THE CALL OF THE HEN. 87 
can find hens such as described here, you will have hens with the mother 
instinct. They will not be too lazy to take proper care of themselves 
and their chicks, nor will they want to lay so soon as to neglect their 
chickens. The nearer you can get to procuring the above type of hens 
the better success you will have raising chicks with them. , 
CHAPTER XIV. 
SELECTING THE STOCK FOR RAISING BROILERS. 
A great many of my friends have requested me to write a chapter 
on how to raise broilers, but as there are so many excellent books on the 
market that describe the process of the feeding, caring for, and raising 
of broilers a great deal better than I could do it, I will confine myself 
to the selection of the breeding stock only. The writer has raised Light 
Brahmas and White Plymouth Rocks for years, and has experimented 
with them to get the greatest amount of meat from the smallest amount 
of feed; to get the greatest weight of meat at three months old in the 
White Rocks and the greatest weight of meat in the Light Brahmas at 
maturity. In the process I have run up against two distinct proposi- 
tions: One was a success from a commercial point of view, and the other, 
while not a financial success, was a success from an epicurean point of 
view. I will describe the financial proposition first: 
We will select a pen of hens from our favorite breed, or from Wyan- 
dottes, Orpingtons, Plymouth Rocks, or Rhode Island Reds. The hens 
must have large prepotency; they must be six or seven fingers abdomen 
and their pelvic bones should be °/s of an inch thick, in good condition. 
Now you have hens that should lay twelve dozen eggs their first laying 
year, and they are a paying proposition. Do not breed from them the 
first year, but wait until they are over one year old; then mate them with 
a mature cockerel or young cock with large prepotency, with abdomen 
four fingers deep or more and pelvic bones from 1 inch to 1144 inches 
Frc. 51—The dry-mash hopper we use, closed. 
