isthe strongest the white is apt
to be creamy in the under-color and brassy on

the surface; when black is the strongest, we are apt

Cie san
CHICAGO. 1909,

FIRST RRIZE WHITE OR
OYYNED 4m) BRED BY LAWRENCE JACKSON HAYSVILLE,PENN.B

caaT SSS SO

A NOTED WHITE ORPINGTON WINNER

50 THE ORPINGTONS

FIRST PRIZE W- ORPINGTON HEN AT CLEVELAND’ 1909.

et
ly)

A TYPICAL ORPINGTON HEN

to get the whitest birds, i. e. of that snow white or silvery
tinge so popular among fanciers of white fowl. This is
easily noticeable in chicks when first hatched showing
gray backs, and in matured cockerels and pullets showing
gray ticking. Such birds have silvery white quills and if
selected as breeders will reproduce the same color, re-
gardless of the color of the grain fed. On the other hand
matured specimens with creamy plumage and yellow
quills will not be made to produce silvery white plumage
and quills by feeding white grains only. The hereditary
tendency of the red pigment is there and can only be
bred out by careful selection and mating of the whitest
breeders each year, or by using a black out cross. Some
strains of White Wyandottes, White Plymouth Rocks and
White Leghorns rarely produce anything but silvery white
progeny, notwithstanding the fact that their owners have
fed yellow corn year after year. Neither has climate any
effect on such silvery white birds, as we have seen just as
fine ones raised in the Sunny South as in the colder
northern, eastern and western states, where Old Sol is
only in his glory for a few months of the summer. It is
true that exposure to the sun and rain in summer and
fall will often cause brassy hackles, backs, wing-bows and
saddles in old males, but as a rule where the silvery white
blood is strongest the brassiness is absent regardless of
exposure to sun and rain.

Handling and Feeding for Exhibition

There are, however, many good breeders who firmly
believe that the color of the grain fed affects the color of
the plumage of white fowls, and their views are entitled
to considerable respect and demand careful considera-
tion. One of the best articles on this subject appeared

THE ORPINGTONS dt

twenty years ago in an English poultry journal. It was
written by an old experienced breeder and extubitor who
practiced what he preached and believed in his methods
of feeding and preparing white fowl for exhibition.
After dwelling on the importance and
natural shade and grass runs in the summer months for

necessity of

growing stock, he describes in detail the methods of rais-
in white poultry in confined runs as follows:—

“But, supposing that shade cannot be procured nat-
urally, then we must seek for it artificially, as undoubtedly
white birds enclosed in yards or grass runs without trees
should have it. We have known artichokes, sunflowers,
dahlias, even stinging nettles and coarse docks, make ad-
mirable shelter from the sun, for we are convinced that
whenever possible shade should be living shade. Were
we to keep one growing white cockerel in a run planted
with artichokes, and a duplicate in a run of the same size.
walled in, and roofed in by iron or wood, or even calico,
then we should readily see in two months’ time which
would be the victor.

“When the chickens are three months old we like to
have them placed in such shade as can be got, and there
kept. Two runs (we are writing now for those who can
not give their birds their liberty) side by side, as large
as can be spared, are very suitable for a flock of white
cockerels or pullets. In the one have the dahlias or arti-
chokes, or such like (which, we need not mention, must
have a certain growth before the chickens are turned in,
or the plants will be trampled down and become worth-
less), and let the other be one-half short grass and one-
half arable, the latter being dug over once a week. The
chickens can then be shifted from run to run by drawing
up a slide between them, according to the state of the
weather or season. When these herbaceous plants have
died down the sun. will have, to a great extent, lost its
power, and the birds may then be left more exposed.

“We have known, too, a troop of White Cochin pul-
lets do grandly in a well-earthed potato plot, getting both
shade and insect food. White Dorkings or Leghorns
would, however, do too much damage to the tubers to al-
low of their being turned in. Again, when the artichokes
or sunflowers, etc., cannot be got, the next best substitute
that we know of is to plant the runs with boughs of
spruce fir. These soon turn brown, we know, but they

WHITE ORPINGTON COCK—AMERICAN TYPE

EPpy

BRE
RST Rp AND QWNE

A PULLET OF GREAT SIZE

hold their spines a long time and really afford capital
shade. When the birds have got their growth, then sheds
with wire fronts or covered in with newly invented wire-
woven roofing gauze can be used, and the birds, with
plenty of good food, should do well, but while they are
growing, until they attain their matured plumage, we can-
not too strongly advise that their runs should be airy and
sheltered from the sun’s rays by a living growth of vege-
tation.

“Thus much for the chickens. Now let us turn to, the
moulting out of white poultry. We like the hens to sit in
June or July. Sometimes we let them sit on dummy eggs
for four or five weeks and then turn them down in a goo
grass run. At another we give them half a dozen eggs to
hatch if they like—not for the chickens they mav rear so
much as for the rest it will afford the mothers. Hens so
treated moult out quickly and early; their feathers all
come off together and not in patches, and the new plum-
age grows quickly, the feathers coming strong and firm.
These birds should not, however, have a cock running
with them until they are taken to the breeding pen.
Cocks should be put in small warm runs in July with
plenty of dust and road grit. They, too, will then moult
out early and well—far better than if they had their lib-
erty. Care only must be taken to see that they feed
heartily, for occasionally they seem at first to pine for
their freedom if they have been accustomed to it and get
below par when their moulting out becomes tedious and
the new plumage patchy. Green food, especially lettuces, we
like to see given ungrudcingly, and sods of grass cut two
or three inches thick are much appreciated, which when
done with and allowed to dry make excellent mould for
potting flowers or material for dust baths.

“Many think that white poultry can ve easily moulted,
that their feathers are bound to come white and that the
process is consequently an easy one, but this is far from
the truth of the case, for as much care and attention is
wanted to get a white bird through its moult as ever is
needed for a colored one and perhaps more, for while
slight stains or tinges would not show probably in the-

52 THE ORPINGTONS

latter, in the former they glare out conspicuously in con-
trast to the rest of the white plumage.

“Before concluding this subject we would take the
opportunity of saying that neither maize nor Indian meal
should be given to white poultry. Birds fed for any length
of time on such food will, in all probability, become
creamy in plumage and lose that spotless whiteness which
is so greatly desirable. We are aware that some of the
samples of Indiau corn are much whiter in husk and sub-
stance than are others, but with good wheat, buckwheat
and dari, maize of no description need form any part of
the daily food of white exhibition fowls.”

The statement in the last paragraph above relating to
the feeding or rather to the not
will be received by many breeders with doubt as to its

feeding of yellow corn,

correctnéss, no experiments having been made to determ-
ine what effect, if any, the feeding of yellow corn to fowl
has on the shade of white plumage from which correct
conclusions can be formed. It is true that a number of
prominent American breeders of White Leghorns and
White Plymouth Rocks believe that yellow corn causes
creaminess and brassiness of white plumage when fed
daily to young and old fowls, even when fed only as a
part of the grain ration. These breeders feed white corn
in place of the yellow, being convinced that it will at
least prevent the appearance of the yellow tinge in the
feathers of naturally white birds, even if it will not whiten
the plumage of specimens that have a yellow streak in
their make-up.

Size and Character

In order to increase the size and weight of White
Orpingtons some English breeders have resorted to
crossing the latter with the Blacks. The veteran fancier
and Judge J. W. Ludlow in the “Feathered World,’ Eng-
land, of September 2, 1910, comments on such crosses
as follows:

“Bye-the-bye, blacks being the safest occasional cross
for the produce of bulky whites, it will become necessary
to carefully examine and guard against grizzly under fluff
in all and any of the black progeny thus produced. An
occasional dip is good, over much leads to spoil the glossy
splendor and produce a dull black plumage. In fact, the
advantage is to the whites only to the detriment of the
blacks so crossed. I name this because I know that, in
the effort to get size, bulk and character in whites, some
of the biggest blacks have been and are used for the
purpose.”

We are of the opinion that the infusion of Black Or-
pington blood into the Whites has also had a beneficial
effect on the white plumage, eliminating the tendency to
brassiness in the males and creaminess in the females.
Recent importations of White Orpingtons possessed this
desirable silvery white plumage in a more marked de-
gree than in the earlier Whites received from England,
the Black no doubt being responsible for both size and

color improvement.

The Story of The White Orpington

How and Why, After Many Years of Experimenting with Various Hreeds, the White Orpington was
Selected as the Best Fowl for All Purposes.

Ernest Kellerstrass

AN IDEAL

WHITE ORPINGTON

y OU ask me why I selected the
White Orpington. Well, no
doubt you are aware of the fact

that I have bred chickens for many years
and I bred something like sixteen
or seventeen different varieties, and the
great trouble was some of the birds that
I had did not produce the eggs. Then I
bred some other varieties that produced
the eggs, but they were too small and
would not produce the meat. I looked
around and experimented for a number
of years, and after I had tried out some
Orpingtons for about three years under
lock and key here, I finally came to the
conclusion that they were the birds. I
got rid of everything on the farm and
went to breeding White Orpingtons ex-
clusively.

With due respect to all other breed-
ers and other breeds of birds, I think
there is nothing like the White Orping-
tons. History shows that they mature
quicker than any other breed of fowl. It
is no trouble to find White Orpingtons
laying at four or four and a half months
old, but those are common occurrences.
Then again, for the meat end of it, the
birds have to weigh a pound more than
any other breed, according to the Amer-
ican Standard, that is in the clean-legged
variety and as to producing the eggs,

THE ORPINGTONS 53

FIRST COCKEREL KANSAS CITY SHOW {4fe
2 © a= BRED AND OWNED BY WR. KENDALL,

a be5 NEW NELSSN BLDG,KANSAS | CITY, phlcoe=s

take them in any breeder’s hands or in the hands of our
experimental stations, and look through the poultry jour-
nals and size them up and you will find that they are as
good if not better than any other known breed, when it
comes to egg producing.

There is only one thing that I would like to guard all
breeders against, and that is be careful when breeding
for show purposes. Some of the best breeds in this coun-
try have been ruined by people just trying to breed for
feathers, and forgetting the utility end of it.

Now my main object is just to
try and see how good egg producers
and how large fowls I can produce. It
is eggs and meat I am after. Take
the commercial end of it away from a
breed and it will soon fall by the way-
side. It does not matter how
your birds are in the showroom, nor
how many ribbons they will take, if

good

they do not produce the eggs and
meat, they will soon lose in popu-
larity. Every day I am writing to

my various customers telling them
especially when it comes along about
mating time to be very careful in se-
lecting their birds and not breed them
for feathers alone, but to always re-
member the most important part is
just meat and eggs. Of course lots of
people say today that the White Orp-
ingtons are now on a_ wonderful
boom. I think that is wrong; there is
no wonderful boom. There is simply a
demand. The farmers and the breed-
ers and the city fellow and all of us
want meat and eggs, and the Orp-
ingtons produce those two things,

wants them.
demand for the White
They are a fowl
as they will

and that is the reason why everybody
to be a steady
Orpington for years and years to come.
that is here to stay and to stay just
“deliver the not forgetting the commercial end of
it; just as soon as they do that, the White Orpington, like
will fall by the wayside

There is going
as long
goods,”

a good many other breeds,

White Orpingtons Best Layers

Comparison of the Three Varieties as Utility Fowl
E. A. Haring

I realize that
better than
proved

to say that
of fowls are
having

N THE beginning I wish
] some strains or families
others of the same breed,
time and again.

seen this
There has been so much written as to the origin of
the Orpington that I will not attempt to go into that. I
was first attracted to them by seeing a photo of Whites in
a poultry paper, and made up my mind that they were the
I bought a few pullets from one of the
breeders and a of eggs from another
from which to establish a strain of my own.

From the time those pullets started to lay, they out-
laid any stock I had ever handled. Afterwards, in taking
charge of one of the largest and best flocks of Orpingtons
in this country, I found the same trait there as with my
eges in large numbers when most wanted.

In my experience I have found the Whites to lay the
best, with Buffs second and Blacks next. For an all-
around fowl, the Whites are probably preferable for the
largest number of people in all localities.

In the old days it was very difficult to breed the
Whites free from creaminess and the males became very
brassy; we are now breeding them as white as the Rocks

The Blacks are grand birds for size, type and ihre
age, and when bred free from purple barring (which some-
times appears), they are truly beautiful and stand without
an equal.

I do not like the tendency of some of the breeders,

coming breed.

foremost sitting

own, 1. e€

vIn PRIZE CARL: & FIRST alte PULLET 9:C-W-ORPINGTONS es a
INENARDSHA AS Si!

54 THE ORPINGTONS

especially Western fanciers who are breeding them very
cobby, and I think, a bit too low. I like a low bird, but
think one of their size needs some length of leg and should
stand a little distance from the ground, to show off well
and do best.

Then, I dislike poor color in Blacks, as much as in
the Whites if not more so, and think we should strive for
better colored specimens; next to type, color should play
an important part, but is unfortunately too often disre-
garded.

They are all good sitters and make excellent mothers.
As a table fowl they are unsurpassable. We have had
farmers who never heard of Orpingtons before, eat at
our table, and remark about the excellent quality of the
fowls. Given a Black Orpington cockerel, weighing 8 to
10 pounds, roasted, and you have all one can desire.

I always dislike to kill them, still the eating almost
makes one forget the unpleasant act. When dressed they
are clean and white, and once used to their appearance,
the yellow, oily skin of other breeds does not appeal to
one any more.

We have only to look through the poultry papers to
see how the Orpingtons are coming into favor. Where
only a few years ago there was but a few fanciers breed-
ing them, now there are hundreds all over the country,
and where the competition at poultry shows a few years
back was between a very few, scarcely more than one
or two fanciers, and then only at the largest shows, now
a host of breeders are striving for the honors, and every
small show has its full share of Orpington entries.

Truly they are a grand breed and too much good can-
not be said about them.

English White Orpingtons

Views of a Noted Breeder and Writer on the Origin,
History aud Value of White Orpingtons

W. W. Broomhead, England

T HAS always been a matter of conjecture as to how
the White Orpington was “manufactured” and it is
still a much debated point as to who actually brought

it out. The late Mr. William Cook, who originated the
Orpington fowl, claimed the honor of producing the
White; and he stated that the variety was the result of
Black Hamburgh hens mated with White Leghorn cocks,
and their off-spring eventually crossed with White Dork-
ings. The first specimens bearing the name—and I refer
to those produced in 1889—were, however, of a slim build
and too closely resembled fowls of the non-sitting type.
They did not, as a matter of fact, conform to the type
of the original Orpingtons, the Blacks, which came into
existence about two and a half years prior to the date
mentioned. And, moreover. whereas the Blacks were
single-combed, these first Whites had rose combs.

But there are other fanciers who contend that they
originated the White; and, in one instance at least, in a
much more simple manner—namely, from sports from the
Buff. And I greatly question if there are many, if any,
strains of White Orpingtons among those that are to the
front at the present day in the exhibition arena which have

been other than Buff bred. Some authorities, | am
aware, hold different opinions; but even now it is by no
means rare to find traces of the Buff ancestors in some
show specimens.

Although, as I say, the White made its debut in 1889,
it was rarely met with for some years after that date; and
I believe that had it not been for an attempt to boom
another new breed the White Orpington would have been
practically unknown in the Fancy for much longer than it
was. Its first revival came in 1899, during which year the
Albion fowl was being boomed. This new fowl, it was
stated, was a pure Sussex breed, produced solely from
the existing Sussex poultry, which at that time were noth-
ing better, as regards external points, than farm-yard
fowls. However, the Albion greatly resembled the true
Orpington type; hence after a season or so the Albion
disappeared from the list of our breeds and the White
Orpington came to the front.

