262 Pearl and Surface, 
to 199 eggs in the pullet year, and (b) “registered” or birds laying 
200 or more eggs in the pullet year. 
It had been noted that the daughters of the socalled “registered” 
hens (namely hens that had produced 200 or more eggs each in the 
pullet year) did not usually make high egg records. The ‘200-egg”’ 
birds which made up the “registered’’ flock came, in most instances, 
from the “unregistered” mothers. 
Experiment II was planned to answer the two following questions: 
1. Will the daughters of high laying hens (‘‘200-egg’’ birds) on 
the average produce more eggs in a given time unit than will birds 
of less closely selected ancestry ? 
2. What data do the performance records of such selected birds 
afford regarding the inheritance of fluctuating variations in egg 
producing ability in the domestic fowl? 
The experiment was carried out according to the following plan: 
On the first of November, 1907, there were put into House No. 2, of 
the Station plant, 250 pullets. Each of these was the daughter of 
a hen that had laid approximately 200 eggs in her pullet year. These 
250 pullets were divided into flocks of 50 each» and were fed and 
handled in every way exactly alike. At the same time that these 
250 “registered” pullets (so-called because from “registered” mothers), 
were put into the house there were also put in 600 other Barred 
Plymouth Rock pullets. These other pullets were of approximately 
the same age as the 250 “registered” pullets and differed in their 
breeding only in respect to their mothers. They came from hens 
that had laid less than 200 eggs during the pullet year and more 
than 160. ‘Registered’ cockerels (from the “‘200-egg line”) were used 
as the male parents for all the pullets both “registered‘“ and “unregistered’”. 
The 600 “unregistered” birds were divided into flocks as follows: 
Two flocks of 50 birds each were kept in two pens in House No. 2, 
exactly like the pens in which the “registered” birds were kept. The 
remaining 500 birds were divided into four flocks — two of roo birds 
each and two of 150 birds each and housed in the four pens of 
House No. 3. These pens are essentially like those of House No. 2, 
differing chiefly in the matter of size. A trap nest!) record was kept 
of the exact individual egg production of each of there birds. 
1) For a description of the trap nest used in the breeding work of the Station 
see ‘Appliances and Methods for Pedigree Poultry Breeding” by R. Pearl and 
F. M. Surface. Me. Agric. Exp. Station. Bulletin No. 150, pages 239—274. 1908. 
