30 MAINE AGRICUI^TURAIv EXPERIMENT STATION. I909. 



tube the egg shell is deposited and given its shape. Hens are 

 often found which lay misshapen or malformed eggs. This 

 paper deals with the result of an analytical study of a case in 

 which a pullet began by laying a very abnormal egg, and grad- 

 ually came to lay a normal egg. This change from an abnormal 

 shape of the egg to a normal shape was found to follow a defi- 

 nite mathematical rule. Studies are now in progress to find 

 out whether the change in size of pullets' eggs with continued 

 laying follows the same rule. The character of the eggs laid 

 by the pullet under discussion is shown in Fig. 5. 



Fig. 5. Showing the change in the shape of the successively 

 laid eggs of bird No. 183. All the eggs shown were laid by this 

 same bird. The numerical order of arrangement on the plate 

 is: Top row (beginning at left) eggs i, 2, 3, 4. Second row: 

 Eggs 5, 6, 7, 8. Third row: Eggs 9, 10, 11, 12. Fourth row: 

 Eggs 18, 30, 42, 54. The eggs of this bird were saved until 

 nearly 90 had been laid but as there was no essential deviation 

 from the normal shape in the later ones they are not figured. 

 The figures given show clearly the gradual change in the shape 

 of the eggs from the very abnormal No. i to the normal No. 54. 



Changes in Equipment and Peant. 

 The changes which have occurred during the last year in the 

 material equipment of the poultry plant will be noted under 

 three heads, viz: i. New buildings. 2. Modification of 

 brooder houses. 3. A new trap nest. 



NEW BUIEDINGS. 



In the summer of 1908 it became necessary to make some 

 provision for the storage of the surplus supplies of grain which 

 had to be carried at the poultry plant for feeding purposes. 

 The needs of the plant had outgrown the space available. To 

 meet this demand for storage space a two-story building was 

 erected between House No. 2 and House No. 3.* This new 

 house is 40 x 40 feet and contains, besides a main grain storage 

 room, and a loft for the storage of brooders, surplus suppHes 

 of fence wire, and other miscellaneous material, an egg sorting 

 and storing room and a fire room in which are placed hot water 



* See Bulletin No. 117 of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station 

 for description and location of these houses. 



