rrr.UXc; FOB PROFIT .")1 



The incapable pullet or lien should lie weeded out as soon as discov- 

 ered. Friends of tlie noble Asiatics, or any breed* that are famed for 

 their sitting' ipialities. should mil infer thai I am prejudiced against 

 their favorite breed, as a breed. Xon-sitters are found in practically 

 every breed, and there is no reason why excessive broodiness cannot 

 practically be bred out ot any strain. 



The novice should always move with caution. \et always remember- 

 ing that life is short. 



Rules for culling, like rules for feeding, that would fully apply to all 

 flocks are impossible to formulate, — except by inexperience. The has- 

 ty writer can make an iron ckd rule for most anything. 



Skill in culling can only lie obtained by experience, close observation, 

 and an understanding of the language of the record sheet. 



CULLING FOR PROFIT. 



WKITTKX ESPECIALLY 1'IIR THIS BOOK BV MICHAEL K. HOYElf. 



For years poultry writers have advised close culling. ••Cull closely" 

 and ''Cull again" have been their warnings. "With the fancy this was a 

 comparatively easy matter — the culling consisting of picking out birds 

 defective in certain markings or ■■points." The practiced eye was the 

 guide. Tlie advice, therefore, of the aforesaid writers was timely and 

 of service, but of what benefit was it to the practical poultryman who 

 made egg production his business? Tie might with the eye select the 

 most desirable carcasses for reproducing table poultry, but he would 

 certainly lie at a loss to determine which were his best layers, so that 

 he might breed from them and gradually exhibit a family of heavy egg 

 producers. 



Not until the introduction of the trap nest was it possible for him to 

 gain this much desired information. And it seems that not until the 

 advent of the trap nest did our practical poultrymen understand the im- 

 portance of knowing which were not only our best layers, but which 

 were our drones or "robber hens." How can we tell the idlers? We 

 may notice that certain hens are laying, but bow can we tell how many 

 eggs thev are giving us? Can we. tell if they are paying their board? 

 There is but one method — the trap nest. 



We, one season, picked out a pen of fifteen hens — such hens as we 

 thought were doing good work. We installed trap nests in their house, 

 and we kept a careful record. Que hen laid something like 196 eggs 

 during the vear. >everal gave us over l.">i) eggs, and the rest, with the 

 exception of five, laid between 100 and 140 eggs each. r l he five that 

 were an exception laid less than loo eggs each, one giving but 2o eggs 

 the entire year, one i.'i egg-, two l>0 eggs each, and one 72 eggs. 



Now as it costs not less than one dollar a year to keep a hen, it is 



