The egg production of the egg breed is of the best. As has been stated, there are a great number of birds in this class that have records of over 300 eggs per year. Their eggs are white shelled, of good size, and rather long. However the meat of these birds, especially when matured, is very tough, and the active disposition of the egg breeds do not allow them to put on surplus flesh as with the other class of birds. Quick maturity is characteristic of the egg breeds, however, and because of this fact, they make excellent small broilers when but a few months old. But it is useless to put them on the market for meat when mature, as they will not fatten like the heavier breeds. The disposition of these breeds, as has been said, is active, nervous, and hard to confine. Therefore, for the person with a small lot on which to raise chickens, it would be well to choose a heavier breed that stands confinement better than these breeds. These birds are active in the house in winter, or on the range in summer, and owing to their natural tendency to roam, they are always uneasy when confined to a small yard. They also have excellent powers of flight, and can usually fly over a fence unless the fence is about eight feet high. The egg breed, owing to the activity so characteristic to such breeds, makes poor sitters and mothers. It is very seldom that a fowl of these breeds can content herself to sit on a nest of eggs three weeks, which is the time required to hatch the eggs. Their eggs are usually hatched under a general purpose hen, or with an incubator. They make poor mothers, because they usually like to roam too far to properly look after their young. Another point in favor of the egg breeds, however, is their early maturity. Usually these birds will mature in close to four months. This allows them plenty of time to get into laying condition in the fall, before cold weather starts, and birds that can lay eggs during the months of November and December are certainly an asset, as eggs always bring the highest prices on the market during these two months. These birds will live on less feed than any other class because of their small size, and their great foraging ability. However, these breeds are not as hardy as the heavier breeds, and will not stand the cold as well, because of their lack of feathers, and large combs and wattles. These large head parts are easily frost bitten in cold weather, and when this happens the birds generally stop laying until they have recovered from the setback. With these few words on the egg breed characteristics, let us next consider the general purpose breed.