1 8 The Egg. 



growth of the eggs, and their relative positions, when he influ- 

 ences several of them at a single union with the hen, while at 

 other times his influence does not extend to more than one. At 

 what periods, or stages of progress, he is most serviceable, is 

 as yet not fully understood, but when the hen has completed 

 the storing of the elements that compose the future chick 

 within the shell, with the aid of the male, the egg is endowed 

 with a living principle, and is a thing of life, ready to germi- 

 nate like a seed, and requiring nearly the same conditions ; but, 

 being well supplied with its own moisture, the only essential 

 is -warmth. 



Why is it that some eggs do not hatch, while others contain 

 strong and active chicks ? To solve this problem one is com- 

 pelled to look back beyond the production of the egg itself. An 

 imperfect egg will not produce a perfect chick. The pullet, 

 not fully matured, cannot compete with the hen ; while the hen, 

 when she has performed her duty until late in the season, is 

 not a vigorous rival of the pullet. It is well known that eggs 

 vary in form, size and shape. The hen that steals her nest 

 hatches chicks from a clutch of eggs that are uniform in every 

 respect, and such hens having their liberty, are usually in full 

 vigor. When eggs are given to a hen for incubation they 

 may have been produced by as many different hens. In a 

 large lot of eggs we find the very small egg of the immature 

 pullet, the large egg of abnormal size and irregular shape, 

 from the fat hen, the egg with thin shell (which indicates a lack 

 of mineral matter within the egg), and the egg with protuber- 

 ances, or that is shapeless. One who has ever looked over 

 an array of several hundred eggs in an incubator is aware of 

 the great discrepancies existing between eggs, no two of them 

 being exactly alike. The condition of the hens, their vigor, 

 the lack of the essential elements, the impotency of the male, 

 and other means, combine to cause failure. When the hen 

 lays an egg perfect in shape, of normal size and with the shell 

 free from defects of any kind, such an egg will produce an ac- 

 tive, strong chick if the male is in full vigor. The maxim for 



