796 



Egg-Laying Trials. 



[Dec, 



commercial influence of the tests, and is of primary importance 

 to those most concerned — the comparatively few specialists. 

 Important as it is to this group of producers it is necessary for 

 others to bear in mind that the whole superstructure of the egg 

 industry is also very directly influenced in the ways briefly 

 indicated. The specialist breeders are essential to the continued 

 development of the industry, inasmuch as they provide the 

 sources of supply upon which the generality of poultry keepers 

 depend, either directly or indirectly, for the maintenance of the 

 prolific strains that serve to level-up the egg yield of the country 

 by improving the character of the stock as a whole. 



Essential Safeguards. — It follows from the foregoing that the 

 future of the egg industry must depend very largely upon the 

 safeguards that are imposed, in the form of rules and regula- 

 tions, by those responsible for the conduct of egg-laying tests. 

 The tests must be so hedged about with what may be called 

 " safety first " rules that the best interests of the industry as a 

 whole — not of the specialists alone — are secured. Any 

 tendency that is seen to be leading to ultimate harm must be 

 checked at the earliest possible moment by the modification of 

 laying test rules and regulations. That this is essential to 

 permanence can scarcely be gainsaid. 



At the .present time there are two such tendencies that are 

 undoubtedly the cause of considerable anxiety to those who have 

 the lasting interests of the industry at heart. These are signs 

 of weakness in stock, and lack of size in the eggs. Both threaten 

 the future of egg-laying strains and are inimical to the best 

 interests of the industry as a whole. The question of weakness 

 is obviously mainly referable to the breeders most nearly con- 

 cerned, but the lack of size in the eggs may be very largely 

 remedied by those who make the rules regulating the scores and 

 awards. 



It should be sufficiently evident to breeders that the mere 

 maintenance of their strains, and certainly their improvement, 

 is primarily dependent upon stamina and soundness of constitu- 

 tion. Without these essentials the most highly fecund fowls in 

 the world cannot continue to perpetuate their kind, and without 

 some measure of permanence strain-making must fail of its 

 object. That fecundity, vigour, and fertility are not incom- 

 patible, is a fact that has been established by experiment under 

 scientific control ; and to allow any loss of breeding qualities in 

 fecund strains, as the result of faulty selection, is to court 

 disaster. 



