Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1912-02-01
WHY EGGS COST so MUCH.
Common Breed Against High Breed
Poultry.
(Communicated.)
Cumberland, Nd. Jan. 27, 1912.


Editor Evening Capital:
A friend of the writer handed me
copy Of your esteemed paper of the
Gath and while perusing its columns
came across the following which |
ask the space to make little COM
ment:
Strange. isn't it, that the more
high-bred chickens the country grows.
the price of eggs keeps on advanc-
ing? Ii may be, after all that the old
common breed of hens and red roost-
ers will have 70 be given another
chance to stock up the country with
eggs three dozen for a quarter. -"
The Capital.
The extinct, or determination of
the old common breed of hens and
red ROSTERS" and the bringing into
existence millions of so-called "hiph-
bred" chickens the past century or
two, is 90 per cent. the cause of the
high price of eggs today. The "high-
bred hen of today. or any other day,
will never compete with her egg
machinery equipments to produce the
number of eggs (winter and summer)
that the old red, yellow and dominick
hens have produced when they were
in existence years ago.
The goood, old faithful common hen
in these days would stick to her
everyday laying like Irish glue sticks
to piece of broken chinaware-
somethingNhe highbred hen has had
no truthful fecord of doing. It's we'll
enough to have and own different
breeds Of large, fancy Gall feathers
and beautiful points, chickens for
prizewinners, and the market, but
when it comes to their laying capac-
ity or record, they are not in il with
the old-time common breed. Disease.
| should remarkl The fancy bred
chicken is diseased if it is well.
Their bodies are pregnated with one
disease or another. The diseases they
are subject to are too numerous to
ever think of mentioning; get sick and
die within an hour.
Whoever heard of but very little
disease among the old-time common
stock. The baby chicks would get the
"gapes" and that's no disease. Some
of the old stock would roost out on
trees in dead winter; run through the
snow during the day and get their
feet frostbitten-that's no disease, and
that same day their eggs would be
found deposited in theil nests. Poul-
try fanciers don't want eggs. They
want the prize for points and plum
age. Trap-nested chickensi
Were trap nests used in the long ago
to capture" the best layers? No
The old dung hill hen was doing her
daily duty, and she didn't need to be
trapped to show it. Winter layers"
If high-bred hen lays half dozen
eggs or so in winter the fanciers ad-
vertise them as winter layers. OF
course he speaks the truth, but the
purchaser, after he gets the winter
layer, he is puzzled to know why he
does not get the balance of those eggs
the fancy hen is to lay the balance of
the winter.
c. F. Townsend, pre- ,ident of the
National Poultry Association, writing
to the Successful Farming" paper,
in an article headed "Sickness and
Schemers, among other things, says !:
eff man advertises that his
flock has averaged more than $50
eggs per hen yearly, avoid him. If
another claims that his pullets lay
when three or four months old, you
may be sure that he is lying, so
avoid him as you would sim"
In conclusion, we long for the re-
turn of the old time Biddy, that she'll
ed out eggs daily to the tune of
"three dozen for quarter. It's not
so strange" after all.
Yours respectfully,
j. S. R0BINETTE.