58 THE CALL OF THE HEN. 



must, therefore, read her as a two-finger abdomen hen, Yie-mch pelvic 

 bone, when, by looking on Chart 2, we find her capacity would be 96 

 eggs her first laying year, if we kept her in condition. 



We will drop her, and take another hen out of the crate. This 

 hen may be a one-finger abdomen hen, as in Fig. 12. When we examine 

 her for condition, we find her as in Fig. 21; this indicates that she is 

 two fingers out of condition; her pelvic bone may be Vie of an inch. 

 Under her present condition, she might lay 36 eggs her first laying year, 

 whereas, if she were kept in good condition, she would have a three- 

 finger abdomen. She might lay 180 eggs. 



We will drop this hen and take up another one. She may be two 

 fingers abdomen and her breast-bone may be as in Fig. 19. Her pelvic 

 bone may be Vie of an inch. We would read her as a two-finger-ab- 

 domen hen in good condition, pelvic bones Vie of an inch thick. We 

 will look on Chart 2 at Vie-inch pelvic bone, and find she is a 96-egg 

 type hen. 



We will drop her and take another from the crate. She may be 

 two fingers abdomen and two fingers out of condition, as in Fig. 21, 

 with pelvic bones J4 of an mcn thick. She would read two fingers 

 abdomen and two fingers out of condition. She would be four fingers 



CHART 2. 



Two-finger Abdomen. 



Vie pelvic bone 96 eggs 



l /6 pelvic bone 87 eggs 



Vie pelvic bone 78 eggs 



*/4 pelvic bone 69 eggs 



Vie pelvic bone 60 eggs 



3 /8 pelvic bone 51 eggs 



Vie pelvic bone 42 eggs 



l /z pelvic bone 33 eggs 



Vie pelvic bone 24 eggs 



5 /s pelvic bone 16 eggs 



n /i6 pelvic bone 6 eggs 



8 /4 pelvic bone eggs 



abdomen if in condition, and J^-inch pelvic bones. Being a four-fineer- 

 abdomen hen (if in condition), we will look on Chart 4 at J^-inch pelvic 

 bone, and find she is a 175-egg type hen. We will drop her. 



Take another. She may be a two-finger-abdomen hen, as in Fig. 

 13, in good condition, as in Fig. 19, with pelvic bones % of an inch 

 thick, as in Fig. 29. She would read two fingers abdomen , good condi- 

 tion, %-inch pelvic bones. We will look on Chart 2 for %-inch pelvic 

 bone, and find this hen will lay nothing. This does not mean that she 

 is an absolutely barren hen, that she will never lay an egg (I will explain 

 this when we get to the six-finger-abdomen hen); she may lay a few, 

 perhaps half a dozen, in the spring when the crows lay; but as a com- 

 mercial proposition she will have no more value than the hen that never 

 laid an egg. Everything she consumes goes to the making of flesh, 

 except what she uses in bodily maintenance. 



We will drop her and take another. She may be a three-finger- 

 abdomen hen, as in Fig. 14. Her condition may be as in Fig. 19,. with 



