Deming graphic. (Deming, N.M.) 1903-1948, 1919-01-03
COUNTY AGRICULTURAL NEWS
Department Edited BY c. Heyman County Agricultural Agent
for the Farmers and Sockmsn of Luna County.

after year of the best individuals
for breeders. and breeding from these
alone.
Trap nests afford the only accurate
way OF selecting the best layers. The
plan generally followed by poultrymen
IL to trap nest the pullets during the
first laying season and use the eggs
Of the best ones for Matching PURPOSES
In the second year.
Trap nesting for the farmer is out of
the question. especially for farmer In
this country trotting around with his
tongue hanging out from his irrigat.
ing plant TO his fields and back again.
To saw nothing from the standpoint of
how long farmer viii hang around
the trap nests when his engine sud
denly begins 10 "Cut the buck"
To produce first-class laying stock,
farmer. therefore. in the first place.
should start with as good stock as his
pocketbook will permit, buying. say,
from reliable poultryman who trap
nests his stock. Thereafter, selection In
general way is the only practicable
plan for n fnrmer to follow with occa-
sionally buying his males from trap
nesting poultrymen TO prevent too
much in-breeding.
l believe In pure bred stock. There
are many advantages In II, and YET
cou rarely see farmer who hash"
about "forty-leven" breeds jumbled to-
gether In his barn lot. believe il Is
well known that the first cross OF diff
ferent breeds Is apt 10 throw pretty
good individual specimens. So is the
introducing Of unrelated blood Of the
same breed apt TO throw good individ-
ual specimens, and the farmer would
then be in better shape to reap the
advantages of his efforts in building
up n good laying strain.
The culllng out OF inferior individ-
uals can be based on several different
theories without going far wrong. This
culling can be- done occasionally from
chickhood on without taking excessive
toll OF the farmers time. | trust you
will have patience while | mention a
few OF the more familiar ways OF Sc
lecting.
OF course, II goes without saying
that the huskiest chicks only should
be saved.
II, In the next place, the farmer or
any OF the other members OF his fam
lily. observes In general way which
pullets are noticed more frequently on
the nests in the fall and winter and
will band the legs of such, these pull
lets may be depended upon as good
candidates for the nomination as
breeders.
During the flush OF the laying sea-
son. should you have time to 90 To
your coops at night and find some
II the hens with poorly filled crops. it
would be advisable TO discard these for
breeding purposes. II being assumed
that hen has TO be hearty eater in
order To manufacture eggs.
With White Leghorns, II has been
noticed that In the beginning of the
laying season. their ear lobes and legs
are OF creamy or yellow color and
that after steady laying this color
seems To fade to white, and that.
therefore. hens that continue through
the laying season with yellow ear lobes
and legs are loafers ard should he dis
carded
one Of the theories deduced from
the records Of recent year-long inter
egg laying coStests is that
the late moulting hen is better hen
than the early moulting individual.
Few hens lay during the moulting pc
Rod, that being a delicate period Of
their existence. II is common for the
weaker ones 10 drop of at this time.
The more vigorous hens stave or this
period and continue laying late int
the fall and then moult quickly. IL H.
a good gamble that dlscardlnc Year
after year the earliest moulting hens
will build up the vigor and consequent.
~ the productivity Of the flock. This.
Ia my mind is one of the earliest and
most satisfactory ways for the IA -mer
to build up his flock :. flock of hens
IA our own place culled ;lxn this
way for three successive years deliv-
cred. we thought, even a better per-
centage Of eggs than flock OF pull
lets In their first laying season. Hens
selected this way seem to conform re-
to the requirements Of the
Hogan and Tom Barron systems OF
Judging fowls.
/ believe you will find II pleasure
as well as profitable to use the so
called Hogan system OF judging fowls.
Mr.. Hogan has written a book on the
points OF good layers which has re-
,eived wide attention. l have been in
formed that the u $. Experiment sta
lion In California investigated his
theories and recommended them, and
have been further Informed that Ho-
has become so popular in Cal
Ifornia that fowls advertised for sale
re advertised as having been Hogan
Ized."
There Is 40 doubt in my mind but
that by his method you can select from
4 number Of iienS those that are laying
Dr. about to lay as well as those that
are positively not laying.
By this method fowls are supposed