PREFACE 



This is an age which demands action, applied thought, 

 and a practical, actual, and workable science. The world 

 is demanding to know, not "What are you?" or "What do 

 you look like?" but "What can you do?" Drones are being 

 culled out in all lines of business activity, and rightly so; 

 and the same is true with the poultry business. The hen 

 which delivers the goods is the hen which is in demand. 

 "The hen that lays is the hen that pays." 



We have two reasons for publishing THE CALL OF THE 

 HEN. Some three years ago Mr. Hogan sent us three males, 

 all Single Comb White Leghorns; one was of his 280-egg 

 type, selected according to this system, another was of the 

 150-egg type, and the third was of a 70- or 80-egg type. 

 He also sent us two pens of hens of his own selection and breed- 

 ing. We trapnested all the hens, and bred from all three 

 males. The results in every case have borne out Mr. Hogan's 

 claims and the truthfulness of his methods of selection and 

 breeding. We have also tested the hens in the egg-laying 

 contests; taken measurements and made tests and judged 

 their capacity for laying as per this system, THE CALL OF 

 THE HEN. The results so nearly tally with the system in 

 practically every case that we feel that this is a valuable 

 method of selection and breeding, which should be in the 

 hands of everyone who attempts to raise poultry. 



Capacity, condition, type, and vigor must all be taken 

 into consideration in determining whether a hen will be a 

 good producer or a poor producer. By making a careful 

 and sensible application of the rules made known in this 

 book, it is possible for any poultry-raiser to avoid great loss. 



We are told, and have good reason to believe that it 

 is true, that the average farm hen lays less than 80 eggs 

 per year. If that be true, about half the poultry is being 

 kept at a loss to the owner. If this is the condition, are we 

 not justified in doing something to attract the attention 

 of the farmers and poultry-raisers to methods and practices 

 which will lead to the production of more eggs from the aver- 



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