6 
January 4, 1919 
■Ehe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Garden and Poultry 
The Egg-laying Contests 
The seventh egg-laying contest at 
Storrs, Conn., which closed Oct. 31, 1918, 
was in some respects the most remarkable 
contest yet held at Storrs. One pen laid 
more eggs than any pen had previously 
produced in all the seven years, and one 
individual hen laid more eggs than had 
ever been laid before at this contest. , A 
pen of 10 “Oregons,” entered by the Ore¬ 
gon Agricultural College at Corvallis, 
Ore., laid 2,352 eggs. 
In the last five years the poultry de¬ 
partment at Storrs has trap-nested 5.000 
hens, representing 30 different breeds and 
varieties, including birds from Canada 
and England, and the American birds 
from Oregon have outlaid them all. These 
“Oregons” are a cross of Barred Rock on 
White Leghorns, the progeny being mated 
to White Leghorns, until there is nothing 
to distinguish them in appearance from 
purebred Leghorns. Crossing breeds has 
never been advocated in this country, to 
any extent, but in England it is practiced 
extensively when breeding for utility pur¬ 
poses. In my English poultry magazine 
there are nearly as many advertisements 
of cross-bred pullets for sale as there are 
of purebreds. In poultry magazines 
in this country it would be difficult to find 
a single cross-breed offered. The per¬ 
formance of these “Oregons” raises a 
question as to whether we have not some¬ 
thing to learn in this direction. 
The best individual record was made 
by a White Wyandotte owned by Obed 
G. Knight. This hen laid 308 eggs. That 
is surpassed by only one official record 
made in the United States. At the Penn¬ 
sylvania contest a White Leghorn hen 
laid 314 eggs. This hen was raised in 
Maryland and bred from a Tom Barron 
male. 
So far only four American hens have 
reached or passed the 300-egg mark. 
They are as follows: 
White Leghorn. Delaware Contest, 314. 
White Wyandotte, Connecticut Con¬ 
test, 308. 
“Oregon,” Oregon Agricultural College, 
303. 
White Rock, Vineland Contest, 301. 
In this Storrs contest the best Barred 
Rock laid 204 eggs, the best White Leg¬ 
horn laid 233; the best R. I. Red laid 
240. 
The grand total for all the 1,000 birds 
was 15S,920. This was not so large an 
output as the previous year. It is about 
4% eggs less per bird. 
The average for all the 1,000 birds is 
158.9. This is a high average. It is gen¬ 
erally supposed that it requires about 100 
eggs in these days of high feed costs to 
pay for a hen’s keeping. What she lays 
above 100 can be counted as profit. On 
this basis these were very profitable hens 
to keep. 
In the next contest at Storrs there will 
be no English pens, for the first time 
since the contests were instituted. The 
reasons are that it costs now about $100 
to ship a pen of 10 birds from England, 
and a permit from that Government must 
be obtained; also, Storrs has to get a 
permit from our Government to import 
them; cargo space was needed too badly 
for other purposes, so Prof. Kirkpatrick 
was instructed to cable English entrants 
that their birds could not be received. 
THE VINELAND CONTEST 
No fair comparison can be made be¬ 
tween the Storrs and Vineland egg-laying 
record this last year, because the birds at 
Vineland have already been laying for a 
year. Their record is their second year’s 
laying, while the Storrs record is of pul¬ 
lets’ first-year laying. The total number 
laid at Storrs is 158,920; at Vineland 
129,499, or only 29,421 fewer than at 
Storrs. This is about 29% eggs 
less per bird in the whole year. JThese 
same birds at Vineland laid 101,875 eggs 
in their pullet year, showing a drop in 
their second year of 32,376. This drop 
in egg production I commented upon in 
an article published in the Dec. 7, 1918, 
issue of The R. N.-Y., page 13S9. In 
their pullet year at Vineland White Leg¬ 
horns won all the honors, taking first, 
second, third, fourth and fifth place. All 
these five pens laid over 2,000 eggs each. 
The winning pen, owned by J. Percy 
Van Zandt of New Jersey, laid 2.212 eggs, 
second place being taken by I\ G. Platt’s 
pen from Pennsylvania—record, 2.173, 
and third place by Shutts & Voegten, 
Lebanon, N. Y. 
Only one of the hundred pens laid less 
than 1,000 eggs. A pen of Buff Wyan- 
dottes laid only 897 eggs the first year, 
but the same pen laid 919 the second 
year. . 
The best pens of each breed, and their 
first and second year output is as follows: 
Barred Rocks. 
White Rocks . 
