8o BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



a mixed hen. She weighed only about three pounds and a 

 half. She was one that they had particularly raised at the 

 Experiment Station. In the big room where they kept her she 

 had every kind of food that you could mention, scraps, grits, 

 bone, and everything. This hen lived loose in that room. 

 There she stayed, and ate when she pleased and what she 

 pleased, and how she pleased. She is just as tame as she can 

 be. I was up there a short time ago. She got a little bit of 

 scientific inquisitiveness, and started off on a run to see what 

 it was, and she picked up a little piece of paper about the size 

 of a silver quarter. But that, to my notion, was not the 

 interesting thing about her. I will tell you what she has 

 done. She began to lay at four months and six days old. 

 As I recollect, it was the 12th day of February that she began 

 to lay, and when that picture was taken she had laid one 

 hundred and one eggs, and had not stopped then. Now a 

 Minorca usually moults in the fall. They lay early; but 

 she had not moulted and was still laying. Now I think 

 that that is a pretty good record, and a pretty good argument . 

 in favor of the particular care which that hen received. 

 The point that I want to bring out, however, is that that 

 hen had the choice of everything, and she had it when she 

 wanted it, and just how she wanted it. Of course they pro- 

 vided a dish of water for her. 



Here is a picture of another hen that was in a very interest- 

 ing experiment. I will not take the time to tell you all the 

 particulars. There was nothing said in this about moulting, 

 and, in fact, I do not know whether you are interested in 

 moulting, but in most cases poultrymen have a good deal to 

 say about it. In this experiment they took eight pens of White 

 Leghorns, and they dipped them all in Diamond Dyes, each of 

 a different color. Then each pen was fed on a different food, 

 fed on a different variety of food, and in a different way, and 

 the feeding and the whole performance closely watched. Of 

 course, the new feathers would come in white, and these colors 

 were all the colors of the rainbow. This experiment lasted 

 about eight months and it proved several things that I will 



