110 THE CALL OF THE HEN. 



The best pullets can be selected at maturity by the Hogan 

 Test, and then trapnested when the poultryman is breeding 

 pedigreed stock: while the cull pullets, lacking in prepotency 

 and other points, can be kept as market egg producers. In this 

 way it will be necessary to trap nest only the cream of the 

 flock, and thereby save an immense amount of labor. The cock- 

 erels can also be selected at three months of age, and the most 

 promising saved from slaughter. By this method poultry 

 breeding will be reduced to a science, and become a pleasure 

 where now it is a brain racking proposition. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



HOW CAN I TELL A LAYING HEN? 



I am asked this question very often and in reply \vuuld 

 say from a Scientific point of view it is impossible to tell the 

 laying hen, except with the X-ray. I was at a place in San 

 Francisco lately where this subject was brought up. There was 

 a small party present, all of whom had my System. One of the 

 party worked in a large meat market where they bought and 

 dressed live poultry. He said that occasionally he dressed a 

 hen that showed no indications of being a laying hen, but upon 

 being opened an egg would be found in her. I told him the 

 hens that he had described were those that laid a very few eggs, 

 and laid them only in the spring. . Their pelvic bones expanded 

 only while the hen was being delivered of the egg. This hen 

 has practically but one egg under process of development at a 

 time, consequently her abdomen does not have to expand to 

 make room for only one egg. Whereas the hen that lays 150 

 eggs per year has a number of eggs developing at the same 

 time, and her abdomen expands in proportion to her needs. 

 The 200 egg hen has a still larger number of eggs developing, 

 and she requires more room for them, hence her abdomen ex- 

 pands in proportion. The 250 egg hen has a still larger num- 

 iber of eggs of all sizes developing and her abdomen expands 

 still wider than the 200 egg hen. When the hen's abdomen ex- 

 pands her pelvic bones, being literally a part of and continua- 

 tion of her abdomen, must expand and contract with it. When 

 she is through laying for the season her abdomen contracts 

 and the pelvic bones must come closer together. Which 

 they do, although there are exceptions to this rule. 



