68 THE CALL OF THE HEN. 



the number of eggs a hen laid, what particular eggs she laid, 

 and the progeny of each hen, both male and female. I also 

 found great variations in type in the mature cockerels from 

 each individual hen, which we considered was due to the dif- 

 ference in type of the male bird and the difference in vitality 

 of one or both birds at different times during the breeding 

 season, sometimes the hen at other times the cock bird trans- 

 mitting their characteristics. When I was assured of this 

 through numerous experiments we reasoned that our failures 

 were because the male birds were of a different type from the 

 hens, and when I had demonstrated that the male birds were 

 of a different physiology by practice and scientific measures 

 and mated accordingly I flattered myself with the assurance 

 that I had discovered all that was necessary in order to breed 

 poultry intelligently, but after more experiments I was not 

 wholly satisfied with results; and as I had adopted the motto, 

 "Like begets like" I reasoned that although the birds we had 

 mated were alike as far as we could see, the remaining differ- 

 ence must be some place where I had failed to look for it. My 

 knowledge of the different variations in form of the skulls of 

 animals and birds of the same breed together with the knowl- 

 edge I possessed of human skulls led me to investigate the 

 head as the only remaining factor in the problem. When I re- 

 duced this proposition to a method and when I was able to 

 measure its potentiality, then I assembled the hens and cock 

 birds, mating the 180 egg type hens and the 180 egg type 

 cock bird each bird with the same degree of prepotency. Then 

 and not until then had I ever knowingly mated like to like. 

 For years, like many others, I thought I had mated males 

 to like females but I was mistaken. And here is where 

 I discovered my second great secret. After this I mated 

 like to like more intelligntly and the results were more satis 

 factory. I consider the selecting of the male birds for mat- 

 ing along anatomical and Physiological lines together with 

 the proper understanding and use of the faculty that governs 

 the reproductive function as the greatest discoveries ever 

 made in the poultry industry. The reader may think there is 

 very little difference in the skulls on Plate 35. If you add an 

 inch to the length of a man's legs it does not seem to make 

 much difference in his height but if you add an inch to the end 

 of his nose it would make a great difference to his looks. I 

 found this expansion on the back of the skull corresponded to 



