THE CALL OF THE HEN. 103 



The breeder need not take my word for the above statements. 

 The frontispiece shows five of this type of birds that the writer bred 

 and raised in California. These birds laid the greatest weight of eggs 

 (131 pens of five birds to each pen competing, including three pens of 

 Indian Runner ducks) in the National Egg-laying Contest at the State 

 Poultry Experiment Station, Mountain Grove, Missouri, U. S. A., for 

 the twelve months ending November 1, 1912. These five hens laid 131 

 pounds of eggs, which, reduced to No. 1 eggs as rated in Petaluma, 

 would be 229 3 /e eggs for each hen. The eggs these five hens laid while 

 moulting were put on exhibition in the Chamber of Commerce in Petaluma 

 and were pronounced by good judges to be as fine a lot of eggs as they 

 ever saw, and that is saying a great deal, as there are more eggs produced 

 within a radius of ten miles from Petaluma than in any other like part 

 of the world. We have hundreds of letters from our customers testifying 

 to the value of this stock, a few extracts from which we will introduce here 

 to prove to the reader that because a flock of hens are great layers it 

 does not follow that they are of low vitality. 



EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 



PORTLAND, ORE., June 23, 1912. 



Received eggs. None broken. Very nice. Fifteen infertile out 

 of 150. C. F. PERKINS. 



LIHUE, HAWAII, June 11, 1913. 



Eggs arrived O. K. None damaged. Have fourteen chicks four 

 weeks old doing fine. Am well pleased. 



E. H. BROADBENT. 



(These eggs were shipped over 2,200 miles by rail and steamer to 

 reach their destination.) 



WATSONVILLE, CALIF., April 5, 1912. 



Eggs received. Finest we ever had. Got forty-nine strong chicks 

 from sixty-four eggs. ORA L. HILL. 



VANCOUVER, B. C., May 13, 1912. 



The 100 eggs received. Express and customs ran price to $14.00. 

 Am very well satisfied. Hatched 70 per cent beautiful chicks; doing 

 well. G. W. MCLELLAND. 



QUINCY, WASH., April 14, 1912. 



Chicks received; not a dead one in the bunch, which speaks well 

 for the vitality of your stock. 



H. L. JOHNSON, Treasurer 

 and Manager Quincy Lumber Company. 



VICTORIA, B. C., Sub. P. O. No. I, 



April 19, 1912. 



Received the 100 chicks ; four dead. Think that is very good , coming 

 that journey. JAMES D. WEST. 



