FARM ANIMALS 327 



last in egg production while in economy of feeding 

 a Black Minorca and White Wyandotte cross 

 stood first and Black Minorca last. 



Egg Production and Space for Hens. It is 

 obvious that hens require some room, especially in 

 their houses, in order to produce the best results. 

 The factor of overcrowding in egg production has 

 been tested in Maine where it was found that 

 the number of eggs diminished rapidly when the 

 hens were crowded beyond a comfortable limit in 

 houses. 



Increasing the Number of Eggs by Breeding. 

 Many poultrymen have tested tne effect of building 

 up the flock of hens by selecting those which lay 

 a large number of eggs and using these eggs for 

 hatching out the birds of the future flocks. In this 

 way flocks have been built up in which nearly 

 every hen will lay from two hundred to two hundred 

 and fifty eggs per year. There can be no question 

 that the egg production of a flock of fowls can be 

 appreciably increased by careful selection of the 

 birds. This system of selection is based on the 

 practical idea that the offspring of the best laying 

 hens should lay more eggs than those from poorer 

 hens. The same principle works out in practice 

 in breeding other animals and would naturally be 

 expected to hold good for fowls. Tests thus far 

 made by poultrymen have shown this to be true. 

 The same methods have been adopted in the East 

 and West and it appears certain that the hen has 

 the power of transmitting her laying qualities to 

 offspring. On account of the fact that eggs of 

 uniform size are desired for market appearance 

 the same attempt has been made to determine 

 whether uniformity in size was a matter which 

 could be regulated by selection. It has been found 



