These are the principal features in selecting the laying hen. If one can get these principles in mind, and go out into his flock and separate the hens into two flocks, and keep these two flocks apart for a while, he would discover some interesting things. For instance, cull out the poor hens and put them in one pen. Possibly you will have the largest pen, when you have finished, composed of the poor layers. Keep the good hens in another pen separated from the poor ones. Keep feeding the same feeds as you had been doing before you separated the flock into two pens. Now, for a few weeks, compare the daily egg record of the two flocks. You will find that there is about as much difference as between night and day. Now, to bring the lesson home a little more forceful, just figure out what it costs you per day to keep these star boarders, and see if you think culling is a paying proposition. Most every agricultural college has a bulletin printed on culling giving essentially the same information as I have given, but they usually have quite a few illustrations that will make the procedure a little more clearer than I have done. CHAPTER XV. PRESERVING EGGS FOR WINTER It was deemed advisable to add a few words in this little booklet in regard to collecting eggs when they are cheap, and storing them away for the part of the year when eggs are high priced. During the months of March, April, May, and June eggs are the cheapest on the market, due to the fact that the birds are all laying during these few months, and consequently, the supply far exceeds the average demand. If we pay fifteen cents for a dozen of eggs in April, or May, and then in December we pay sixty cents or more for the same product, then it can easily be seen that it is a paying proposition to store some of these cheap spring eggs for winter use. We will now take up the method of storing these spring eggs for our December breakfast. To make this process about 100 per cent efficient, it is best to candle the eggs first, before storing them away. This process of candling has been explained in a previous chapter. If the air cell, at the blunt end of the egg is small, then we may be sure that the egg is of recent origin. If the contents look clear, and the yolk is not loose, inside the shell, then we need have no fears as to the edibility of the egg. One very good way, for one not accustomed to candling, is to examine a few in front of the light, and then break a few in a dish, so as to get the proper relation fixed in mind. If we can secure eggs that are infertile, we will not have to throw out hardly any eggs in this process.