PROFITABLE EGG FARMING. 
If breeders are to select for vigor they cannot 
do better perhaps than to make the choice 
during the pullet period and verify the choice at 
the subsequent molting period. Strong, vigor¬ 
ous fowls pass through the molting period very 
much more quickly than do those with weak 
constitutions. The robust, vigorous hens that 
lay a large number of eggs throughout the year, 
will pass through the molting period very 
quickly and will hardly stop laying, while those 
having weak constitutions will be a long time 
in producing the new coat of feathers and will 
not lay for many weeks. The experienced 
poultryman therefore finds this period in the life 
of the fowl a most excellent one in which to 
make his selection. The fact that the birds 
with strong constitutions are the most profitable 
for egg production, suggests the explanation of 
why the fowls of poultrynlen who make a 
specialty of egg production are of larger aver¬ 
age size and are more vigorous and active than 
the fowls of those who breed chiefly for exhi¬ 
bition purposes; almost without exception the 
average size of fowls of flocks especially noted 
for egg laying, is considerably larger than the 
average size of fowls of the show-bird stock of 
that breed. 
A good sized body and a deep, broad breast 
are indicative of a strong constitution, hence 
they are the requisites of a good laying hen. 
If one is compelled to make his selection for egg 
production solely from the general conformation 
and appearance of the birds he should select 
those that have deep-long bodies. Those having 
a short underline and that are circular in out¬ 
line should be discarded. The feeding capacity 
of the hen is important, for those that are able 
to digest and assimilate large quantities of food 
are strong, vigorous, and consequently can 
produce eggs in great abundance. 
Trap Nest Selection the Best. 
The man who would do the very best in select¬ 
ing his breeding stock should have recourse to 
the trap nest device to accurately determine 
the number of eggs each individual pullet or 
hen produces; then he can select with certainty 
and use for breeding only the eggs of birds 
known to be great layers. While observation 
will aid in selecting the prolific layers, it is not 
infallible because not infrequently a most active 
and to all appearances an egg-type bird will be 
proved to be a poor layer when put to the test 
of the trap nest; with the help of this most 
valuable device we know positively which birds 
are the good layers and which are not, then we 
can be certain that we breed from the best 
layers. Not only does the trap nest tell us 
which birds are the best layers, but it tells us 
infallibly which birds lay the largest and best 
eggs and which lay the small, inferior and 
defective eggs.—There are very, very many 
advantages in the trap nest. 
An objection that has been made to it is that 
it takes time,—and so does everything in the 
world that is worth while! Those who recom¬ 
mend that we select out breeding birds by the 
aid of observation of their habits, etc., forget 
that observation also requires time; our ex¬ 
perience is that it takes quite as much extra 
time as attending to the trap nests,—and there 
is this further disadvantage, it is not accurate. 
The trap nest requires decidedly less time than 
inexperienced poultrymen think; we have to 
go into (or through) the pens four or five times 
a day, to do the regular feeding and watering 
and collecting of the eggs; it takes but a minute or 
two at time of each visit to liberate any bird 
that has laid and wants to get out of the nest, 
the egg is marked with her legband number and 
put in the collecting box. True, this takes one 
or two minutes of time, but experience proves 
that it takes no more time than should be given 
to observing the birds; one point worth mention¬ 
ing is that “observation” can be (and prob¬ 
ably will be) slighted, with the result that we 
fail to accomplish the much desired result of 
breeding from the known great layers; with the 
trap-nest record of what each hen has accom¬ 
plished we know with absolute certainty what 
we are doing, there is no “ guess work ” about it. 
In this chapter we give some testimonials 
from users of the trap nests, and have thought 
it wise to incorporate an extract from a report 
of the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment 
Station, which contains some criticisms of trap 
nests. We should keep in mind, however, that 
the Rhode Island Experiment Station people 
had twenty different kinds of trap nests, and 
they seem to have been rather more interested 
in finding the objectionable points of those 
different kinds of trap nests than in determining 
the general merits of the trap nest idea. 
The Maine Agricultural Experiment Station 
has done the most satisfactory work with trap 
nests, and the results attained prove conclu¬ 
sively the decided advantages of breeding from 
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