October, 1912 
THE WHITE EGG HENS 
By E. I. FARRINGTON 
F course, the color of an egg really 
has no influence on its quality. 
Richness and flavor are determined by 
other factors, entirely. Yet in many sec- 
tions buyers pay a premium for eggs 
which are snowy white, so popular are 
eggs of this color. That is the reason 
why only White Leghorn hens are found 
on most of the large egg plants in the 
vicinity of New York city and in other 
parts of the country, notably California, 
which is sometimes called the land of the 
Leghorn. The Boston market, for some 
unaccountable reason, goes to the other 
extreme and demands dark brown eggs. 
The amateur who prefers white eggs 
has a long list of breeds to select his lay- 
ing hens from, all of them belonging to 
the Mediterranean or French classes. 
Undoubtedly, the White Leghorn heads 
the list, being nearest an egg machine 
of any fowl yet developed. The Leg- 
horn as now bred in this country is quite 
a different bird from those first brought 
from Italy. To all intents and purposes 
the breed has been Americanized, and the 
Leghorns seen here are larger and dif- 
ferent in many ways from the Leghorns 
found in England, where the breed is 
also popular. There are single and rose 
comb varieties in white and brown and 
single comb buffs, blacks and silver duck- 
wings, although the two named last are 
not common. The white and brown var- 
ieties are the two most often seen, but 
the White Leghorn is given the prefer- 
ence, because it lays the larger eggs and 
those which are uniformly pure white. 
In some markets White Leghorn eggs 
are the standard and are sold by name. 
Leghorns are too small to be satisfac- 
tory table fowls, although the meat is 
tender and sweet. They are rather wild, 
fly like birds and can crawl through very 
small holes. On the other hand, they 
are light eaters, lay when five months old 
and are non-sitters, seldom becoming 
broody. They lay well in Winter, al- 
though the long combs of the single- 
comb varieties are likely to be touched 
by frost in very cold weather. 
The Anconas are a white-egg breed 
which is growing rapidly in popularity. 
The hens are remarkably prolific and both 
hens and cocks are very attractive. The 
birds are mottled black and white, about 
every fifth feather being tipped with 
white. The tendency is to breed them a 
little heavier than the Leghorns and some 
breeders have been accused of introduc- 
ing Minorca blood to secure this result. 
The tail is carried somewhat higher than 
oe Leghorn tail and the breast is rather 
ull. 
Anconas are very lively, but stand con- 
ainement well. If the yard is small, they 
will easily scale a five-foot fence, but are 
less likely to seek escape from a large 
yard. The chicks are unusually attrac- 
tive and grow their feathers quickly. 
They are spared the awkward, half-bare 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
RES RES: 
U] 
(] veloped a sheer 
RES RBrsE S383 
that period. 
‘American renaissance.’’ It 
satisfies. 
UR furniture is the standard of com- 
O parison. Our shopmark is as full 
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Our period pieces are wonderful studies 
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Our dealers, with the displays on their 
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Do you want good 
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Write to us and we will refer you to a Scientific Ameri- 
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The Advantages of 
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SAMUEL CABOT, Inc., MFG. CHEMISTS — 
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Cabot’s Shingle Stains | 
SMITHSON), 
Fn 
V % 
‘ 
