24 THE CORNING EGG FARM BOOK 



connection, and with considerable amusement, the 

 song, in the hght opera " Wang," of the elephant who 

 ate all day and the elephant who ate all night. 



During our work with pigeons we tried out a num- 

 ber of different varieties: Homers, Dragoons, Runt 

 Dragoon crosses. Homer Runt crosses, Maltese 

 Hens, and the various crosses with Runt Dragoons; 

 also Carneaux. We were led to buy these fancy breeds 

 through the stories of extreme prices paid for large 

 squabs, and we bred some heavy weights only to find, 

 frorn the commission man who made a specialty of 

 these birds, that it was impossible to pay the price 

 which such birds were really worth, as trade for this 

 class was extremely limited. 



Very early in our experience we realized that the 

 poultry side of our experiment was very much more 

 to our liking and offered so much greater and more 

 profitable outlook for our energies that we rang 

 down the curtain on Squab raising — and turned our 

 attention exclusively to the Hen. 



While our minds were still running in the line of 

 poultry for market purposes we tried out the Black 

 Orpingtons, the idea being that, on account of their 

 size, they would make ideal roasting fowls. We 

 found, however, that they were a very much inbred 

 variety, and it was almost impossible to hatch the 

 eggs. Out of one hundred eggs, for which we paid 

 twenty dollars, eight chicks hatched, and these were 

 not of sufficient vitality to live. 



