THE CALL OF THE HEN. 59 



will read this work. For this reason I cannot be too plain 

 in my language or too careful of details in explaining matters. 

 The first laying year has nothing whatever to do with the age 

 of a hen or pullet. I have had hens that had passed their 

 first laying-year when they were sixteen months old. On 

 the other hand, I have seen hens that were over four years 

 old that had not commenced on their first laying year. The 

 hen that had passed her first laying year when she was six- 

 teen months old had commenced to lay when she was four 

 months old, while the hens that were over four years old 

 had never laid an egg. So the reader will see the first laying 

 year commences with the first egg a pullet lays and ends 

 one year from that date, when her second laying year com- 

 mences. Some pullets will commence to lay at four months 

 old, while others of exactly the same type, fed and cared 

 for in the same manner, will not lay before they are eight 

 months old, owing to different environment. Everything 

 else being equal, poultry will develop faster on a warm, 

 dry, sandy soil than they will on a black, damp, heavy soil; 

 and they will mature much sooner in a good corn country, 

 where it is warm in the shade and warm at night, than they 

 will in a poor corn country, where it is cool at night and 

 cool in the daytime in the shade. I have raised Leghorn 

 pullets that were fully developed in size and form and laid 

 a full-sized egg when they were four months old. 



It can be done in Massachusetts, New York, New Hamp- 

 shire, and Minnesota, and in parts of California, where the 

 nights are so warm that one can sleep comfortably under a 

 sheet only; but not where you have to cuddle under a lot of 

 blankets on a summer night to keep warm. 



CHAPTER V11I. 



THE SELECTION OF TYPES. 



If the reader has practiced handling a hen as in Figs. 

 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; 10, and 11, we will proceed with a lesson in judging 

 hens as to the number of eggs they will lay their first laying 

 year. 



We will look for a small hen to commence with, as she 

 will be easier to handle. Having our hen, we will hold her as 



