PULLETS FOR LAYERS. 
much vigor and constitution.” This strong 
statement will be no surprise to an experienced 
poultryman, and is worth quoting here because 
we want to emphasize the fact of the necessity 
of the greater strength and vigor, which we get 
in chicks hatched from the eggs of year-old 
breeding stock. This same bulletin of the 
Maine Experiment Station reports the results of 
breeding from known great layers, and by thus 
breeding it has developed the egg laying tend¬ 
ency of the stock. In their breeding pens are 
hens that have laid over 200 eggs each within 
the year, and the best layer of all laid 251 eggs 
within a year of reaching laying maturity. One 
is reported which laid 201 eggs the first year, 
140 the second and 130 the third year; making 
a total of 471 eggs within the three years; 
another hen laid 191 eggs the first year, 157 
the second year and 138 the third year, making 
486 eggs in the three years. The bulletin goes 
on to say, “ During the three years in which we 
have been selecting breeding stock bv use of 
trap nests we have found 30 hens that laid be¬ 
tween 200 and 251 eggs in a year. All of the 
other breeding stock we are now carrying are 
tested hens that have laid over 180 eggs in a year, 
pullets whose mothers laid over 200 eggs in one 
year and whose fathers’ mothers laid over 
200 eggs in one year; and pullets sired by 
cockerels whose mothers and grandmothers laid 
over 200 eggs in one year.” It is a pleasure to 
quote these statements, they so capitally illus¬ 
trate the importance of breeding up the egg- 
producing habit; by following in the foot steps 
of the Maine Experiment Station people we will 
substantially improve the laying qualities of 
our stock. 
A point frequently overlooked in connection 
with pullets for layers is, that if the hens are all 
kept over a second, third and fourth year they 
occupy the house room and are eating food of 
pullets which would pay double the profit. We 
do not claim that a pullet would lay twice as 
many eggs as a hen, the point we want to bring 
out is, that a greater proportion of the pullets’ 
eggs are produced at the time when prices are 
highest and pay the best profit. Eggs are high 
in price at that time because the hens have not 
recovered from the molt and are taking a rest, 
and also because many of the pullets are late 
hatched and have not begun to lay. If we are 
so fortunate as to have early hatched and well 
matured pullets laying at that time we are 
getting the “ cream ” of the profit from egg pro¬ 
duction. 
Another point which we need to keep in mind 
is,, that if the hens are kept over we lose the 
amount which they would sell for, anti if we 
have got good stock the amount the hens sell for 
materially increases the profit account. 
A few weeks ago the writer was visiting Chi¬ 
cago and was told of an Illinois farmer who 
shipped some coops of Plymouth Rock hens to a 
South Water Street commission dealer the week 
before, the hens met a 15 cent market and 
returned the farmer Si.07 each after freight 
and commission were paid. Obviously if this 
Illinois farmer had kept over those hens he would 
not have received that Si.07 each. 
Some writers claim that the cost of raising 
pullets to take the place of the year-old or two- 
year-old hens must be considerable, but we 
have proved, year after year, that the cockerels 
hatched with the pullets can be sold at from 
four to five months old for enough to pay for all 
the food eaten by both themselves and the 
pullets, hence, considering the cockerels as 
simply a by-product, the pullets cost nothing 
for the food they have eaten up to laying 
maturity. Some will be inclined to doubt this 
statement, but, as we stated before, we demon¬ 
strated it again and again, and can prove that 
the pullets at laying maturity cost absolutely 
nothing but the labor of caring for them; obvi¬ 
ously then, all of the money received for the 
sale of the year or two-year-old hens is clear 
gain. 
It is the old familiar story of the slow shilling 
and the nimble sixpence; the latter pays its 
owner many times more interest than the slow 
shilling. The pullets not only pay us the better 
profit in the increased number of eggs produced, 
but the failure to sell the old hens entails the 
expense of house room and food which could 
have been used by more profitable pullets, 
which would be so much better layers; and it 
also cuts us off from the income of the sale of the 
hens themselves. 
With these several points of advantage clearly 
in mind we think our readers will understand 
the importance of the motto,—“ Pullets for 
layers, and year-old hens for breeders.” 
53 
