REBUILDING THE LEGHORN 



IT IS only about three-quarters of a 

 century since the domestic fowls of 

 Italy were brought to the United 

 States and formed the basis of the 

 Leghorn breed. In their native home 

 they were, and are, largely mongrel in 

 character, with various colors of pliun- 

 age, legs, face and ear-lobes. Taken up 

 by expert breeders in this country, they 

 gave rise to eight standard and four 

 non-standard varieties, of which the 

 Single Comb White and Single Comb 

 Brown are by all odds the most im- 

 portant, commercially. 



From America the Leghorn was taken 

 to Germany, where it goes under the 

 name of Italian. Here, too, it was 

 taken up by artists in breeding, but 

 they were unable to produce the great 

 egg yield for which the breed is noted 

 in America, according to Professor 

 Ehlers of Hanover, who describes the 

 situation in the Mitteilungen of the 

 Deutsche Landwirthschafts-Gcsellschaft 

 for October 9, 1915. 



A prolonged test at the experiment 

 station of Maryland resulted in egg 

 yields averaging 171 in the first year 

 the hens laid, 149 in the second year, 

 and 1 15 in the third year. At the New 

 York station, a flock maintained for 

 some time gave 144 eggs as its highest 

 yearly production and 132 as its lowest. 



Citing these figures, Professor Ehlers 

 says they cannot be equaled by German 

 Leghorns. It is evident to him, there- 

 fore, that the capacity for high egg yield 

 must be elsewhere than in the high 

 comb with carefully incised teeth, the 

 long wattles, the great white ear-lobes 

 and the fancy feather patterns, on which 

 the German breeders have spent so 

 much energy. 



Dissatisfaction with the behavior of 

 the^Leghorns has led, he reports, to a 



feeling that the breed should be made 

 over into a typical German breed, 

 possessing a rose comb and short 

 wattles, which will in his opinion give it 

 a smarter appearance. By the intro- 

 duction of new blood, it is hoped to 

 increase the egg yield. He does not 

 say what new blood is being used: in 

 the United States the Hamburg has 

 been the breed employed in the pro- 

 duction of the rose comb Leghorns 

 which are fairly widespread. 



CHANGE WELL UNDER WAY 



This German undertaking. Professor 

 Ehlers writes, "has secured the approval 

 and support of the Board of Agriculture 

 in the Rhine province, and the director 

 of the winter school in Hermeskeil has 

 had since the year 1912 two flocks each 

 consisting of a dozen hens and a cock, 

 which he has carefully and intelligently 

 bred to the point of fixity, with most 

 satisfactory results. When this under- 

 taking is carried to its conclusion, the 

 Italian race will have become a pure 

 German race with higher productivity, 

 just as the Leghorn has become a 

 definite and superior American race. 



" To Director Barth belongs the honor 

 of having produced and disseminated a 

 'first class' genuine German fowl, a 

 general purpose breed with regular, 

 well-developed bodily form and pure 

 color. In its general appearance it 

 recalls the old and unfortunately ex- 

 tinct Alsatian breed. At the exhibition 

 of the German Agricultural Association 

 in Strassburg, 1913, a first prize and 

 gold ring were given to one cock in 

 recognition of this achievement in 

 breeding, and at the circuit fair in 

 Hanover, 1914, first prize again gave 

 recognition to its supremacy in egg 

 production. At high altitudes, where 



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