Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1903-06-25
THE TRAP NEs1.
How 1t May ne Used Advantageous
IL by the Poultry Man.

How 1t May ne tsed Advantageous
Hy by the Poultry Man.
Within the past few years the outfit
Of the poultry man has been enlarged
by the addition of the trap nest. AS
to the practical value Of these nests
there is wide difference of opinion.
On the one hand they are enthusiastic
ally advocated; on the other they are
scornfully condemned. The trap nest
needs a Judicial appraisal 1t has been
unfortunate in both its enemies and
its friends. Many of those who have
ridiculed it have never tried it, and
those who have advocated it have too
often been those who are interested In
1t in financial way.
The principle on which the invention
rests is that of the influence of hered-
ity. 1t is a fact well known to all
traits may be transmitted, and by care
full mating strain may be perma-
nently established.
1t is matter of common knowledge
that in the poultry world some Of the
most popular breeds of today have
been made within a comparatively
recent time by the combination Of indi-
viduals of different varieties. 1t would
seem almost automatic, therefore, that
IL one wishes to establish a heavy lay
ing strain he must breed only from
heavy layers. And yet IN actual prac-
tice this has not been found to work.
The daughter of the heavy layer has
not been able to equal her mothers
record. Indeed it has not been uncom-
mon for egg production to fall off year
after year and for the descendants OF
the phenomenal layer never to strike O
very high mark in egg production.
What is the reason for this? Science
tells us. One of the greatest authori.
ties in biology is Adolph Weismann
1t was given to Weismann to complete
the theory of heredity by pointing Out
that acquired characters cannot be
transmitted. Only characters that are
constitutional, congenial or germinal
can be handed down.
The hen that breaks the record thi;
year may do so because the condition.
are exceptionally favorable and not be
cause she comes from strain that Il
established in egg production. Proba
bly, she was Matched out early and go
well under way before the cold wealth
er came on The ration she has re
ceived has been well balanced for eg.
hoc u in
fort and given just the right amount O.
exercise. AS a consequence she has re
sponded with big output. But thu
egg laying habit is not sufficiently es
| tablished in her to make her an excep
tionally valuable bird to breed from
The chances are that her eggs will
show low fertility, and the few chick
| Matched from them will not be even or
binary layers.
If the phenomenal layer Is unable t
transmit her qualities to her offspring
of what use, then, is the trap nest? i
| it not a waste of time to employ it?
The real value Of the trap nest is no
| that It enables US to breed from tn
phenomenal layers, but that it enable
US to avoid breeding from the poo
ones. The trap nest has made som
surprising revelations. 1t has show
us that in the same flesh in which som
hens are laying 200 eggs year thee
are other lens laying not over thirty
The object of the trap nest box is to ge
rid Of the thirty egg hen.
There is great deal of humbug, toe
about the use of the trap nest. hay
visited plant after plant where tn
owner claimed to use it, and in no
one case did l find the nest in opera
ton. 1t was either out of order or !
was the wrong season of the year o
| something Still, the practical poultr.
man can make use of the trap nest to
limited extent to good advantage.-Ed
gar Warren in American Poultry Jour
| nal