Rural School Leaflet 71 



O 



they are more nearly alike as to rate of growth, size, temperament, 

 activity, and the like. 



Whatcanwedotoimprove our poultry? — Any boy or girl who isoldenough to 

 take care of chickens can improve the quality of poultry in two ways : First, 

 by keeping only pure-bred stock and by selecting, mating, and taking proper 

 care of them ; second, by selecting and using only the right kind of eggs for 

 hatching. Both of these things should be done, but either one alone will be 

 likely to result in sufhcient improvement to warrant the effort of doing it. We 

 should keep a pure breed instead of common mongrel fowls. This is within 

 the reach of all . It is neither difficult nor expensive to secure in any neighbor- 

 hood a few pure-bred fowls or their eggs. With these a small start can be 

 made. Each year more and m.ore pure-bred chickens can be reared to 

 take the place of the common fowls until all the flock are pure-bred. 



Find out for yoiirself, by trying, whether it will pay better to have a 

 pure breed of poultry. Remember, however, that not all pure-bred fowls 

 are good fowls. Whether we have pure-bred or mongrel stock they must 

 be strong, vigorous, and healthy. 



n. selecting and keeping eggs for hatching 

 James E. Rice 



One of the easiest ways to increase the money-earning value of poultry 

 is to improve the quality of their eggs. The best customers usually are 

 willing to pay a higher price for eggs of superior quality. Frequently this 

 difference in price is as high as five to ten cents a dozen. Each hen in a 

 good flock should lay on the average ten to eleven dozen eggs a year. If 

 the eggs are of such quality that they will sell for even two cents more a 

 dozen than ordinary eggs, this woiild mean a net difference of about twenty- 

 five cents a hen in a year. This extra price is nearly all clear profit, due 

 to the uniformity in size, shape, and color of the eggs. 



The eggs that bring the highest price will depend somewhat on the 

 market (see Lesson XI). We must first find out what kind of eggs will 

 bring the highest price and pay the largest profit in our market, and then 

 produce that kind only. 



There are several things that we can do which will help to improve the 

 selling quality of the eggs: 



1 . We should keep a pure breed of poultry that will lay eggs as nearly 

 as possible the right size, shape, and color to meet the requirements of 

 our market. Such fowls cost little, if any, more to keep than fowls that 

 lay an inferior quality of eggs. 



2. Only those eggs should be used for hatching that are of best market 

 type as to size, color, and texture. Pure-bred fowls will be likely to lay 

 eggs similar to the eggs from which they were hatched. In other words, 



