296 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



be interested in this subject and who care to study that matter of 

 type to a hen I have here, if you were close to her you would readily 

 see a difference of type in her shape; it is a good egg type, too. 

 Those who can see will notice that this hen is shorter in body very 

 considerably than the other one. 



Now I am not one of those who believe that you can determine all 

 the characteristics of a hen by the outside appearance. This hen, 

 however, has proved a most excellent egg producer (referring to one 

 held in his hands). 



If you are going to make a business of producing fancy birds, 

 if you are going to try to produce a show-bird, you want to breed 

 to that type, select what is characteristic of those varieties. I 

 want to call your attention to the egg variety particularly, that 

 wide, broad, deep conformatin of the rear part of the body, the gen- 

 eral typical shape that you want to get if you desire to have very 

 great egg production. 



We have here a hen of a type that would seem to indicate very 

 satisfactory egg production. She is from a pen of my own, and I 

 want to say to you that they have not earned their bread for the 

 last three months. If you look at her you see she has all the indica- 

 tions of a good egg type, and yet as I have told you, she has not 

 earned her feed for the last three months, so I say the type won't 

 always hold. I brought this hen here for that particular purpose, 

 to illustrate that fact and to call your attention to it. As an egg 

 producer, she is not worth that (snapping his fingers). 



The only way that you can reach success is to follow up your strain 

 closely enough, and keep your record of .them so accurately that 

 you will be sure to know which ones do produce. The man who says 

 he can tell by the type, by the shape which one will produce the 

 most eggs, is like the man who says he can tell by the shape of the 

 egg whether it will produce a cockerel or a pullet. He can't do it. 



(Taking out another bird and exhibiting the same.) We have 

 here a small bird, a bird that of almost all the birds of this variety 

 is most active; they are all Wyandottes and great egg producers, 

 great rustlers; you turn two flocks out in the morning of the same 

 day, and here is a bird that will rustle and get over the hillside 

 and be over on the other side while some of them, particularly 

 these Partridge-Wyandottes will be lying around waiting for the 

 next feed. There is something in the strain of the bird that shows 

 egg production and meat production; still you must study it. 



1 want to say one thing, and that is on the subject of fresh blood; 

 something which is doing more harm to flocks in the State of 

 Pennsylvania than any other one thing. Select your best, breed 

 your best, and mate them if you have suitable selections, breeding 

 in the same strain but not too closely related. For example, if you 



