170 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF 



stock by the introduction of improved 

 blood, so can he, if he chooses to take 

 the pains, increase the egg-producing 

 powers of his flock of hens, or, on the 

 other hand, produce chickens which will 

 realise in the market fifty per cent, 

 more money than would be possible if 

 he continued to breed from unimproved 

 stock. 



Chickens bred from barn-door hens, mated 

 with stags but little better than themselves, 

 are rejected by poulterers — indeed, by ail 

 who require good chickens for the table; 

 but where, by careful study of the subject 

 and by the acquisition of good birds such 

 as those we have named, fine chickens are 

 bred and well fatted on the modern plan, 

 so that they are ready for the table in 

 sixteen weeks or thereabouts, they will 

 find a ready sale at remunerative prices. 

 The poultry-keeper should not be satisfied 

 with less than 7s. as a minimum for each 

 couple of young birds he sells, and he 

 should aim at still higher prices ; nor should 

 he be content with less than 140 eggs per 

 hen per annum. On this point, however, 

 something further may be said. 



The age of a hen exerts enormous influence 



