128 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 1909. 



TABLE IX. 



Sliozving the Correlation hetiveen Fertility of Eggs and Winter 

 (November i to March i) Egg Production. _ Data for ipo8. 



only allowed to stay in the breeding pens throughout the season 

 in order to learn just how poor a record they would make for 

 the purposes of the present study. The principle should be 

 clearly recognized that some hens are "shy breeders" just as 

 are some cows. Any method by which such birds can be 

 thrown out and prevented from increasing the number of eggs 

 which it takes in practical work to produce a living chick will 

 be useful and profitable. 



The Relation oe Winter Egg Production to the 



Fertility oe Eggs. 

 Admitting the fact brought out in Tables VII and VIII that 

 there are great individual difTerenccs among different pullets 

 and hens in respect to their ability to produce fertile eggs, the 

 further })r()blcm is raised as to what influences are responsible 

 for these differences. What underlies the fact that one hen in 

 a breeding pen will have say 50 per cent, of her eggs infertile 

 while another hen in the same pen will have none of her eggs 



