45 



mash. In the other house a fresh cabbage was kept before the fowls 

 most of the time. The feeds aside from those which were the sub- 

 ject of experiment were practically alike in kind and quantity in 

 the two houses. In both houses the fowls maintained good healthy 

 although one in each died from unknown causes. 



The number of eggs laid was as follows: In the cabbage house, 

 588 ; in the clover rowen house, 466. Notwithstanding the greater 

 number of eggs laid, the average weight of fowls in the cabbage 

 house slightly exceeded that of the fowls in the other house. The 

 food cost per egg was decidedly less where cabbages were used. 

 The advantage lies most decidedly with the fowls fed cabbages, also' 

 in weight of eggs. Samples of the eggs produced by the two sys- 

 tems of feeding were sent to two dififerent housekeepers under num- 

 bers. Both were emphatic in the expression of their preference for 

 the eggs from the fowls fed the clover rowen. One reports : the 

 eggs from the clover lot are in every way superior. The other says 

 they are superior in color, size of yolk, and flavor and it is added- 

 " they have the finest flavor of any eggs" she ever had. Analysis 

 showed that the eggs from the fowls fed cabbages contained higher 

 percentages of dry matter, protein and fat than the others.* The 

 superior richness of these eggs apparently rendered them strong 

 in flavor. In an abstract of an article in the Reliable Poultry Jour- 

 nal, the Experiment Station Record quotes H, E. Morse as follows: 

 " On the basis of experience the author believes that about one- 

 third of the mash fed poultry should be made of red clover or 

 alfalfa. "t Clover is believed to heighten the color of the egg yolk. 



The writer is not prepared to fully endorse the statement just 

 quoted, but does most decidedly advocate a rather free use of fine cut 

 clover rowen during the winter. He is not inclined to recommend 

 so large a proportion as one-third in the mash, but would prefer feed- 

 ing a portion of the clover rowen, previously freshened by sprinkling 

 it with hot water and leaving it a few hours in a covered receptacle,, 

 by itself at noon. 



* We are not justified in concluding on the basis of a single experiment that the 

 difference in composition found was due to the variation in food. It may have been acci- 

 dental. 



t Reliable Poultry Journal Xo. ii, pages 103S and 1039. ExperimentiStation Record 

 XV, page 712. 