Columbia Rocks. 
White Wyandottes .... 
Col. Wyandottes . 
Buff Wyandottes. 
R. I. Reds. 
White Leghorns . 
Buff Leghorns. 
Black Leghorns. 
First 
Second 
Year 
Year 
1,956 
1.366 
1,985 
1.176 
1,854 
1.272 
1.761 
1.598 
1.513 
1.193 
1,591 
836 
1.966 
1,275 
2,212 
1.471 
1,448 
1.029 
1,758 
1.398 
A pen of White Leghorns owned by 
John R. Lander of Vineland made the 
best second-year record, namely, 1,776 
eggs; the first-year record of the same pen 
was 1,851. Leghorns in the second year 
made the seven highest records. When 
American poultrymen thoroughly under¬ 
stand the supreme importance of the 
male bird, and that the high-producing 
hen transmits her egg-laying qualities 
through her sons, not through her daugh¬ 
ters, and that, if a breeding pen of hens 
is worth $50 the male fit to go with it 
should be worth $25 (for he is the most 
important half of the pen), then we may 
expect big progress in the poultry indus¬ 
try. GEO. A. COSGKOVE. 
Feed for the Hens 
The New Jersey Experiment Station 
poultrymen say there are probably no 
better mixtures than a scratch grain ra¬ 
tion composed of five parts of corn, two 
parts of oats, two parts of barley and one 
part of wheat; and a dry mash mixture 
composed of equal parts of wheat bran, 
wheat middlings, ground oats, cornmeal 
and meat scrap. 
During the Winter about equal parts 
of grain and mash are given. During 
Summer and Fall the amount of grain is 
reduced. The following table shows the 
amount of grain to feed layers during 
the different months in the year, with the 
division between morning and night feed¬ 
ings : 
Daily Grain Division Bet. 
Ration per 
Feedings 
100 birds 
A. M. P. M. 
Month 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
Nov. 
.... 12 
4 
and 8 
Dec. 
.... 12 
4 
and 8 
Jan. 
.... 12 
4 
and 8 
Feb. 
.... 12 
4 
and 8 
March . 
.... 12 
4 
and 8 
April . 
.... 12 
4 
and S 
May. 
4 
and 6 
June. 
10 
4 
and 6 
July. 
.... S 
3 
and 5 
August . ... 
6 
2 
and 4 
Sept. .. 
.... 5 
2 
and 3 
Oct. 
9 
w 
and 3 
Poultry-house for One Hundred Birds 
Will you give me the dimensions for a 
chicken-house, shed-roof, for 100 B. P. R. 
and R. I. R. fowls, and the amount of 
lumber it will take? w. c. B. 
Madisouville, Pa. 
A poultry-house for 100 fowls of any 
of the larger breeds should have a floor 
space of about 400 square feet, and might 
well be 20 feet square. It should be high 
enough to give ample head room in any 
part of the interior, but need be no higher. 
A height of eight feet at the front, five 
feet at the rear, would be about right. 
As it might be difficult to get 20-ft. raft¬ 
ers, short ones might be spliced and sup¬ 
ported by posts in the center of the build¬ 
ing. A building of these dimensions 
would give maximum economy in lumber, 
with a depth that would make open-front 
ventilation practicable without drafts over 
the perches in the rear. The exact 
amount of lumber needed will, of course, 
depend upon the style of construction, but 
the most economical will be with walls 
of matched stuff in single thickness, 
boards placed vertically from sill to plate. 
Double boarding is unnecessary if all 
■walls but the front are air tight. The 
roof should be tight boarded and covered 
with a good grade of prepared, roofing. 
The floor may be of dry earth, boards or 
concrete, the latter being the most satis¬ 
factory. M. B. D. 
Notes from a Maryland Garden 
Our beautiful December is drawing 
towards its close, and as last noted we 
are now, December 20, still getting our 
daily supply of lettuce crisp and fresh 
from the open garden and have not 
touched that in the frames. Salsify is 
still growing, and the curled kale is in 
fine shape, while the spinach is growing 
so that there will hardly be any left for 
Spring, and we shall be obliged to sow 
again in late February. The White Celes¬ 
tial radishes got so overgrown and hot 
that last week we pulled them all and 
loaded them into a farmer’s wagon for 
his pigs, and the leeks are still growing. 