For a brief period it flourished; but once again it
dropped into obscurity. At the time there existed a great
prejudice against white plumaged fowls of any breed.
They were supposed to be delicate, and, on the other
hand, it was considered a trouble to keep their plumage
in a fit state for the show pen. But what the White Or-
pington lacked was a club to look after its interests. This,
however, it obtained in 1903, when the Variety Orpington
Club was formed at Crystal Palace Show, and since that
time it has gone ahead in a satisfactory manner. And it
became such a favorite that in 1905 breeders of the va-
riety were numerous enough to form the White Orpington
Club. That it is now a popular variety is beyond dispute,
and at the recent club show at the Palace there were
some two hundred entries in the eight classes. As re-
gards its exhibition points there is not much to be said.
We all know that a white bird should be white, but it is a
great mistake to sacrifice other points for color. I like
a good white plumage, but in my opinion type and general
characteristics are much more preferable, and until true
shape and the desired size are firmly fixed, it is folly to
let the color faddist have full swing.

The quality of the specimens at the recent club show
was certainly an improvement on last year’s display; but
even now there are too few really typical Whites about.
The pullets, as regards shape, are better than the cock-
erels, which in many respects resemble Plymouth Rocks.
But an adult Orpington, no matter of what variety, should
not show its thighs. Then again, in the females, there is
room for improvement. Some strains, too, often show
blue colored shanks; but white legs are required.

As a fancier’s fowl, however, the White Orpington is
gaining rapidly in popularity; and since it retains its util-
ity points, being a very good all-around fowl, it is being
much sought after by those poultry keepers who do not
aim at keeping exhibition specimens. It is certainly not a
variety to be kept in a busy manufacturing district, since
nothing looks worse than a dirty plumaged white fowl of
any breed; but for a country neighborhood which is free
from smoke, the White Orpington will be found to meet
all the requirements for utility purposes. The eggs are
large and brown shelled and the chickens can be well fed
for table—lIllustrated Poultry Record.

CHAPTER VI

Non-Standard Varieties

Rose Comb Black, Buff and White; Jubilee, Spangled, Cuckoo Blue and Ermine
or Columbian Orpingtons

J. H. Drevenstedt

NCE a new breed becomes popular, the work

of producing sub-varieties begins. Scarce-
ly had the original Black Orpington be-
come established and recognized as a race
of fowl, when the Buffs and Whites ap-
peared. All other sub-varieties .are still

outside the breastworks and of the eight

will eventually
be admitted to the Standard, if the present

and conservative attitude of Orpington fanciers

non-standard varieties few

temper
are reliable indications.

With the exception of the Ermtne or Columbian Or-
pington, all other sub-vatieties originated in England, so
the following comments by that eminent English author-
ity, E. Campbell, in his book, “The Orpingtons,’” prove
timely and interesting.

“For the Diamond Jubilee or Spangled Orpington I
am unable to raise any great enthusiasm. A multipliance
of varieties may be all right from an originator’s point
of view, but they need something more than these have to
recommend them, to justify the breeder taking either up
in face of many other beautiful and distinctive breeds.

“Nor can I say much more for the attempt to perpet-
mate the rose-combed varieties. Popular fancy has fixed
on the single-comb as the badge of the Orpington tribe,
and even though breeders would have been probably as
ready to adopt the rose-comb had it arrived first, or with
better specimens. The reverse being the case, it is only
reasonable to suggest that rose-combs should be conceded
as the Wyandotte’s birthright, just as the yellow leg is the
chief distinguishing mark between the Buff Rock and Buff
Orpington.”

Rose Combed Orpingtons

As Rose Combs appeared in the flock of Single
Combed Black, Buff and White Orpingtons, not infre-

ef

JUBILEE ORPINGTONS
“Reathered World,”

Reproduced from England

quently, it did not take long to establish such rose combed
sports as a variety of either of these three single combed
ancestors. but the demand for them was never very large,
in fact, their existence today rests with a few large breed-

CUCKOO ORPINGTONS
“Feathered World,”

Reproduced from England

ers who by persistent advertising and exhibiting keep
these Rose Combed varieties alive.

As Mr. Campbell remarked above, the “Rose Combs
should be conceded as the Wyandotte’s birthright.” With
Wyandotte breeders favoring large, blocky birds that re-
semble the Orpington more in type than they do the true
Wyandotte, about the only difference between the ultra
fashionable Black, Buff and White Wyandotte and Rose
Combed Orpingtons of the same colors is in the color of
the skin and shanks, and in the shape and fixture of the
comb, which is larger, coarser and more corrugated in the
Orpington. In size, shape and color Rose Combed Or-
pingtons are identical with the Single Combed varieties,
the rules for breeding exhibition specimens applying to
both families.

Jubilee Orpingtons

This new variety of the Orpington fowl, rarely seen in
America, has enjoyed temporary popularity in England,
were it originated. We are indebted to the “Illustrated
Poultry Record,” England, 1908, for the following com-
ments by W. W. Broomhead, on Jubilee Orpingtons:

“The Diamond Jubilee, to give its full title, was in-
troduced during the sixtieth year of the reign of the late
Queen Victoria—hence its name. Nevertheless, its orig-
inal cognomen was not a pleasing one in the Fancy, con-
sequently the variety has for some years been known
simply as the Jubilee, which name, it must be admitted,
is awkward enough. There is much in a name when it is
applied to a race of fowls, and I am firmly convinced that

56 THE ORPINGIONS

the very name Jubilee has tended in no small measure to
prevent the variety becoming as popular as its good qual-
ities merit. It is a difficult title for the public to grasp;
and, moreover, it does not convey the slightest notion as
to the color. Had it been christened the spangled, or
even the speckled, it would undoubtedly have had a much
greater vogue, since it is a really handsome fowl, and
one which will provide the true fancier with ample scope
for his talent.

“For some years after its introduction the Jubilee was
practically unknown to the general fancier, and it was not
much exhibited until the Variety Orpington Club was
started in 1903. It was said to have been extensively bred
prior to the latter year; but this is very questionable—if
the extensive breeding refers to the variety under itr
new name.

“As a matter of fact, the early specimens exhibited as
Diamond Jubilee Orpingtons greatly resembled a some-
what nondescript race of
fowls which was common
in the old days in the
southeastern counties of
England, and which has re-
cently been evolved into
the Speckled Sussex. To
put it in plainer lauguage,
the Jubilee is merely an
‘improvement’—if I may be
permitted to use the word
without in any way wishing
to disparage the beauties of
our ancient races of poultry
—of the speckled farm-yard
fowl indigenous to the
country of Sussex. And to-
day, since the Sussex Poul- 6%
try Club has taken its own ;
breed in hand for exhi-
bition purposes, it is very
difficult for the general
public—aye, and the ordi-
nary poultry fancier— to :
distinguish between the two ~~
varieties.

“As has been stated,
its name does not give
one any idea as to the
color of the Jubilee; it
is a _ parti-colored va-
riety. The ideal aims at a
combination of black, white
and mahogany—bright mahogany, not a dark or maroon
shade. The cock’s neck and saddle hackles, back and wing
bows, should be of the desired mahogany shade, with black
center striping and a white tip to each feather. The wing
bars should be black, the secondaries and flights of the three
colors, the sickles and true tail feathers white, or black and
white, or the three colors, the coverts black edged with
mahogany and tipped with white. The remainder of the
plumage is mahogany with black spangles and white tips,
the three colors showing in equal proportions, avoiding a
ticked effect on the one hand and a blotchy effect on the
other. The hen is of similar colors, allowing for the usual
sexual difference. The Standard notwithstanding, it is a
great mistake to insist on the equality of the three colors
in the hen and on the cock’s breast, since it has a decided
blotchy effect.”

SPANGLED ORPINGTON COCK
Reproduced from ‘‘Feathered World,’ England

Spangled Orpingtons

Of the new variety W. H. Cook in “The Orpington
and Its Varieties” writes as follows:

“This variety of the Orpington family was placed be-
fore the public early in 1900, and owing to the plumage be-
ing made up of but two colors, viz., black and white (a
well-known brand), they immediately appealed to the
buying public and soon made great headway, particularly
in the exhibition world, as poultry people at once saw in
them a very fine fowl, handsome in appearance and easy
to breed true to their respective markings.

“They are somewhat larger than the Jubilee Orping-
tons, being quite their equal as layers and table birds, ex-
tremely hardy and most vigorous. The pullets forage
well, and a flock of them running in a field have the ap-
pearance of Anconas, but are double their size, without the
objectionable yellow in the legs.

“They are perhaps not quite so cobby in build as the
Jubilees , having rather a
longer body, therefore car-
rying a good long breast
and pure white flesh, which
has made them popular for
utility purposes. Their red
comb, face and wattles,
make a striking contrast to
their black plumage ticked
with white, and although
there are many varieties of
black and white fowls on
the market, none are sim-
ilar in markings to the
Spangled Orpingtons.

“Considering the short
space of time that has
elapsed since their first in-
troduction, it is surprising
how many persons are to
be found keeping this va-
riety, and each year they
are certainly becoming
more widely known and
popular, so much so that
a separate club called the
“Spangled Orpington Club”
has been formed and is
now on a very promising
footing, with some sixty
members.

“The Spangled Orping-
tons were first thought of by
their originator in saving sports that came pure black
and white from the Jubilee Orpingtons. These were divi-
ded, part being mated to very dark colored Dark Dork-
ing cocks, and the others to large Black Orpington cocks;
the results of this mating were then re-mated together, and
their progeny produced the present-day Spangles. The
ground color is a beautiful beetle black, each feather be-
ing tipped or spangled with white, the tail in the cock
corresponding to the body color, whereas in the hens it is
almost all black, only occasionally shawing a little white.
The legs and feet are mottled with black and white, and
the darker the coloring of the bird, the more black is
produced in the legs, and though a black-legged bird is
often placed in the money at shows, if all were bred with
a pure white leg, as was the originator’s intention, the
contrast of same is more pleasing to the eye, and certainly

THE ORPINGTONS 5

far more useful as a table bird. It is hoped that in time
the breeders of the Spangled Orpingtons will breed only
for a pure white leg, or as little black in them as possible.

“The comb should be low set and well serrated, up-
right in the cocks; but the hens being such extraordinary
layers, they invariably have a rather larger comb, oft-
times falling to one side.”

In weight the cocks when developed are 10 lbs., and
hens 8% lbs., though many specimens have far exceeded
these weights.

Double mating is not necessary, though some breed-
ers resort to it, but equally good birds are produced from
the one mating. Care, however, should be exercised in
selecting cocks on the dark side mated to hens with an
even, but not excessive, spangling all over.

As this variety are inclined to produce white in lobe,
breed only from such birds as have a sound red lobe, par-
ticularly in the cocks, as any white in lobe detracts a lot
of points from their appearance.

Value of Points Deduct

up to

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AUD ERLE Cl DILCwtOe COUMMLEN Cs ene te eis <te aes sions nce ieiencls ets 100

Serious Defects.
Much white in lobe, side spikes on comb, any straw,
red or brown markings in the plumage.

CUCKOO ORPINGTONS

The originator, William H. Cook, gives the following
history and description of Cuckoo Orpingtons in “The
Orpington and Its Varieties,” England, 1908:

“Quite the newest of the Orpington family is the
above variety, introduced by William H. Cook early in
1907. Though classes, including the “Dairy Show,” have
already been provided for them, their originator’s aim is
not so much an exhibition specimen, as a bird possessing
great utility qualities, combining a very big deep body on
low legs, with absolutely first-class laying propensities.
For any breed to make headway, the latter qualities are
naturally most essential, and these having been attained,
popularity will soon assist them to go ahead in the exhibi-
tion pen. As proof of this, seventeen birds were staged
at the 1908 “Dairy Show.” This as the third time that
classes have been provided since their introduction to
the public, is fair proof that already the variety has found
favor.

“Many new members gave their patronage to the
club, which has been formed to further the interests and
push the Cuckoo Orpingtons.

“In appearance the ‘Cuckoos’ are, at first sight, simi-
lar to a barred Plymouth Rock, without the objectionable
long yellow legs, which have been replaced by a perfectly
pure white short pair. The skin and flesh are snow white,
another great advantage in their favor, and the back is very
short and broad, whilst their general shape is the blocky
type that has made the Orpington family so conspicuous
over other varieties of poultry. For hardiness, perhaps
they are unequalled, and being splendid layers of a some-
what unusually large brown egg, they will undoubtedly
recommend themselves to both fanciers and utility poultry
keepers. Double mating is not at all necessary, so that any-
one contemplating giving Cuckoo Orpingtons ‘a trial can,

2

by purchasing just a trio of them, work up a very nice
foundation stock for further developments. They will
thrive and do splendidly in any nook or corner, whether
on a cold clay soil or on ashes, so that amateurs need not
hesitate in taking them up, and just one trio does not take
up a lot of room. One will often find that “something
new” in the chicken world is taken up at the start merely
for curiosity and just for the sake of being in the fashion;
but as soon as the “something new” is proved a poor
layer, delicate or hard to breed true, they are quickly dis-
posed of and soon forgotten.

“The originator of the Cuckoo Orpington has care-
fully considered these defects, and has, in introducing the
‘Cuckoos,’ aimed at a bird that, once tried, will be always
retained.”

STANDARD
General Characteristics of Cock

Head.—Small, neat and carried erect. Beak: strong
and nicely curved. Eye: bold, bright and intelligent.
Comb: single, fairly small, erect, evenly serrated and free
from side sprigs. Ear-lobes: small. Wattles: medium
length and well rounded. Neck: nicely curved, compact
with full hackle.

Body.—Breast: broad, deep, and full (not flat), with
long straight breast bone. Back: short and broad. Saddle:
rising slightly, with full flowing hackle. Wings: nicely
formed and carried close. Skin and Flesh: white, fine in
texture and firm. Tail: short and compact, flowing and
inclined backwards.

Legs and Feet.—Thighs and Shanks: short, strong and
well set apart. Toes: four in number and well spread.

General Shape and Carriage——Cobby and compact,
erect and graceful.

Size and Weight—Large.
when fully matured.

General Characteristics of Hen
Head, Neck, Body, Legs, Feet, Skin, and Flesh—
Corresponding with cock.
Tail.—Neat, smalk and inclined backwards with a gen-
tle rise.
Size and Weight.—Large.

From 10 lbs. to 13 Ibs.

From 7% lbs. to 10 lbs.

Color

Beak: white. Eye: red. Comb and Wattles: red.
Face: red, free from any trace of white. Lobes: red, no
white whatever allowed. Legs: white or white mottled
with black, but white preferred. Toe*nails: white. Plum-
age: light bluish-grey ground, each feather being barred
across with a darker blue-black, proportioned to the size
of the feather, and the same on all parts of the body.

Value of Points
Cock or Hen

Deduct
up to
DSrecES min GOndifionuacecssies oc acles eercki ane cuss cercieeree 10
mag mercolonsandmeplumapers teense eer 25
% mM ELA tebe loy tare ceal tars © sc rexcrels elope ard che cece 10
¢ PRWATCNOLESNADE) Goats Gietcness cle Gerster ss 15
; eERW ATLL On SIZE Na. Novsieaherace ces <tave aerate aac e 20
ee aM lOS oman Mere etesrrteeer eis ede sees eter 10
bE mmmcad deka nda back wjetscts «ciccrcan erties sei ducer 5
: Rees an Gmnesin meee sac.) «Metisse Rysyay tess tee 5
AED EELECHDILGutONCOUNtensiee cic. ociekoon crocs ences ithe 100

Serious Defects
Any feather or fluff on legs; long legs; any yellow on
legs and feet; more than four toes; side spikes on comb;
white in lobes, any deformity.

Ermine or Columbian Orpingtons

Story of the Origin of a New Variety of Orpington Produced in America by the Originator

Angier L.

