THE LEGHORNS 



109 



This is a remarkable showing for a single township 

 to make, the increase of nearly 35,000 hens in twelve 

 months indicating the rapid growth of the business being 

 noteworthy. If other townships in California show the 

 same ratio of increase, the poultry census for the entire 

 state will prove a revelation, as well as an inspiration to 

 poultry raisers of the United States, and more especially 

 so to the advocates of the American hen, who through 

 their earnest efforts and hard work have succeeded in 

 building up a billion dollar industry in the country. 



In Colorado and New Mexico Leghorn egg farms 

 are being rapidly developed in order to meet the largely 

 increasing demand for the spotless fresh white egg by 

 the sanitariums in the Rockies and by the grocers and 

 soda water fountain caterers in the cities. One Leghorn 

 farm in New Mexico carries 10,000 layers annually, the 

 eggs produced bringing from 45 to 75 cents a dozen, ac- 

 cording to the season. The many sanitariums located in 

 the mountain sections of New Mexico and Colorado are 

 the heaviest buyers of these strictly choice eggs, as the 

 latter form one of the chief foods of the thousands of in- 

 valids who winter there in search of health. 



White Eggs in the South and East 

 And southward also the white egg is becoming a great 

 market commodity. In Washington, D. C, and Rich- 

 mond, Va., White Leghorn eggs command the top notch 

 prices, which has stimulated poultry industry to such an 

 extent that Leghorn farms are being established in large 

 numbers below the Mason and Dixon line. Even in staid 

 old Boston, where the brown shelled egg is esteemed 

 as highly, and valued as dearly as the traditional Boston 

 beans and brown bread, the little white body of the 

 feathered tribe, the Leghbrn, is gradually obtaining rec- 

 ognition and white shelled eggs are no longer consid- 

 ered a New York fad, but have found favor with some 

 hotel stewards and in the markets. The story of brown 

 ■eggs being better than white ones is all moonshine, but 

 originated in England, owing to the fact that dark shelled 

 eggs were preferred to white ones, because the former 

 were home grown, the white ones imported, consequently 

 the brown ones were fresher. Perhaps the descendants 

 of the Puritans and Pilgrims may have inherited this be- 

 lief from their English ancestors, which may in a meas- 

 ure, account for the popularity of brown eggs in Boston 

 and other New England cities in the past. 



Why the Leghorn is Popular 



The reason for this great popularity of the Leghorn 

 hen as a producer of white eggs is due to her ability to 

 produce the largest number of marketable eggs at the 

 lowest possible cost of maintenance under varying and 

 trying conditions in all climates. 



Being naturally a hardy fowl with a quick, nervous 



temperament, the Leghorn will respond to the intelligent 

 care and treatment of the poultry raiser more satis- 

 factorily than most other breeds. It will work where 

 other breeds loaf. 



Leghorns As Layers 



The old saying "The hen that lays is the one that 

 pays" might have been true when applied to farmers' hens 

 that picked most of their living on the farms and in the 

 barnyards, but today with higher prices of grain and a 

 most exacting market as to the quality of the eggs, it is 

 the hen that lays the two-ounce egg of superior qual- 

 ity that pays for her keep and leaves a balance on the 

 light side of the ledger. This the Leghorn hen can do 

 and do well. 



In Farmer's Bulletin, No. 51, issued by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, 

 the Leghorns are classed as follows; 



"Leghorns are the best known of the egg producing 

 varieties of the Mediterranean class. They are the premiers 

 in laying and the standard by which the prolificness of 

 other breeds is judged. The Leghorn fowl holds the 

 same place among poultry that the Jersey holds among 

 cattle. The question of profit in poultry has been decided 

 in favor of the egg producing breeds. Leghorns are lively, 

 active and of a restless disposition, the best of foragers 

 and will pick up a good deal of their living during the 

 year. They are light eaters and the cost of raising them 

 to maturity is about one-half of the Asiatic varieties. 

 They mature early and feather quickly, the pullets often 

 begin laying when four and a half months old. They are 

 the best of layers, averaging between ISO to 200 eggs 

 a year. These eggs are pure white in color and weigh 

 about ten to the pound. As table 'fowl they are fairly 

 good; by many they are considered excellent; the only 

 thing that can be said against them is that they are small 

 in size. Altogether, they are one of the most profitable 

 breeds of poultry that can be kept on the farm, and the 

 cheapness of their keeping will allow the raising of two 

 Leghorns for the cost of one Asiatic. The White Leghorn 

 is the most generally bred of the Leghorn varieties. It 

 is, no doubt, the most advantageous to breed for profit 

 and the easiest to raise on the farm. Being of one color 

 in plumage, these birds are more successfully raised and 

 cared for than the parti-colored varieties. It has been a 

 matter of much speculation as to which variety of Leg- 

 horns is most prolific in egg production. This is a dif- 

 ficult question to adjust properly to the satisfaction of 

 the specialty breeders, but from a conservative stand- 

 point, it is generally considered that the Whites have 

 slightly the advantage over the others. Phenomenal indi- 

 ■ vidual egg records have been made by almost all varie- 

 ties, but the foregoing opinion is based upon the general 

 results obtained from various sources." 



When Leghorns are kept under intensive culture on 

 commercial egg farms, the results will even be more sat- 

 isfactory ' than the above summary of the value of farm 

 raised Leghorns as layers goes to show. Eggs from such 

 egg farms are larger in size, in fact, will often exceed 2 

 ounces each, but the marketable eggs will average eight 

 to the pound in most flocks. As a Leghorn hen will, when 



¥VJ¥ 



Laid 229 eggs 



