When the poultry industry was being established upon a business foundation, many of the leading breeders devised the idea of measuring the egg capacity of their birds by actually counting the eggs laid by their best birds. This practice is still followed by many poultry breeders, but is a job that consumes considerable time, and it can be seen that only those who are constantly with the flock could be able to do this. But within the last few years, there has been developed a system whereby one can tell by the external appearance of the bird just about what her ability as an egg producer will be in one year. A Mr. Hogan was the first man to notice these characteristics and his method has been so far perfected that most poultry keepers are quite familiar with it, and thereby saved the bother of trap-nesting. This culling process, as it is called, is best accomplished during the months of August and September. By picking up each female in the flock at this time, except of course the spring pullets, one can find out which birds are still laying, and which ones have already quit. It has been in the past too much the custom of farmers to go out into their poultry flock in the fall of the year, and pick out the birds that had not yet started to moult, and whose appearance was ragged and rather uncomely. These birds would be picked out by the farmer, or in many cases his wife, and sent to market as meat birds, and they would keep the birds who had already moulted, and whose feathers were in splendid color at that time. However, in the light of recent facts brought out by this culling process, we now know that these rather ragged, unsightly birds were our best layers, and should have been kept because they had been working continuously, not taking the time off to quit laying and look pretty, as had their more lazy companions. There are still a great number of people that cling to the old method, but the light is dawning, and it will probably be but a short while before practically everyone interested in poultry will know of this culling method, and who can in a brief examination of a bird tell quite readily whether she should be kept or sold.