HE Ermine Orpington, the latest of the new va-
T rieties of poultry to become recognized in this
country, originated in my yards in Fairfield,
Maine, and Melrose, Massachusetts. One of my regular
Orpington matings produced a “sport” chicken which
developed into a cockerel of strikingly good Orpington
type, but in color resembling a fairly-well marked Light
Brahma. The exact parentage of this bird cannot
be told. He may have been a “sport” from the White Or-
pingtons or from the Blacks, or possibly resulted from an
accidental cross between the two, or between one of them
and the Buffs. One thing is certain, he was an Orpington,
and all Orpington.

This cockerel impressed me with the idea that if I
could produce the strikingly handsome colors of the Light
Brahma upon the low-built massive form of the Orping-
ton, | would have a combination that was well worth striv-
ing for. I mated him with a pen of choice White Orping-
ton hens, selecting with two things especially in mind,
viz., trap-nest record and true Orpington type. This
mating resulted in practically all pure white birds. I did

get three nice-colored cockerels which were kept for next

ERMINE ORPINGTON COCK

Ideal Color Markings of the Ermine or Columbian Orpington
Male, illustrated expressly for ‘“‘The Orpingtons’” by
A. O. Schilling.

year’s matings, and several good-colored pullets were add-
ed to the original female stock. By using females of true
Orpington type and from the fact that no foreign blood
entered into any of the crosses on either side, it has not
been necessary at any stage of the matings to cull out

Goodwin

severely for non-Orpington type. Each succeeding cross
has made a distinct advance in color, so I now feel that it
is time to give the new Orpington to the public and ex-
pedite a general introduction of the variety.

First Time Shown
I took a pen of Ermines to the Boston Show, January
12 to 16, 1909, and it is a modest estimate to say that the
display was one of the features of this big exhibition.

eK
5

Cot. ee

Wy

&

ERMINE ORPINGTON HEN
Ideal Color Markings of the Ermine or Columbian Orpington
Female, illustrated expressly for ‘‘The Orpingtons” by

A. O. Schilling.
Not only prominent Orpington men, but leading breeders
of many different varieties were earnest in their expres-
sion of praise and congratulation. It should be said that
in color, the Ermines are not yet all that they ought to be,
and for this reason, do not compare over-favorably with
the old established Light Brahma; and those who believe
that a new variety of poultry should not be exhibited un-
til color points are perfected, naturally refuse to become
enthusiastic over the Ermines as seen at the show. The
compliments came and continue to come, from those who
are disposed to be willing to see the possibilities in an
Orpington, the handsomest fowl of all in type, shape and
carriage, clothed in the plumage of the Light Brahma,
for fifty years admitted to be the most striking color
combination which nature conceived.

As to Utility

It must be apparent that the new Orpington, in beau-
ty, can pass unchallenged. As to its utility value I believe

THE ORPINGTONS

it is sufficient to recall that the Ermine is largely, if not
entirely, White Orpington as to blood lines. After a num-
ber of years’ breeding Buff, Black, White and Jubilee Or-
pingtons side by side, I found that the Whites were in the
lead as egg producers. I believe this is the experience of
all who have tried all varieties of the breed. Certainly it
is true as to my own strain of Whites, and it is from this
champion strain that the Ermines have been “made.”

Why Not “Columbian” Orpingtons

I have been asked over and over again why I do not
call the new Orpington “Columbian.” The best answer I
can make is that this may even yet be done. When the
idea of a Light Brahma-colored Orpington first entered
my head, the Columbian Wyandotte boom was still in its
infancy and Columbian Rocks were practically unheard of.
The Wyandotte of this color was called “Columbian” for
the reason that it was brought out during the year of the
Columbian Exposition. It can hardly be denied that naming
a variety of poultry after an advent in history is more or
less absurd. But now that the variety has attained wide
popularity and the Columbian Rock is steadily gaining
ground, with rumors of a Columbian Leghorn well under
way, it is entirely possible that as a matter of policy, the
name “Columbian” is the best one to be used for any new
variety of poultry bearing the colors of the Light Brahma.

I chose the name Ermine for the reason that it means
something. Webster says: “Ermine (pronounced er-min)
a fur bearing animal—white except the tip of the tail, which
is always black.” Also “the fur of the ermine as prepared
for ornamenting garments of royalty, etc., by having the
tips of the tail, which are black, arranged at regular inter-
vals throughout the white.” Fowldom has already had the
Ermine Faverolle, the Ermine Antwerp-Brahma, the Er-

1] BRED OWNED BY
EAHARINGPROPS_

OR

BLACK ORPINGTON

59

mine Huttegem (the two latter Belgian breeds) and the
Erminette.

So marked do I find the feeling among many of those
who have become interested in the new Orpington that it
should be called “Columbian,” that I deem it advisable to
say here that one of the first duties of the Club which is
now in process of formation to promote and popularize
the new variety will be to decide upon which is the better
name, under all of the circumstances, to be used.

BLUE ORPINGTONS

This new variety was produced in England several years
ago, but few specimens have been exhibited up to the pres-
ent time. In shape and size it resembles its White and Black
Orpington ancestors; in color the same markings as found
in Blue Andalusians and Blue Wyandottes will be adopted
as Standard color. The latter in the Blue Orpington male
is—Head, Hackle, Back and Saddle: Rich lustrous black,
without lacing. Breast and Thighs: Clear silver blue in
ground color, with distinct black lacing on each feather.
Shoulders and wing-bows: Rich lustrous black. Wing-
bars: Same as body, with well-defined lacing on outer
edges. Secondaries and Flight Feathers and Main Tail
Feathers: Same color as the breast, the secondaries laced
if possible. Sickle Feathers and Tail Coverts: Purplish
black. In the hen—Head and Hackle: Rich lustrous black
without lacing in upper hackle, but showing broad lacing
on tips of the feathers at the base. Breast, Body, Back and
Thighs: Same silver blue ground color as the male’s
breast with distinct black lacing on each feather. The
wing-bars should have well defined lacing; the secondaries
edged or laced if possible. Tail: Same as the body with
the ends laced up if possible. Beak and Shanks and Feet:
Dark slate.

Haka
MOUNTAIN VIEW FARM

Loony

SOUTH KENT CONN US A

PULLET

CHAPTER VII

Orpingtons As Exhibition Fowl

Judging Orpingtons by the Score Card—Instructions in Scoring as Practiced
by Judges in the Show Room

D.. E.

other breeds, and which has been explained many

times in the poultry press, but for the benefit of those
who have never had the benefit of that instruction we will
say that a perfect bird is represented as being worth one
hundred points. The fowl, as represented on the score-
card is divided into fifteen different sections, each section
valued at a certain amount, as listed in the scale of points
given below. In scoring, the specimen is examined, first
as a whole, which is called symmetry, and then each indi-
vidual section is examined for shape and color defects and
whatever per cent. the judge thinks the specimen is
lacking from being perfect, is deducted from the valuation
of that section and the amount of the deduction, generally
called a “cut,” is written on the score-card. The total of
these cuts deducted from one hundred gives us the score
of the fowl.

The official score-card of the American Poultry Asso-
ciation revised at the annual meeting of the latter, held at
Niagara Falls, August, 1909, is divided into the following
sections:

1: scoring Orpingtons the same system is used as in

OFFICIAL SCORE CARD OF THE AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION

Breed

_ REMARKS

Symmetry _ pers lw
Weight | |
Size |
Condition | |
Comb |
Head Pale | |
Beak |
Eyes i | : |
LObeS = ae a
Wattles aes
Neck

Back

Lies
Wings iz
Breast |
Body and Fluff |

Crest and Beard __ |
Shortness of Feather aale
Se SOULS eee EAS CONE

FT? 16 = Sein scm sae ocm ocGach aod oem anomconono snasondas en SoscDoosdcodvodcusobeaorsan
Secretary

The last two sections, “Crest and Beard” and “Short-
ness of Feather,” apply to crested breeds and games and
game bantams only.

In order to give some idea as to what we are doing in
applying these valuations, etc., we must quote from the
Standard the scale of points as applied to Orpingtons.

Scale of Points

SYMIMIEERY) Taste cis. o eC Ene oie eis ore efetetets 4
Weight 2% sciccnie os eae Seas re ee ed ote eels 6
Condition: H-22is cee eo See Seen ea oate eee narae 4
Combienor sees ee Caceres 8
Head—Shapey 2. Coloreze--oeeeeeeeeeeeee 4

Hale

Beak=—Shapew2, Colon seeeeceoms ceeenne eae 4
Byes=shape 2. C0lot 2 nseshi eee ee oe ~
Wattles and Ear-lobes—Shape 2, Color 3...... 5
Neck—Shapel4; Golor4s.3-h.ce snes eee 8
Back—Shape 5s Golortces. ote. eee 10
Breast—shape omColorsoueeae eee eeeeeeeee 10
Body and Fluff—Shape 5, Color 3............. 8
Wings—shapel4 Colon 4incaecnsneeeeceeencer 8
Tail==Shap e) 5, «Color 4c) crete screener 9
Legs and Toes—Shape 5, Color 3............. 8

ASGEAL vores ate taispets Oe tie eet Cee OCCT 100

Symmetry

The first section in the scale of points is symmetry.
Webster defines symmetry as “A due proportion of the
several parts of a body to each other; or the union and
conformity of the members of a work to the whole.” In
comparison judging and upon some score-cards it is
shown as “typical carriage,” which is defined in the Stand-
ard as “expressing a characteristic, in color or form, rep-
resentative of the breed or variety.” “Representative of
the breed or variety,”—please remember that, as it is the
main point we wish to make.

This section always has been the subject of discussion,
but if we understand the Standard requirements of a fowl
and study each section, also their general outline, how the
parts or sections should fit together in harmony—in fact,
get the ideal shape fixed in our mind as shown in the
Standard drawings and descriptions—then the minute we
get a good look at a bird we know whether it is typical
of the breed it represents or has symmetry.

In Orpingtons we have a breed that is described as
“large and stately in appearance.” Their bodies are rather
long, round and deep while the breast should be full,
round and deep. The backs are broad and moderately
long; the abundance of the hackle and saddle feathers giv-
ing it a rather short appearance. The body should be
broad and deep with a rather long, straight keel-bone ex-
tending well forward, the fluff being moderately full. The
wing-fronts should be well covered with the breast feath-
ers and the tips by the saddle feathers. The tail is only
moderately long, well spread and carried at an angle of
45 degrees from the horizontal and should be coupled with
the back so that there is no apparent angle where these
sections join. The sickles are of medium length, extend-
ing beyond the tail feathers, while the lesser sickles and
tail coverts are also described as moderately long. The
thighs are rather short and large, covered with soft feath-
ers; the shanks short, smooth and stout in bone and
should be free from feathers or down. The toes are of
medium length, straight, strong and well spread.

Now let us take the time and space to look at a speci-
men and see what defects we want to look for when judg-
ing the symmetry of a fowl. Remember we have here a

OE i —— ae

THE ORPINGTONS 51

broad and deep fowl with a moderate length; the inten-
tions of the breeders are to maintain the cobby appear-
ance. Is its head too long and narrow, or as some express
it, “snaky?” Is it caused by the beak being long and
straight instead of curved, or is it really the head? Is the
neck too long and scantily feathered, or as we hear it
expressed in the show room parlance, “not filled?” You
need not worry about the neck of an Orpington being too
short.

If a male: Is the neck well arched and the hackle well
feathered so that it connects or flows onto the shoulders
or back in a graceful curve? Are the shoulders broad and
flat, or are they narrow and high? Has he a nice broad
saddle, well feathered, connecting with a tail that is well
spread at the base; or is it narrow and flat, giving the tail
a narrow, pinched appearance? Is his breast full, broad,
round and deep, or is it narrow and flat? Are his legs
good, firm, stocky legs, well spread so that you can get the
width of your hand between them, or are they long, slim
and knock-kneed? You will soon get
so that you will notice these good and
bad points at a glance and make up
your mind in an instant whether the
specimen should be cut one-half or
one and one-half. A successful judge
must think and act quickly. The min-
ute you begin to hesitate as to a cut
you begin to fail.

Remember this section is worth
four points and when you cut a bird
one for symmetry you mean it is one-
fourth or twenty-five per cent. to the
bad. There is no system that we
know of that can be successfully ap-
plied. The best way is to use your
own judgment. You know this section
is worth four points and when you
are judging symmetry, just forget
that there is any other section to the
bird; no matter if some exhibitor does
tell you that you are cutting twice.
Judge the bird as a whole and deduct
whatever you think is lacking from per- i
fection. If four points represent one man
hundred in this section, all right. If
the bird is in your judgment 25'per
cent. off, cut it one point for symmetry. They tell us:
“Tt is like a two-edged sword, cutting both ways.” One
for symmetry because the bird has a bad tail or a bad
breast, and then cutting these sections again for shape
when we come to them. That is not true. If symmetry is
worth four points and breast five points for shape, we are
not cutting twice. If you do not use this section of sym-
metry in scoring your specimen, then you should deduct
your total cuts from ninety-six instead of one hundred.

Weight

The Standard weights were given the different breeds
because it was found that they were at their best as a
commercial product when at the weights specified in the
Standard. The weights on the Orpingtons were not
changed at the recent revision of the Standard. Neither
were the instructions which said that for every pound
under the Standard weight cut two points; one-fourth
pound to be the minimum. For example, if a fowl is one
pound underweight it should be cut one point, and if one-
fourth pound light it should be cut one-half point. One

Sf PRI
Zeneo

»
Bu:

BUFF ORPINGTON

new ruling worthy of remembrance is that a fowl two or
more pounds under Standard weight will not be consid-
ered, or in other words will be disqualified.

Disqualifications and Shape

Up to this point you have not found it necessary to
take the specimen out of the cage. It might be well to
take notice of a few things before doing so and perhaps
save the extra work of handling the bird. Side sprigs on
the comb disqualify and may sometimes be noticed when
you glance at the bird in getting its symmetry cuts.
“Squirrel tails” and “decidedly wry tails” also disqualify
and will be noticed before handling a specimen. In judg-
ing the symmetry and shape of a bird we believe that it
should be done in as quiet a manner as possible so as not
to disturb the fowl and get it in as natural a position as
possible. Walk up to the cage as quietly as possible and
without disturbing the bird at all, if it can he helped, get
your impression of the fowl’s symmetry and shape cuts in

: on
FIRST CRYSTAL PALACE 1900 FIRST CHICAG
JMPORTED 4,,0WNED BY

WBUSHELL DAVID CITY NEB:

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HELL-DAVID OTY-NEB-

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WINNERS, 1900-01

breast, back, tail, neck, legs and toes. If the bird is
standing or crowded into a corner or against the sides of
the cage so that it is out of shape, reach in with your
stick, not to poke him, but gently crowd him out into the
center of the cage, smooth his neck and back with your
judging stick and it will, ninety-nine times out of one
hundred, with such treatment, act or pose in a natural
manner. Then its symmetry cuts can be gotten quickly.

Cutting for Shape

In getting the shape of a fowl and cutting the dif-
ferent defects we proceed as follows: If we think the
neck is too long and “not filled,” or in other words, full
of immature feathers, giving it a scrawny appearance, the
cut is from one-half to one. If the back, which is worth
five points for shape, is too long, too narrow, too flat,
saddle not filled, too narrow at shoulders, etc., we cut
from one-half to three. If a crooked back is detected the
specimen is disqualified. Now look at the tail and see if
it is carried at a right angle. Is it well-spread and well
filled? For example, a female’s tail should have seven

62 THE ORPINGTONS

feathers on each side. If you will examine the Standard
drawings you will note that a little of each feather shows
when viewed from the side. This is called a well-spread
tail from a side view, and when viewed from the rear it
will resemble an inverted V. When viewed from the top
-or front it should look broad and full, sloping from the
saddle with a concave sweep. Should there be an angle at
tthe base of and in front of the tail, it is probably caused
by the tail being carried too high and should be cut from
one-half to one and one-half.

Now the breast, which is an important section in de-
termining the true Orpington shape. If it is flat and
narrow, and looks immature and not filled out, it should
be cut from one-half to three.

