KAUI.Y MATlldn '.I.', 



order of their age. and, generally considered, laying would begin in 

 about the same order. There are. of course, quite numerous exceptions 

 to this rule. 



Pullets and cockerels that are well developed by spring, and possess 

 the other desired qualities, should be good breeders, but it is a common 

 custom to use for hatching' eggs from the general lot. and a large num- 

 ber of these eggs are likely to come from immature pullets. This 

 lendency can be discounted to a considerable extent by using' only eggs 

 that are of good size. 



As good development and constitutional vigor are essential to cither 

 permanence or improvement of species the general ideas that are ab- 

 sorbed by the average beginner tend in a directly opposite direction to 

 successful breeding. 1 have a Plymouth Hock hen that when about five 

 months old laid i>(l eggs in 2\ days. Considerable boasting of her per- 

 formance drew out the fact (hat many people considered it as indicating 

 an exceptionally valuable pullel. which I very much doubted. She 

 would have gone lo market that fall had I not desired to observe her 

 through life. 



Eggs for hatching should be from birds that at the time of mating give 

 individual evidence of merit combined with a history that justifies their 

 use. 



Early laying is by no means governed by heredity alone. The time 

 and nature of bousing, the feeding and care, will hasten or retard lay- 

 ing according as they are favorable or unfavorable to egg production. 



Improvement in fowls is go\ erncd by natural laws that are not in- 

 fluenced by the price of eggs in October and November. Money values 

 are often governed by natural laws, but Nature has no regard for 

 money. 



The means commonly advocated for getting eggs when most people 

 are not getting them are progressive attempts to force Nature to work 

 for our selfish interests. Those people who meet with a measure of 

 success in this effort are justly proud of their skill. Their methods, 

 once radical and revolutionary departures from established customs, 

 have become ••conservative"' merely through lapse of time and fa- 

 miliarity. They are as radical as ever to many a farmer. When an 

 effort is made to progress still further by taking out what is unnatural 

 and uubusiness-like in their method and substituting therefor factors 

 that are fully in accord with Nature and business wisdom we find those 

 who object. They believe in progress up to the point where they have 

 stopped, but we must go no further. 



A March- or April-halched pullel may normally come into full laying 

 in the fall and meel our requirements in eggs when prices are high 

 without detriment to her breeding qualities. Much, of course, depends 

 upon the way she is handled. July-. August-, and September-hatched 



