THE CALL OF THE HEN. 65 



opinion is the greatest c'.-ort of nature? The writer things it 

 is the ^flFort to reproduce the species in all their different forms 

 of a,_ .,ute and inanimate life. If the case was otherwise this 

 earth would be barren of grass and shrubs, of flowers, and 

 fruits and of every living, moving thing on land and in the 

 sea What a desolate old world this would be with only bare 

 dirt and rocks and water. And when we consider what a won- 

 der/ul thing life is can we doubt that nature has made some 

 extraordinary provisions for controlling its inception. In the 

 wild state the survival of the fittest prevented degeneracy of 

 the species but under domestication birds cannot follow their 

 instincts. And their owners should be familiar with nature's 

 laws in order to be able to breed intelligently. 



When the writer was twelve years of age he took up the 

 study of human nature and later had help from that great 

 teacher, Prof. O. S. Fowler. Years of practice in dissecting 

 and in anatomy and in the study of the skulls of animals and 

 birds gave me the opportunity to study the construction of the 

 different skulls, and classify them as to the known habits of the 

 birds or animals under consideration. The knowledge gained 

 in this way was of inestimable value in later research in the 

 selection and breeding of poultry. I am positive that without 

 this early training I never could have accomplished what I 

 have. 



After raising my first lot of Leghorns in 1869 I decided to 

 disposed of all breeds but the Leghorns and Light Brahmas. I 

 said I would raise Leghorns for eggs and Brahmas for meat Up 

 to that time I had not paid much attention to the individual 

 laying qualities of the birds. Experience had taught me that 

 the Light Brahma when fed right and of the right age made a 

 delicious table fowl and I was led to believe the Leghorns 

 were all great layers. That was a good many years ago. And 

 we have made wonderful discoveries and progress in science 

 and the arts since that time. The reader can imagine my sur- 

 prise when I found by experience that some of my leghorns 

 laid very few eggs and laid them only in the spring months. 

 Others laid large numbers and laid late in the fall and early 

 winter. In those days we had no cold storage plants and while 

 eggs were very cheap in the summer, they were very dear in 

 the winter and I decided to experiment w r ith my Leghorns 

 with a view to getting more eggs in the winter. After a few 

 years of study and experiment I mated the best egg type birds 