Remember the body should be broad and deep with a
keel-bone that is rather long and straight and carried well
forward, with a fluff that is moderately full. If too short
and shallow, giving a Wyandotte or Plymouth Rock ap-
pearance, it should be cut from one-half to one and one-
half.

Look at the legs and toes before taking the bird out,
as well as after. See if it is knock-kneed, bow-legged, too
long in legs or has crooked toes. Legs too long are cut
from one-half to one and one-half. Crooked toes are cut
one-half point each. Missing spurs on cock birds cut one-
half point each.

In looking at the wings, it is well to hold your cuts
‘for shape until you have the fowl out of the cage. You
should, however, see that the wings are carried in a proper
‘position and not slipped. By slipped wings we mean ones
where the primaries fall or hang down and are not “tucked
“up” under the secondaries as they should be. This is
-caused sometimes by a feather or two being missing
~where the primaries and secondaries are connected; or it
“is sometimes caused by muscular weakness. It should be
-cut from one to three points, depending on whether it is
one or both wings that are slipped. This is a serious
defect as it will reproduce itself and really should, in our
opinion, be made a disqualification. It should, therefore,
be cut hard enough to throw the specimen out of competi-
‘tion to discourage the breeding of such specimens.

Now we are ready to take the specimen out of the
cage and examine it for color and other defects. Do not
reach in and grab the fowl by legs and drag it out feet
first, thus taking chances on breaking wing feathers. Take
hold of one wing, from in front, near the front or body.
and you can turn the bird in any position you wish. Then
lead it out of the cage and as you do so, with your other
hand grasp its legs at the hock joint, letting the bird’s
body rest on your arm. The fowl is thus held securely
and comfortably and can be easily handled without in-
jury.

Condition

The next section we notice on the score-card is con-
dition. It is valued at four points and is one of the most
difficult sections on the list to explain in writing. No
definite rule can be laid down for cutting defects, found
under this section. The judge has here got to show his
wisdom and “horse sense.’ He has to be familiar with the
different diseases, the effects of freezing or frost-bite, the
effects of cuts, injuries, etc., and dirty and broken plumage,
or whether there is poor condition from over feeding or
starving. Condition, as referred to in the Standard,
means: “The state of a fowl as regards health, cleanliness
and order of plumage.” Some birds will catch a slight
cold when being shipped to a show and just begin to show
it when judged. In these cases the judge will generally

consider the specimen, cutting it from one-half to one
and one-half. If, however, the bird has a well-defined case
of roup or other contagious disease, it should at once be
removed from the show room. If the superintendent has
not noticed it before the judge gets to it, it is the judge’s
duty to notify him at once and insist upon the fowl being
removed from the room. Frosted combs and wattles
should receive a cut of from one-half to two, depending
upon whether they are just slightly frosted or whether
they are festered.

Soiled plumage that looks as if the exhibitor had
made no effort to get the bird in good show condition,
should be cut one to two points. If it looks as if it haa
been cleaned up in nice shape and had become soiled in
shipping to the show, the judge can be a little lenient with
such a specimen.

If the bird is too fat from over feeding to get it up
in weight, dropping the body and fluff below the hock
line, it should be cut from one to two point’.

Scaly Legs

There is no excuse whatever for showing a bird with
scaly legs, because it is so easily cured. A good scrub-
bing with hot water and soap, then a little kerosene, lard
or vaseline applied twice a week for two weeks will cure
the worst case that ever existed.

Head—Beak—Eyes—Wattles and Ear-lobes

Head is the next section and valued at four points
each, divided two each for shape and color.

The head is rather large, broad and deep, while the
beak is short and stout and nicely curved; the eyes being
large and oval in shape. If the head is long, slim or
narrow it should be cut one-half to one. A straight beak,
giving it a long, slender appearance should be cut one-half
to one as in degree. Deformed beaks will disqualify. If
blind in one eye, cut one. If the eye has run out leaving
only the socket, cut one and one-half. ;

The wattles and ear-lobes are valued at five points,
two for shape and three for color. The wattles should
be fine in texture, of medium length and well rounded at
the bottoms. Should they be coarse, cut one-half. Should
they be torn from fighting or other injury the cut should
be one-half to one and one-half as in degree. Should they
be folded or wrinkled, cut from one-half to one. The ear-
lobes should be oblong in shape and fine in texture.
Coarse or wrinkled lobes should be cut from one-half to
one. Color cuts for these sections are described under
each variety color explanation.

Comb

The comb is valued at eight points. It is an important
section, as is shown by its high valuation with only shape
to be considered. The Orpington comb is somewhat
larger or coarser than the ordinary single comb. It really
should be fine in texture, but the larger size gives it a
rather coarse appearance. It should have five well-defined
points or serrations with the front and rear ones lower
than those in the center. The base should be solid and
set firmly upon the head in order to give the comb an
upright carriage. Side sprigs disqualify as does also a
lopped comb. A lopped single comb must fall over so that
the points are below the horizontal plane where the comb
begins to lop. Too many breeders seem to think that all
there is to a comb is the serrations. You will hear many
of them make the remark that “there is a good comb: it
has five points” or “there is a bad comb; it kas only four
or six points,” as the case may be. Tke Standard says that

a

THE ORPINGTONS 63

for every serration more or less than five we shall cut one-
half point. Supposing the fowl! had lost all of its points
or serrations it would only be cut two and one-half and we
would still have a valuation of five and one-half to apply
to the rest of the comb. Let us look at some of the other
defects. Thumb marks, which are a sort of indentation or
hollow place in the side of the comb, should be cut not
less than one point. Comb turning at the rear should be
cut from one-half to one and one-half, as in degree. Ir-
regularity of serrations, cut from one-half to one. Irregu-
larity or rough-edged blade, cut from one-half to one.
“Beefy” or large and overgrown at junction of beak, gen-
erally causing wrinkles, cut
one-half to one. You see
there are quite a lot of de-
fects to look for in a comb
and it is a section that
is worthy of considerable
study.

Neck

The neck section is

valued at eight points, di-

vided four for shape and
four for color. The neck
should be rather short and
well arched and tapering
nicely to the head, with
hackle enough to give it a
full appearance. The cuts
for shape are explained

under “Disqualifications and
Shape” and the color de-
fects will be handled under
each variety for color.

Back

This section has a valu-

ation of ten points, five
each for shape and ‘color.
Remember that the back

should be broad and moder-
ately long, rising with a
concave sweep to the tail.
The breadth of the back
and the abundant hackle and
saddle feathers are rather
deceiving to the eye as re-
gards the length. The Orp-
ington back is really quite
long, but owing to the depth and breadth and rather loose
plumage it appears to be short. An Orpington without a
good broad back, when viewed from the top, is not a
good Orpington. Crooked backs, as mentioned before,
disqualify.

Hagerstown, 1910,

Poultry Farm,

Mda.,

If too narrow, cut from one-half to two and one-half.
If too shert, giving it a Wyandotte appearance, cut one-
half to two and one-half. If too long and flat cut from
one-half to two and one-half. If saddle plumage is broken
or not well filled, causing a break at junction with tail,
cut from one-half to one and one-half. If too much
cushion, which would cause a Wyandotte or Cochin effect,
cut one-half to two. If too narrow or high at shoulders,
cut one-half to two. If too curved, giving the back a
Langshan or U appearance, cut from one-half to two.
Color defects and cuts will be explained under the dif-
ferent variety explanations.

“LADY OF THE SNOWS"”

The Famous White Orpington Hen,
Prize and Bronze Medal for Best Hen in the Show, at Allen-
town, Pa., 1910; First Prize, Bronze Medal for Best Hen in
the Show, and Silver Cup for Best Bird on Exhibition at
Bred and Owned by

Tail

The tail section is valued at nine points divided five
for shape and four for color. It should be moderately
long, well spread and carried at an angle of forty-five de-
grees from the horizontal. A well-spread tail is explained
under “Disqualifications and Shape.” Missing sickle
feathers on the male (black or*white) should be cut one
and one-half points each. If tail is carried too high cut from
one-half to two and one-half. If it is carried so high that it
comes in front of an imaginary perpendicular line rising
from the base of the tail, it becomes a squirrel tail and
disqualifies. Pinched or “gamey” tails, or those that show
only one or two feathers
from a side view (especially
on females) should be cut
from one-half to one point.
All color defects and cuts
are explained under the de- ,
scriptions of the different
varieties.

Breast

Breast section is valued
at ten points, five each for
shape and color. This is one
of the prominent sections.
of an Orpington and with-
out a good full, deep and
round breast we lack the
Orpington type. The shape
cuts are described under
“Disqualifications and
Shape” with the exception
of a crooked breast or keel-
bone and that we usually
consider under body sec-
tion. Remember that a full
crop does not necessarily
mean a full breast.

Body and Fluff

This is the next section
and is valued at eight points,
divided five for shape and
three for color. Shape cuts
have been described. If a
crooked breast-bone or keel-
bone is discovered it should:
be cut from one-half to two.
and one-half, as in degree.

Winner of First
Sunswick

Wings
This section is valued at eight points, four each for
shape and color. Shape defects, with the exception of
broken or missing plumage, have been described above.
Broken or missing flight feathers in the Blacks or Whites
should be cut one and one-half points each. In the Buffs
they should be cut one-half point each.

Legs and Toes

Remember that feathers or down on shanks or toes
will disqualify. Scaly legs were described above. Knock-
knees or bow-legs should be cut from one-half to one and
one-half as in degree.

Color Defects and Cuts

THE BLACKS. The Black variety should have a
black beak; eyes should be black or dark brown, while the

64 LAP TORPINGONS

comb, face, wattles and ear-lobes are red. The plumage
throughout should be a rich, lustrous, greenish black with
a black under-color. The legs and toes are black with the
web and bottoms of toes white. The skin should be white
on all Orpingtons. Yellow skin on the Blacks should dis-
qualify. Positive white covering more than one-third the
surface of the ear-lobes will also disqualify. Positive white
does not mean paleness in lobes, as is often seen, but what

is known as enamel white—a white through which the .

blood cannot be made to circulate. Generally when we
strike such cases we hold the bird downward for a few
minutes and rub the lobe. If it is not an enamel or
positive white you can generally get the blood to flush the
lobes. Positive white in lobes, where not enough to dis-
qualify, should be cut from one-half to one and one-half in
each lobe. In examining plumage we must remember that
one-half inch or more of white will disqualify. Purple
barring should be cut from one-half to two in each section
where found. Red or other foreign color should be cut
from one to the color limit in each section where found.
If the eyes are too light in color cut from one-half to one
and one-half. A faded or dead black, especially on a male,
should be cut from one-half to one in each section.

THE BUFFS. _ The beak, shanks and toes should be
white or pinkish white. Any other color will disqualify.
Positive white, as explained under the Black variety in
regard to ear-lobes, will also disqualify. The plumage
throughout should be an even shade of rich golden buff,
free from shafting or mealy appearance. The main point
is to get one harmonious shade of buff from head to tail.
A lemon and cinnamon buff are given as the two extremes
of light and dark, and a medium shade between these two

is desired. Different shades of buff in two or more sections
is a serious defect. Mealiness in plumage should be cut
from one-half to one and one-half in each section where
found, as in degree. Shafting, or light colored shafts,
should be cut the same—one-half to one and one-half in
each section, as in degree. Different shades of buff should
be cut from one-half to two and one-half. Black or white
should be cut from one-half to the color limit in each
section where found. Eyes too light or too dark should
be cut from one-half to one and one-half. Missing or
broken main tail or primaries or secondaries should be
cut one-half point each. Missing sickle feathers in male
should be cut one point each. Most breeders prefer black
to white in wing and tail of breeding specimens, but the
Standard says: “both are equally objectionable.”

THE WHITES. More than one-third of the sur-
face of ear-lobes covered with positive white will dis-
qualify, as will also any other color than white in plumage.
Legs and toes should be white or pinkish white and any
other color will disqualify as will also feathers or down on
shanks or toes. The most common defects found are
creaminess and brassiness, the latter being more notice-
able in the males as a rule. Creaminess is caused by the
oil in the feathers and is used up as the feather matures.
Wherever creaminess is found, cut from one-half to one
and one-half in each section. Brassiness will be found
on the surface only and should be cut from one to two
points in each section where found. Gray specks, gen-
erally spoken of as “ticking” will be cut from one-half to
two points wherever found. The white plumage should
be a pure, pearl white and with the white skin there ought
to be no very great trouble in breeding it.

Conditioning Orpingtons for the Show Room

Simple and Safe Methods of Preparing and Washing Exhibition Specimens

E. A.

HE Orpington is an ideal show bird. It has a quiet
disposition and shows off to advantage. The first
thing to learn in showing birds is to know your

breed, study the type until you can tell a good one at a
glance. Too many breeders breed good birds occasionally
and never know it until someone buys the bird for a song.
Know your birds, know how many good ones you have,
know for a certainty that they are free from disqualifica-
tions, then make your entries. Do not enter every bird
you have that you think might win; reserve a few for
emergencies; better show a few good ones than a string
of ordinary ones, and above all, show only as many as
you can properly fit.

Personally, I think condition should count for more
in the show room than it does; first to encourage the
breeders to better efforts, and second for the good of the
show. It does not seem as though a true fancier would
send a bird to a show of any kind., without first putting
it into the best condition possible. Stock taken from the
yards and shown in all their filth, collected in a season’s
scratching and dusting, is a poor advertisement for any
breeder.

The first step is to set up some coops in a well lighted
building, about three weeks before the time the show is
to open; then pick your birds and place them in these
coops and see how they show up. In this way you can

Haring

select the ones wanted; next make your entries—always
less than the number selected. Now begin to coop, train
and handle the birds and get them so tame that nothing
out of the ordinary is likely to frighten them. Feed and
water them regularly and keep them in good condition.
About a week before the show, take a pan of warm water,
soap, a small stiff brush and some good sized tooth picks,
and, with someone holding the bird, and with a pan of
water between you, start washing his feet and scrub them
thoroughly. If very dirty remove the dirt from under the
scales very carefully with the tooth picks. If old scales
are loose and ready to come off, remove same. After
drying rub with a very little vaseline. The birds are then
ready to be washed. We make it a rule to wash all birds,
Buff, Black or White and think one is improved by the
process as much as the other. There is and has been
much written on the subject of washing fowls. It is a
very simple matter, the main points being plenty of warm
water, soap and patience. A light sunny room is heated
to about 90 degrees, three tubs of clean, soft water pro-
vided, and a supply of turkish towels. The first tub should
contain warm water. In this the bird is held and after
being made thoroughly wet, is given a good soaping with
Ivory Soap, having him lathered all over, and wash it
clean. It is best for one person to hold the fowl and
another to do the washing; the wor‘: should not be rushed,

THE ORPINGTONS 65

time being taken to do it thoroughly and, above all, do not
attempt to wash too many birds in the same water. A
frequent change of the wash water will repay you for your
trouble. When the bird has been well washed all over
and looks clean, it is put into the next tub containing
water somewhat cooler and is well rinsed. Care should be
taken to get all the soap out of the feathers; this is im-
portant and for this reason the bird should be put through
the third tub, which in case of white birds being washed,
can contain a small quantity of best quality blueing.

Then they are taken from the water and dried with a
towel as well as can be, their feathers shaken out a little,
and placed in the coops nearest the heat to dry. As they
commence to dry they may be put into the coops a little
farther away from the heat and as more are washed, they
can be started drying in the warmer coops, from which
the first have been taken.

It is best to have all the washing done two or three
days before they are to be shipped,—gradually cool down
the room as soon as they are thoroughly dry, so that when

shipped to the winter shows, the birds are not taken right
from the very warm room into the cold air. If the coops
are kept clean, the birds will not become soiled if they
must remain in there a few days after washing.

Before shipping, rub combs and wattles with a piece
of sponge or cotton, moistened with sweet oil and alcohol
well mixed together.

