THE CALL OF THE HEN. 25 



you must be able to judge accurately the value of the male 

 bird as to what you want him for, and, as to his ability to 

 stamp his offspring with the desired qualities. All the above 

 you can learn from this book. You should also know how 

 to operate incubators, how to feed and care for little chicks, 

 how your hen houses should be built to suit your climate, how 

 your growing pullets should be fed and housed, and the best 

 way to feed to get the most eggs at the smallest cost, and 

 how to feed and mate to get fertile eggs and vigorous chicks. 

 There are numerous books published on all of these latter 

 subjects that you can buy from the publishers of any poultry 

 paper. So we do not take up the matter in this work, we 

 give only what you cannot get anywhere else. 



Following is a series of half-tones and explanations re- 

 presenting the method we have used in instructing hundreds 

 of poultrymen and women in California and other states, 

 and the managers of poultry plants in a number of State 

 institutions in the State of California. 



CHAPTER III. 



There are four characteristics that it is absolutely nec- 

 essary for a hen to possess, for the economical production ol 

 eggs or meat. The first is capacity, the second is condition, 

 the third is type and the fourth is constitutional vigor. 

 The reader must bear the first three in mind in 

 studying the next few chapters, as we will dispose of these 

 before taking other matters into consideration. First, what is 

 capacity? Capacity means the abdominal capacity to consume 

 and assimilate the amount of food necessary to produce the 

 number of eggs or the amount of meat necessary to make the 

 individual hen under consideration a paying proposition. 

 Second, Condition. If the hen under consideration is an egg 

 type, she must be kept in proper bodily condition by supplying 

 her with the right quantity and quality of food that will fur- 

 nish her with vitality to produce the number of eggs required 

 of her. Third, Type. . She must be of a type that everything 

 she consumes is used in producing the desired effect, whether 

 it is meat, whether it is eggs, or whether it is the maximum 

 amount of eggs and meat that a dual purpose hen can produce. 

 With the reader bearing the above three propositions in mind. 



