Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-04-10
GREAT TVALUEOFT THE TRAP NEST
IN POULTRY RAISING INDUSTRY
BY MICHAEL X. BOYER
Poultry Editor of the Farm Journ
COPYRIGHT. 1915.

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been impossible to keep the astound-
ing laying records achieved by some
hens In recent years. II was not long
ago that the S0O-egs-a-year hen was
discussed as proble,uatical. but now
she has brought up her figures TO sos.
The trap nest Is the autnor1ty' but
! this device is not only Tor keeping
tabs on the "phenoms" of the poultry
yard. IL is for every day use. IL Is
great econoniser. Every hen can now
be judged accurately on her produc-
ton record.
The following article tells how this
is done.
1t is not so many years ago that the
2a0-esg hen was q dream. And when
at last she was discovered it was "a
case in a thousand" Now the goo
hen is almost a common article. and
efforts are being aimed at the 30O-egg
mark among regular producers.
At the Missouri Experiment Station
a hen laid PSI eggs as a pullet. AZ
the Ontario, Canada, station another
one laid cS2 eggs: and this record was
also equaled at recent Connecticut
contest. But 1t remained for the Ore
gon Agricultural College to produce
a hen with a record of 291 eggs in 365
days-and. it is said. these eggs
weighed about AZ pounds and were
perfect in point of shape and color.
How were these facts obtained
There can be no other method than
by the use of the trap nest Without
the use of this device no definite uata
can be secured. 1t is impossible to
know which hens are laying the most
J and best eggs. All such conclusions
must necessarily, be guess-work.
There are systems-by the eXamina-
/ ton and position of the pelvic bones,
or the distance from the pelvic bones
and point of the breast bone-that VIII
| enable us to pick out our best layers
/ but those systems do not tell us how
many eggs the individual hen lays. 1t
| is true that in one system (the Hoganp
/ it is claimed that the capacity OF
| hen can be told by the measurement
of the abdomen by tingers-where one
! finger is the measurement, the laying
will be from none to SO eggs in her
! first laying year In the two-finger
test the laying will be as high as 80
/ eggs; in the three-tlnger as high as so
eggs; in the four-tinger as high as 22O
eggs, and in the tiVe-tiIger as high as
1850 eggs-al being judged by the
thickness of the pelvic bone.
Trap Nest Surest Way
1t is not for me TO criticise this
method. | believe it is good one.
From what experiments | have Gade
/ TO date / know it is possible to pick
out the pullets with the egg-laying ca
pacity-and so is type: but when it
gets down TO the number of eggs
hen will lay in the year. there is only
! one absolutely sure way, and that is
Iby the means of the trap nest.
The American poultry world is well
acquainted with the name of Tom Bar
/ ron. Barron sent birds from his home
/ in England TO number of egg con
| tests in this country and came out
winner 1t made him famous How
I did he do it? He adopted the inVen-
tions of American poultrymen-and
worked the matter out himself.
Barron said: I'VE hear a lot about
Mendelsm. but my Mendelism is the
wooden trap nest. L trap nest abso-
Elutely to find out the sons of the best
! layers. l like a good hen, mind, to
breed from, but 1t is the sons of the
| best LAYERS that the trap nest is use
| full for, particularly, in my opinion. 1
| think the cockerel is without doubt
more than half the point, for the
| cockerel it is every time that transmits
| the laying qualities to the female,
without a doubt. l do not think you
breed the layers through the females
at all although you are bound to have
good females to breed good cockerels."
! It was about the time Tom Barron
started his farm that he read of trap
nests, as used by American poultry
men. 1t looked good to him. Here
was a means by which he could i'm
prove his stock-and at once installed
| these nests on his plant. He credits
the trap nest for his success.
Time Well Spent
When l hear the argument advanced
| by poultrymen that they cannot afford
the time to look after traps | really
: pity them for the ignorance of what
! is good for them. The actual amount
of time consumed in looking after the
NESTS is the cheapest labor on the
| farm When 1t is considered by the
iGALLEY TWO-Poultry-A 10
use of the traps It is possible to pick
out the drones and save the cost Of
| feed they consume-when it is proved
that more eggs can be gathered from
less hens-and. furthermore, when
1.-THE trap nest shows that it can select
! the winter layers, the layers of the
| best size and best shaped eggs-and
when it is able to arrest the egg eater
surely the profits that all this means
more than offset the extra cost of la
| Dor.
If, for no other purpose. the bare
! fact that the trap nest enables one to
keep the record of each individual hen.
gives a chance to select the champion
LAYERS, gives a chance to secure cock
erels from the best layers, and that,
too without being compelled to have
separate matings-the mission of this
valuable device is of untold worth. and
more than doubly repays the cost of
labor in attending to it.
/ Until we had trap nests no one
would believe there was such a thing
as a 200-egg layer. Until we had trap
nests there was no way by which 1t
was possible to improve the laying
/ qualities of our hoclIs.
| Back in our boyhood days it was
thought that the great layer was pro-
| duced by pepper. ginger, or some other
stimulating food Pullets We're forced
for all they were worth, only to break
down when they became hens. The
trap nest has shown where all this is
wrong. 1t proved that layers are made
more by breeding than by feeding, al
though the feeding part must not be
overlooked.
The man who does not believe in
traps sees certain hens go daily on the
nest They are at once classed as
great layers. and bred from, when the
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