If possible be at the show to place your birds in the
coops when they arrive there, but do not be found in the
aisles pulling feathers, etc., as too many of our fanciers
are. Have them fit before shipping, and barring acci-
dents, they will be fit when they arrive at the show.

Do not talk with the judge or lean over his shoulder
while he is judging, even if he will allow it; it does not
look well, and finally, if the judge does not see your best
bird in the right light and perhaps places a bird over him
that should have been disqualified, swallow hard and try
again. It is allin the game. Let us show the stock which
is the result of our knowledge and labor in such condition
that win or lose we shall be proud of it. ;

Orpingtons In England

Popularity of the New Breed Due to Superior Utilitarian Qualities—English Poultry
Club Standards for All Varieties

Charles D. Leslie,

E are proud of the Orpington. A comparative
Ww upstart in the poultry world, it has, by sheer
merit, won its way not only to the front rank,
but to the position of the premier popular breed of Great
Britain. The Phoenicians brought us the Game fowl and
initiated the early Britains into the sport of cock fighting.
Then came the Romans, who brought the Dorking and
taught us to eat poultry; for strange though it seems,
there is ample proof that poultry in pre-Roman times was
kept for diversion alone and not as an article of diet.
Brahmas, Cochins and Langshans came, of course, from
the far East; the Spanish and Minorcas from south Eu-
rope; Leghorns, not from Italy, but the United States,
which has also given us those two wonderfully popular
breeds, the Rocks and the Wyandottes; but the Orpington
is our very own.

By a curious coincidence, the sudden and lamented
death of Mr. W. Cook—the originator of all five varieties
of the Orpington fowl—which occurred nearly a year ago,
synchronized with the sudden rise to popularity of White
Orpingtons, which for many years had, as it were, hung
fire. There are now three popular varieties in this coun-
try, the Blacks, Buffs and Whites, and two newer and less
known, the Jubilee and Spangled, which are, however,
steadily gaining adherents.

There have been many efforts made to produce new
and original English breeds, but uniform failure has been
the result, except in the experience of Mr. Cook. There is,
I think, an aphorism to the effect that if you have a good
thing and wish to make it known, you must understand
how to advertise it. This is quite true with regard to a
new breed of poultry. Mr. Cook thoroughly believed in
his Orpingtons and pushed the breed vigorously until the
poultry world took it up. The original Black Orpingtons
says one well-known writer—were practically Langshans,
meaning simply, that they had in them a great deal of
Langshan blood.

England

Black Orpingtons are Handsome Fowls “Planned for
Utility”

Having been planned for utility purposes alone, there
are no fancy points about the Black Orpingtons. Hand-
some, they are, with their deep, broad breasts and massive
bodies, but decorative, they are not. They are white
skinned and make first-class table fowl, fattening early
and presenting a nice appearance when dressed. The
hens are good layers of brown, tinted eggs of average size,
are quiet in disposition, and, although not inveterate sit-
ters, they make good sitters and mothers when entrusted
with eggs. Black Orpingtons have single combs. A rose
combed variety was produced, but failed to “catch on” in
popular favor. In size the Blacks are large, the cock
weighing nine to eleven pounds and the hen seven to eight
pounds when fully matured. Our Poultry Club’s Standard
for Black Orpingtons reads as follows:

Poultry Club’s (England) Standard for Black Orpingtons

Defects in plumage and condition, deduct up to..10 points
Detects inthead; deductiupito ...0s)-. e+e ees 25 points
Defects in breast, saddle, back and tail, ded. up to.20 points

Defects in legs and feet, deduct up to.....: sn oe 5 points
Defects in skin and flesh, deduct up to........... 5 points
Defects in carriage, deduct up to ..............- 10 points
Wiantyon shape ndeduct upsto--cs sane acticin ace 15 points
Wranttofesizenideductiipstoes dace seein omens 10 points

AG perlects DIGG LOUuGOMn te Mittal see noenrarer ot 100 points

Color of Black Orpingtons: Beak, black; eye, black,
with dark brown iris; comb, face, ear-lobes and wattles,
red; shanks, black; skin and flesh, white; plumage, black
throughout, with a green sheen or luster upon it, free from
colored feathers.

Shape and carriage should
The plumage

General characteristics:
be cobby and compact, erect and graceful.

66 THE ORPINGTONS

should be close; tail medium; body, broad, deep, and full;
thighs, short; shanks, short and strong; the single comb
should be of medium size, evenly serrated and free from

side sprigs; flesh, firm.”
o

Buff Orpingtons Satisfy the British Market Demand

The people of Great Britain are much in favor of
birds with white legs, in fact, a first-class table fowl must
show a white shank, or else it ceases to be a first-class
table fowl. As our only white-legged fowls, previous to
the advent of the Buff Orpingtons, were the Dorkings and
some of the Game varieties, there naturally followed a
boom in that variety which has only just begun to subside.
Fanciers, farmers, and suburban poultry keepers all took

MADIS ON |

sien

aa!

WHITE ORPINGTON COCK
Winner of first prize and special at Madison Square

Garden and Boston; also first at Cleveland, Ohio, 1909,

Bred and owned by Sunswick Poultry Farm, South

Plainfield, N. J.
them up. Since the early days of the Buff Orpington it
has been wonderfully improved, but even now it is far
from perfect, though feathered legs and long backs no
longer appear in the show pen. It is still quite difficult to
breed them anywhere true to color, and indeed, sound
buff tails are yet scarce, but the utility value of the variety
makes amends, as.the off-colored pullets may be kept for
layers and the cockerels fatted for the table.

The three points to be considered in breeding Buff
Orpingtons are, first, color, which should be a sound buff,
free from black and white feathers; second, shape, which
should be similar to that of the Black Orpington; third,
clean, white feet and shanks, free from feathering. The
Poultry Club Standard differs somewhat from that for the
Blacks:

Poultry Club’s (England) Standard for Buff Orpingtons

Defects in head and comb, deduct up to.........10 points

Detects in color deductiupy tones see eile 35 points

Defects in legs and feet, deduct up to............ 15 points

Want of shape) deductiup toe mace oes eels ee 20 points:

Want ofvsize>deductiup) tomer ie ea ievele eens 10 points

Want of condition, deduct up to................. 10 points
100

Serious defects for which Buff Orpingtons should be
passed are: Other than four toes; wry tail; feathers or fluff
on legs and feet; yellow skin; yellow in legs or feet; in
both Blacks and Buffs, any colored feathers other than
black and buff.

White Orpingtons have been in existence for nearly
twenty years, but if my memory serves me, the originals
were not unlike the White Minorcas. They now approach
in appearance the White Dorking. I give below, the
White Orpington Club Standard, which is, I believe, ac-
cepted by the Poultry Club:

The White Orpington Club (England) Standard

For cock: Comb, single, of medium size, well set
upon the head, erect and free from side sprigs; eye, red; beak,
short, white, and nicely curved; ear-lobes, red, small and
round; wattles, well rounded, of fine texture; color, a pure,
snow white, free from any foreign color; neck and saddle
hackle, full and long; tail, medium size and inclined back-
wards; back, short and nicely curved; legs and feet, white,
free from feathers, four toes on each foot, straight and set
well apart; breast, broad and full.

For hen: Same color, head and type as in male bird,
of neat appearance and active habits. The type in both
sexes must be cobby, of low build and short on legs.

White Orpingtons are steadily increasing in favor, in
some measure due to the boom in white breeds which
was a feature of last year, but it is their great value asa
table fowl that is chiefly responsible for the larger num-
bers kept. They are gradually taking the place of the
White Dorking, as they are equally good as table fowl,
better layers, and far hardier. Their only drawback is
their color. No small proportion of British poultry keep-
ers are town dwellers, either professional men or members
of the working classes, who have only a few square
yards of space to spare for the fowls. No white breed
shows to advantage on bare earth runs and hence the
suburban poultry keepers as a class, avoid white breeds.
Even the White Leghorn, in the height of its prosperity,
was not nearly so largely kept as the Black Minorca—al-
ways the chief favorite among suburban poultrymen.

In size, all Orpingtons should be as large as possible,
consistent with type.

Orpingtons Are Increasing in Popularity

To this brief description of the various breeds of Orp-
ingtons today, and its present position in the poultry
world, I have little to add, but its fame is extending far

beyond these Islands. Our colonies have taken it up.
largely, for instance, New Zealand has specially taken to.

the Spangles, and imports them to this country. In South
Africa the Orpingtons are the most popular breed. They
are not in great favor on the continent, except in Hungary,
where they are bred in large numbers.

Their universal favoritism indicates very plainly the

trend of popular taste toward utility as well as fancy. The

days of the purely “fancy” fowls are past, such breeds as.

the Polish, Spanish, etc., whose attractiveness is entirely
due to their quaint appearance, being practically extinct,
although they were formerly the mainstay of our shows,
Orpingtons were originally bred for utility only, and
although our fanciers have taken them up so warmly that

at all our big poultry exhibitions they form a show of

themselves, the economic qualities of the breed have not
suffered, nor is there at present any chance, so far as I

can see, of any other breed even seriously challenging their-

position in the near future.

Popularity of Orpingtons as an Exhibition Fowl

Tables Showing the Number of Each Variety Exhibited at Madison Square—Boston and Chicago from 1901
up to 1910—Tables Unobtainable Elsewhere and of Historic Interest to Orpington Breeders @x_

D. E. Hale

ANY of the readers of these lines will remember
M the introduction of the Orpingtons into the
United States. It was quite generally remarked
at the time that the Black Orpingtons might compete on
favorable terms with our other black breeds, but it was
claimed that the white skin and white or pink legs would
make it impossible for them to become popular as a table
fowl in this country. Consequently it was predicted that
their boom would be short lived.

The many prophets who made such assertions now
acknowledge they were wrong and that there is something
about the Orpingtons which has enabled them to steadily
win their way well along toward the head of the list of
breeds that bear the stamp of approval among real fan-
ciers.

Even the old school market men are beginning to tell
us that “one of the prettiest carcasses that goes on the
table is that of this new English breed, the Orpington.”
The American public is coming to realize that a white skin
‘may cover meat that is just as tender, just as juicy and
just as fine in flavor as that covered by a yellow skin.

Probably the reader will ask: What has all this to do
with the popularity of the Orpingtons as exhibition fowl?
‘Only this: When we come to the real test of general popu-
larity, every breed or variety must stand or fall upon its
valuation as a market or table fowl. Once a breed or va-
riety wins public favor as a commercial fowl, it will soon
‘come to the front as an exhibition fowl. Its popularity will
cause more breeders to take it up and then competition
will become stronger, which leads to the show room and
results in larger and still larger exhibitions.

Following is a tabulated report, showing the number
of Orpingtons that have been exhibited in recent years at
tthe Crystal Palace Show, London, at Madison Square
‘Garden, New York, and at Boston, and Chicago. Note the
growth each year in the number exhibited at these great
shows.

Crystal Palace Show
1906 1907 1908
Nieto Siveissoy 45 ooondaopoogec4ococo 580 697 782

We are sorry we cannot give the number of each va-
‘riety at the above show. The numbers given represent to-
tals of all Orpingtons shown each year for the period
‘covered.

Madison Square Garden

S.C: RAC eSxG: RVG) ES..Cy URS Ch Any other
Year Buff Buff Black Black White White variety Total
LOO Leper Di, ie 4 a a6 fe 46 31
1902 ...... 43 ac 50 ag a ae 20 63
1903) Gerace 64 4 27 21 10 ce 17143
1904 Unable to get report. .
1905s serene 173 16 100 11 57 5 30 392
N9OG Hees: 192 25) 105 11 73 10 30 ©6446
1907 (Jan.) 161 Se ess 10 81 5 26 = =434
1907 (Dec.) 107 10. 160 11 83 5 26 402
GOD Meee 225 14. s.144 15 70 5 25 496
ZICH) GSS eyes) IZ SIGE 8 155 20 2220
1165 99 807 ‘O7mn -029) 50 196 2933

At Boston

L902 acct 17 ae 3 Ms ed He 4 21
1903hee Ree 32 oe 11 Ae 8 Bye 11 62
1904 No show held.
CESS ou 31 ate xs Ae 10 ae 6 47
1906 se 5e3% 46 es, 36 ue 26 a 16 124
1907) Meee 67 Be 15 4 21 4 LOW 121
1908 eee 69 1 47 os 21 a 6 144
L909 OD a 31 Ne 28 ee 14 138
19)14 ae 75 2 38 4 78 4 yy! PAIS}

402 ay AS 8 192 8 84 875

At Chicago

tole eeise. 255) aa be a ae we ve 45
1902 Hoe oe OS 12 be, as 13 bis amos:
L903 <a secs 83 36 1p, 53 a 34 294
904 ae ae An 45 15 ae a 35 <e 2 97
URELOG). gnats. 30 7 8 pe 1 12 24 58
clei Aaoeied Sy 14 20 ba 23 15 Gye lls
WOO 7 a 2 68 12 47 6 11 15 spe 59,
ISH) Gece ce Ay oH 48 Ae Tales! 8 2) Soil

598 143 159 6 254 50 42 1252

Any other variety, as mentioned above, includes the
Diamond Jubilee and the Spangled varieties, as well as
those that were in an introductory state and therefore had
to be exhibited under the class known as “Any other Va-
riety.”

It will be noted that the Buffs have been by far the
largest class shown at Madison Square, though the Blacks
have been a strong class during the last five years. With
Rose and Single Comb classes combined there has been
1,077 Buffs, 752 Blacks, 404 Whites and 174 A. O. V. The
Buffs have not only led each year, but the exhibit of 1909
was extra large, showing a satisfactory increase in the
number of exhibits.

It will be observed that the Orpingtons are not as
popular as an exhibition fowl at Boston as they are at
New York. The latter place has had on exhibition more
than three and one-half times as many Orpingtons since
1901 as has the metropolis of New England. Perhaps one
reason for this is: Boston is known as a critical market
place for table poultry and eggs. The famous South-
Shore products find a ready market in Boston. New
Englanders are much in favor of yellow skin and legs
and also prefer dark-shelled or brown eggs. The New
York market. prefers a white-shelled egg and the pre-
sumption is that the New York public takes more kindly
to white skinned poultry. Furthermore, we may continue
to look for larger classes at Madison Square, as this great
show is conceded by exhibitors to be the battle-ground
which decides the real championships. This fact alone will
continue to attract the larger exhibits to Madison Square
Garden. Despite this we believe that market require-
ments in many sections either add or detract from the
number and importance of exhibits.

Although we have not at hand the figures for the 1908
and 1909 Chicago shows, in it will be noted that the total
for the seven years is larger than the number of Orping-

68 THE ORPINGTONS

tons exhibited at Boston during the eight years listed.
Readers will also notice that the Buffs have a large lead in
point of numbers shown at Chicago. Even the Rose Comb
Buffs are ahead of any of the other varieties on exhibition
at Chicago during the seven years covered by the list.

Summary of the Three American Shows

Totalentumber of S$. (Ca Buttsishowthe.- eee renee es 1738
Totalonumber of RG) Buttseshowsleee cette seen 231
Lotaliumber ofS. Gy Blacks shown. eee eres 924
otal number oL ke Gavblacksushowmer acme cscieeeiice 89
Total number of S. C. Whites shown................ 624
otal number of Ro CG Wihitessshowzles sce ee eee tiie 76
Total/ number of anyother variety a... sees eset 283

Total number of Orpingtons shown ............3965

The foregoing table shows that the Buffs lack just

twenty-seven birds of equaling in number all the other
varieties combined. This showing establishes which is
the most popular variety. We are not writing this report
to start argument, but with the object of demonstrating
the rapid increase in the popularity of the Orpingtons in
America, both east and west—a popularity that we believe
to be richly deserved. The shows above listed are not
only three leading exhibitions, but are representative of a
large territory.

