88 POULTRY 
pullets are three weeks old until they are 
dead. A flock of one hundred of these pul- 
lets will produce more eggs per day during 
the time of saving the eggs for hatching— 
from the Ist of February until the 10th or 
15th of April, than the average flock of one 
hundred hens in their second laying year. 
These eggs have been proved to be fully as 
fertile as, and in many cases more fertile than, 
the eggs produced by the old hens. 
Lower Cost of Chicks. Under these con- 
ditions it is obvious that the pullets will 
produce chickens more cheaply than the 
hens will. From the author’s experience, 
and from the figures secured on the hatch- 
ability of the eggs and vitality of the chicks, 
it is certain that the stock raised from mature 
pullets will be at least as good as the average 
chickens from old hens. 
Maturity of Pullets. Where pullets 
have laid for five or six months previous to 
the time their eggs are saved, there should be 
no question as to the maturity of the stock. 
Under the old poultryman’s conditions or the 
present farm conditions there are, we should 
judge, but few hens which lay as many eggs 
