14 INTRODUCTORY 



date, including the work of the last two years, which 

 has never before been fully published. 



" The Corning Egg Farm Book by Corning Him- 

 self " is to-day the only publication giving facts in 

 regard to the Farm and its unique Method right up 

 to date. 



As the book is read it must be borne in mind that, 

 in breeding to produce a great layer, at first very 

 marked increases in the number of eggs during the 

 first ten months of laying may be gained. The gen- 

 eral average number of eggs laid each year, from offi- 

 cial reports, is less than lOO per hen. On The Corning 

 Egg Farm, when the average had reached 143.25 

 eggs, the next jump, in the following year, was more 

 than had been expected, and the record of 145. 11 

 eggs for each hen for ten months, though showing 

 an increase apparently small, in reality was a very 

 great advance indeed. 



From this time on, the gain, although representing 

 a narrower margin of increase, was in reality a much 

 greater achievement. The trotting horse may serve 

 as an illustration. When Dexter trotted his famous 

 mile he clipped off a number of seconds from the 

 previous record, and it seemed as if it would be a 

 matter of considerable time before his mark would 

 be lowered. But within a comparatively short time 

 a number of trotters turned off a mile in two-ten, 

 and from this figure, within a short period, a large 

 company of famous horses had reached the two- 



