The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-03-18
THE TRAP NEST
AND ITS FUNCTION

Il
ants of the original pair, liberated
from the ancient ark. Chickens, like
the rest of the feathered tribes, be-
came wild inhabitants of the jungles
Of India and surrounding country.
Wild chickens were not unlike 9TH
ers of the wild feathered families in
so far as their laying habits were
concerned A hen seldom laid more
than enough eggs to hatch one brood
lof young each season. Chickens in
those days were usually understood,
tough and stringy, and none too
highly priced as delicious food. What
a change has taken place since they
were recaptured, and brought back
into dOmesticatiOn.
In the make up Of those breeds
where meat has been the object
sought, the size has been very great
~ increased. In building up those
breeds where more copious egg
Weld was desired, Il still greater i'm
prpvemcnt has been made.
What has been the keynote to
these salient improvements? From
Robert Blackwell and perhaps far be-
You'd, the successful stock breeders
axiom has been Like begets like,
and breed from the best of the
best"
What meant by the best Of the
best? In answering this, one must
necessarily be guided by the purpose
for which the flock Is kept. II he Is
extremely anxious to spring billion
dollar specimens onto the public. 1t
will, in all probability, be necessary,
while selecting stock to breed from,
to go through all the contOrtions and
weird entertainments Of We jugglers
of old before his season of jubilee.
But we less fortunate and remote de-
scendants of Croesus of old must con-
fine our efforts to selecting speci-
mems of intrinsic, rather than myth
zeal values.
Chicken ranches, with inadequate
means to carry on a persistent adver-
Using campaign, will find it behOoves
them to coniinc their best efforts to
building up large, well proper
toned, healthy, vigorous utility
fowl that will meet the demands as
a tirst-class market product. or to
establishing a strain that will Civ
the very best account of themselves
as persistent layers of good sized
uniform eggs that will sell on sight.
To build up strain of lirst-class
table fowls involves no extraordinary
course of procedure. But to build
up healthy strain of splendid lay
erS of large sized uniform eggs is
a different proposition. Suffice it to
say, ninety per cent of those keep
ing chickens, gather eggs for hatch
ing from the whole flock, as they
come to them This practice is at
variance with the law of atavism,
and should be more generally dis
couraged. Atavism, as expressed in
breeding parlance, signifies a pro-
cess of deterioration; a reverting
back to some objectional ancestral
type On account of this tendency
to revcrsion. good laying hens will
quite frequently produce pullets
| that prove by the trap nest to be
sorry layers. Hut | have not yet
known sorry layer to produce hens
that would more than pay for their
keep, except in instances where
males. which were the sons OF spleu-
did layers, were paired with them.
TO those who understand the laws
of nature, as applied to the art of
poultry breeding, the above truths
are self evident. So like begets
like. must be the dominant thought
:, in every poultry mans mind. while
selecting specimens for the breed
ing yards, that are to produce per-
sistent layers the coming season.
know but few poultrymen who
know and are able to pick out the
best laying hen in their flock, to
say nothing about selecting enough
of their very best layers to make
up their breeding yards. with any
degree of certainty. Could you per-
form this stunt, dear reader? If
SO YOU are a rare exception to the