770 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



pen 2 except that corn was substituted for peas and the oats were fed in the 

 proportion of two parts instead of three. 



Pen 1 averaged 24 eggs per pullet ; pen 2, 116 eggs ; and pen 3, 131 eggs. The 

 percentage of eggs under 2 oz. in pen 1 was 6GJ ; in iwn 2, 5.5 ; and in pen 3, 6§. 

 Pen 1 cost, exclusive of labor, .$19.36, and brought in only .$18.45 ; pen 2 cost 

 $34.91, with an income of .$87.15 ; and pen 3 cost .$33.22, with an income of .$97.20. 



[Comparison of methods of managing poultry], Mbs. G. R. Shoup (Wash- 

 ington Sta., West. Wash. Sta., ^[o. BuL, 3 {1916), Xo. 11, pp. 5-i.}).— This con- 

 tinues work previously noted (E. S. R., 34, p. 669). The pen of pullets, which 

 had been receiving ordinary care, were shut in a house, due to the extreme 

 cold winter weather, and were fed on green feed. This treatment was found 

 to Increase the egg production, the egg yield being 30 per cent greater the first 

 17 days of January than it was the last 17 days of December. It is concluded 

 that housing during the winter, the feeding of green feeds, and regular feeding 

 all go to increase the egg yield. 



The lengthening of the work day by artificial light seemed to be followed by 

 increased egg yields, as in the previous work. 



Poultry in Texas, J. E. Rice {Agr. and }[cch. Col. Tex. Ext. Scrv. Bui. B-10 

 {1916), pp. 109, figs. J!i9). — General information on the breeding, feeding, care, 

 and management of poultry under Texas conditions is given. 



What the size of an &ee means, D. E. Warnek and AV. F. Kirkpatrick 

 (Jour. Ilcrcditi/, 7 (1916), Xo. 3, pp. 128-131, figs. 2).— The authors have found, 

 in their work at the Connecticut Storrs Station, that contrary to current belief 

 neither small nor large eggs are necessarily laid either at the beginning or end 

 of a hen's laying period, but that they are most often laid during the time of 

 heavy egg production. 



"The number of eggs laid by the 1,820 hens during the 20 months' period 

 was 199,137, of which 103 were small (less than 0.09 lb.) and 89 were large 

 (over 0.179 lb.). . . . The 103 small eggs were laid by only 85 hens, showing 

 that only a small percentage of the hens laid a small egg during their first year 

 of laying. Four hens out of the 85 laid 2 small eggs at different periods of 

 their productivity. . . . 



" It was found that only 2 eggs out of a total of 103 indicate a resting period 

 after the production of a small egg. In every other case the small egg was 

 found in an almost uninterrupted series of normal eggs. . . . 



" The figures also show that as a rule hens do not lay extremely small eggs at 

 the beginning of their laying periods, but that such eggs are laid at a time when 

 the hen is laying most heavily. It seems clear, therefore, that the small egg is 

 not due to the fact that it is a hen's first attempt, or to the fact that it is the end 

 of her laying period and represents exhausted power. A fairer a.ssumption as 

 to the cause of these small eggs would lie that they are due to some mechanical 

 interference with the hen's normal functions — that they are laid whenever a 

 particle of blood, foreign element, or an undeveloped yolk is drawn into the 

 passage where the shells are formed, and that contractions of the oviduct then 

 cause an egg to be laid completely formed, but without having undergone 

 normal development. . . . 



" [Of the] 89 large eggs, nearly 99 per cent were laid at the time of heavy 

 production, and in most cases the hen did not rest after laying such an egg. but 

 continued her uninterrupted yield of normal eggs. ... It further appeared 

 that in most cases the hen did not rest before laying a large egg any more than 

 she did after such a performance. Forty-five of the large eggs were laid with- 

 out any previous resting period. 31 wc^re laid with a resting period of 1 day 

 before, and 10 were laid with a resting period of 2 days." 



