508 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



MAN^Y HAVE DONE IT, 



In 1893 the writer of this article conducted an experiment partici- 

 pated in by 230 people. There were a few pens of grade and cross bred 

 pullets, but most of them were pure bred and of the standard varieties. 

 Twenty different breeds were entered and ten different states were 

 represented. One hundred and forty-three of these pens continued in. the 

 contest for the entire year and sent in their weekly and monthly re- 

 ports on blanks furnished them. Many of these reports were verified 

 by credible witnesses and attested by affidavits. Of these 143 full-year 

 pen the twenty leading pens produced each an average of more than 

 200 eggs per hen, and the average of the total of these twenty pens was 

 240 eggs per hen. 



• When the above contest was started there were some poultry pa- 

 pers that predicted failure and disaster but after it was completed in all 

 its details their comment was favorable and several of the leading poul- 

 try journals devoted pages to publishing its particulars. Its results have 

 been accepted as accurate and it has demonstrated clearly the ability of 

 hens of several varieties to do just what we are urging you in this arti- 

 cle to allow and help them to accomplish, namely: to produce 240 eggB 

 per year of an average weight of two ounces, a total of thirty pounds, or 

 six times the weight of the pullet at starting. 



A UNIFORM EGG PRICE. 



In the experiment above referred to the number and weight of the 

 eggs were reported to us and we fixed the price by the average retail 

 prices cf eggs in Pittsburg for that month. The average price that year 

 was 1.8 cents per egg, but prices were lower then than they have ever 

 been since, so in our calculation in this article we are fixing the price 

 at 2 cents per egg, or 16 cents per pound for two-ounce eggs, and as 

 prices are sure to average considerably higher this year, we feel that we 

 have taken a conservative position, both on the price of feed and on the 

 price of eggs. A product of 240 eggs at 2 cents each gives an annual 

 income of $4.80 per hen. In the above named experiment one pen reached 

 an income of $5.02 per head at 1.8 cents per egg. So we are quite below 

 the leading -pen in our estimate for you, even at the advanced price. 



LOW COST OF PRODUCTIOX. 



We are now down to the question: Can we feed the hen on 80 

 cents per year, so as to come within the requirements of the fourth item 

 of our text, namely: that her yearly cost for food is only one-sixth of 

 the value of her yearly egg product? Again referring to that large ex- 

 periment we must admit that the reports of those who kept account of 

 food-cost ranged from 83 cents to $1.60 per hen per year, the average 

 being about $1.20; but it must also be remembered that those people 

 were competing for prizes for highest production, and but little attention 

 was given to cheapness. Under those circumstances one would not hesi- 

 tate to feed food costing 5 cents per pound, or even more, in order to 

 make his favorites win. 