The Black and White Orpingtons are gaining
rapidly in public favor throughout the country, especially
in the west. The Orpingtons today are one of our truly
popular breeds and we predict that they will keep on gain-
ing in popularity as an exhibition fowl, because of their
utility values which in both England and America have
won them a firm position as a general purpose fowl—good
for the table and good layers.

BUFF ORPINGTON HEN

Winner of First Prize and Silver Cup, Crystal Palace, Eng-
land, and numerous First Prizes at American Shows, Owned
by Mrs. S. C. Bridgewater, Tennessee,

Ee

Cri Ao Eame VW Vl

What Breeders Say

Orpingtons of the Past, Present and Future — Prominent Breeders Express Their Views on Type
and Color— The New Standard Will Help Improve The Breed

O get the views of prominent and successful
breeders of Orpingtons, on the progress
made in attaining a more uniform type and
color in the different varieties, also under
the further improvement of the breed under
the revised American Standard of Perfec-
tion, we sent a list of questions to leading

fanciers in the east and west. The contributors to this

symposium are:
A. L. Goodwin, Massachusetts.
H. H. Kingston, Jr., New York.
C. A. Moxley, Illinois.
Milton W. Brown, Ohio.
E. A. Haring, Con-
necticut.
Paul Kyle, New York.

Archibald B. Dalby,
New Jersey.

Henrietta E. Hooker,
Michigan.

C. S. Byers, Indiana.

C. E. Fisher, Ohio.

E. B. Miller, Indiana.
J. M. Williams, Mich-

igan.

W. H. Gifford, Massa-
chusetts.

Goodes and Palmer,
Michigan.

David N. Foster, In-
diana.

Henry B. Prescott, New
Hampshire.

1. How do Orpingtons
of today compare in typical
shape, size and color with
those bred and exhibited
five or more years ago?

“There has been a
steady improvement in
shape and color in all varie-
ties of Orpingtons in the
past five years. As to shape
this is especially true of the
Buffs and Whites. There is
some doubt whether there :
has been any great advance
in the matter of size, with
the possible exception of
the Blacks.”—A. L. Good-
win. X

“Taking it for granted that American birds are meant,
the Orpington of today is superior in every respect to his
forbear of five years ago. showing better type, size and
color.”—H. H. Kingston, Jr.

“A wonderful improvement.’—C. A. Moxley.

“There has been a startling improvement. Winners
at big shows five years ago would be worth about $3.00
today. A few individual specimens then approached the
present type, but the general average was extremely far
from the present ideal.’—Milton W. Brown.

“They are much better, especially in shape and color.”
—E. A. Haring. ’

“I remember very well the Orpingtons that were ex-
hibited for the first time at the Madison Square Garden,

‘FIRST 4p SPECIALS JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION 1907+ |
LOWNED ‘mp EXHIBITED BY CSBYERS,HAZELRIGG IND. |

which was in 1899. I then noticed the peculiar shape, which
indicated to me that the Orpington can grow more meat
on her deep long breast than any other fowl. I was so
much impressed with that one good point that I bought
some and ever since have kept them to my greatest sat-
isfaction. The American fanciers have certainly improved
the shape and size of the Orpington hens, compared with
those from England exhibited at the Madison Square Gar-
den Show for a number of successive years. The color,
particularly in the Buffs. has been improved also, if not
changed to a lighter buff than formerly shown. All fan-
ciers, I think, agree to the present shape of the female
Orpingtons. In the S. C. Black male classes, however, the
American Standard is open for discussion. The Black
Orpington male cannot have as long a back as his cousins’.
the Buffs or Whites, because one of the ancestors of the
Black Orpington was a
Black Langshan. Conse-
quently the back of the
black male will always be
short with broad shoulders.
Although a long back has
been well established in
Black hens, I doubt, how-
ever, if fanciers will ever be
successful in breeding a
long back in the Black Orp-
ington males.’”—Paul Kyle.

“I think the color has
improved but the shape and
size have gone back.”—
Archibald B. Dalby.

“T think the color has
improved wonderfully, but
have been fearful that this,
desirable as it is, would be
emphasized at expense of
type, and an Orpington is
nothing, once the type is
lost.”—Henrietta E. Hooker.

“In proportion to the
number bred py experts
there are now many more
specimens that approach
the present Standard type
than there were five or more
years ago.”’—C. S. Byers.

“They compare fairly
well, but they seem to have
lost in color.”—E. B. Miller.

“T saw five years ago
what I believe to be as good
shaped birds as are found
today, but not so many of
se them. I believe the color
has improved more than
the shape.’’—C. E. Fisher.

“Both color and shape
have been much improved—
especially the former. We are
practically away from that Rhode Island Red that both-
ered so many.”’—J. M. Williams.

“There is improvement in shape, but not in size and

color.’—W. H. Gifford.

“Size and color have improved. In some respects the
shape has deteriorated. There is too much difference in
shape in the different varieties of Orpingtons.”—Goodes
and Palmer.

“As the market is demanding a different shaped bird
now, it is very hard to say how the Orpington of today
compares with the Orpington of five years ago. Five
years ago the Orpington ran to the Dorking in shape,
while now the fancy market demands a broader and
deeper bird, more like the larger breeds; also, a shorter

1
4
4 q
i
;
1
4
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i]

70 THE ORPINGTONS

shank is sought after, which, to my mind, throws the bird
out of proportion. The Standard does not give a short-
shanked bird, and in the show room they are not cut
much on shank unless the shanks are extremely long.”—
Col. D. N. Foster.

“They have improved very much during the last five
years.’—H. B. Prescott.

2. Are the present Standard weights sufficient to
bring out the large blocky, or cobby, type demanded by
the fanciers of the present day?

“The present Standard weights of the Orpington are
entirely sufficient to set off to good advantage the dis-
tinctive, blocky type required for the breed. In fact, I
believe that the two light

does not like to handle them—more especially in the
cities.” —Col. D. N. Foster.

“T find that the Standard weights have to be exceeded
to bring out the large blocky birds demanded. Nearly all
my customers call for birds over Standard weight.”—H.
B. Prescott.

3. Do not too many of our modern exhibition speci-
mens show too much fluff, looseness of feathering, and
rather too much shortness of legs?

“An Orpington of true type ought not to have to de-
pend upon loose, fluffy feathering to give the desired
shape. The Blacks have loose feathers, which fact tends
to emphasize the shape. The Whites and Ermines are
more closely feathered,

colored Orpingtons, the
Whites and the Ermines,
the latter being the new
Orpington with colors of
the Light Brahma, both
running a trifle lighter
in weight than the
Blacks, both show this
cobby, blocky type to
better advantage than
any of the other varie-
ties. This is probably
due to the very light
color of the birds, and
would seem to argue that
excessive weight is not
essential to a handsome
Orpington”—A. L.
Goodwin.

“The present weights
are all the breed can
stand, without losing its
utility qualities, and are
amply sufficient to main-
tain the present type.’—
H. H. Kingston, Jr.

“T think so.”—C. A.
Moxley.

“No. Blacks and;
Whites could, with ad-,
vantage, take two more

and yet as now perfected
by the best breeders
show the true Orpington
type. This shows that
loose feathering is not
necessary to give the de-
sired type. I have al-
ways favored a compara-
tively short leg for all
Orpingtons.’—A, L.
Goodwin.

“Most emphatically,
yes. I have no time for
the Orpington that drags
its fluff on the ground.
Keep the shanks short,
put not extreme.’—H.
H. Kingston, Jr.

“Yes.”—C. A. Mox-
ley.

“Yes. Any approach
to the Cochin means a
distinct deterioration,
and extreme shortness
of leg seems to go hand
in hand with low egg
production.”—Milton W.
Brown.

“T like a bit of fluff,
but of course it can be
overdone. I think the

pounds per bird. English
breeders have no diffi- BLACK
culty in over-topping the
Standard weights in
Buffs by 50 per cent.”
Milton W. Brown.

“T think so, and I think the cobby type is being car-
ried too far. Some of our best awards are going to birds
minus their tails.’-—E. A. Haring.

“The present Standard weights are fully sufficient to
bring out the cobby and compact type and shape.”—Paul
Kyle.

“Most of the birds that are winning prizes are over-
weight, as called for in the Standard.”—Archibald B.
Dalby.

“T think they are.’—Henrietta E. Hooker.

“Ves.”—C. S. Byers.

“I believe the present Standard weights are high
enough.”—E. B. Miller.

“T think the Standard weights are all right for the
present at least.’—C. E. Fisher.

“T think so. I have had no trouble with males as to
weight, but if I had more weight on females I should have
too much fat, which would hurt the laying.”—J. M. Wil-
liams.

“Cannot see any reason to change weights.’—W. H.
Gifford.

“We think the present weights are about right. It
would perhaps be better if there were higher weights on
Buffs, and perhaps Blacks, but if the weights of these va-
rieties are raised, it would be difficult to bring the Whites
up to weight,”—Goodes and Palmer.

“The Standard weights are to my opinion sufficient to
bring out the large blocky type now demanded. The fan-
cier must not lose sight of the utilitarian qualities that all
breeds must have if they are to become and stay popular.
Get a large fowl, and as a rule the laying qualities of your
birds suffer; and when you put them on the market for
eating they are too large for most families and the butcher

short leg is being over-

EMPRESS done. A large bird re-

This Black Orpington hen is owned by Milton W. Brown, pro-
prietor of Cheviot Farms. He writes that she is the dam or grand-
dam of winners at Madison Square Garden, Jamestown Exposition,
Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Allentown and Hagerstown,

quires some length of
leg to show it off prop-
erly.”—E. A. Haring.

: “T have not yet no-
ticed too much fluff or looseness of feathers in the Buff or
White classes; however, in the Black Orpington classes,
particularly the hens, I observe too much fluff and also
shortness of legs. An Orpington must be short in legs,
but not as low as a Dorking, nor as high as a Plymouth
Rock.’’—Paul Kyle.

“Yes.”—Archibald B. Dalby.

“T know many have this feeling, but I have not wished
to get too far from the Cochin type—then we have a Buff
Rock, minus color of legs.’—Henrietta E. Hooker.

“No.’”—C. S. Byers.

“T have always thought so, and have therefore bred
closer feathers and longer legs. The birds seem to forage
better and lay better, and mine are farm-raised and bred
for profit and utility.”—E. B. Miller.

“I do not believe in the ‘high’ Orpington, and I like
a good fluff. To my eye a medium low Orpington, with
good fluff to round out shape, makes a very beautiful
bird.’—C. E. Fisher.

“T do not like too much fluff, and find that those of my
birds which are closely feathered are more profitable as a
commercial bird than the loose-feathered fowl. I am not
in favor of encouraging the shortness of the legs. If
feathers are not quite so fluffy, they will not look so short-
legged.”—J. M. Williams.

“There is not too much fluff, and when you lengthen
the legs and take away the loose feathering, you will bring
the Orpington to a type more like the Langshan. Some
talk of changes in shape, and that will throw the birds
nearer the Rocks in type.”—W. H. Gifford.

“There is a tendency to get the Orpingtons with the
loose fluffy feathers, while the Standard calls for a tightly-
feathered bird. I like to see them with the fluffy feathers,

THE ORPINGTONS 71

although I have always tried to keep the Duke of Kent
strain of Black Orpingtons to the tight feather, as the
Standard calls for this.”—David N. Foster.

“Many specimens show too much fluff, but I seldom
see them too short in legs. In general, I see too many
long in legs—which is especialty true of the Whites.’”’—
Goodes and Palmer.

“T think some breeders have carried the shortness of
legs a bit farther than the best good of the breed de-
mands.”—H. B. Prescott.

4. Do you think the revised American Standard of
Perfection, in placing more value on the shape and less on
the color of Orpingtons, will prove of material benefit in

obtaining more uniform type in exhibition specimens?

LL

Second Cockerel, Chicago, 1909.
raised by Goodes & Palmer,
cellus, Mich,

Bred and
Mar-

“It should have been comprehended a long time ago
by the rank and file of Orpington breeders that the ut-
most value should be placed on shape and type, and the
question of color made a secondary consideration. A few
of the leading Orpington breeders were big enough to
realize this, and the day was saved for the Orpington.
All breeders who do any exhibiting at all must necessarily
see the necessity of keeping to the type, sooner or later.
This, and the position of the revised Standard of Perfec-
tion, will aid materially in establishing uniformity of type.”
—A. L. Goodwin.

“T have always championed type in Orpingtons in
preference to color. Get type first, then go after color. I
think the revision referred to above is a step in the right
direction.”—H. H. Kingston, Jr.

“Yes—and no. Yes, as to exhibition qualities; no, as
to shape, which is wrong now. The Standard shape, in
my judgment, is detrimental to the utilitarian qualities of
this breed. I prefer a little more length of body and legs,
for best results.”.—C. A. Moxley.

“Decidedly, where judging is critical. After all, it will
always remain to some extent a matter of view point of
the individual judge.’”—Milton W. Brown.

“T think shape and color go hand in hand, and I value
one about as much as the other—at least, I put color a
very close second. It is no easy trick to breed good col-
ored Orpingtons, and it is hard to value good color too
highly if combined with Orpington type. Once lost, it is
not easily gotten again.”—E. A. Haring.

“I believe the revised American Standard of Perfec-
tion should place more value on the shape of the Orping-
tons and less on color. It is the peculiar Orpington shape
which makes an exact and gratifying distinction.”—Paul
Kyle.

“VYes.”—Archibald B. Dalby.

“T think both should be kept in sight, but the Stand-
ard may help.’—Henrietta E. Hooker.

“Ves.”—C. S. Byers.

“T believe many breeders have lost ground on shape
of birds in their attempts to improve the color, and I think
they would do weil to breed for shape and size, and let
color go—that is, for the next five years; for I believe they

will not lose much in color and will gain much in shape
and size.”—E. B. Miller.

“The revised American Standard of Perfection, in
placing more value on shape than on color, will, probably
bring better shaped birds to the show room: but I am
wondering if it will not be at the sacrifice of color. I have
seen better shaped Orpingtons, in my opinion, the past
year, than I have colored ones. The Buff color is not
what I should like it to be, and if we are to drop color and
breed for shape, I think it is surely a serious mistake.”—C,
E. Fisher.

“Yes, by all means.”—J. M. Williams.

“T think we should put all the value we can on shape,
and no less on color. Some specimens exhibited last
winter were small because of late hatches, but having been
housed early, they had better color. If we are going to
have Orpingtons, let’s have them low and cobby, and un-
like Rocks and Langshans.”—W. H. Gifford.

“We should think it would help. The color gives us
less trouble than shape.’—Goodes and Palmer.

“T think it would be of greater benefit if more stress
were laid on shape than on color, as every one knows
what the color should be, while hardly any two judges
have the same type in mind when they are judging; and
the same is true with the different breeders. This is the
reason that a bird will score differently under different
judges. These things should be made very plain in the
Standard and judges should conform to the Standard, re-
gardless of what their opinion is as to how an Orpington
should look.’”—D. N. Foster.

“T do. I consider shape of the first importance.’—H.
B. Prescott.

S-C-W-ORPINGTON CAVRUL.
HEABING ONE OF THE BREEDING YARDS AT
RIDGE VIEW FARMS WILLOUVGHBY OHIO.

