GRADING UP LIVE STOCK 



357 



uses only their eggs in raising new chickens, the young 

 hens should, many of them, lay about 200 eggs a year. 

 Those that lay many less should be weeded out. If 

 one or two lay 250 eggs, there is chance for still further 

 advance. By careful " selection " of this kind, chicken 

 breeders in late years have produced whole flocks that 

 average nearly 250 eggs a year, while some 300-egg hens 

 have been produced. Lady Eglantine, a White Leghorn, 

 of the Delaware station has an official record of 314 eggs 

 for one year. Man's part in this improvement is to select, 

 over and over again, the proper variations that nature 

 offers, and then to protect these selections from going 

 backward toward the old average by mixing with poorer 

 stock. 



262. Grading up Live Stock. Much money could be 

 added to the farmer's income, if his stock had more desir- 

 able qualities. For ex- 

 ample, the average cow 

 of the United States 

 produces 145 pounds of 

 butter fat yearly. But 

 in 1914, May Rilma, then 

 the champion Guernsey 

 of the world, produced 

 1058. 54 pounds of butter 

 fat from April 8, 1913, 

 to April 7, 1914; and 

 since then (1915) this 

 record has been beaten 

 by several cows. In all 



herds, there are differences enough in production so that 

 the farmer may " grade up " his herd by selecting only the 

 higher producers for breeding purposes. 



Certain terms are in use to express the standing of 



A HOLSTEIN CALF. 



Sold in Chicago June 5, 1914, 

 for $20,000. 



