444 
Another example may be cited in the 
White Leghorn hens which won the 
1912-13 competition with 1,461 eggs, 
and the following two-years’ test with 
1,091 eggs in their second year without 
replacement of a bird. These hens 
subsequently in the breeding pen re- 
produced in the constitutional vigor 
of their progeny the inherent vitality 
which sustained their great laying in 
the competition. It was the owner of 
these hens who, with other birds of 
precisely the same blood, achieved a 
world’s record in the 1914-15 single-pen 
test. The four best hens in that group, 
with certified individual records of 
267, 270, 270, and 288 eggs, when used 
for breeding last season, gave every 
evidence that constitutionally they had 
not suffered under the strain of this 
great production, which represented 
eight times their own weight in eggs. 
The owner and breeder of these excep- 
tionally prolific hens emphatically 
states: “I notice absolutely no deteri- 
oration in stamina or constitution in 
the progeny. I never had a healthier 
or more vigorous lot of youngsters. 
They hatched well and reared well.” 
Six of the daughters of these hens 
are competing in the present competi- 
tion, and physically they compare in 
every respect with their mothers. 
Again, the results of breeding from 
the three best hens that gave the 
highest returns in the 1913-14 single- 
pen test have been similarly satis- 
factory. In the first season the fertility 
was good, the chickens were sturdy, 
and they developed to maturity with a 
high average in full possession of 
soundness and vitality. A  cockerel 
from them was mated back to these 
hens, and observation in my own and 
other yards shows that there is no 
evidence of physical deterioration in 
either pullets or cockerels of this second 
generation. Instances of this sort could 
be multiplied were it necessary. 
ONE ADVERSE CASE 
It may be asked, have there been any 
failures as breeders amongst these 
high competitive producers? I have 
only met with one case that: appeared 
The Journal of Heredity 
to point in that direction. This was in 
connection with a pen of Chinese 
Langshans which won the fifth annual 
competition and the first two-years’ 
test, and whose score of 1,481 eggs stood 
as the record for eight years in these 
competitions. The hatching and rear- 
ing results from these hens in the 
hands of the purchaser of the pen were 
certainly disappointing, but their owner 
assured me that the fault was his. He 
was at that time quite a novice, and, 
in his own words, ‘the hens never had 
a chance.’”’ He has since maintained 
that same line of blood direct from these 
hens with results that have given him 
complete satisfaction. 
The available evidence warrants the 
conclusion that a hen is not to be 
regarded as a doubtful transmitter of 
stamina to her progeny because she 
is the proved possessor of the factor of 
fecundity in a high or exceptional 
degree. There is certainly a field for 
investigational work in the closer study 
of prepotency in regard to these hens 
of extreme fecundity, and possibilities 
for extending the educational side of the 
competitions in this direction, in co- 
operation with the owners, might well 
be a matter for consideration by the 
controlling authorities. But, as already 
indicated, the following up, as it were, 
of the hens after they have been tested 
at Hawkesbury College, has shown how 
theoretical and fallacious is the con- 
tention that great laying makes great 
inroads upon the stamina of a hen, 
and that for this reason, in order to 
maintain constitutional vigor in the 
stock, preference should be given to 
the medium layer in selecting breeding 
birds. This term ‘‘medium”’ layer is 
a very vague one. We see some old 
world self-styled experts ‘ advocating 
the 150-egg hen as the ideal embodi- 
ment of constitution required to fulfil 
the functions of mother of the flock, 
while others go so far as to pronounce 
the 180-egg hen a safe proposition. 
In this country, since the competitions 
have focussed attention upon all these 
practical questions, the 200-egg hen 
has become so commonplace that any 
possessor of a good laying strain would 
