POULTRY FIXTURES 
the laying from the non-laying hens. They keep 
the hen imprisoned when she goes on the nest until 
she is released by the attendant. These nests fur- 
nish the only certain means of knowing which hen 
is laying and how many eggs she lays in a certain 
period of time. The best of these nests are pat- 
ented, so we cannot give plans; but they may be in- 
stalled at a cost of, usually, from twenty-five to fifty 
cents each. Those wishing such nests will find them 
advertised in the poultry papers. It takes a little 
time to visit the nests three or four times a day, but 
one who is trying to build up a laying strain will 
receive ample reward for all labor expended in this 
direction. 
Flocks, each hen in which lays two hundred or 
more eggs per year, have been made possible only 
by careful selection of the breeding stock, through 
several generations, from the data furnished by 
trap-nest records. All characteristics and qualities 
of poultry are largely matters of selection; this is 
as true of utility or market qualities as of fancy 
points. Any poultry keeper can, in the course of a 
few years, establish a reputation for having birds 
of extra-large size, extra-good layers, or extra-fine 
exhibition stock, if only he will breed carefully and 
judiciously with those ends in view. 
Nest Eggs are entirely unnecessary as well as 
undesirable, unless medicated eggs are used for 
the purpose of keeping down vermin. These eggs 
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