No. 8. DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTUllE. 283 



ing results can be secured, not by iu creasing the egg yield even one 

 egg per hen, but by improving the quality of the eggs that they lay. 

 A person can increase the actual money earning power per hen any- 

 where from 25c to 75c per hen per year just by changing the 

 size, shape and color of the egg without any i^articular extra ell'ort 

 on the part of the hen to produce this better quality. That is the 

 easiest improvement to be made at the present time and yet it is one 

 that is very seldom discussed or systematically practiced to any great 

 extent. 



Without attempting to go into details on some of the other fac- 

 tors to be considered, we will now have the lantern slides and bring 

 out some of these points step by step in developing our subject. We 

 will begin with the first factor, namely, that of constitutional vigor. 

 We can always see things better by contrasts, so I have made a slide 

 of one of the most abnormal, one of the worst possible specimens of 

 low vitality. This bird actually existed. I photographed it myself 

 and have pointed out by descriptive terms some of the vulnerable 

 physical evidences of weakness which mark the individual. Most 

 emphatically there is such a thing as constitutional vigor character- 

 istics indicating strength or weakness that any person who is fami- 

 liar with birds and who will study these characters can see for him- 

 self or herself and can pick out the birds of high and low vitality. 

 I will guarantee to take this audience or any body of students and 

 with one hour's talk with lantern slides and with the birds them- 

 selves, which is better than the lantern slides, make a large propor- 

 tion of the class perfectly familiar with these characters so they can 

 walk right in and pick out the birds of higher or lower vitality 

 with almost unmistakable accuracy whether we are dealing with lit- 

 tle chicks or with old fowls. 



Let us briefly, with 3 or 4 lantern slides, point out some of these 

 fundamental body characters that indicate vitality so that on go- 

 ing home you can go into your flock of birds and see whether you 

 have among them any that show these particular physical characters. 

 First of all, you will notice, as you examine that bird (Fig. 1) that 

 it is developed abnormally, that it has an especially long, thin beak, 

 thin body, long thin legs and shanks and long thin toes. The bird 

 has simply responded physically to a weak constitution and Nature 

 seems to understand that if a bird is unable to take care of itself, is 

 not rugged, is not physically vigorous, that certain parts of its body 

 grow while the others dwarf and stay dormant, so that the bird natur- 

 ally takes on certain body characteristics as you can see by its atti- 

 tude. It has a crouched position entirely abnormal. It does not stand 

 up rugged and vigorous and virile. Is in a "dopey" sort of a condition. 

 Therefore, look for the long flat thin head and beak, which we speak (^f 

 as "crow-headed." Notice that generally there is a small, thin, pale 

 comb; a dull, sunken eye, and drooping eyelids, thus indicating 

 that it hasn't the life or vitality to keep its eyes open. Notice that 

 there is a very sparse and irregular development of the plumage. A 

 bird of high vitality generally is well plumed, glossy, full feathered, 

 heavily feathered and quickly feathered. Note especially that they 

 have a tucked up abdomen and a small development of the abdominal 

 tract. Notice also that they generally have narrow, breasts, narrow 



