CHAPTER XVIII. 



NEW SYSTEMS IN POULTRY FARMING. 



In the multitude of counsellers there is safety Proverbs^ 

 Science has greatly improved our ways Harriet. 



Wonderful changes have taken place in poultry 

 culture during the past score of years, and there is no 

 telling where it will end. Bright minds have entered 

 the ranks and have carefully studied methods that 

 have improved upon our ways, as Harriet says, and it 

 is possible now to ' ' grow two eggs where one wa& 

 grown before." 



Trap nests started a new era. These devices trap 

 the hen after she enters the nest and it is impossible 

 for her to free herself. Each hen wears a numbeied 

 metal band on her leg, and when the attendant 

 releases her from the nest he notes the number and 

 writes it upon the egg. Each night proper credit is 

 given on a record sheet, and at the end of the year 

 one knows which hens were the best layers, and the 

 eggs f those alone are used for hatching purposes. 

 In the short time that trap nests have been in practical 

 use, poultrymen have learned that by selecting only 

 the best layers for breeding, it becomes possible to 

 gradually increase the egg record close up to and even 

 Beyond 200 eggs per hen per year. 



The trap nest system was quickly followed by a 

 secret method of judging the laying hen by the 



