EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



511 



of course a subordinate factor. Iu making selections of bis fowls be 

 will be guided along breed lines, as tbe first consideration. If be is so 

 situated as to be able to produce economically and sell at a profit 

 ebb-kens for meat be will naturally select some of tbe larger breeds. If 

 eggs alone are bis object be will select some breed belonging to the 

 American section of fowls as distinguished on the one hand from the 

 heavier Asiatics, including the Cochins and Brahmas and on the other 

 the Mediterranean including Leghorns, Hamburgs and Minorcas. The 

 medium sized fowls representing the American class are, among others, 

 the Wyandottes, and Plymouth Kocks. It cannot fail to be noted that in 

 the records reported above this class of fowls exceeds the Leghorns in 

 tbe number and weight of eggs laid during the year. 



CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF EGGS. 



Mr. T. A. Chittenden, a member of* the graduating class, made 

 some analyses of eggs in the preparation of his graduating thesis. The 

 work was done under the close supervision of the chemical department 

 of the Experiment Station. Two phases of the possible variations in the 

 composition of eggs were studied. First the question whether the eggs 

 laid by one breed differed in composition from those laid by another 

 where all the fowls were fed alike, and second!} 7 whether extreme 

 changes in the diet would produce variations in the composition of the 

 eggs laid by fowls of the same breed. 



The ration for the hens used in the study of tbe variation in composi- 

 tion due to the variation iu breed was composed of a dry and crumbling 

 mush in the morning and dry grain feed in the afternoon. The mush was 

 made of a mixture of corn meal, oat meal, bran, and table scraps wet 

 with milk to which was added crushed oyster shell. In the afternoon the 

 hens were given corn, oats and w 7 heat with green food, mostly lettuce 

 and cabbage. 



In the chemical analysis of the eggs the shells were rejected and 

 determinations made of the water, fat. albumen, ash and total solids in 

 the mixed yolks and whites. The carbo-hydrates were not determined. 

 Mr. Chittenden reports the results of the analyses as follows: 



Breed. 



Brown Leghorn 



Barred Plymouth Rock 



Bnff Cochins 



S. Grey Dorkins 



White Wyandottes 



Partridge Cochinb 



Solirip. 



Pei I ceiit 



25.1 8 

 25.5 8 

 26.4 8 

 24. f 6 

 25.56 

 25.84 



The variation in the composition of the eggs laid by different breeds is 

 too slight to be of practical importance. 



To study the question of the influence of the character of the ration on 

 the composition of eggs one pen of Barred Plymouth Rocks, Wyan- 

 dotte and Brown Leghorn hens were fed a ration consisting of one pound 

 of meat scraps, eight pounds of wheat, and one pound of oil meal, with 

 oyster shells and lettuce in abundance. A second pen of tbe same breeds 



