"The results of the first test are somewhat surprising for it is generally believed that the nitrogenous diet is best for laying hens. The difference indicated in the first year's results was so light that it was decided to repeat the experiment the second year.
"As the wet wash is clearly proven to be superior, these hens were used the second year to compare meat meal with fresh cut bone.
| Second Year's Result. | ||
| No. Hens. | Diet. | Ave. Egg Yield. |
| 10 | Nitrogenous | 142.2 |
| 10 | Carbonaceous | 134.5 |
| 10 | Meat Meal | 102.2 |
| 10 | Green Cut Bone | 128.9 |
"The results of the second year clearly indicate the great superiority of green cut bone as compared with the dry unpalatable meat meal. The comparison of a highly nitrogenous ration with that of a ration consisting largely of corn, while showing the advantages of the nitrogenous rations, does not show the contrast expected.
"Some visiting poultrymen expressed the opinion that corn is a better poultry food than commonly supposed. Considering this fact and the great fundamental importance of the question at issue, it was decided to repeat the experiment a third year, and feed a large number of birds on each ration.
| No. Hens. | Diet. | Ave. Egg Yield. |
| 100 | Nitrogenous | 126.9 |
| 100 | Carbonaceous | 127.2 |
I will leave the last without comment, for the whole thing is a hoax. The Illinois Experiment Station has never owned a chicken. These "Illinois" experiments were planned and executed in a few minutes of the writer's spare time. The basis of the experiments was a pack of cards containing the individual records of the Maine Experiment Station hens, shuffling the cards and averaging the desired number of records as they come in the pack, made the distinction between the various diets.
Experimental Bias
Pet ideas consciously or unconsciously mold practice. A bias toward an idea may show itself in the planning and conducting of an experiment, or it may come out in the later interpretation.
An illustration of the first kind is found in the early work of the West Virginia Station (Bulletin 60). With the preconceived notion that hens should have a nitrogenous diet an experiment was planned and conducted as follows: