243 RURAL NEW YORK 



farm poultry, and especially its egg-laying capacity. 

 At the State College of Agriculture at Ithaca, a 

 White Leghorn hen has laid as many as 327 eggs in a 

 year and as many as 1229 in a lifetime of six years. 

 These records are not equal to the best that have been 

 made in other states where the record is 329 in one 

 year. 



It is evident that there is still much opportunity 

 for improvement by breeding, selection and care. 

 The latest development in the poultry business is the 

 introduction of artificial light for a period in the 

 morning and evening which result quite uniformly in 

 a larger production of eggs, especially in the winter 

 months. 



Turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowls are of 

 minor importance. A farm in Niagara County de- 

 voted to duck-raising produces more than 50,000 ma- 

 ture birds in a year and there are several large 

 duck farms in the lower southeastern part of the 

 State and especially on eastern Long Island. In the 

 vicinity of Eastport, single ranches fatten as many as 

 100,000 ducks in a year. 



Turkeys, once a common part of the poultry on 

 every farm, are now very scarce. They are found 

 only on the farms in the more remote districts where 

 they can have a free range. 



In 1910 the total number of turkeys, ducks and 

 geese was only 300,^ 55 and the State ranked fifteenth. 

 This was much less than half the number in the 

 leading states. Being essentially meat birds and re- 

 quiring even more special attention than chickens, 



