POULTRY NOTES. 45 



period bird No. 46 laid 184 eggs, that is, 9 less. In spite of the 

 fact that No. 46 laid 9 fewer eggs than did bird No. 7, her eggs 

 were worth 61 cents more in the year. The reason for this 

 somewhat paradoxical fact that the hen that laid the smaller 

 number of eggs was the uore valuable, obviously arises from 

 the fact that bird No. 46 iaid more eggs when the prices were 

 high than did bird No. 7. Bird No. 7 was an extremely poor 

 winter layer. On the other hand bird No. 46 was a fairly good 

 winter layer. 



A similar relation is shown by the two birds in the right 

 hand half of the table. Bird No. 379 laid in her pullet year 203 

 eggs while bird No. 505 laid 204 eggs. No. 379's 203 eggs were 

 worth on the basis of the prices used, $5.46, whereas bird No. 

 505's 204 eggs were worth only $5.06 — a difference of 40 cents 

 in the cash production of the hens during the year. This result 

 again is due, as is apparent from a detailed examination of the 

 table, to the fact that No. 505 was a poor layer wTien prices 

 were high and only succeeded in making her high total record 

 by laying at a time of the year when eggs were worth very little. 

 It is instructive to compare No. 379's record with that of No. 7. 

 No. 379 laid 10 more eggs in the year than did No. 7. No. 379's 

 •eggs were worth, however, $1.22 more. In other words, the 10 

 ■extra eggs laid by No. 379 were worth on the basis of these 

 figures rather better than 12 cents apiece. 



The figures given in this table show how important from a 

 purely commercial standpoint is a consideration of the distri- 

 biition of Qgg production as well as of total tgg production. In 

 the breeding work of this Station it is felt to be very important, 

 indeed absolutely necessary, to consider something besides total 

 yearly records. The Station is endeavoring in its work to learn 

 how to breed zvinter layers. In order to make any progress in 

 this direction it is obviously necessary to consider the detailed 

 figures for winter production as well as the figures for total 

 production. Nothing is more certain than that a 200 Qgg hen is 

 not necessarily a particularly good winter layer. Birds No. 7 

 and No. 505 given in Table I are examples in point. It would 

 be possible to take from the Station's records many birds whose 

 yearly record would not exceed 160 eggs yet which were better 

 winter layers than either No. 7 or No. 505, both of which fall 

 for practical purposes in the category of the 200 egg hen. 



