Vol. LXXIII, No. 4268. 
NEW YORK. AUGUST 15, 1014. 
WEEKLY $1.00 PER YEAR. 
A FINE EGG-LAYING RACE. 
The American Leghorns Pictured. 
F in the coming yacht race between England and 
America the two boats come into the last mile 
before a good stiff breeze, and hardly a foot of 
distance between them, the two nations would about 
stand on their heads with excitement until it was 
over. The egg-laying contest at Storrs promises to 
give a finish nearly as exciting. For months the 
English Wyandottes have been far in the lead. The 
English Leghorns are now coming up at a lively 
pace, but they were too far behind before they be¬ 
gan to catch up. Two pens of American Leghorns 
have made rapid gains, gradually crawling up to the 
Cost of Feed. 
Mash. 
Grain. 
Oyster 
shell. 
Charcoal. 
Grit. 
$3.59 
$7.65 
$0.15 
$0.05 
$0.08 
Total number of eggs 1394. Total weight of eggs 164.22 lbs. 
Weights of Birds. . 
Bird. .. 
1 
o 
3 
4 
5 
a 
7 
8 
9 lO 
Nov. 1. 
3.0 
3.6 
3.8 
3.2 
3.2 
3.6 
4.5 
3.2 
3.7 3.2 
Jan. 1. 
3.4 
3.6 
3.6 
3.7 
3.4 
3.6 
4.3 
3.4 
3.8 3.3 
Alar. 1. 
3.4 
3.6 
3.5 
3.6 
3.2 
3.5 
4.5 
3.6 
4.3 3.5 
May 1. 
3.5 
3.8 
3.75 
3.6 
3.4 
3.2 
4.5 
3.5 
4.1 3.6 
July 1. 
3.25 
4.0 
3.75 
3.5 
3.5 
2.8 
4.25 
3.7 
4.25 3.3 
i 
Thus it will he seen that the food for these hens 
the back, with legs well apart and a short, sometimes 
almost stubby beak, and while the main point I looked 
for was the quickness with which a pullet approached 
maturity, the comb is a good signpost for this, I kept 
the type in mind and would do it again. The 16 were 
gradually culled and one was added later until we had 
the number required. 
These pullets would ordinarily have started laying 
late in September, but I knew the probability of their 
molti- ^ if they had laid much at home before being 
shipped, so for a month and a half we moved them 
often enough so that they would never feel at home 
enough to lay. All beef scrap was taken from their 
mash, but I couldn't stop tlum entirely and the 10 
birds did lay perhaps 30 eggs before they left home. 
When they reached the contest they spent a week get¬ 
ting settled, then started in hard, were the leading pen 
for November, second for December, have kept persist¬ 
ently at it ever since. Francis f. Lincoln. 
The contest between these Leghorns and the Eng¬ 
PART OF THE LINCOLN LEGHORNS—SECOND PEN IN THE EGG-LAYING CONTEST. Fig. 427. 
English Wyundottes. At the end of July or the 
thirty-ninth week of the contest the record was as 
follows: EGGS 
White Wyandottes (Tom Barron). 1.636 
White Leghorns (Conn. Agri. College). 1,637 
White Leghorns (Francis F. Lincoln). 1,615 
The Leghorns from the college were entered to 
give an experiment in feeding, and thus are not con¬ 
sidered in the contest. The real contenders with 
the Wyandottes are the Leghorns owned by Francis 
F. Lincoln. We have already pictured the Wyan¬ 
dottes, and so this week we show a picture of Lin¬ 
coln’s Leghorns, taken in their pen at the egg-laying 
contest. A brief statement of what these birds have 
done is given below—figured up to July 1 or eight 
months in all: 
Feed Consumed. 
Mash. 
Grain. 
Oyster 
shell. 
Charcoal. 
Grit. 
Pounds. 
Pounds. 
Pounds. 
Pounds. 
Pounds. 
208 
427.4 
20.88 
2.66 
10.26 
cost $11.52. Mr. Lincoln has kept a careful record 
of the values of the 1,394 eggs, many of which were 
laid when the price was very high. This egg value 
is $47.74. Thus each hen averaged 139.4 eggs in 
eight months at an average food cost of $1.15 and 
an average earning value of $4.77. The average 
consumption of food per hen for eight months is 
20.8 pounds of mash and 42.7 pounds of grain. This 
means 1.37 ounces of mash and 2.8 ounces of grain 
per day. Mr Lincoln gives us the following state¬ 
ment about his birds: 
My birds are American Leghorns, bred for egg-laying 
for many years, though I haven't handled them long. 
My firs males came from Merritt M. Clark. Connecti¬ 
cut, and I think are White and Rice blood; the females 
came from a farm in New York where the strain had 
been trap-nested for several years. Crossing this unre¬ 
lated blood I think I have a strain of exceptional vigor 
and laying ability. 
^ hen I had entered a pen for the present egg-laying 
contest, my problem was to pick the best 10 from 
about 200 pullets, all of which would be in laying con¬ 
dition at least by November. I thought the pullet that 
used its food efficiently in growing would continue that 
efficiency when laying, so when, in early September we 
did our first selecting, we picked the 10 pullets that 
seemed nearer maturity than the rest, and it was a job. 
I like a layer to be pretty small, long-backed, deep in 
lish Wyandottes will be a close one. Mr. Barron 
thinks his birds have gained their second wind and 
will keep ahead while Mr. Lincolu says his birds 
"have lots of lay in them yet.” It is a pretty race— 
may the best pen win! 
NOTES ON GLASSHOUSE GARDENING. 
Brooder House as Greenhouse. 
M Y brooder house has windows in the entire length 
of its _southern side; hotbed sash in the roof 
make it suitable for use as a greenhouse from 
September 1 to February 1, when it is not oc¬ 
cupied by chicks. What is the best single crop or suc¬ 
cession of single crops I can mature in that time? I 
wish a flower or vegetable crop that I could readily 
sell, and that would be suitable for a man having little 
greenhouse experience, but who thoroughly understands 
the handling of hotwater heaters and the importance 
of a constant temperature? j. l. l. 
New York. 
Here is a brooder house with windows in entire 
south side and hotbed sash in roof, that the owner 
wishes to use as a greenhouse from September 1 
to February 1, either for flowers or vegetables. If 
the sash in roof are continuous on each side of ridge 
similar to a greenhouse roof, either tomatoes, rad- 
