PROFITABLE EGG FARMING. 
A fowl does not manufacture eggs; if she did 
not have them supplied to her by nature she 
could not produce them herself. Nature is more 
generous with some fowls than with others, and 
if we would increase egg production we must 
find such fowls and breed from those to which 
nature has been the kindest; so we can but do 
our best with the fowls in hand, to feed them for 
health, and our success or want of success will 
be demonstrated by their laying and holding 
their weight. 
Who would expect to breed large sized fowls 
from small-sized parent stock? Just so in in¬ 
creasing egg production. If we would attain 
and hold increased egg production, it is as im¬ 
portant to breed it in the blood, and fix it there, 
as it is to attain any of the other numerous aims 
of modern breeders. 
It is almost needless to say that healthy, vigor¬ 
ous parent stock must be our foundation; and 
our aim must be to keep the parent stock healthy 
and vigorous through proper feeding and care; 
and the best food with the best care will be in 
vain if that ever present enemy of poultry breed¬ 
ers is not constantly kept at bay— lice. 
The warning to fight lice has been repeated 
again and again by our poultry writers, and yet 
I venture to say most breeders smile compla¬ 
cently to themselves and think “No lice here. ” 
Only recently one of the editors of Farm-Poul¬ 
try paid me a visit at Hartnest, and asked “ How 
are you fixed with lice? ” My laconic reply, 
born of self assurance, was, “ Ain’t fixed at all. 
We breed Brahmas, not lice. ” “ Well, let’s 
see, ” said the editor, and I asked him to select 
a specimen that looked the lousiest if one such 
could be found. He made a selection, scru¬ 
tinized the head, throat, back, breast and fluff— 
no lice; then he looked under the vent and found 
two or three; then “ I thought it about time my 
hens needed dusting again. ” 
“ Let’s try some more, ” said the editor, with 
about the same result. “ Now, let’s see your old 
hens. ’ ’ We looked at them, but this time, under 
the vent first, and there I found them swarming 
—actually swarming. I was amazed, and when 
I looked at the leg bands of such as were the 
worst, I fancied I had an explanation of their 
recent small egg record. 
Now, I had been told and had read time and 
again, to quarantine all new birds. The head of 
that pen was a bird I purchased a month or two 
ago, and after giving him a good dusting was 
satisfied that all was well; but doubtless in dust¬ 
ing we did not get through the thick, fluffy 
feathers under the vent, consequently the lice 
which were close to or under his skin escaped us, 
and so they spread from him to all the hens in 
that pen. In another pen where we found lice 
were one or two hens that I purchased about the 
same time. My hens were practically clear of 
lice all over the body, except under the vent, 
and there they more than made up for their 
absence elsewhere. Had I taken the ordinary 
precautions so often repeated. I probably would 
have been a hundred eggs better off now. 
To the breeder whose sole aim is increased egg 
production, the path is comparatively easy. It 
is important that he know exactly what each of 
his breeders do. In order to avoid loss of time 
he should begin by breeding from all of his birds, 
making such provision for identifying the prog¬ 
eny of each breeder as his convenience may dic¬ 
tate. That some mode of identification be care¬ 
fully and regularly followed is of vital import¬ 
ance. 
At the end of the season he should select from 
his birds such as have excelled in the work in the 
nest, and to begin “ fixing the laying habit ” by 
selecting the best son of such breeders and mat¬ 
ing him back to his dam. Mate the pullets to a 
son of his heaviest layer, being careful to avoid 
the mating of brother and sister. 
It must be remembered that the daughters of 
these heavy layers will not all inherit their dam’s 
prolificacy, unless one is fortunate enough at the 
start to have at the head of his pen the son of a 
heavy layer; and the drone blood will have to be 
bred out before uniformity can be depended 
upon. 
Again, the varying individuality of fowls— 
(until a strain is established)—necessarily pro¬ 
duces in each flock some which are prone to 
take on fat, and others which are prone to “ go 
light, ” neither of which should be bred from, or 
neither of which should have their progeny per¬ 
petuated. 
It is not always possible to recognize either of 
these peculiarities before the hatching season is 
well under way, consequently I have advised as 
above, that the eggs from all breeders be set, and 
only those chicks retained for the next season 
whose dams have shown the desirable traits. 
As stated, a single object is easier to attain 
than several aims. For instance, if early ma¬ 
turity and prolific laying is required, we must 
very naturally have an eye to both; if the 
breeder (in the system of identifying chicks 
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