26 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



birds, all indicated by the fact that they had a leg band on 

 the left shank because they began by the time they were eight 

 months old, the leg band on the right shank showing that they 

 laid after September 1. 



Birds can be classified into four groups, first, those birds that 

 lay by the time they are eight months old and also continue to 

 lay until after September 1, and so have leg bands on both 

 shanks. The second group will be those birds that begin before 

 they are eight months old, and they get a leg band on their 

 left shank, but they cease to lay before September 1 and get 

 no leg band on their right shank. Then we have a third group 

 that are slow to begin to lay, and therefore do not get a leg 

 band on the left shank, but do lay after September 1 and get 

 one on the right shank. Then we have a fourth group of 

 birds that do not begin to lay until after eight months and 

 get no leg band on the left shank, and ceased to lay before 

 September 1 and therefore have no band on the right shank. 



By that method of selection we picked 81 birds out of 166 

 that had leg bands on both shanks, or 48 per cent, of the flock; 

 44 birds that had leg bands on the left shank only, or 26 per 

 cent.; 13 that had leg bands on the right shank only, or 7.8 

 per cent.; 28 birds that had no leg bands on, or 16.8 per cent. 

 The first group's production was 166 eggs; second group, 122, 

 — a difference of 44 eggs per hen for the group; the third 

 group, 114 eggs; the fourth group, 90 eggs. In the second 

 year the first group laid 140, the second group, 107, — a dif- 

 ference of 33 eggs; the third group, 129; the fourth group, 

 107. The record for the third year was 123 for the first group, 

 95 for the second, 114 for the third, 95 for the fourth group. 

 The average production of three years was 143 for the first 

 group, 108 for the second group, 119 for the third and 97 for 

 the fourth. 



And what did this mean in money value? It meant that 

 the eggs sold at commercial prices for the first group averaged 

 to sell for $3.57 per hen per year for three years; the second 

 group, $2.40 per hen; the third group, $2.87 per hen; and 

 the fourth group, $2.18 per hen. How is that for a contrast 

 between the $2.18 and the $3.57 actual monej^ value per bird 

 for those years? 



