The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-16
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lines of investigation that they pursue 1 and the form in which the results of their investigations are published should be determined by the needs of the farmers in their section. The bull IetIn issued should be written in a popular and interesting style and should be eminently practical in their | treatment of the subject Further more they should not consist general Fly in statistical tables etc. which are hard reading. They should state and l interpret results in the most simple, clear and popular style possible. In order to do this the men engaged in this work should come frequently and intimately in touch with the people for whom they work and understand the manner of thought and the problems that meet them.
 When the people expect only what is legitimate from the station and the station realizes its relation to the peo- pie we may expect the best results for agriculture.-B. M. Drake in Southern Cultivator.
 Producing Early Mv1ting. The West Virginia station calls at- tention to the fact that when a spe- ciaIty is made of producing winter eggs, it Is of much importance to have the hens shed their feathers early in the fall. so that the new plumage may be grown before cold weather begins. In case molting is much delayed the production of the new coat of feathers in cold weather is such a drain on the vitality of the fowls that few if any eggs are produced until spring. while if the mott takes place early in the season the fowls begin winter in good condition. and with proper housing and feeding may be made to lay during the entire winter"
 The station reports tests on two- year-old Rhode Island Red and White Leghorns of the Van Dresser method of promoting early molting, which con- sists In withholding food either wholly or in part for few days, which stops egg production and reduces the weight of the fowls, and then feeding heavily on a ration suitable for the formation of the feathers and the general build- ing up of the system" Beginning Au- gust the chickens received no feed for thirteen days except the very small amount they could pick up in 15x10o foot runs. They were then fed liber- ally on mash, beef scraps. corn, wheat and oats, l. e., a ration rich in protein or nitrogenous matter, which is to be especially valuable for promoting the growth of feathers as well as muscle. The hens stopped laying on the sew enth day.
 udyS dklcE tuc tcbt poSdh ehp Rhode Island Reds had practically complete coat of new feathers. had begun to lay. and within a week from that time one-half of the hens were laying regularly, while another lot of Rhode Island Reds. which had been fed continuously were just beginning to mott. and the egg production had declined materially. The Leghorns were trif1e slower In molting than the Rhode Island Reds but otherwise the treatment affected them in a simi- lar way.
 The result seems to warrant the gen- eral conclusion that mature hens that are fed sparingly for about two weeks and then receive rich nitrogenous ration mott more rapidly and with more uniformity, and enter the cold weather of winter in better condition than similar fowls fed continuously du- ring the melting period on an egg producing ration" Stockman.