AMONG ANCONAS" 17 



E. Cosby of the Oregon Agricultural College Poultry Department was at the 

 farm today and he spoke very highly of my Anconas." 



As to the size, color and other market qualities of Ancona eggs, let it be 

 stated that they are of practically the same size and weight as Leghorn eggs 

 and have the same pure white color of shell. On this point, writing Mr. 

 Sheppard last fall, Joseph A. Triplett, 1326 Sassafrass St., Franklin, Pa., said: 



"I have the pleasure of advising you that the pen of Anconas which I pur- 

 chased from you last spring won for me my first blue ribbon at the Farmers' 

 and Fruit Growers' Exhibit held here on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of October, 

 when I was awarded first prize for the best display of eggs. I am more than 

 overjoyed at having won my first victory. The competition was very strong, 

 therefore I am the more delighted at having won first in the white-egg class. 

 Eggs were judged for size, shape, weight, quality of shell and general appear- 

 ance, and were displayed in one dozen lots. My one dozen weighed 31 ounces, 

 outweighing all others in both the white and brown egg class by four ounces." 



ANCONAS AMONG THE BEST LAYERS 



Yet another "foundation fact" in behalf of the Standard-bred poultry 

 industry and in support of the Ancona breed, both combs, is brought out by 

 the following interesting letter, written to Mr. Sheppard by F. E. Stoneburn, 

 now at the head of the agricultural advertising department of the Hanff- 

 Metzger Company, 95 Madison Ave., New York City, formerly a practical 

 poultryman, later for several years professor of poultry husbandry at the 

 Storrs Agricultural College, Storrs, Connecticut, and one of the first men to 

 take an active part in the establishment of national and international egg- 

 laying contests in the United States. Following is Mr Stoneburn's letter: 



"My Dear Mr. Sheppard: 



"If you will dig out your atlas and refer to the map of Manitoba you will 

 find the town of Brandon over in the southwestern section of that province. 

 Possibly you do not know it, but there is a laying competition being conduct- 

 ed there under the auspices of the Dominion Department of Agriculture 

 with headquarters at Ottawa. 



"I just picked up the report for the forty-fourth week of the contest and 

 note that Pen 18 is leading by a wide margin and that the layers are Anco- 

 nas. Since you may consider this as being good material for an advertise- 

 ment, I take great pleasure in forwarding it to you. 



"We sometimes hear the Anconas referred to as being 'tender', but it must 

 be admitted that they have some rather chilly weather up in Manitoba. 

 And a little delving into the figures (the official report of what these birds 

 have done under those conditions is attached hereto) yield some mighty 

 interesting information. First, in 44 consecutive weeks, 298 days, this pen 

 produced 1748 eggs, or only a little short of 60 per cent yield for this entire 

 period. Second, that while the average production of all birds in the contest 



