Middletown transcript., 1916-01-29
> = ~ sSs>t . 7st,-s.

the skillful breeder can handle any one
of several breeds and get results.
In the Philadelphia contest Mr.. Bar
ron has also been a consistent winner
having taken first and second place in
the test a year ago, and coming third
in the competition just closed, An
other English breeder, Ed Corn, was
in third place last year and up among
the leaders this year.
For the past four years an elabor-
ate test has been carried out in Mis-
souri,, which included several of the
lesser known breeds such as Anconas
and Hamburgs. Comparisons were
made by months. The laying season
has a very direct bearing on profits
seeing that winter eggs command the
higher prices. Leghorns and Plymouth
Rocks proved the best workers in De-
cember and January, while Orpingtons
led in February. Through the sum-
mer there was little advantage, though
it was noticeable that Rhode Island
Reds began to show up in July and Au-
gust.
Over the 200 Mark.
In the individual records for Mis-
souri, pens, extending over four years,
there were 249 hens or 10 per cent Of
the whole number of entries that laid
200 eggs or more in one year. Four
teen per cent of the hens laid less
than 80 eggs in one year. The aver
age of all the hens during the four
years was 152 eggs each.
Commenting on the profit to be OBJ
tanned from the good layers and the
shirkers, the manager of the contest
says, that at 20 cents per dozen and
at an estimated cost of 81 to feed each
hen a year, the hen which lays so eggs
in year, just pays for her feed, and
estimating that it costs one-half as
much for housing and labor, the hen
which lays 80 eggs per year Just pays
her keeping. The hen which lays 100
eggs in one year makes a profit of
ten eggs, while the hen which lays
the sum of 120 eggs in one year
makes a profit of 80 cents, and is
therefore three times as profitable as
the hen which lays 100 eggs The hens
which lay 200 eggs are 10 eggs profit,
which would be 1.83 1-3 profit. Con-
this as interest at per cent on
an investment, the hen would be
worth $22.91.
One of the conclusions reached by
Miller Purvis, the noted poultry au-
thority, is that the competitions have
brought the egg laying hen into her
proper place beside the fancy bird that |
wins in the show. For every dollar
spent for poultry for food, at least 81 |
are spent for eggs. Hence, the poul-
tryman who is looking for breeding |
stock will demand to be shown some
thing in the way of accomplishment in
the flock he is choosing from. Be-
fore the time of laying competitions
breeders made claims concerning the |
prizes they had won at poultry shows;
now they add to these claims the egg
records of their hens, if they have
mad the courage to put them to the
Test. The Oregon crossbred hen that
aid SO3 eggs in year and sos in two
years has had more news
paper space used in telling about her
han any other hen. Fifteen years
ago hen with the same blood mix
.ure would have been called a mongrel
md no attention would have been paid
% her. Today her daughters or near
emale relatives have taken third
place in the contest at San Francisco
exposition. Further, a pen of barn
7ard mongrels tested in one of the
competitions laid almost exactly the
lumber of eggs that made the aver
lge of the 495 purebred hens con-
the remainder of the entries.