POULTRY NOTe;S. 



195 



2. The present data indicate that only a trifle more than a 

 quarter of the total eggs produced are laid in the winter third 

 of the year (November i to March i). In the first two-thirds 

 of the laying year approximately three-fourths of the total eggs 

 are produced. 



Diagrams showing the nature of the seasonal distribution of 

 egg-production are presented in figs. 91 and 92. 



tS».6S 



NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB. M/lfT. JIPR. MAY JUNE JULY /tU6. SEPT OCT. 



Fig. 92. Integral curve of weighted mean monthly egg production, 

 showing the absolute and relative number of eggs laid from the begin- 

 ning of the laying year up to the end of each month. 



3. The month of maximum productivity varied in the ex- 

 periments furnishing the present data with the methods of 

 housing. In a closed, warmed house the month of maximum 

 production was April ; in a curtain-front house it was March. 



4. The greatest relative variability in &gg production is at 

 the beginning of the laying year (month of November). The 

 month of lowest variability, both absolute and relative, is April. 



5. The laying year may be divided into four natural periods 

 or cycles with reference to tgg production. The first of these 

 periods (roughly November i to March i) is the winter period, 

 wherein ^gg production is essentially a non-natural (i. e., forced 



