Mexico Missouri message., 1912-11-21

yield of the Missouri hen is the re-
sui, sought by the Missouri state
Poultry Experiment Station in the egg
laying contest just completed at the
state farm here, and second con.
test which has been started.
The director of the station. under
whose supervision the contests are
being held, considers this result en-
tlrciy feasible. lie expects the les.
sons learned ia the contest which
closed the last day of October to have
great influence on total production
n Missouri. The second contest.
which was started November 10, will
have far greater effort, MS interest i'm
the first test, which extended twelve
months, spread all over the United
states and Canada.
The average hen in the United
States lays eighty eggs year. The
best producer of the 655 hens in the
Missouri contest laid PSI eggs during
the year just rounded out This hen.
a white Plymouth Rock owned by J
n. Bickerdike of Millersville, ILL.,, came
within one egg of the highest record
ever made in North America. That
is, in the number of eggs. In reality.
she surpassed the record holder. con.
diton and size OF the product being
considered
The holder of the egg record in
Canada and the United States is
Barred Rock hen under the care of
Professor Graham, at Guelph, Canada,
with 2S2 eggs to her credit This hen
laid very small egg, with very
poor shell. Lady Showyou. the Hi
nois hen which captured such signal
honors in the Missouri contest, laid
PSI eggs of full size, weighing on an
average little more than two ounces
each, with good, strong shell on
each egg. Thus her performance real
ly is much more remarkable than that
of her Canadian cousin, or whatever
relation a Barred Rock may be to a
White Rock.
There were 655 hens in the MIssou.
ri contest, and they laid during the
twelve months of the contest S7.S43
eggs, an average of slightly more than
1874 eggs per hen. This is not regard.
ed as an especially high average for
hen in laying contest, although Di-
rector T. h. Quisenberry, in charge
of the Mountain Grove station, says
he does not regard it as a bad aver
age. considering the promiscuous lot
OF birds entered. He states that the
birds in more than "A dozen pens
lacked two or three months of being
mature at the time the contest was
started; that more than half of the
pens were made up of hens and that
several of them contained hens 3 and
4 years old.
Commenting on the results Mr..
Quisenberry says: When we consid-
er the fact that most of these birds
had been carelessly and promiscuous-
ly bred, with no special idea to in
crease egg production, and came from
all classes Of breeders, We do not feel
the average obtained was bad.
The result of the first contest has
not been especially startling, and
neither have we proven nor attempted
to prove that any one variety pos
sesses all the good qualities"
However, there were many facts
outstanding as result of the contest
in reference 10 the treatment and care
of the birds and the selection of strain
rather than breed in determining on
the birds to save for egg layers and
those to decorate the pot when the
preacher calls.
Probably the most important sug-
g-tf fvta. L.. h4,f 4
ponds on the strain or breeding OF a
variety than on the variety itself In
establishing flock of hens for either
commercial egg layers or for the pur-
pose of supplying the household, the
matter of color, size and shape should
suit individual taste. When this Ques-
ton of variety is determined then
comes the matter of obtaining flock
of high producers. This is done by
selection of best types and elimination
of The poorer ones. The wise poul-
tryman, even of the back yard variety,
will follow home method of accurate
~ knowing just what each hen OF the
flock is doing toward holding up the
flock average of production. This
knowledge being obtained, the work
OF lettering the flock may begin.
The hens showing the highest pro
ductiOn should be the ones always TO
supply the eggs for incubation and
they should be mated to the proper
males, as it is conceded that the roos.
ter has greater effect on the charac-
ter Of IN" young chick than has the
hen Thus, by proper selection and
breeding a flock Of hens may be built
Stranger Caught RifIing Mail Sack.
SikestOn.-A stranger took a mail
Jack from the depot at the Iron
Mountain station, and was riding it
when discovered by Stationmastnr j.