870 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.41 



Egg laying contests. — I, Sixth annual international egg-laying contest. — 

 II, Report of the seventh competition and some five-year averages, W. F. 

 KiRKPATBTCK and L. E. Card {Connecticut Storrs Sta. Bui. 100 (1919), pp. 71, 

 figs. 23). — This Inilletiu presents detailed reports of the annual egg-laying con- 

 tests held at Storrs, Conn., in 1916-17 and 1917-18, and also averages the egg 

 records, feed consumption, costs and profits of the third to seventh contests. 

 Reports of the fifth and preceding competitions have been noted (E. S. R., 37, 

 p. 368). 



The simplified feed mixtures adopted for the fifth contest were used during 

 the sixth and seventh and are regarded as very satisfactory. The feeds avail- 

 able for the seventh were of lower grade than those used in the sixth and the 

 difference is reflected in a higher feed consumption per pound of eggs. In 

 spite of the increased cost of feed in recent years, the difference between re- 

 ceipts and feed costs per dozen eggs has steadily increased in successive con- 

 tests. Two charts present separately for the White Leghorns, Wyandottes, 

 Plymouth Rocks, and Rhode Island Reds entered in the five most recent con- 

 tests, the average egg production during each week of the year. 



The best individual egg record in the seven years of the contests was made 

 by a white Wyandotte which laid 308 eggs during the year 1917-18. It is 

 statetl that there are only two other trap-nest records of 300 or more eggs in 

 all the egg-laying competitions in the United States and Canada. 



Pinal report of the fourteenth egg-laying competition, C. Potts {Queens- 

 land Af/r. Jour., n. ser., 9 {1918), No. 6, pp. 213-225, figs. 10). — This Is a report 

 on the annual Queensland Agricultural College egg-laying contest which closed 

 March 31, 1918, and covers the same general ground as the report of the pre- 

 ceding contest already noted (E. S. R., 38, p. 173). A group of 6 birds was 

 entered by each of 73 competitors. The egg records by months of each group 

 and the annual production of the individual hens in 20 of the groups where 

 the birds were housed separately are tabulated. The records by months of 

 the latter hens may be found in the sucessive monthly issues of the Jounml 

 during the progress of the competition. The average weights per egg of the 

 eggs laid in each group pen and by each single test hen are also recorded. 



The average egg production was the lowest obtained during the 14 years of 

 the contests, due partly to cold weather and excessive rainfall in the spring 

 and partly to poor quality of the available feeding stuffs. It is stated that a 

 good grade of shorts was unprocurable. The highest individual record was 

 made, however, in the course of this contest, 334 eggs having been laid by a 

 Black Orpington. Her eggs averaged 1.75 oz. per egg, which was below the 

 minimimi required foi' a prize. 



Final report of the fifteenth egg-laying competition, Queensland Agricul- 

 tural College {Queensland Agr. Jour., 11 {1919), No. 5, pp. 183-194).— This 

 contest was concluded March 31, 1919. The number of hens entered was 390, 

 of which 240 were single tested. The records are tabulated as noted above for 

 the preceding contest. Drought, a poor grade of wheat, and an unavoidable 

 lack of green feed reduced the number of eggs secured and their average 

 weight below what was expected on the basis of past performance. 



A convenient method of indicating the time element in giving a hen's 

 record, H. D. Goodale (.Jour. Amcr. Assoc. Instr. and Invest. Poultry Hush., 5 

 (1919), No. .5, p. 37). — As a compact expression for a pullet's egg production 

 from the date of first egg to the pause in egg laying during the second summer 

 or fall, the author suggests a symbolic fraction with the number of eggs as the 

 numerator and the number of days in the period as the denominator. 



