194 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I9II. 



The chief results of this analysis are summarily stated in the 

 following paragraphs : 



I. The mean or average monthly egg production exhibits 

 the following characteristic changes in the course, of the laying 

 year: 



(a) The lowest mean production of the year is in 

 the month of November. 



A/Oi^^ 0£C. J/IN. FEB. MAR /IPR. MAY JUNE JUIY AU6. S£PT OCT 



Fig. 91. Diagram showing the weighted mean monthly egg production 

 for each month of the pullet year. 



(b) The mean monthly production increases in De- 

 cember and January at a relatively very rapid rate. 



(c) There is a slacking up in the rate of increase in 

 February, which probably represents the point of the ending 

 of th.e first, or winter, cycle of egg production. This February 

 slacking up amounts in many cases to' an actual decrease in pro- 

 ductiveness as compared with the point attained in January. 



(d) The mean production reaches a maximum in 

 March. 



(e) While the' mean production for April is practi- 

 cally the same as that for March, there is a steady decline after 

 April on to the end of the laying year in October. 



(f) There is a tendency toward a slightly larger 

 drop in mean production in May. This is the period of natural 

 broodiness. 



