PROGRESSIVE POULTRY CULTURE 49 



tilization of the eggs by careful mating of his vig- 

 orous, healthy breeding stock according to the facts and 

 factors already considered and by their proper feeding 

 and management during the breeding season. To in- 

 sure the highest percentage of fertility in the eggs, two 

 male birds a*e sometimes used with one flock of hens, 

 alternating their services day by day. Abundant range 

 or exercise and fresh green food are favorable to fer- 

 tility and good hatching quality. 



The fertility of the egg can not be certainly deter- 

 mined before incubation begins without breaking the 

 shell, which would destroy its power of hatching. 



The interested poultryman who is willing to study 

 a few eggs may find it instructive to examine, and com- 

 pare several germ-cells. A person who has keen eye- 

 sight or who will use a lens of moderate magnifying 

 power, can readily detect a difference in the appearance 

 of infertile and fertile germ-cells. Open a space of the 

 size of a silver quarter of a dollar in the shell of an 

 egg, midway between the ends or carefully break the 

 shell and gently empty its contents into a saucer. The 

 yolk, floating towards the top in the wkite of the egg, 

 carries, imbedded in its upper surface, the germ-cell 

 a circular spot about one-eighth of an inch in diameter. 

 The female egg-cell which has failed to be fertilized or 

 fecundated by the male germ, has a whitish appearance 

 except that little clear spots are distributed here and 

 there over its surface. The fertilized germ-cell has an 

 outer margin which is whitish and within this a small 

 clear circle containing little whitish dots. This clear, 

 central portion of the fecundated cell is the germ which 

 develops by incubation into the embryo chick. 



There is some variation in the appearance of fertile 

 germ-cells because fecundation of the female cell takes 

 place before the yolk has proceeded far in the oviduct 

 and development of the embryo often begins while the 

 egg is within the body of the fowl. 



The perfect fertilized germ-cell, in the first place, 

 is a single cell. Under the influence of v the body heat 

 surrounding it in the oviduct, and because of the life 