The high price of tobacco and cotton 
is reflected in my correspondence. When 
these staple crops of the South were low 
in price I got thousands of letters asking 
help in various ways, most of them want¬ 
ing to know what crop they could grow 
in place of cotton, their only idea seeming 
to be that they must grow a certain crop 
and gamble with the chances with com¬ 
mercial fertilizer to get the crop, not 
dreaming that by good farming with 
grain, legumes and live stock they could 
be independent of the cotton price or the 
boll weevil. Southern farmers have been 
mere planters for so many generations it 
is hard for most of them to learn real 
systematic farming. A certain notion in 
regard to crops gets prevalent, and all 
accept it without question or investiga¬ 
tion. For instance, it got abroad a few 
years ago that cow peas or clover would 
ruin the quality of the bright tobacco 
grown in North Carolina, and to some 
extent on the south side Virginia coun¬ 
ties. Then nearly every one of the to¬ 
bacco growers at once abandoned the use 
of clover or peas. This year a tobacco 
farmer, who sows Crimson clover every 
year, got the top price for his Gold-leaf 
tobacco, and perhaps others may learn 
to use their brain in farming. Here we 
have a trucking section. Our warm 
sandy soil is well suited to the production 
of vegetable crops for the Northern mar¬ 
kets and the canners, and by the liberal 
use of commercial fertilizers profitable 
crops can be grown. The result is that 
the general farming and stock feeding 
are neglected and the whole energy given 
to the small fruit and vegetable fields. 
While our farmers know well the value 
of cow peas. Soy beans and Crimson 
clover, they fail to take them into a sys¬ 
tematic farm rotation, but grow patches 
simply for hay. And they make the 
poorest of hay with them too. I have 
seen the past hot Summer cow peas mown 
and left for weeks on the ground to dry 
up in the sun, and when finally raked up 
the leaves, the best part of the hay, were 
all gone and a lot of sticks remained for 
hay. Crimson clover is treated in the 
same way, and allowed to bleach in the 
sun. instead of being cured in cocks, as 
all legume* hay should be, and gotten in 
while still somewhat limp. I once sent 
a sample of my cow pea hay to the editor 
of an agricultural paper. He was an 
Englishman, and paid it the highest com¬ 
pliment, as he thought, saying: “It is 
more like English hay than anything I 
have seen in America.” The leaves were 
perfectly cured, but still green in color, 
for the hay had been allowed to finish its 
drying in the barn, being got in before 
the leaves were dry and crumbling. 
In every Southern paper we see at 
times plans for all sorts of stakes and 
scaffolds for the curing of cow pea hay, 
and even the Washington department pub¬ 
lished directions for a sort of pyramidal 
frame to pile the hay on. In fact, the 
pea hay and all legume hay is as easy to 
cure as any hay, without any contrivance 
to spoil it, if we only remember that it 
should be cured in windrow and cock, and 
go into the barn before getting dry and 
crisp. Peas and Crimson clover rightly 
used in a good rotation with cotton and 
grain, will be the means for leading the 
South out of bondage to the fertilizer 
makers. The experience of some of the 
best farmers on this Eastern Shore of 
Maryland has shown that the soil can be 
brought up to a high state of productive¬ 
ness and never a pound of complete fer¬ 
tilizer used, only a carrier of phosphorus. 
W. F. MASSEY. 
Vinegar from Apple Parings 
If H. M., page 1337, will save, from 
time to time, and dry fruit parings, cores, 
etc., taking same care as of other dried 
fruit, leach with milk-warm water for 
about 36 hours in a warm place, about 
three pounds waste for one gallon water, 
keep in stone jugs or wooden kegs at tem¬ 
perature 75 to SO 0 F., he should have 
bright, fine-colored vinegar in a couple of 
months, if well managed. No metal con¬ 
tainers of any kind can be used. I am a 
practical vinegar maker of over 40 years’ 
experience. Thousands of tons are now 
used in about the way as above which 
used to be wasted. J. C. 
Manual of Vegetable Garden Insects, 
by C. R. Crosby and M. D. Leonard. A 
practical book giving life history and con¬ 
trol methods of the principal insects at¬ 
tacking truck and vegetable crops. It 
brings together in convenient form a mass 
of information ordinarily difficult of ac¬ 
cess, and includes many little-known in¬ 
sects now causing apprehension in various 
localities. Clearly written and freely il¬ 
lustrated; 391 pages; published by the 
Macmillan Company, New York; price 
$2.50. 
“For the Land’s Sake, use Bowker’s 
Fertilizers; they enrich the earth and 
those who till it.”— Adv. 
Grow Trees That 
Bear 
Trees from the Wood- 
lawn Nurseries are vigor¬ 
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sale of the famous "Dr. Worcester ” Peach. 
The same time-proven dependability 
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bushes and perennials safe investments. 
