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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. LIII 



a ruddy red in September! Was her pelvis broad and 

 flexible in April? Did she start laying in October? Did 

 she lay thirty or more eggs before the first day of March? 

 Did she lay 200 eggs in her pullet year, or 500 eggs in 

 three years? Did she lay small eggs or large eggs? By 

 all these signs one may (it is alleged) detect the hen that 

 is (or has been) the good producer. But the curious part 

 of the matter is that, notwithstanding these many signs 

 and evidences of producing ability, the hens of the aver- 

 age poultryman continue to deliver the same number of 

 eggs per year— estimated at about 120. 



Among this variety of criteria, however, it must in 

 fairness be said that some of the tests are of practical 

 significance. It can scarcely be doubted that, as a rule, 

 hens that lay the largest number of eggs during the 

 "winter period" (Xovember 1 to March 1), as first stated 

 by Pearl, are the best layers for the entire year. ' On the 

 other hand, it has been shown by floodale tbat the produc- 

 tion during the winter period may bo >tr()iii>ly iiilliicnced 

 by the time of hatching: the early-liatdu'd lu'ii- iii.ikc the 

 highest winter records— at least tlicy lay the ureater 

 number of eggs between the beginning (.!' tlic la \ iiii;' i)(M'iod 

 (sometimes as early as August) and Mnivli 1 .'- 



If a hen is entitled to be called a good prodiK-ci- only on 

 condition that she makes a creditable record for two or 

 more years successively— then there is point to the recent 

 contention of other investigators that hens that make a 

 low first year's record usually "make up" during the 

 second year, so that a three-year production record ap- 

 pears to them as representing the fairest measure of pro- 

 ducing ability. This is of course the equivalent of saying 

 that the number of eggs that a hen lays is a good criterion 

 of her egg-producing ability— a circumstance which no 

 one can deny. But it frequently happens that, for prac- 

 tical purposes, one desires such a criterion as will indi- 



