March  19 
1 94 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKEk. 
A  Lively  Leghorn  Record. 
A  FLOCK  AVKRAOK  OF  194  KGG8. 
In  selecting  my  breeding  flocks  of 
poultry  for  the  present  season’s  breed¬ 
ing,  I  have  become  more  than  ever  con¬ 
vinced  of  the  necessity  of  taking  con¬ 
siderable  time  for  the  work,  and  my 
flocks,  as  now  made  up,  are  the  result  of 
an  almost  daily  application  of  consider¬ 
able  time  and  study  to  determine  and 
select  the  very  best  layers,  during  five 
months — from  September  1  to  February 
1  — a  time  of  year  when  the  ordinary  hen 
is  expected  to  lay  but  very  few  eggs — not 
nearly  enough  to  pay  her  way.  Owing 
to  a  failure  to  hatch  successfully  early 
last  spring  with  the  incubators  then  in 
use,  the  majority  of  my  pullets  were 
somewhat  late  and  not  considered  so 
suitable  for  breeding  this  season  as  the 
older  hens,  therefore  my  present  breeding 
flocks  are  selected  from  among  the  two 
or  three-year-olds,  all  of  which  have 
moulted  during  the  period  named  and 
given  me  an  opportunity  to  judge  as  to 
their  usefulness  at  that  time.  That  their 
laying  has  been  quite  satisfactory  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  at  no  time  during 
the  moulting  period  did  they  lay  less 
than  an  average  of  10  eggs  per  day  for 
each  flock  of  fifty,  and  that  low  average 
did  not  extend  over  a  period  of  more 
than  six  weeks. 
Now,  while  I  did  not  keep  an  exact  ac¬ 
count  of  the  cost  of  feeding  these  flocks 
separately,  nor  of  the  money  received  for 
their  eggs  at  that  time,  very  little 
knowledge  of  arithmetic  will  be  neces¬ 
sary  to  show  any  one  at  all  acquainted 
with  the  cost  of  feeding  hens,  and  the 
market  price  of  grain  and  eggs  at  the 
time  (November  and  December)  that  they 
were  not  “  eating  their  heads  off”  to  any 
great  extent,  as  is  the  case  with  the  aver¬ 
age  hen  during  at  least  three  or  four 
months  of  the  year.  Another  thing  that 
is  very  gratifying  to  me  is  that  my  last  sea¬ 
son’s  breeding  flock  selected  at  that  time 
from  pullets  hatched  in  April  and  May  pre¬ 
vious  for  their  excellence  as  fall  and  win¬ 
ter  layers,  are,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
included  among  the  breeders  selected  for 
this  year,  thus  proving  the  falsity  of  the 
heory  advanced  by  many  that  alien  that 
is  an  extra-good  layer  .in  her  early  life 
soon  “  lays  out  ”  and  becomes  useless  for 
egg  production.  In  fact,  all  of  my  expe¬ 
rience  in  breeding  and  keeping  hens  for 
eggs  is  contrary  to  that  notion,  as  I  find 
that  a  hen  once  a  good  layer,  is  always  a 
good  layer,  if  properly  fed  and  cared  for. 
By  this  I  do  not  claim  that  one  that  is 
an  extra  layer  in  her  first  and  second 
years  will  lay  as  many  in  her  fifth  and 
sixth,  but  that  she  will  excel  among 
others  of  her  own  age. 
My  stock  of  hens  kept  during  1891  were 
at  the  beginning  of  that  year  composed 
of  240  pullets,  235  one-year-old,  137  two- 
year-old  hens,  (312  in  all.  I  lost  from 
various  causes  during  the  year  31,  and 
received  from  the  entire  number  9,700 
dozen  eggs;  which,  allowing  the  average 
number  of  hens  kept  during  the  year  to 
be  (300,  gave  me  an  average  of  194  eggs 
per  hen.  I  regret  that  I  did  not  keep  a 
separate  record  of  the  lots  from  birds  of 
different  ages  during  the  entire  year. 
Judging  from  my  observations  of  their 
laying  during  the  year,  such  a  record 
would  have  shown  but  little  difference 
between  the  one  and  two-year-olds,  on 
account  of  the  difference  in  age,  but  that 
difference  would  have  been  in  favor  of 
the  younger  lot  only  during  the  winter 
and  fall.  This  agrees  with  what  I  have 
noticed  several  times  when  hens  have 
been  kept  to  five  and  six  years  of  age — 
that  the  decrease  in  egg  production  on 
account  of  age  was  greatest  during  fall 
and  winter,  when  eggs  are  usually  high 
in  price,  and  this  is  to  my  mind  one  of  tne 
strongest  arguments  against  keeping  very 
old  hens.  There  was  a  very  marked  dif¬ 
ference  in  favor  of  the  pullets,  which  was 
no  doubt  considerably  due  to  their  im¬ 
proved  breeding,  but  more  on  account  of 
their  splendid  winter  laying,  not  having 
had  to  undergo  the  process  of  moulting 
as  was  the  case  with  the  older  lots.  A 
record  of  this  lot  of  240  hatched  in  April 
and  May  1890,  shows  a  daily  average  of  151 
eggs  from  December  1,  1890  to  February 
1,  1891,  with  an  increase  to  over  200  per 
day  in  the  April  following.  A  breeding 
flock  of  50  selected  from  them  gave  a 
record,  for  30  consecutive  days  in  April 
and  May,  of  a  fraction  over  47  eggs  per 
day  ;  the  lowest  number  during  any  one 
day  was  43,  the  highest  51  on  two  differ¬ 
ent  days.  Now  perhaps  some  one  will 
ask,  where  did  the  extra  egg  come  from? 
