56 MAINE AGRICUETURAI, EXPERIMENT STATION. I909. 



eggs per bird. This figure corresponds to a percentage egg 

 production during the same period of 64.4 per cent. Tliis is 

 nearly a, 20 per cent higher production proportionately than 

 that of the winter months. It shows in a very striking way 

 that even with record layers such as these hens were the egg 

 production is markedly increased in the spring months (the 

 natural mating and laying season) as compared with the winter 

 months. It will be further noted that the spring percentage 

 production is about as much above the percentage production 

 of the same birds throughout the whole year as the winter 

 production is below this figure. 



8. Turning now to the production of the daughters of these 

 ''registered" birds in corresponding periods of their pullet years 

 very dififerent results are obtained. Taking first the winter 

 production, it is seen that the 192 daughters whose records can 

 be included averaged to produce between November i and 

 March i of their pullet years only 15.29 eggs per bird. This 

 absolute production corresponds to a relative or percentage 

 production of 12.7 per cent for the same period. It is evident 

 that the daughters do not belong in anything like the same class 

 as the mothers as winter egg producers. The mothers' average 

 production for the corresponding period of their pullet year 

 was nearly 4 times as great as the daughters'. (Exactly 

 46.5^12.7 = 3.7). This great reduction of the daughters' 

 average winter production below the mothers' is most striking 

 and unexpected. It is to be expected on general grounds that 

 there would be some regression, but so much as this would 

 hardly be anticipated. 



9. From the last column of the table it is seen that the 

 daughters' laying during the spring months averaged to be 

 46.61 eggs per bird. This corresponds to a relative or percent- 

 age egg production of 50.7 per cent. It is evident that this is 

 a relatively very much better egg production than is that of the 

 daughters during the winter months. It still, however, is nearly 

 15 per cent below the mothers' egg production in the corres- 

 ponding part of the year. The fact that the spring months are 

 the natural laying season for fowls shows itself in these daugh- 

 ter records even more strikingly than in the records of the 

 mothers. The daughters' spring production (their best) is still, 



