'.I -J THE TRAP XKST TEXT BOOK 



the one that has a persistent egg-pro< hieing" tendency or habit that lends 

 to dominate and control all other tendencies that are opposed to prolif- 

 icacy. This persistency may disclose itself in the spring- season or at 

 any other time, but the, eggs must be counted and, together with other 

 data, made a subject of record. 



One poultryman of considerable experience, refused to have any deal- 

 ing's with me because T marked a hen as having laid 20 eggs in one month. 



He said in his letter, ■•Xo chicken will lay 20 c<>:^^ in one month." 

 If that man didn't need a little trap-nest enlightenment no man ever did. 



Thus it is that a careful man underestimates his best layers when 

 averaging egg yields in the usual way. while others appear to have a 

 method similar' to that of an applicant for the chair of astronomy in a 

 college: asked how he would measure the distance from the earth to the 

 sun, he is said to have replied. •■] would guess half the distance and 

 multiply by two." 



FOODS AND FEEDING. 



"< )ne man's meat is another man's poison." 



I have very little to say here about foods and feeding. The feeding 

 of hens is no doubt just as important a matter to the hens as the feedino- 

 of other live stock and ourselves is to the stock and to us. More seems 

 to be known about this subject than any other that is connected with 

 poultry keeping, if we are to judge by the quantity of what we, read and 

 hear. One can get about all of it in a full year's numbers of any good 

 poultry paper at 2.5 cents to f 1 .00 per year. He can then judge for him- 

 self how much is actually settled regarding the feeding of fowls. It 

 seems to be generally agreed that hens should be fed. and that if they 

 are expected to lay well they should be fed well. Vv" » work 

 to get, money to buy food to support us while we work to get more 

 money to buy more food etc., but as the hen knows nothing of inonev, 

 if she works at all it must be for the food itself. As an idle hen is u 

 charity patient it is best to make her work for a part other food. This 

 seems to be quite generally recognized. 



My friend with a feeding hobby declares that (his whole matter of egg- 

 production is one of feeding and care. He has not yet explained win- 

 it is that some of our hens, or some of his own for that matter, may lay 

 luit 75 or 100 eggs while others lay close to i<no or more with precisely the 

 same food and care and nothing in their appearance to account for it. 



The man who can tell a good layer the moment he sets his eyes on her 

 points out one of our birds as being- just the thing and we find that she 

 is not laying at all and never laid well. He selects another as beiiiirwav 

 below par and the records show her to be one of the best in the bunch. 

 He picks up a pullet in the fall and says that she is too fat to lav and 



