io J^L^■. ii;!-'.] Report on /-l^i^'lavii!^^ C o)npciiliou . nj/i-ij. 431 



to further extreme. Many of these birds were delicate feeders. Some 

 of them refused maize, otliers oats; some would not look at soft food; 

 and so on ; whilst some had never even been on a perch. The result of 

 ths was that, in some cases, the hens did not settle down to work for 

 from four to six weeks. Breeders would be wise to develop stronger con- 

 .-.titutions in the young birds by giving them absolute liberty to pick up 

 insects, seeds. &:c.. in the natural way — thus building up frame work with 

 plenty of stamina to hack them up when thev are required for the 'aying 

 shed or pen. 



Orpingtons. 



Xext to the White Leghorns in numbers come the Orpingtons, and with 

 the.se no trouble was experienced. They were docile, blocky, good feeders'; 

 and in no case was it necessary to handle a bird, save putting the leg bands 

 ■on their shanks when they arrived. Not a single death or replacement took 

 place, and they showed a better margin of profit on the market price of 

 •eggs from time to time than any other breed in the competition ; the 

 average gross return per hen among the Black Orpingtons being shown 

 in the following table: — 



Table sJuming Average Gross Return from Different Breeds. 



Black Orpingtons ... ... ••■ iqs. -d. per hen. 



White Leghorns ... ... ... i8s. od. per hen. 



Wvaudottes and Faverolles ... ... 15s. id. per hen. 



Mi'nnrcas ... ... •■• •■■ ns. 5d. per hen. 



.Another point to l^ar in mind is that, after their season of usefulness 

 for laving has passed, this breed commands good prices as boilers ; and 

 the cockerels double the returns one may receive when marketing White 

 Leghorns. Orpingtons lay a large, rich, brown egg, and are, on an 

 .itverage, the best winter layers. They make good mothers, and are not 

 ■so liable to disea.se. 



Wyandottes. 



Xe.xt in importance to the White Leghorns and Orpingtons come the 

 ^^'yandottes — at one time not long since the most favoured breed, not 

 ■oniv as an all-round fowl, but one much sought after on account of its 

 nice plump size and beautiful marking. Three varieties of this breed 

 were represented, i.e., Silver, White, and Golden — the former holding 

 pr.de of place. They gave little trouble ; and during the cold weather, 

 and again in the autumn, they produced good results. They are found a 

 useful utility fowl — cockerels at seven months weighing up to 7 lbs. — and 

 sickness amongst them is scarcely known. Wyandottes in pen No. 32 

 did the breed credit, going through the twelve months' test without an ail- 

 ment, and with no replacement, producing the bulk of eggs at a time of 

 the greatest scarcity ; and it is interesting to compare in the table here- 

 with the market value of eggs laid by this pen. Some others, which, 

 though laying more eggs, were of less value by some shillings — as example 

 in pens Nos. 3, 11, 28, and 50. 



MlNORCAS. 



There were onlv three pens of Minorca s in the competition — two of 

 them being positive failures, due probably to the desire to obtain high, 

 upstanding birds with large bodies, heavy combs, and coarse heads for 

 the show bench ; characteristics which have a tendency to make the breed 