CHAPT ERs

Orpingtons As Utility Fowl

Relative Value of the Three Standard Varieties as Layers and Meat Producers.
Carefully and Clearly Presented

Edward Brown,

L. S., England

Editor’s Note:—The following excellent article, giving the relative merits of the Black, White and Buff Orpingtons
as utility fowls, was written by Professor Brown, who has devoted many years to the study of the practical qualities of
all domesticated races of poultry and which appeared in ‘‘The Illustrated Poultry Record,’’ December, 1908.

humans. The fact of a race of poultry attaining

a large measure of public favor for a time is no

proof of its virtues. Breeds rise and fall in gen-
eral estimation without any apparent reason. Some are
boomed into prominence, ascending with meteoric bril-
lancy, and, after a shower of pyrotechnics, disappear,
“coming down like the proverbial stick. Others have to
“ight for their recognition at first, and only succeed when
ithey have proved their merits. Yet more are slow in win-
ming a place, but hold it for a considerable period when
secured, ultimately descending into semi-oblivion with
slow and graceful steps. A few appear to withstand both
prosperity and adversity, reasserting themselves again and
yet again. All, however, serve a purpose—if we can but
recognize it—contributing their share to the progression
of the poultry industry. The final court of appeal with
respect to any breed is not its beauty or its coloration, but
the practical nature of its qualities. Otherwise the popu-
jarity attained is limited or evanescent.

Many, nay most, breeds have suffered more from their
supporters than their critics. “Save me from my friends”
may be the cry of all grades. Some years ago, when writ-
ing to an American friend, I said that “if we believed every-
thing claimed for the Orpington we should expect to find
it the only breed on the Plains of Heaven—if fowls are to
be found there.” This was not stated with any desire to
minimize the economic qualities of the race, which are
great, but to show that exaggeration is met with even
where it is least needed. And certainly no breed has re-
quired such exuberant advocacy less than the one under
review. Its sterling merits have been widely recognized,
more in one variety than in others. They speak for them-
selves, which is ever the best form of advertisement.
Idealism is necessary, we suppose for progress. We like
to hug our vain conceits. But when those who are less
blinded by personal predilection or interest humbly ven-
ture to point out that there may be weaknesses which we
had omitted to notice, surely these gentle souls should not
be regarded and attacked as if they were minions of the
Evil One. I can say this with respect to the Orpington,
a race for which so much that is favorable can be stated,
an the hope that even if the conclusions arrived at may
mot be entirely and completely favorable, I may receive a
measure of absolution.

For the purpose of the present review it will be neces-
sary to confine our attention to three varieties, namely,
the Black, the Buff, and the White. The others, whose
number I am frankly uncertain about, are at present
purely exhibition stock and have yet to prove their
economic value. However, much fanciers may wish to
multiply varieties, utility poultry breeders are well ad-
~vised to abstain from speculations of that kind. Hence I

) B etrrer ger is a fickle jade, with hens as with

do not propose to burden these remarks with details of no
real value. “Handsome is as handsome does,” and we are
specially interested in the “does” side of things. If the
exhibitor will kindly improve these sub-varieties on prac-
tical lines we shall be glad; but we want to know as soon
as he has done so, and before he has had time to ruin
them by undue exaltation of arbitrary and useless points.
Probably they may never be of any real service, in which
case we are content to leave them to him entirely until
the crack of doom.

Taking the last three of the varieties named first, by
reason of the fact that there is least to be said respecting
it, as it has yet to prove its value fully, up to the present
it has not been adopted widely. A few breeders have in-
troduced it, but hitherto it has been mainly in the hands
of specialist breeders or exhibitors. Last year, when in
Denmark, I was interested to find that at a breeding center
in that country the White Orpington was exclusively kept
and was being distributed with the object of securing
tinted shelled eggs and improving winter laying, both of
which had been achieved. On that side it is more than
probable that the White Orpington will prove of great
service, although it has fairly good table properties. Like
the Blacks, it is heavier in bone than the Buffs, and conse-
quently takes longer in attainment of a killing condition,
whilst the structure of body indicates more thigh develop-
ment than is desirable in a first-class table fowl. Hence,
in spite of its white legs, flesh, and skin, the Danes appear
to be right in regarding the flesh qualities of this variety
as of less importance than its productiveness as a layer.

For the spring chicken trade it is less serviceable than
as a well grown winter fowl. At the Danish breeding
center of Sejling, as recorded in my “Report on the Poul-
try Industry in Denmark and Sweden” a flock of White
Orpington hens averaged 74 eggs from November 1, 1906,
to March 3, 1907, that is in four months. There was con-
siderable variation in the laying, varying from 93 to 210 in
the twelve months. But, the report states, “out of 46
hens trap-nested, five produced less than 120 eggs and nine
less than 130, so that the average was good.” The eggs are
excellent in size and nicely, though not deeply, tinted.
My own judgment is that the breeders will be well ad-
vised to pay special attention to the development of egg
production in this variety, even though the flesh properties
are sacrificed to some extent, rather than attempt to run
both together, as I do not anticipate that it will ever be
of much service as a table breed. It is the direction named
that the greater profit will be obtained.

The first of the Orpington family was the Black, in-
troduced twenty-two years ago, the popularity of which
grew very rapidly indeed. There can be no question that
they met admirably a need arising from the great exten-

THE ORPINGTONS %3

sion about that period of poultry-keeping in suburban and
manufacturing districts, where a dark plumaged fowl is
almost a necessity, and where a bird of quiet disposition,
willing to submit itself to a restricted environment, yet
vigorous and economically profitable, is sure to command
a large amount of favor. For such conditions the general
purpose type fowl was more suitable than the non-sitters.
Some of the older races of this class were losing vigor,
and the Black Orpingtons “filled the bill.” It is a large
fowl, hardy, a good winter layer, but not very prolific, the
eggs having a moderate tint of shell. It is somewhat heavy
in bone and, therefore, rather slow in growth, but this, if
not an actual recommendation, was no disadvantage under
the conditions named, and to many poultry keepers the
uniformity of color was a decided gain. It has been
claimed that this variety is a first-class table fowl, but that
cannot be conceded. That it is fairly good may be freely
acknowledged. The meat is too much upon the thighs to
take the highest place, and as it is grey rather than white
in flesh and skin, it can never hope to attain the supreme
rank. The flesh is abundant, however, and well flavored.
Signs are evident that the Black Orpington has largely ac-
complished its purpose, and under suburban and other like
conditions, where all-round qualities are desired, it may be
safely recommended.

Probably the most popular variety of fowl is the Buff
Orpington, in spite of the fact that it does not equal the
White Leghorn or the White Wyandotte as an egg pro-
ducer, or the Sussex, the Bresse, or the Dorking for its
table properties. Nor is it on the exhibition side that its
reputation is wholly built, though in that respect it occu-
pies a leading position in this country. What, then, may
be asked, is the explanation? To which we may answer
that it is the combination of qualities and its adaptability
that account for the unique position held by the variety.
The fact cannot be gainsaid that at home and abroad it
has deservedly won the place now occupied by it. Through-
out the United Kingdom practical poultry keepers have

adopted it to a very large extent. During my visits to
Hungary in 1902 and 1904 I found that it was extensively
bred, and that the agricultural authorities in that country
were advocating its dissemination as the breed specially
suitable to meet the growing trade for eggs and chickens.
Two years ago I found it had been received with marked
favor in Canada and it is making its way slowly but stead-
ily, in the United States. The same was seen to be the
case in Sweden last year, and this season hundreds of
Buff Orpingtons have been distributed in the Province of
Scane by the Agricultural Society in that country. We
know, also, that large numbers have been exported to the
colonies and foreign countries. The secret is found in the
combination of tinted shelled eggs met with in very few
races. It is a fairly good layer, especially in winter, and
is certainly good in meat qualities, whilst its quiet tem-
perament makes it easily restrained. Moreover the con-
siderable infusion of yellow blood which it embodies
enables it to be kept upon heavy soils where other white-
fleshed races would not thrive, even though the lighter
soils are more favorable for obtaining the best results.

One great advantage which the Buff Orpington pos-
sesses over other members of the same family is in the
distribution of the flesh found thereon. Light in bone, it
does not carry so much muscle upon the thighs and the
flesh is exceedingly well developed on the sternum, whilst
that flesh is white and cobby. In iength of body it cannot
equal some other breeds, but the plump and well-filled
skin gives it a pleasing appearance. We have not found
this breed a rapid grower, in which respect, however, it is
better than many of the heavy breeds. The eggs are a
little ‘small, and here improvement ought to be secured. I
am convinced, however, that breeders should pay most
attention to the table qualities of the Buffs, and by striving
to maintain lightness of bone, to keep the wings large, and
thus tend to improve the breast qualities, retain and ex-
tend the qualities which have made it popular. Plumage
coloration is of very secondary importance.

Orpingtons in International Eg¢ Laying Contests

D. E.

as the Australian contests, have demonstrated some

interesting facts, and one is, that the Orpingtons
are a great all-around fowl, a fine winter layer and one of
the most profitable breeds that have been entered in the
contests.

The second annual contest which was held at Hawkes-
bury Agricultural College, N. S. Wales, 1903-04, was won
by a pen of S. L. Wyandottes with an average of 218 eggs
each.

Black Orpingtons were second, with an average of
212 1-3 eggs each. There were 14 pens of Black Orpingtons
entered, which laid 14,118 eggs, or an average of 168 3-42
eggs per fowl. i

The third annual contest held 1904-05, at the same
place, was again won by the S. L. Wyandottes, while the
Black Orpingtons stood fifth.

The Wyandottes laid 1224 eggs or an average of 204
eggs each. The Orpingtons laid 1155 eggs or an average
of 192% eggs each.

There were 18 pens of Black Orpingtons entered,
which laid 17,224 eggs, or an average of 158 13-17 eggs
each.

There were 10 pens of Buff Orpingtons, which laid
8677 eggs, or an average of 144 37-60 eggs each.

For the three months winter test, the Black Orping-
tons stood third and were also third, for the market value
of eggs for the 12 months.

The reports show that the weather throughout the
rainy season was exceptionally bad, keeping the ground
soaked most of the time, causing very damp, chilly, dis-
agreeable conditions.

a HE following contests that are generally spoken of

BLACK ORPINGTONS, ENTERED BY MR. W. WILD,
LAKE ALBERT.

_.Winners of Second Prize for greatest number (1,274) of eggs
laid during the twelve months at the Second International Twelve
Months’ Laying Competition, Hawkesbury Agricultural College,
April, 1903-March, 1904. Highth Prize for first six months (winter);

and Fifth Prize for market value.
Australian Egg-laying Contest
The year before, two parts corn, to one part wheat
was fed, among other feeds, and during this third contest,
there was two parts wheat to one part corn fed, thereby
demonstrating that corn is a better food for egg produc-
tion, than it has been given credit.

Hale

The fourth annual contest was held at the same place,
1905-06, the Single Comb White Leghorns winning first
prize, with an average of 235 1-6 eggs each, a grand record
for that time. The Black Orpingtons won eighth place in

TYPICAL LAYING HEN
One of the Australian Egg-laying Con-
test_ Black Orpington winners that aver-
aged 177 eggs per hen during the 1908-09
contest. A typical hen from Mr. Wild’s pen.

this contest, the winning pen laying 1188 eggs, or an aver-
age of 196 eggs each.

There were 19 pens of Black Orpingtons, that laid
18,011 eggs, or an average of 157 113-114 eggs each; a
pretty fair average for 114 fowls. '
There were 5 pens of Buff Orpingtons entered, that

laid 4,727 eggs, or an average of 157 17-30 eggs
each.

The general utility prize, open to hens averaging
at least 6 pounds in weight and laying eggs averag-
ing not less than 24 ounces per dozen, was won by
the Black Orpingtons.

While it was a grand honor to win the laying
contest, it is also a great honor to win the general
utility prize, for it is the general utility fowl that is
in demand today.

The reports of the fifth annual contest held
1906-07, and the sixth annual contest held 1907-08, we
have been unable to get.

The seventh anuual contest for 1908-09 ended as
follows: White Leghorns laid the most eggs, namely,
1,379, or an average of 229 5-6 eggs each. The S. C.
Black Orpingtons were second with 1,288 eggs or an
average of 214-2-3 eggs each.

There were eleven pens of Black Orpingtons
entered in the contest and four pens of White Orp-
ingtons. The average number of eggs laid by the
Blacks were a fraction over 177 eggs per hen. The

Whites averaged a fraction over 115 eggs each.

The highest number of eggs laid in one month was
laid by a pen of Black Orpingtons, 159 eggs, or an aver-
age of 26% eggs per hen, a wonderful record for one
month. The Black Orpingtons made the largest net profit
per hen as they laid the best, when eggs were high.

vy

Buff Orpingtons Ideal Market Fowl

W. B. Borders

PREFER the S. C. Buff variety on account of their
beautiful plumage and for the further reason that I
live in the city, and believe that they will stand close

confinement and not show the dirt as much as the other
varieties. I find that they will be fully feathered at the
age of six to eight weeks and that they will weigh two
pounds by the time they are fully feathered.

They will begin laying at the age of about five months,
if forced, but as the forcing is liable to ruin them as two-
year old breeders, I try to lengthen the time to five and a
half to six months. By doing this you are also able to
grow larger birds and the progeny will be the better for
the delay.

The hatching of show birds depends on the manner of
handling them before the shows. I make it a practice to
hatch during each month from January to July Ist, but find
that the birds hatched in May and June will make the best
showing, if large enough, and there is no doubt but that
they will be up to Standard weight if given proper care
and food.

I use trap nests in all my breeding pens and keep a
record of the number of eggs laid by each female during
the breeding season, but have never kept them for the
whole year, so cannot give yearly records. I have but one
female that laid 117 eggs in 126 days and a pen of six
pullets that averaged 108 eggs in the same time. In mat-
ing my pens I use only progeny from my best layers and
by doing this year to year, hope to improve the whole
flock.

I have always found a ready sale for all the birds I
could raise. In fact last year I did not have a bird to sell
after the first of March. The demand for high-class birds
is on the increase in the west and the western breeders
are being educated to buy the best as they find it pays in
the end. The price does not seem to matter so long as
the best of quality is furnished.

The color of the skin and legs seem to increase the
demand in the local market as they present a cleaner ap-
pearance when dressed. If the Orpington Standard was
to be changed to read yellow legs and skin, I feel that
the popularity of the breed would decrease to such an ex-
tend that they would be diopped in a few years. In fact
it would be hard to tell them from the Buff Rocks, as a
great many breeders do not seem to be able to tell the
difference in shape, if you take their birds as an example
of their judgment.

If I were to make an ideal all around fowl it would
be the same as the S. C. Buff Orpington is today, as I
believe they come as near filling the wants of the fancier
and general breeder as any variety we have in the Stand-
atd. They will lay in the most severe winter weather
when eggs are high in price as well as late in the fall when
other varieties are resting.

The chicks will grow more ounces in a given time than
almost any other kind of chickens. They are very hardy
and are not as susceptible to diseases as are some of the
other varieties. In fact the Orpingtons are the only bird
as far as I am concerned.

A partial

Hawkesbury Agricultural

bird’s-eye view showing houses and yards at
College,

New South Wales,

where are held the well-known Australian Egg-
laying Contests,

CHART ei ex<

Conditioning and Training Fowls for Exhibition

Training and Posing Necessary. What to Feed. Milk as a Conditioner. Importance of Dry Sound Grains,

Animal and Vegetable Foods.

Health, Vigor and Stamina Essential to Success

J. H. Drevenstedt

HE fact of a bird being well fed and groomed, show-
T ing splendid condition, while absolutely necessary
and essential in competing for the prizes at our
modern poultry shows, is not always sufficient in a tight
place where two specimens are about equal in merit and
in condition. This is where proper training of the show
specimens will often determine the result. We remember
an instance of this kind which occurred at the Madison
Square Garden ten or more years ago. It was in the
palmy days of the Buff Cochins when such noted fanciers
as the Sharp Bros. of Taunton, Mass., and Adams, Purdue,
and Young of Orange, N. J., made great entries of the
once famed Buffs. The pick of English and American
flocks could be seen at the
Garden in those days. The
manager for Messrs. Sharp
was an experienced condi-
tioner and had his charges
in beautiful fettle. Their
plumage glistened and ey-
ery little detail was looked
after so that no fault
could be found with groom-
ing.

