166 MY POULTRY DAY BY DAY 
them carefully and yet fail to get eggs in October. Theoretically 
one ought to get them, but in practice they often fail. Nature 
seems to abhor the theorist. On the whole it is safer to breed 
for eggs in February, and then, with ordinary luck, eggs ought 
to come late in September or early in October. If, however, one 
hatches in February and the pullet matures quickly, there is 
always the danger of an early moult. 
My experience goes to show that if you hatch heavy breeds 
about the end of February, some of them will lay early in October 
(or before), and that they will be practically in full flood in 
November. 
Some strains of Rhode Island Reds, for instance, will mature in 
seven months, so that the middle of March would be early enough 
to hatch them out. I frequently see the Buff Rock recommended 
for winter laying, and, indeed, it does lay well in winter if you can 
get it started on its laying career. My trouble has been to get the 
Buff Rock into its stride. I have bred in the early weeks of March 
and got no eggs before mid-December. That is distinctly too late. 
It means a very long unproductive period, with eggs only when 
they are on the eve of becoming plentiful. 
Success oF First CROSSES 
¢ 
I have never got better results for ‘‘ winter eggs ’’—the three 
last months of the year—than from first crosses. I bred the 
following all about the same time :—White Wyandottes, Buff 
Rocks, Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds as pure breeds. 
I also hatched White Leghorn-Buff Orpington and Wyandotte- 
Faverolles as first crosses. The two cross-breeds were first to lay 
—both were hatched on the same day, and began to lay during 
the same week, when just under seven months old. At eight 
months a few Buff Orpingtons began to lay, but in a fortnight they 
went broody, and took a long rest. The Wyandottes laid at eight 
months, the Rhode Islands at nearly nine months, and the Buff 
Rocks at nine anda half months. The first crosses laid all through 
October, November and December, the Wyandotte-Faverolles 
