WINTER EGGS 169 
LayiInc STRAINS IMPERATIVE 
But, having settled on the breeds to be kept for winter laying, 
there are other considerations before one can meet with success. 
It goes without saying that one must make sure that all birds 
come from a proved laying strain. It costs just as much to feed 
and house a poor-laying fowl as it does to feed the 200-egg bird. 
Therefore money spent on getting the best possible material is 
well invested. Only proved laying strains will ever become success- 
ful business propositions, and until the poultry-keeper has secured 
suitable birds he has not got over the first difficulty of poultry- 
farming. Much the best plan is to buy from some egg-farmer 
whom you know and can trust. Failing this, there are reputable 
firms that will sell the nucleus of your prospective stock. It is 
not necessary to buy a large number of pullets or laying hens. 
Better far to expend most of your cash on cockerels of a proved 
pedigree, and these will influence even ordinary birds out of all 
knowledge. The laying strain is perpetuated mostly by the male 
bird, and three first-class cockerels are of greater value for egg- 
production than thirty first-class pullets. 
One cannot prescribe the same sorts of fowls for all sorts of soils. 
Generally speaking, the breeds I have mentioned will do well any- 
where, but where the soil is heavy clay or marshy the Buff Rock 
will flourish where other breeds will fail. This breed is an importa- 
tion that came from America about 1871, and it is classed as among 
the hardiest of all breeds and especially well adapted for damp 
and low-lying lands. It varies from the Buff Orpington in having 
a deeper colour and yellow legs, with a lesser tendency to broodi- 
ness, but as a rule it takes a month longer to get into a state of 
maturity that means egg-production. 
It is important to note that hens which lay a certain number 
of winter eggs—that is, in October, November and December—are 
also as a rule the best summer layers. In the most recent laying 
competition held under State support at the Harper Adams Com- 
petition it was proved that all birds which laid 10 eggs or more 
during November gave a higher average than any others in the 
