FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDING 211 



upon his knowledge of foods and the skill he exercises io 

 feeding. 



That the fowls of to-day lay considerably more eggs than 

 their wild progenitors did is due in part to better feeding 

 and a more abundant supply of food. But the hens are 

 not laying on the average half what they should. To secure 

 the maximum egg yield the poultryman must give earnest 

 attention to the feed bucket and to methods of feeding. 

 High success in securing eggs can only come where the sub- 

 ject of poultry feeds and feeding is given earnest study. 



A Knowledge of the Composition of Foods will enable 

 the poultryman to gain a clearer conception of their values. 

 The advance in poultry feeding in recent years has been 

 due in part to a better knowledge of the composition of 

 foods. While our knowledge of poultry foods and feeding 

 may never reach a point where we can say that certain 

 foods or rations will produce certain results, yet a great 

 deal of valuable information is available as a result of ex- 

 perimental feeding at the stations and of chemical analysis 

 of poultry foods. In addition we have the experience of 

 practical poultry-keepers, which constitutes a fund of val- 

 uable information to draw upon. But poultry feeding has 

 not yet been reduced to a so-called scientific basis. While 

 this is true, the student of poultry feeding will be agreeably 

 surprised to find much data of such a character as to well 

 repay diligent study and research. The manufacture of 

 eggs for egg production is really a manufacturing pro- 

 cess, the hen being the factory requires a careful study 

 of the raw materials as well as of the finished product, and 

 the working of the factory itself. If the poultryman wishes 

 to achieve the highest measure of success, it is imperative 

 that he avail himself of the information that is available as 

 a result of costly experience and experiment. 



