Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-11-23
Oregon Chickens Win
In Egg-Laying Contest

Capital Journal Special Service. i,
Oregon Building, PIP. 1. E., Nov. 2S.
Its "oregon first" again, this time
in the IL months international egg-lay-
ing contest involving $50 hens from
| four corners of the earth. The contest |
1 ended today, and as matter of fact it !
| is Oregon first, second and third--three
pens of White Leghorns, Barred Ply |
mouth Rocks and hybrid of the two,
entered by Prof. James Dryden, head
of the poultry department at the Ore |
gon Agricultural college, capturing all
the places worth mentioning. The Ore
gon chickens were so far ahead the past |
three or four months that there really |
was never any doubt about tn fineal
result and the final score shows the
Canadian pen, the closest competitor,
about 90 eggs behind Oregon's lowest.
To add to Oregon glory, Barred Ply
mouth Rock developed from college
stock and entered by F. M. Sherman,
of Lebanon, and two White Leghorns
among the college hens, proved to be
the highest individual scorers. Appar-
emily. the only reason Oregon did not
Twin a greater victory lies in the fact
that the Oregon college did not enter
more hens.
, This contest, the largest and longest
; at the Panama Pacific international ex
position, was conducted on the exposi-
} tion grounds under the auspices of the
University of California. The great
feature was the contest between pens
, of 10 birds, and pens were entered
from practically every state in the un-
ion, from Canada and from England.
Among also-rans are two pens entered
by that "blarsted Britisher" Baron,
who has been hitting the high spots at
practically all of the American egg
laying contests of recent years. To have
! gotten the goat of this chs,npion of
\ champion breeders il no small honor,
I and to have brought to Oregon the
! grand prize the cash, and score of
trophies offered at the greatest exposi-
tion of modern times is about all that
\ might be expected even of college
hens.
To those who have been following
the poultry work of Prof Dryden in
recent years this "bringing home the
baeon'' is no surprise. Working at Q
A. C. this "Luther Burbank of poultry
dom" developed Lady Macduff, the
! hen that two years ago laid 303 eggs
in 365 days, the world IS champion rec
ord until very recently. While devel-
! oping this distinguished egg-producer,
Prof. Dryden breed up whole flocks lay
ing more than $50 eggs per hen. and
! now has several laying about the 9nr
mark. He is one who has given his
time 70 the development of egg-pro-
ducers rather than to the production
Of feathers, and in speaking of the Ore
gon triumph in this contest said that
the result is a striking demonstration
I of the effect of breeding. The hens
in the three winning pens entered by
! 10. A. C. were selected on tn production
I records of their ancestors, complete rec
! ords Of each Of these for five years
I back giving him the lineup.
' This victory seems to be a vindica
: ton of college education, in the case OF
chickens-in this instance college edu
cation educated and won out, and Mr.
Barron, the English breeder whose phe
& noms were swamped, thinks enough OF
II Dryden's birds to have offered him two
pens for one and 5000 cash to boot.
ne When it comes down to the recordi
~ made by any of the pens in competition
q or individually there is little to be said
le The Oregon White Leghorns taking
Is first place laid something more thar
I'd 600 eggs, an average of but a littl'
w more than 100 eggs per hen. The sam'
Vo hens at the Oregon station probabl!
- would have produced around the 25(
~ mark, but the conditions here were no
he conducive to heavy egg production AL
&c the chickens were up against exactl.
is the same thing, so no one has any spe
su cial regrets.
ny The chicken yards have been visitet
by about half million people, ant
n1 millions of others over the countr.
q. have watched the monthly reports. Tn
80 Oregon winning will necessarily b
~ ~ heralded the world over, and altogethe
II, this contest, and the success of the Ore
20 rs gon hens will prove one Of the creates
advertisements the state and the Orc
a gon Agricultural college ever had. Al
,is so, Prof. Dryden, whose wizardry ha
nh been published in practically ever
ve paper in the United States and tn
he great foreign poultry journals, wi
81 come in for little more fame--a fac
that will bring him more embarras'
ic ment than pleasure so modest and III
assuming is this man whose work ha
been TO indicate that he really know
more about chickens than the fello'
who invented them.
Liked Our Apples,
Monday is always the slowest da
,or Of the week at the exposition, III
smallest crowd coming then, but Or
- gon Apple day, on Monday, Novcmb'
;;oo9 10, viii not 60 down in the history
'on % the Oregon building as anything slo'
% ,1a At Q O'Clock, the hour set for givir
Dno ,',o away big red Spitzenburgs to all cor
~ " ers, the building was crowded and Il
..1 waiting lines extended into tho stree
sa' This sort Of jamb continued for 9
me- hour, and until O'Clock there was
rug constant stream Of visitors all anxiol
for sample OF Oregon fruit. The q
pies were on display in great pyr
i"y mid Of boxes, box being taken dow
Just as IL was needed, and from gre
baskets the apples wero handed out
the hne Of visitors passed by. ~
i, impression created was decidedly ha
ii 81 -. ~. naI ,nnuU mann tha aVnrt