Milford chronicle., 1915-10-08

sibly are all good in their lines, yet
desire to call your attention at this tim
to the Orpington. This now famOu
bird was originated in England by vii
liam Cook of Orpington, small villag
in Kent. He named his creation afte
this village. calling it the Orpington.
Mr.. Cook, whose name is now among
the foremost poultrymen the world over
was wont to look for a breed that woulC
combine the qualities of several breeds
and conceived the idea of creating {
general purpose fowl that would meet
the fancy and fill the want of many
breeders. This was in 1876.
After ten years of consistent work,
ean5 at a great expense, Mr.. Cook IN
1885 succeeded in producing his first
specimens Of a black fowl which he
Jehught good enough to introduce to the
FpUbic. This fowl was named, by the
inventor of the breed the Black Or
pington.
The evolution of the Black Orpington
was brought about as follows Black
Minorca cocks were mated to Black
Rock hens, and the pullets from this
mating were in turn mated to Black
Langshan cocks. The Black Rock hens
were what is known as sports" from
che Barred Rock family and incidently,
were far better layers than their parent
stock
The result of the mating with the
Eaagshans was that the progeny were
vested with the feathered legs As this
was a very undesirable feature in the
new creation, Mr.. Cook was compelled
to work arduously for nearly nine years
before successfully eliminating it. At
sthe same time, it was necessary for the
c,E8Et0T of this breed to do away with
zthe light body of the MinOrca, together
with the white ear lobes and large combs
and the yellow legs of the Rocks. This
'oWas eventually accomplished, however,
sand when once perfected the new crea-
atiOn in pOultrydom bred more true than
GthGt OF any other breed.
as 5as been previously said, the Or
EOiQrtJOn was first introduced to the pOul
ary loving public in 1856 and they i'm
Gnsi5istely forged to the front as one of
the greatest utility fowls
The Black Orpington, so named on
zaccount of its extremely dark color, is
not in reality black, but on the other
l1and, is Green Orpington; being a
bright beetle green. Being the largest
of the Orpington family, it generally
attracts more attention at the many
shows than any of the other varieties
of the breed.
The Orpington is not only popular in
England, the home of its creator, and
therefore the real home of the bird, but
IS also a popular one here. Their pOpu
larity in this country is possibly due to
the feet that they are great money
ZlnaslsEs, from the standpoint of fancy
rs well as utility. The plumage of the
BLACK variety is not affected by weather I
. huff
G1al0red birds.
Many persons are disappointed when !
the Black Orpington chicks are first /
hatched, owing to the fact that the /
aolack is mixed with whte-but this I'M
desirable color is gradually lost in grow
Eng gntil in the end it has entirely dis
appeared, and in its stead the bird pos
ssesses a most beautiful plumage, com
posed of that gorgeous green lustre so
pleasing to the eye. The OrpingtOn
lays brown egg, which is just as de-
ssirable in most markets as are the white
eggs, and commanding the same price.
In tact, some markets demand the brown
egg and in all markets they are bought
Eibecally.
Ike Orpington, and particularly the ,
Black variety, is a very desirable bird ,
20 raise on a city lot or in a restricted
area, on account Of its plumage. 1t does ,
not show the dirt as do those of white
plumage, and in addition, they are easily
tanned and do not take to the fences
whenever you go among them. g
The Black variety is not. however, :
iche only OrpingtOn. There are White !
.1lumage birds Of this breed, and again, !;
those of d Buff color-thus meeting the =
Eancy of many breeders who are par u
ticularly unfavorable to Black plumaged 9
birds. While the Black Orpington was n
still in the making. so to speak, or q
rather before it was introduced to the p
poultry loving public as a finished pro-
duct or creation, Mr.. Cook had started
to make another variety of the same
type. G
Like the Black variety, it took Mr.. P
Cook many years to create and bring ID
aQt the White family of this now popu- 3
lsr breed. The White Orpington made
its appearance to the public in 1889, or
just three years after the Black was in
-roduced. In the creation of the White
variety, Mr. Cook labored nine years, 81
Just one year less than the time it took
10 bring out the Black OrpingtOn. Sew b,
sral attempts were necessary to bring d
iut bird of white plumage with the JC
'ame distinctive features manifested in
he Black Orpington. at
An the creation of the White Orping- da
on, Mr.. Cook mated White Leghorn
Ocks to Black Hamburg pullets. The tn
ullets from this mating, as rule, E.
sCne for the most part white. and these
'eTe in turn mated to White Dorking gu
ocks. The progeny of this crossing Fl;
anne for the most part, blue and barred.
o eliminate these features and get a MI
1rely white bird, to get rid of the white
ar lobes and the yellow legs, Mr.. Cook he
'ent several years Of hard and consis- on
mt work. But his efforts were at last
owned with success, and the purely mol
Rte Orpington was made, which had Nh
the good characteristics and features
its Black sister. To those who are CIR
irticularly favorable to white bird,
take a great deal of pleasure in rec lis
the White 0rpington. gu'