GS 
HISTORY OF ANCONAS 
Poultry Culture: 
Anconas have been so much in evi¬ 
dence at the poultry shows throughout 
the country of late and there is so 
much being said about this breed that 
many are seeking information about 
them. 
Anconas are natives of Italy and have 
been bred pure for centuries. They 
have been bred in America for over 
30 years, though only coming into popu¬ 
lar favor during the last 10 years. 
During all this time the standard has 
been improved until the Ancona is one 
of the most beautiful fowls and is built 
for egg production. 
There are but two varieites of An¬ 
conas—single comb and rose comb. 
There will not be any Anconas of any 
colors other than the pure black and 
white mottled. Anconas lay white 
eggs and their eggs weigh more per 
dozen than do the eggs of most other 
breeds. The pullets begin laying at 16 
to 20 weeks of age. Several govern¬ 
ment tests have shown that Anconas 
produce more eggs per hundred 
pounds of feed consumed than any 
other breed. The things that are so 
rapidly advancing the popularity of 
Anconas are early maturity, hardiness, 
great egg production, eggs at lowest 
cost a dozen, large eggs, winter laying, 
beauty, and demand for breeding stock, 
baby chicks, and hatching eggs, which 
means profit. 
No breed of fowls is worth while 
these days that is not championed by 
a live specialty club. Anconas have 
behind them one of the strongest and 
most progressive clubs in poultrydom 
—the United Ancona Club. The An¬ 
cona breeders have, also for years sup¬ 
ported their own pecialty managazine. 
A history of the breed has been pub¬ 
lished in book form, and there are 
more stock cuts of Anconas than of 
any other 10 breeds. All these things 
count for publicity, which is but an¬ 
other name for popularizing a breed. 
Ancona breeders have not, ujntil 
lately, recognized the value of adver¬ 
tising, but now the poultry journals 
contain a. liberal number of both dis¬ 
play and classified advertisements, and 
those breeders who advertise are do¬ 
ing a constantly increasing business. 
Not until recently have Anconas been 
undertaken on large egg farms, but 
now there are many such, and every 
one of them a success. A few years 
hence, and large egg farms where An¬ 
conas are kept exclusively will be quite 
as common as are those where other 
breeds are kept now. 
No claim is made for Anconas as 
a meat breed. They are heavy breast¬ 
ed and are good for table use, but they 
are not in the meat class. However, 
broilers can be marketed ahead of 
other breeds on account of the remark¬ 
ably quick development of the Anconas. 
The poultryman who is after more 
eggs and greater profits will do well 
to take up the Mottled Anconas. Try 
a few in comparison with other breeds, 
keep good accounts of receipts and 
expenses and soon it will be easy to 
tell if Anconas are all that is claimed 
for them. 
fhe Field Illustrated: 
The good old Mottled Ancona fowl 
has for over thirty years withstood the 
competition of other breeds and is the 
same mottled back-and-white beauty 
and large white-egg producer that she 
has been since first imported from 
England in 1890. 
By careful selection and proper mat¬ 
ing Anconas have taken on a more re¬ 
fined figure than of yore, but no side 
issues have ever been attempted, and 
there has never been any other variety 
of Anconas introduced. 
The first decade of Anconas in Amer- 
