474 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc 



a record at laying eggs. Probably, of all these, the English White 

 Leghorn and its crosses with native or American bred Leghorns, 

 thanks to the liberal way Pennsylvania poultry people imported, pre- 

 dominate as an egg farm proposition. A striking example of the 

 good of all this is the hen Lady Eglantine, winner of the late North 

 American egg laying competitions and of the world's record, with 

 a total of 314 eggs laid in one year and owned by Mr. A. A. Christian, 

 a Philadelphia man, but with his farm at Greensboro, Md. This now 

 world famous hen is not only part of this English blood but is a 

 living monument to the science of breeding and should for all time 

 put the quietus on the foolish claims of some that production, or, 

 the ability to lay heavily can not be bred into hens. It is entirely 

 correct to say the Lady Eglantine was deliberately made by her 

 owner — made for the purpose of laying eggs. 



Just what sort of laying 314 eggs in one year is, can best be com- 

 prehended by comparing the average number of eggs laid by the hens 

 on the farms of this State as gathered by the census enumerators 

 for the census of 1010, viz; 68 eggs, 314 eggs and 68 eggs! It would 

 seem there is still a great deal of missionary work to be done among 

 our farmers if their hens are to lay anything approaching a maximum 

 ,vield — your Chairman would urge that the individual members of this 

 State Board of Agriculture would do their mite of this sort of work 

 by the good example of tolerating nothing but pure-bred poultry on 

 their home farms. 



The wet summer of this past year found at its end probably the best 

 grown lot of chickens seen for many a year. This was true on farms, 

 on egg farms and large poultry plants or wherever growing chickens 

 were enjoying free range. Chickens matured early, grew big frames 

 and broad lustrous feathers, either directly due to the wet season or 

 indirectly to the abundance of succulent growing things and insect 

 life. 



Highest returns this year to any of our egg farmers was 63 cents 

 per dozen with a break, in price the earliest yet known. Fall eggs, 

 not winter eggs, now reach maximum prices, probably because, first, 

 more chickens are hatched early; second, more storage eggs come 

 out early. 



Your Chairman within the last year made a return trip to the Pa- 

 cific coast and diligently employed the opportunity to study poultry 

 possibilities and prospects not only there but enroute over two 

 widely divergent routes and is more fully convinced than ever that 

 Pennsylvania offers as many opportunities to make good with poultry 

 as any other state or section. 



REPORT ON FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



By IRVIN C. WILLIAMS 



The record of the legislation in 1915 for forestry in Pennsylvania 

 is a satisfactory one, evidenced by the passage and approval of 8 

 different acts of assembly. 



