BREEDING 191 
What is known as “line” breeding, or breeding between 
related birds without having recourse to brother and sister, is 
the system adopted by many important breeders. This system 
simply means that the parents must have somewhat of the same 
pedigree and that the relationship must not be too close. Parents 
and offspring may be bred from, but one must not carry this line 
further. It would not, for instance, be wise after breeding from 
parent and offspring to repeat the experiment in a direct line. 
Other relationships may be mated to a considerable extent, pro- 
vided the offspring are all vigorous and healthy and show no 
signs of degeneracy. It is only at long intervals that one need 
go outside one’s own stock-yard for fresh blood, and perhaps the 
best method of all is occasionally to interchange eggs with some 
other poultry-keeper whose stock is known to be sound. 
While fully matured pullets may be bred from, the best results 
as a rule come from two-year-old hens that have laid well and 
proved their stamina by a clean bill of health and coming strong 
and well through the moult. The eggs selected for hatching should 
not be too small nor too large, but it is just as well to have them a 
little above the average size than below it. They should be well 
shaped (normal egg shape) and with no marks, rings or swellings 
of any kind—just good ordinary fair-sized eggs. If possible they 
should not be more than seven days old and not less than twenty- 
four hours old. Eggs carefully kept in a cool place for three weeks 
will hatch out all right, but may take a day longer than the eggs 
that are only a few days old. The great point is to aim at getting 
all the eggs of about one age, approximately from one day to one 
week old. 
For those who breed on a large scale I may quote the system 
adopted by Mr Hanson as given in his Commercial Egg Farming, 
a book that ought to be in the hands of all purely egg-farmers who. 
have not the time for a deep study of the problem of breeding. 
In his own way Mr Hanson gives a good working method of 
attacking the breeding problem. The principles of this system 
are: 
“1. I breed from constitutionally vigorous hens, pure-bred 
