PRACTICAL LAYING CONTESTS 293 



sumed by each of these types stand to the numbers of 

 eggs which they lay ? No one can answer this question 

 absolutely, as it depends in some degree upon strain, 

 method of feeding, handling, climate, etc. A rough 

 estimate based upon experience might be : if the Asi- 

 atics be counted as numbering 100 to consume a certain 

 amount of feed, this same amount of the same kinds of 

 feed might serve 150 Americans or 200 Mediterraneans. 

 Yet all these things vary with conditions. 



In the many Australian tests, conducted successively 

 during the early years of this century, under one skilled 

 handler, the results point to Leghorns, Wyandottes, 

 Orpingtons, and Langshans as the best layers for this 

 particular climate and handling, out of some 25 selected 

 popular varieties. After 1903, less than a dozen 

 breeds were entered for competition. During 1908- 

 1909, the two-year competition in which 50 pens were 

 entered covered only eight varieties, belonging to six 

 breeds, among which the Langshan does not appear. 

 Nearly half of these were White Leghorns. A poultry- 

 man of wide experience, commenting upon the report, 

 says that the results were by no means full proof that 

 the Leghorns were so greatly in the lead, but the rather 

 that this expert knew better how to handle Leghorns 

 than he knew how to handle the heavier breeds. 



A bit of side testimony on this point may be gleaned 

 from an Australian Agricultural Report, wherem the 

 government expert states that certain breeds do far 

 better in Australia than do others. AustraHa's temper- 

 ature is quite variant, ranging from that of latitude 10 

 to latitude 40 degrees, while New South Wales itself 

 covers about the distance between 30 and 38 degrees 



