PROFITABLE EGG FARMING. 
stitute—until other additions are made—the 
“foundation stock” upon which our breeding 
operations are based. Males for our use have 
been raised from them during the last two 
years. The number of the foundation stock, 
now secured, makes practicable the avoidance 
of inbreeding, and this is to be strictly guarded 
against, as it is doubtful if the inbred hen has 
sufficient constitution to enable her to stand 
the demands of heavy egg production. 
“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 a year; and pullets sired 
by cockerels whose mothers and grandmothers 
laid over 200 eggs in one year.” 
Such results, attained in the comparatively 
brief time of five years, are eloquent of what 
can be done by continued intelligent work along 
this line. That breeding from hens that “ have 
laid over 180 eggs in one 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”—is tremendously suggestive! What an 
accumulated momentum of prolific laying, as 
well as absolute certainty as to the record of 
mothers and grandmothers; that absolute cer¬ 
tainty as to laying record we can attain to only 
byj:he intelligent use of trap nests. 
WHAT MR. EDGAR WARREN SAYS. 
A Nest Box for Individual Records. 
Within the past few years the poultry business 
has been almost revolutionized by the intro¬ 
duction of a nest box for individual records. 
It is a fact w r ell known to all breeders of ani¬ 
mals, that desirable traits may be transmitted, 
and by careful matings a strain may be perma¬ 
nently established. Among cows some breeds 
are noted for the production of butter, others 
for milk and others for beef. Among hens 
there are some breeds that excel as egg pro¬ 
ducers, and in all breeds there are strains that 
lay better than others. It is obvious that if we 
are to build up a great egg-producing strain we 
must breed from great layers. 
How may these great layers be picked out? 
There are two ways. One is by the testing pen; 
the other, by a trap nest box. The former 
makes the pen the unit, the latter the individual 
bird. The former is the way I myself proceed. 
My laying pens are made up of birds that have 
been thoroughly tested in solitary confinement, 
as described in a preceding section. If every 
bird in the pen is a layer, and the average of the 
pen in egg production is satisfactory, I do not 
hesitate to breed from that pen. This is a 
great labor saving method. The birds do not 
require the constant attention that is demanded 
where individual records are kept. Each bird 
is tested at the beginning of the season, and 
marked with a leg-band if she meets the test. 
Otherwise she is put in the pen for culls or dis¬ 
patched. 
“200 Eggs a Year per Hex.” 
BETTER LAYERS AND MORE OF THEM. 
Breeding Systematically for Increased Egg 
Production is the Only Method of Develop¬ 
ing a Strain of Prolific Layers— 
Trap Nests a Necessary Means 
to This End. 
BY C. BRICAULT, M. D. V., ANDOVER, MASS. 
It is an acknowledged fact that the surest and 
inost profitable source of income for the majority 
of poultrvmen is the sale of eggs to the daily 
market. How to obtain the largest possible 
egg yield from our stock becomes, then, a most 
important question to those of us who are inter¬ 
ested in this, the most profitable branch of the 
business. 
By properly feeding our hens, we can-obtain 
results which a less careful poultryman will not, 
but no matter how well we understand this 
difficult part of the work, and no matter how 
careful we are in making use of our knowledge 
in this direction, it will be observed that in every 
flock of pullets raised, fed and cared for in the 
same manner and under the same conditions, 
that several will lay almost double the number 
of eggs that others will in the same pen. With 
but few exceptions, these large egg producers 
were born with this valuable trait, and it is by 
breeding from these heavy layers that we can 
increase the average egg yield of our flock. 
Breeding systematically and persistently from 
our heaviest layers will develop a strain of 
layers which will pay us generously for our 
work. No other method will give us as good 
results. 
Trap Nests Necessary. 
In order to follow this system of breeding it 
will be found of absolute necessity to ascertain 
36 