The moderate prices bring an individual 
and attractive garden within the most mod¬ 
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Special Fruit Garden Offer. We offer a 
total of 149 plants, sufficient to supply the 
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lawn stock and require less care than veg¬ 
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Our illustrated 1919 Nursery List contains 
valuable planting and growing information 
as well as a catalog of select nursery stock. 
Mailed on request. 
WOODLAWN 
NVRSERIES 
880 Garaon Ave., Rocheater, N. Y. 
S SWEET 
CLOVER 
f COT]E 
Hulled and scarified white sweet clover is about 
^^k ten dollars per bushel cheaper than red. (Un- 
^^k hulled cheaper yet.) As itis a biennial, taking 
the place of red in the rotation and any 
amount better as aland builder, itis an eco- 
nomical substitute. Winter sowing is the 
best. Ask for samples and prices as well as 
our catalogue telling “How to Know Good 
Seed”. All other kinds of field seeds too. 
O. M. SCOTT & SONS CO. 
H 160 Main St. Marysville, Ohio 
rn 
sum 
EVERGREENS 
pea 38 Hardy Tested Varieties 
Best for windbreaks, hedges and lawn 
planting. Protect buildings, crops, stock, 
gardens ami orchards. Hill’s Evergreens 
are Nursery grown and hardy every¬ 
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largest growers. Eat. 1855. 
D. HILL NURSERY CO., DUNDEE, ILLINOIS 
Box 2120 Evergroon Specialists 
NIGHT’S FRUIT PLANTS 
Have Been the Standard for Over 
9 A Don’t waste time and 
uu I LirliYO. money with Inferior 
stock. $1000 per acre lias been made growing 
Strawberries and Raspberries. YOU can do 
as well with KNIGHT’S PLANTS. 
Write for FREE catalog today 
DAVID KNIGHT & SON, Box 103, SAWYER. MICH. 
Lucky Boy Strawberries 
Biroer, Sweeter, and more pro¬ 
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injr strawberries. Fruits on 
sprintf set plants from June to 
November in the North and 
the year-round in the South. 
Our 20th Century Catalog 
fully describes this and 
more than fifty of the best 
standard varieties straw¬ 
berries, also other small 
fruit plants. Send postal 
today. 
E. W. TOWNSEND & SON 
R.R. No. 25, Salisbury, Md. 
ENSILAGE CORN 
-.-stalk: some had 
6. 10 neves from 50 yielded over 85 bushels per acre. 
This seed field, cured and selected, is now being test¬ 
ed. $5 per bush. HOLLYWOOD FARMS, Scottsburo, V*. 
For Sale SEED CORN- whAmt 
Produced 150 bushels ear corn per acre. Write for con¬ 
vincing sample. SB per hush. J. C0DDINGT0N, Glen Head, L. L 
For Sale-Fancy White Cap Dent Corn 
for seed. 84 pur bll. I>. BROWN & SON, Stanley, New York 
Cabbage, Celery, Onion Seed *1: 
lottery's Fruit and 
"iHlr Ornamental 
Grown in our upland nurseries (the largest in New York State), fresh dug, 
free from disease, propagated from bearing trees of known merit. Our 
Apple, Peach, Pear, Cherry, Plum. Quince, Small Fruits and Ornamentals are sold to you 
direct at cost plus one profit only. 35 years of active nursery experience is back of 
every tree—we grow our own stock and know we are sending just what you 
£*> order. Read the absolute guarantee in our Free Catalog; it shows we 
Saa* recognize our responsibility to the man who plants, and keep the quality up 
* and the cost down. 
Although there is a shortage of fruit trees this spring owing to the fact that 
the war has made it impossible to import as many seedlings during the past 
four years, those we have measured up to the Maloney Standard, and we 
will ship all orders in the order in which they are received. So we advise 
you to place your order early. 
Fredonia, Pa., Oct. to, tots 
Enclosed order is for the famous Hepting Orchard of which there are 
’ SOO flourishing young trees, all of the Maloney Pros. <0 Wells product, 
and the finest in this Community. Respectfully yours, R. IF. MOON. 
Small or large orders get the same attention. It will pay you to 
send for our Free Wholesale Catalog : it contains valuable infor¬ 
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We Prepay Transportation Charges on all Orders for Over $4.00 
MALONEY BROS. & WELLS CO., 42 East Street, Dansville, N. Y. 
Bearing Age Trees a Specialty. Dansville’s Pioneer Wholesale Nurseries 
t&u ... (fl . 
Visit our 400-acre nurseries 
