Leghorns. 
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— and good ones, too —can be reared from one pen of Piles than from two pens of Browns mated for 
cockerel and pullet breeding. A Pile cock seldom reaches perfection in plumage until his second year." 
To the kindness of Mr. Arthur Lubeck, of " Woodbine " Poultry Yards, Glenfield, N.S.W., we are 
indebted for the following notes on the White Leghorn. Mr. Lubeck rears annually a very large number of 
this variety, and speaks most highly of their good qualities. This gentleman states : — 
" The AVhite Leghorn is, above all other varieties, the most profitable. Its transcendent virtues are its 
laying capabilities, and its extreme hardiness. For egg-production, the White Leghorn is unsurpassed, even 
under most unfavourable surroundings, as to housing and space. It will produce a remarkably large number 
of very large eggs, and that, too, at a time of year when eggs are almost unobtainable from other Fowls. 
The White Leghorn lays when eggs are scarce. This is a point which should be kept in view by anyone who 
contemplates supplying the market with fresh eggs. Any hen will lay in Spring and early Summer, when 
eggs are scarcely worth marketing ; but a bird that will continue to lay through the Autumn and Winter 
months is the one that the Poultry Farmer should foster. Market eggs are at their highest value in April, 
May, and June, and in those months the consistent White Leghorn keeps on producing an abundance, 
frequently laying right through the moult. The question is constantly asked, ' Does Poultry Farming pay ?' 
There is no doubt that a flock of good White Leghorns, kept under proper conditions, will bring in a very 
excellent return for the capital and labour necessary to work a Poultry Farm. With three hundred (300) 
White Leghorn hens, young and vigorous, and not in-bred, a man could make a comfortable living for 
himself and family, without any laborious work. Start right, and success is possible. Take no chances ; 
but if your object is to produce eggs for market, use the variety that experience has proved to be the best. 
There is no Fowl more hardy, or more easily reared than the White Leghorn. They will stand any amount 
of hardship and exposure, and seem to thrive under any conditions whatever. With a good run, they will 
find a large amount of their own food, and thus will cost less to keep than the heavier and larger varieties. 
They also do well in confinement, and are ever vigorous and active looking, being always on the alert. It is 
said the White Leghorn is not a good table bird. I do not claim that it is. Its sole business is to produce 
eggs, and it generally lives quite up to its reputation." 
Our own experience with the White variety extends over a period of ten years, and we can fully endorse 
all that has been written in their favour by our valued contributors. The chickens are the easiest reared of 
any breed we have kept, extraordinarily hardy, and arrive at maturity quickly, the pullets, fulfilling their 
mission in life very early, producing fairly large white eggs, and these in abundance. To the Poultry keeper 
in town they are an invaluable Fowl, generally laying during the early Autumn and Winter, when high prices 
are demanded for new-laid eggs, and at a time when most other varieties rarely pay for the food they consume. 
We have proved that they bear confinement exceedingly well, even under this disadvantage, appearing lively 
and active at all times. When allowed the run of a yard, they have a happy knack of finding much that 
would be discarded by other Fowls. They do not, even if fed liberally, seem predisposed to accumulate 
undesirable fat — a point which tells greatly in their favour. They breed very true to feather and general 
Leghorn characteristics, so that little fear need be occasioned of the flock possessing a mongrel appearance 
after a few seasons. The laying capabihties have been sacrificed in some strains to gain and fix Fancy 
Points ; but the former is a latent characteristic, even in Show birds, and will quickly exhibit itself in 
the progeny if crossed with another strain, proving that it is by the art of the breeder alone, by working in 
another direction, that this good quality is suppressed for the time. Our experience with other breeds has 
been dearly purchased as far as egg-producing is considered, and were it not for the fact of also keeping 
White Leghorns, we would have been compelled to purchase eggs for home consumption, though often 
having from 50 to 60 hens of another breed in the yards at the time. There are, however, other traits in 
their character which are not to be commended when kept in small yards. Firstly, they are, more or less, 
wild, and easily startled ; and, secondly, it requires an extra high fence, and with wire netting on top of that, 
to keep them within bounds. This is the worst trait they possess, but one easy enough to overcome by 
various means, such as cutting the primary feathers of one wing straight across (this, if done properly, will 
