70 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



erations — building sites, relief from taxes, etc., — in order 

 to induce them to locate in their town to manufacture shoes 

 or clothes or clocks, while in those same neighborhoods there 

 are many farmers, poultrymen and dairymen who are manu- 

 facturing from the raw materials the most highly finished 

 products known to man, — milk, eggs, poultry, etc. Hence 

 it is that our hen is a vital, living machine, and if we are 

 going to make money out of her she must be built especially 

 for her business, as the best of complicated machinery, like 

 the printing press or the locomotive, is built for its business. 



Hens have several kinds of business on hand. Some of 

 them are just for show; for exhibition only; they are the 

 aristocrats. Some are built for meat production ; they ma- 

 ture early, develop strong bodies, with quick growth and well- 

 distributed flesh with a small amount of waste material ; 

 they are the broiler and the roasting fowl. Other hens are 

 l)uilt on an entirely diiferent plan. Their mission in the 

 world is to produce just as many eggs of the right shape, 

 size and color as we can get them to 'produce and still keep 

 strong and healthy; and these are the egg-laying machines. 

 Then we have groups of hens that are pretty fairly good all- 

 round individuals. They are really the genuine Yankee hens. 

 They combine in one type many of the essential qualities. 



The point that I want to emphasize now is that if we are 

 to make money from high-priced food such as we have to 

 feed we must so select and so breed that the hen, our ma- 

 chine, will give the largest possible measure of return. 



The second point is to get the right kind of food, — the 

 right kind of a ration, so that when we feed the highly 

 organized animal she is going to give us the largest measure 

 of efficiency of which she is capable. There are many good, 

 industrious, hard-working, well-boni hens in this and every 

 other State which never have had an opportunity to do what 

 they want to do and can do in the matter of laying eggs. 

 Hens like to lay and chickens like to grow; it is simply a 

 question of giving them the right kind of food and environ- 

 mental condition that will let them follow along the lino 

 of least resistance and do what gives them the most fun. 

 They are like normal, well-organized persons. They will be 



