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lies. Fowls which have taken premiums in the poultry exhibitions 

 have often been bred for fancy points, utility as measured by egg 

 production being almost absolutely neglected. 



A number of private breeders and notably the Maine Experiment 

 Station have been breeding for improvement in egg production, using 

 for that purpose some form of trap nest whereby individual records 

 can be kept. Marked improvement has already been effected. 



The writer's preference for egg production is a strain of one of 

 the American general purpose breeds, especially bred for improve- 

 ment in that direction. He is aware that some of the non-sitting 

 breeds of the Mediterranean or Polish classes are under conditions 

 -suited to them very superior egg producers, but in his judgment, the 

 greater ability of the American breeds to endure cold and the greater 

 value of the males as table birds renders them superior under con- 

 ditions most usually existing in Massachusetts. Fowls belonging to 

 strains of these breeds especially improved for egg production, 

 although at some seasons of the year frequently broody, are never- 

 theless persistent layers and will probably under average conditions 

 prove more profitable even where egg production is the first object 

 in view, than the Mediterranean and Polish breeds which require 

 more careful housing and protection. They are, on the other hand 

 less frequently broody than the Asiatic breeds. They are perhaps 

 ■equally satisfactory with these breeds as producers of winter eggs 

 and are likely to produce on the average a larger number of eggs in 

 a year. 



Hatching and Rearing the Laying Stock. 



In hatching and rearing laying stock, the object usually prominent 

 in view is to bring the pullets forward at such time that they will 

 produce abundance of eggs during the season of high prices. The 

 date at which the chicks should be hatched in order to accomplish 

 this result will naturally depend in a measure upon the breed and 

 the strain, for fowls of different breeds and strains require variable 

 lengths of time to come to laying maturity. If the chicks are hatched 

 too early, there is always danger that they will begin to lay in late 

 summer or early fall, producing a relatively small or moderate num- 

 fber of eggs only, and that they will then molt partially or completely. 

 •Under these conditions, the pullets are not likely to produce eggs 



