New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 83 
recent years better relative prices have prevailed for such poultry 
as well-fed cockerels, so this difference found at the time in favor 
of capons would often be much smaller. 
CONTRASTED RATIONS FOR CAPONS WITH MORE AND LESS NITROGENOUS 
GRAIN FOOD. 
Two similar mixed lots of capons,'® including birds of several 
breeds and crosses, were fed rations contrasted chiefly as to propor- 
tions of more and less nitrogenous grain products. Wheat, ground 
oats, wheat bran, wheat middlings, linseed meal, skim milk, crushed 
bone and, part of the-time, alfalfa were used in both rations. With 
one corn meal was fed to the extent of about 35 per ct. of the total 
grain food, and in the other the amount of wheat bran was in- 
creased till it constituted on the average about 47 per ct. of the 
grain food. The skim milk supplied about 54 per ct. of the total 
food and over 12 per ct. of the total dry matter in the corn meal 
ration, and about 65 per ct. of the total food and over 18 per ct.. 
of the dry matter in the wheat bran ration. The average nutritive 
ratio of the one ration was a little narrower than 1:5 and of the 
other a little narrower than 1:4. 
The capons having the narrower ration made on the whole a little 
faster gain in weight and grew somewhat larger, but the rather 
slower increase under the wider ration was made at less cost, not- 
withstanding a higher price for corn meal than for wheat bran, 
for less food was required for the same gain. On the whole the 
results under the two rations were but little different, though during 
most of the time the capons fed the corn meal ration could have 
been sold at a little better profit. 
KEEPING MALES WITH LAYING HENS. 
It was commonly known among experienced poultrymen that 
hens kept away from male birds would lay well, but occasionally 
men who had kept fowls for years expressed surprise when such a 
result came to their notice. Some poultrymen were of the opinion 
that where there was no male, laying was deferred and not so 
many eggs obtained, though few or no comparable data seemed 
available to support any conclusion. It was also the common thing 
to find where a few hens were kept:in very limited quarters solely 
for the eggs, the noisy presence of a cock was endured, while un- 
* Bul. 53; also in Rpt. 11:264, 265 (1892). 