Did  some  one  hen  lay  two  eggs  on  those 
days?  1  don’t  know;  that  might  have 
been  the  case,  or  an  egg  might  have  been 
laid  late  the  day  before,  after  the  eggs 
for  that  day  had  been  gathered.  I  believe, 
however,  that  it  is  not  so  uncommon  a 
thing  as  some  imagine,  for  an  extra  good 
laying  hen  to  occasionally  lay  two  eggs 
in  one  day.  c.  h.  wyckoff. 
NORTHERN  GROWN  T£S 
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502  River  Street.  FREEPORT,  ILL 
f  Grandest  Illustrated  Garden-Guide. 
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book.  K.  H.  Shumway,  Rockford,  Ill. 
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NORTHERN 
INVESTMENT  CO. 
Strictly  a  Real  Estate  Company .  in¬ 
vesting  only  in  CENTRAL  BUSINESS 
UFA  L  ESTATE  in  LARGE  COM¬ 
MERCIAL  CITIES,  by  actual  pur¬ 
chase. 
Its  real  estate  in  Sioux  City,  Iowa, 
has  largely  appreciated  in  value  since 
it  was  purchased,  thus  adding  to  the 
intrinsic  value  of  the  stock.  Cash  capi- 
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Its  officers  take  pride  in  being  able  to 
make  this  statement  in  regard  to  the 
success  of  the  Company,  and  further 
to  state  that  there  is  every  reason  to 
expect  still  greater  advance  in  value 
and  income. 
Pres  ,  GEO.  LEONAED.  Treas.,  A.  A.  HOWE. 
Oflices,  240  Washington  St.,  Rooms  7-1 1, 
BOSTON,  MASS. 
NOTICE  rJMXrtjf 
THESE  F  V?  r  1 
LITTLE  U— fe-JJ 
BALLS!  nr” 
They  make  the  great  Ball  Hangers  which  make  the 
Th,e  attention  of  manufacturers  is 
invited  to  the  following : 
The  Escoi.a  Agronomica  is  newly  es¬ 
tablished  on  a  fazenda  of  500  acres  in 
the  State  of  Sao  Paulo— the  richest  agri¬ 
cultural  region  of  Brazil.  It  is  organized 
in  the  interest  of  progressive  agricul¬ 
ture,  provides  a  scientific  course  of  four 
years  with  daily  labor  for  students,  and 
sets  apart  the  fi  rst  Saturday  of  every  month 
for  the  entertainment  of  visitors.  It  is  the 
first  college  of  the  kind*  in  South  America, 
is  endowed  by  wealthy  and  influential 
citizens,  and  is  attracting  widespread 
attention. 
Among  other  things,  the  institution 
aims  to  introduce  better  implements  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil — especially  the 
tenacious  red  clays  of  the  rolling  lands — 
and  for  harvesting  and  handing  crops ; 
but  it  desires  first  to  ascertain  what  are 
best  suited  to  the  conditions  that  prevail. 
To  this  end  the  college  makes  the  fol¬ 
lowing  offer  to  the  manufacturer  of  any 
farming  tools  likely  to  succeed :  If  you 
will  donate  the  sample  or  samples — made 
precisely  like  those  for  the  regular  trade 
— we  will  pay  all  cost  of  transportation, 
and  afford  every  facility  for  trial  and  ex¬ 
hibition,  the  tools  to  remain  the  property 
of  the  college. 
Shall  not  the  United  States  secure  her 
share  of  the  trade  sure  to  follow  this 
stimulus  to  the  introduction  of  improved 
machinery  ?  The  college  knows  of  no 
better  way  than  this  to  enable  her  to  do 
so  nor  to  give  all  an  equal  chance  to  dis¬ 
play  the  excellence  of  their  goods. 
Any  manufacturers  accepting,  please 
mark  goods  “For  Escola  Agronomica, 
Piracicaba,  S.  P.  Brazil,  care  Sr.  Louiz 
Queiros,”  and  ship  to  the  Thompson  & 
1 1  ouston  Electrical  Company,  115  Broad¬ 
way,  New  York,  who  will  receive,  pay 
freight  and  forward.  Also  please  advise 
the  subscriber  by  letter  of  such  ship¬ 
ment,  and  of  terms  on  which  orders  will 
be  received. 
EUGENE  DAVENPORT,  Director. 
KEYSTONE 
DISC  HARROW 
The  WONDER  of  all  practical  Farm  People. 
The  same  device  which  makes  the  Bicycle  run 
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use,  beside  cost  for  repairs.  Itconquers  toughest  sod 
—fits  uneven  ground.  Examine  it  yourself.  Where 
time  and  horse-flesh  are  thought  worth  saving,  the 
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The  BEST,  CHEAPEST  and 
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We  also  manufacture  Grain  Thrash¬ 
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A  governor  regulates  it  accordingto  speed  of  wind. 
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“  It  far  exceeds  my  expectations."  J.  H.  Brown,  Climax.  Mich. 
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Freight  Paid.  BeMCLLEN  WOVEN  WIRE  FENCE  CO..  CHICAGO 
THE  TOWNSEND  WIRE  STRETCHER.  Theperson 
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_ which  he  is  stretching  without  assistance 
stretches  to  t  lie  last  post  as  well  as  an v 
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WIRE  PICKET  FENCE  MACHINE. 
Lowden’s  Perfection.  Latest  improved  best  field 
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For  large  illustrated  catalogue  address 
L.  C.  L0WDE1I,  Indianapolis,  Ini.,  U.  S.  A. 
.Satisfaction  guar,  or  money  ref\Ls  Clre.  free. 
Sold  by  Kennedy,  Spaulding  h  Co., 
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