George Purdue, a past
master in the art of feeding
and conditioning birds, had
his birds in equally fine con-
dition as those in charge of
Mr. Marshall. Bue he went
just a little beyond that, he
had his birds trained to the
hour. No sooner was one of
these birds touched by the
judge’s stick, than it would
seem to know what was
wanted and the proper pose
was seldom lacking. One
huge scholar especially was
an apt and would
stand and look his prettiest
when handled by the judge.
And that pose won the blue
ribbon.

scholar

Edward B. Thompson,
of Barred Plymouth Rock
Ringlet fame, is another
great believer in training his
show birds. At a show held in Troy, N. Y., in the early
nineties the creator of the famous Ringlet Rocks ex-
hibited a cockerel that “did stunts,’ to use Mr. Thomp-
son’s expression. In other words the bird was a great pet
and was taught to jump over rods and through the arms
of his owner, remain in a statuesque pose when stroked
under the lower mandible or touched with the judging
stock. It is needless to say that this bird attracted much
attention, especially from the judge who simply could not
resist the temptation to put the blue ribbon on its cage.
The famous old Plymouth Rock hen, “Helen of Troy”
was another one of Mr. Thompson’s trained troupe of

BUFF

ORPINGTON

performing chickens. The cockerel he exhibited at
Madison Square Garden and won the blue ribbon with,
was most carefully trained and a splendid actor in the
show pen. It is not going “behind the returns” to say that
this training was largely responsible for the award going
to the cockerel, for there were several other cockerels
there that some breeders preferred to the winner, but
they lacked that finishing touch without which the
chances in a hot class at a Madison Square Garden Show,
are greatly reduced.

A bird that has not been retarded in its growth from
the time it was hatched until nearly feathered out, is
easily conditioned for the show. There is nothing better
than sound red wheat and
Canadian flint corn to put it
in condition when the birds
are at liberty and have a
good pasture to forage over.
When finished indoors, more
care must be taken in using
the proper grains. A mix-
ture of cracked corn and
crushed oats in equal parts
makes the best dry mash
with red wheat for a whole
grain. Granulated beef
scraps of the best sterilized
brand, given in small quan-
tity twice a week will fur-
nish the cheapest and best
animal food. Vegetable food
ise best supplied by either
mangel wurzels, cabbage or
lettuce leaves. But there is
just one food that is super-
ior to all others in bringing
birds up to a high condition
and that is milk.

Milk as a Conditioner.
An English breeder in
a recent issue of Poultry

speaks of the value of

: } milk as follows: “Now-
W YORK DEC 2719909 JANI IIIS fe adays condition plays such
NJR.ROCHESTERLN Y. & an unportant part in the

: Sime ~=successful exhibiting of a

bird that only two. or

CROICTES three weeks special feeding
will ensure its being put down in first rate form. Per-
sonally, I think the finest ‘conditioner’ there is, and the
finest ‘conditioner’ that could be desired is milk and from
what I have seen among big Rock and Wyandotte ex-
hibitors in the North and elsewhere, I should say this
opinion js shared by a good many. The extraordinary
value of it in this direction is, I believe, known to but
few amateurs; at any rate, very few take advantage of it
in any useful way. To be really efficacious, it must play
a part in almost everything the fowl eats or drinks for at
least a fortnight. The drinking troughs must be filled
with it twice a day, and the mashes likewise must be

THE ORPINGTONS VW

greater force to the large prototype, the Exhibition
Game. The decadence of the fatter as a popular show
fowl has been a source of regret to many old line fan-
ciers, who bred this aristocrat of featherdom for pure love
of the Game fowl.”

Exhibition Games cannot be raised in close quarters
and without proper care and environments. They can be
raised in the mountains of New York and New England,
if allowed the freedom of range their nature demands,
and their constitution is dependent on. To obtain the
hard feather, the muscle and bone that make the Game
fowl the athlete of all fowl, requires open air culture and
the simple life. This means hardiness and _ splendid
physical condition, which no artificial methods have been
able to supplant. In fact, if you wish to raise superior
Games and Game Bantams, the latter may not be the only
way, but it certainly is the easiest way.

This reminds us of a little experience we had in 1888,
the year the Newburg, N. Y. show was held. We had a
pen of Golden Spangled Hamburgs on exhibition, which
by their fine condition attracted the attention of Sherman
Hartwell, a veteran breeder of Partridge Cochins from
the Nutmeg State. Mr. Hartwell asked us how we got
these birds in such fine shape and we informed him that
they were farm raised, well fed and had never been in-
doors since they were old enough to roost in the trees
of an apple orchard, and we picked out the pen by lan-
tern light from the flock that roosted in an open shed
after they had been taken from the trees in November.
“Well,” remarked Deacon Hartwell, “that’s about the
way I condition my Partridge Cochins, but of course they
can’t fly high enough to roost in trees, so they take to
the nearest fence.”

It is needless to say that while such methods were
productive of good results 20 or more years ago, they would
not do in this age, when every bird must be prepared
weeks before a show to get a place in the awards. The
principle was correct as far as health, vigor and stamina
was concerned, but the finishing touches had to be put on
under cover where rain and sun could not affect the new
plumage. The latter is especially important in the pre-
paration of buff fowl for the show. To produce a buff
bird in “silk attire” requires very careful handling. Suc-
cessful breeders of buff varieties of poultry are very care-
ful in providing the proper quarters for their growing
young stock and the moulting old ones, especially in the
fall of the year when the new feathers begin to push
forth from the old ones. Shade from the sun and shelter
from the rain are the two important factors in the ulti-
mate success of producing rich golden buff plumage. One
very successful breeder of Buff Cochin Bantams keeps
his young and old stock under cover from the time the
new plumage starts until it is fully growm Breeding
Cochin Bantams, he naturally keeps them in a small area,
to retard any growth toward legginess and to increase the
length and retain any volume of the foot feathering. The
same rule will apply to Buff, White, Black and Partridge
Cochins. ;

With Brahmas we believe Old Dame Nature is the
best “conditioner.” Give the Light Brahma the range,
the exercise, and the same sound grain, breeders of Ply-
mouth Rocks, Wyandottes and Rhode Island Reds give
their fowls, and you will have Brahmas that are correct
in type and second to none in egg production and market
properties. The Brahma is not a Cochin, consequently
does not require a restricted range and close confinement
to grow a huge bunch of feathers on body, fluff and legs
and toes. Like the American varieties, they will require

mixed entirely with it. Given this continually, the birds
that are intended for show will quickly come to hand

and be in prime condition when they are wanted. The
other items of dietary should be quite as usual. Spe-
cial dieting and extra feeding are quite wunnec-

essary and indeed undesirable because show fowls thrive
far better when treated like ordinary beings, and it is my
experience that the more one fusses about one’s best
birds, the worse they fare and the less keen become their
appetites. They must be kept clean, however, and every-
thing around them must be clean and neat. Time spent
attending to these matters is time well spent. Vessels in
which milk has been placed require special attention as
milk is apt to coagulate in the bottom, the effects of which
are far from salutary.”

The above advice is sound and, if followed, good re-
sults are bound to follow. Milk is not fed as extensively
to chickens in the United States as in England and Can-
ada except in a few localities near Philadelphia and
Washington where milk fed chickens for market are
largely and profitably produced. But there are a few
fanciers who fully realize the great value of milk, and one
in particular, George W. Mitchell, uses a liberal supply
to grow his famous Partridge Cochins, while his man-
ager, Adolph Anderson, has produced the largest and
finest White Cochins in the country by using the milk
diet liberally. Mr. McNeil of Canada is another believer
in milk as food, and where length of feather is desired,
the lacteal fluid is superior to all other foods. Years ago,
when engaged in dairy farming, we used considerable
milk for the young chickens giving it to them from the
start, but we diluted it with one half boiling water, which
we found kept the milk in better condition in warm
weather.

Grain Foods

There are prepared grain foods on the market that
are excellent for conditioning fowls in confinement, but
our advice to the purchasers is: Be sure to buy the best
regardless of the price. Grain is high, that is sound
sweet wheat, barley, oats or corn, and no such thing as a
“cheap ration” should be considered.

As to Games and Game Bantams, we will say that the
best way to condition such birds is to provide unlimited
range, in the woods if possible, feed them a giound oats,
barley and dry bran mash, using one-third by weight of
each, with sound wheat and Canadian flint corn as a
scratching food.

Dan Clayton, the most successful breeder of Brown
Red Game Bantams in England is a great believer in the
value of Canadian corn as a food for his Bantams. His
birds are raised in movable coops on grassy plots and
have unlimited range. The corn seems to put them in
prime condition, bringing out the luster of the plumage
in a remarkable degree.

Pigeon fanciers are well aware of the value of this
yellow corn, and chicken fanciers would be if they rea-
lized its value as a conditioning food. The high price,
however, has acted as a barrier to its more extensive use.
Canadian flint corn is the small variety of maize known
in the United States as Dutton corn. It is a very hard
grain when old, and the harder the grain, the better the
result will be. It keeps the chickens busy grinding it, and
this has a beneficial influence on the health of the birds.
Birds fed and reared in such a way need no condition
powders to stimulate their appetites or improve their
condition. Although the above comments were written
with the Game Bantam in view, they will apply with even

78 THE ORPINGTONS

very little conditioning prior to a show, if they have had
a bountiful supply of ozone and range on grassy lawns
or pastures.

Natural Conditioning

Some of the best conditioned White Leghorns we
ever saw were raised in Western New York. They were
hatched in incubators and placed in brooders, the latter
being set along the edges of a growing field of corn; as
the corn grew up the little Leghorns had the time of their
lives scratching in the rows and getting the warm May
and June sun. When the stalks of corn towered way
above their heads in the broiling sun of July and August
the rapidly maturing Leghorns enjoyed the grateful shade
and grew into handsome, vigorous specimens that were
pure white in plumage and sporting rich yellow legs and
beaks. They needed no further conditioning except to
clean the legs and rub the combs with a little vaseline;
the plumage would shine if rubbed with a silk handker-
chief. Later in the fall the birds were housed, of course,
and those selected for exhibition were placed in roomy
pens, the floors of which were covered with straw or
shavings and kept scrupulously clean. They won about
as many prizes in strong competition as modern birds,
specially prepared and washed do in these days.

Assuming that birds have been properly conditioned
and trained, we come to the final preparation for the
showroom and that is grooming the plumage, the combs
and the legs.

Washing White Birds

The following method of washing white fowl is em-
ployed by one of the largest exhibitors in the country:
; “Having selected or purchased the birds you intend
to show, it behooves you to have your birds, when placed
before the critical eye of the judge, appear in the best
condition possible. About ten days before the show select
your birds and place them singly, or if to be shown in
pens, place your four pen females together, to prevent
fighting when you put them in the exhibition coop, in a
room or large coop. If you have no regulation exhibi-
tion coops it will pay you to buy two or three. Bed the
coops with cut straw, if possible, or coarse shavings.
Feed the birds a variety of grain with some green food.
Keep grit before them all the time as well as fresh water.
Handle the birds all you can, being careful not to break
a wing feather, for remember your Standard says cut one-
half point for every broken wing feather. Take your
latest illustrated Standard, if you have one, and if not
buy one, for you cannot select exhibition birds without a
Standard.

“If you have a small number to exhibit, prepare to
wash your birds four days before the show. First, clean
up your coops nicely, putting in fresh straw, and see to it
that there is no dust on side of coop, on wires or in the
room. If possible, have a warm place to wash your birds.
Heat a boiler of soft water and secure four washing tubs.
In the first tub place four inches of luke-warm water,
just warm enough to cut dirt nicely. In tubs two and
three place five or six inches of luke-warm water. Have
tub four nearly full of water, with chill off. This tub is to
be used for the bluing water. Make bluing water a little
stronger in blue than if bluing white clothes. Take a
cake of Ivory soap, a soft sponge, several Turkish towels
and a couple of palm-leaf fans and you are ready.

“Place bird in tub number one, thoroughly wetting
the feathers in every section of the plumage. Keep left
hand on back of bird, so it cannot fly out of tub. Always
rub with the plumage, never against it. After you have
the bird wet, use soap, beginning at head and hackle,
washing clean; then the back, tail, fluff, breast and body
in rotation as named. After you have washed the bird
clean, get all the water you can out of plumage and then
place bird in tub number two. Thoroughly rinse bird,
taking a sponge and getting clean water through every part
of plumage, using one hand to loosen the feathers. Take
plenty of time for this and when you have all soap washed
out, place bird in tub number three and do the work over
again. In this way you are sure to get all soap out of
the plumage.

“Washing birds is not such a difficult job once you
get the knack. After getting all water possible out of
plumage, dip bird in bluing water, letting it drain, and
then get all water possible out of plumage again. Now
place bird on a barrel covered with clean cloth so there
is no danger of the bird getting dirty; take sponge and
get all water possible out of plumage, with the towel dry
plumage as much as possible, then take fans and fan
bird, all the time picking out the plumage, that is separat-
ing the feathers. This will make bird fluffy and fine when
dried. Place bird in a warm room or near a warm stove,
not too close to a hot stove, for the heat will curl the
damp feathers, and ruin your work. In a few hours the
bird will be dry and as white as snow.

“The bird is thoroughly dry, now you must clean its
legs, every scale must be cleaned the same as you would
under your finger nails, toes and all. Then rub with sweet
oil and alcohol, half and half, to brighten and smooth off
the knife scratches.

“For head and face, just cleanse while in the show room
with witch hazel, or the sweet oil mixture; not too much
or too often with the witch hazel, as it will cause a white
scale to form all over the head. If you have done your
work well, your bird is at his best and ready for the judge
and you have, in a perfectly legitimate way, put from two
to five points on him.” -

In looking over Barred Plymouth Rocks, or any other
parti-colored variety, it is necessary to examine every
section and remove the old or dead feathers. This is
perfectly legitimate and does not constitute what some
would call “faking.” It is also a well known fact that
Barred Plymouth Rocks need just a little more plucking
than simply removing the old or dead feathers. An oc-
casional black feather needs to be removed or perhaps
a poorly placed or poorly barred one. In Silver Wyan-
dotte females the backs may need looking after. Over-
lapping feathers sometimes destroy the harmony of the
lacing. The same applies to other laced varieties of fowl.

If every breeder who exhibits his birds at poultry
shows will be as careful in getting them fit, as he or she
is careful to appear in the best “bib and tucker” at a
social or church gathering, there would be less fault
found with condition birds in the showroom, and much
more satisfaction gained by winning prizes on birds be-
cause they were “fit as fiadles.’”’ Every legitimate means
should be employed to win a prize, but “faking,” as de-
fined in the American Standard of Perfection is made
unlawful by the Association rules and should not be
practiced.

MONEY-MAKING
POULTRY INFORMATION

It does not make any difference how you are conducting the poultry

business—on a town Jot, farm or special plant—

Reliable’s Poultry Library

contains valuable ideas for you. You are in danger of losing money if you do
not know how the business of the most successful poultrymen is conducted, how
the fowls are selected and fed to produce an extra supply of eggs during the
winter, how their houses and appliances should be built, how the chickens,
ducks, geese and turkeys are reared on a money-making plant of similar size to
your own. All this valuable information, and more, is contained in the sixteen
reference books of Reliable’s Poultry Library.

Artificial Incubating and Brooding - - - $0.50
Aslatics - : : : - - - - .50
The Bantam Fowl - - - - - - .50
The Chick Book - - ‘ - - - .90
Ducks and Geese - - - - : - 75
Eggs and Egg Farms - - - : - - .50
Egg Record and Account Book - - - 25
Leghorns : - : - - - 1.00
The Orpingtons - - - - - - 75
The Plymouth Rocks—All Varieties - - - 1.00
Poultry Houses and Fixtures’ - - - - 50
Reliable Poultry Remedies - - : - - .25
Rnode Island Reds - - - - - -75
Successful Poultry Keeping - - - 1.00
Turkeys—Their Care and Management - - 75
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Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Company
QUINCY, ILLINOIS, U. S. A.

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