1906.] DISCUSSION. 117 



Mr. Graham. How long have you been doing that? How 

 many years have you been marking the pullets ? 



Mr. TiLLiNGHAST. That is a comparatively new thing 

 with me. We have only been doing that for two or three 

 years. 



Mr. Graham. Do you suppose that you have got any hens 

 on your plant over three years old? 



Mr. TiLLiNGHAST. Yes, I have got them there, old grand- 

 mothers, six or eight years old. 



Mr. Graham. Have you any method of telling how old 

 your hens are, or how many of those hens are over two years ? 



Mr. TiLLiNGHAST. I have for the last two or three years. 

 Some of the older ones I cannot tell whether they have passed 

 that age or not. 



Mr. Graham. Do you make a practice of culling them 

 out? Do you take the old hens out each year, and put new 

 blood in, or do you leave a hen there until she dies? 



Mr. TiLLiNGHAST. Why, that depends. 



Mr. Graham. I understand that your plan is to increase 

 the number each year, and I wanted to know how you kept 

 your stock up? 



Mr. TiLLiNGHAST. If I do not get as many pullets as I 

 want, I keep the old hens. A Leghorn hen will lay as long as 

 she lives, and she will pay as long as she eats. She will not 

 pay as much as when she is younger, but if I want to in- 

 crease my stock, I take that method. 



Mr. Graham. You think that no matter how old a hen is 

 she will pay for what she eats? 



Mr. TiLLiNGHAST. A White Leghorn hen will pay for 

 what she eats and more. There is one thing about older hens. 

 You get better eggs and you get stronger chicks. In my ex- 

 perience I have found a good deal of difficulty in getting pul- 

 lets' eggs to hatch. 



Mr. Graham. You have found from experience that the 

 eggs from older hens are better ? 



