BUFF WYANDOTTES WIN IN CALIFORNIA. 
A Picture of the Winners. 
The picture on this page shows the winning pen 
at the California egg-laying contest, which recently 
closed at Napa. This is a pen of Buff Wyandottes 
owned by W. II. Pearson. These six birds laid, 
during the year, S41 eggs, or 140 each, and they de¬ 
feated GG other pens, the nearest to them being six 
White Leghorns which laid 802. This California 
laying contest had several original features. In¬ 
stead of starting as the others did in the Fall, so 
as to give breeders a chance to enter their Spring- 
hatched pullets, this contest opened in February, at 
a bad time for hens to start and make their best 
record. Instead of 30 hens to the pen, as is the 
case at Storrs, or live hens, as at Thorndale, Pa., 
will be a matter for speculation. We think, how¬ 
ever, it will be found that birds like the Wyandotte 
or Rhode Island Red are better adapted to a con¬ 
test under these California conditions than are the 
lighter or more nervous birds like the Leghorn. 
It is a question whether such a contest as this, 
with the birds closely confined and under conditions 
which would probably not be found in commercial 
egg production, really gives a fair test of the birds. 
However, there is no disputing the fact that Pear¬ 
son's Wyandottes walked up to the front and stayed 
there. One report of this trial stated that these 
birds were trap-nested, but Mr. Pearson says this 
is a mistake, for they were not trap-nested at all. 
Pearson also claims that these birds are high scorers 
in the show ring, and that these trials demonstrate 
that fancy poultry, or what we would call blue rib- 
the country. The poultry business has in the past 
lost something of the stimulating effect of the dairy 
cow contests which have done so much in the past 
to improve the dairy cow and give her a personal 
reputation. We believe that after a few more years 
of these contests, breeders will be able to develop 
breeds and “strains” of laying hens and place the 
business of handling pedigree birds upon a sure 
and strong foundation. There can be no question 
about the possibility of improved poultry culture in 
the future. For instance, the world’s meat supplies 
are rapidly running short, and there is no way for 
men to turn under our present conditions in order 
greatly to increase the supplies of beef and pork. 
Improved marketing and selling conditions here in 
the East would have the effect of increasing the beef 
supply somewhat, but the cattle buyers and 
A PEN OF BUFF WYANDOTTES—CHAMPIONS IN TIIE CALIFORNIA EGG-LAYING CONTEST. Fig. 22a 
each pen in this California contest had six hens, 
the owner having the privilege of keeping a rooster 
with them if he desired. The hens were all kept in 
one large building, with little or no exercise, being 
closely confined all through the year. The season 
in California was not favorable to egg production 
with hens kept under these conditions, and while 
this yield of 140 eggs this year does not compare 
favorably with the records made at Storrs, it does 
require good birds to give a fair record under the 
hard conditions of this California contest. During 
the earlier part of the contest the Leghorns ran 
rapidly to the front, and it was thought that they 
would make a runaway race of the trial, but later 
the Leghorns fell by the wayside, and the Buff 
Wyandottes steadily cut down their lead and finally 
passed them. In this contest a large proportion of 
the leaders were found in the American breed. 
Whether that shows that this larger type of hen 
is better suited to California conditions, or whether 
such birds are better adapted to close confinement, 
bon stock, can also excel at egg production. These 
birds, however, will have to lay more than 140 eggs 
apiece in order to hold their own with some of the 
utility birds which are usually found at our Eastern 
contests. 
These Wyandottes come from the stock of Dr. N. 
W. Sanborn. He has two pens of high score birds 
in Storrs contest. Dr. Sanborn’s birds are making a 
very good record. Although not up at the top notch, 
they are, however, blue ribbon birds, and their re¬ 
cord also goes to show that a hen may excel in the 
show ring and still lay a large number of eggs dur¬ 
ing the year. We think the California contest man¬ 
agers made a mistake in starting their contest so 
early in the year. It would be far better to wait 
until late in the Fall, as that would give breeders 
an opportunity to develop their Spring-hatched pul¬ 
lets so that they would start laying early in the 
contest. It is one of the most hopeful indications 
for the future of the poultry industry, that these 
contests are creating so much interest throughout 
slaughterers now have such a monopoly in the mat¬ 
ter that it is very difficult to improve conditions so 
long as they control. The people will have meat of 
some sort, and as prices of beef, mutton and pork 
go up, the hen man finds his opportunity for an in¬ 
creased supply of poultry and eggs. There seems 
to be no question about this, and therefore, the 
business should be thoroughly organized and com¬ 
plete investigations made regarding the best forms 
of the different breeds and the best ways of produc¬ 
ing both eggs and chickens. Poultry contests are 
aiding this better than any other plan which has 
yet been devised, and it should be encouraged in 
every way and carried through. 
As further information about the breeding of 
these prize winning birds we print the following 
note from Dr. Sanborn: 
"Pearson’s pen was made up of six females that 
were two years old when the contest ended on 
February 20. These six layers were all sired by 
a cock that he hatched from eggs I shipped him 
