"That's all right, Sam, but you didn't sell White Wyandotte eggs for hatching. I've contracted with two of the best-known fanciers of Wyandottes in the country to send me five hundred eggs apiece February 1st and 25th. I don't think the price is high for the stock."
"Have you decided to keep 'dottes? I hoped you would try Leghorns; they're great layers."
"Yes, they're great summer layers, but the American birds will beat them hollow in winter; and I must have as steady a supply of eggs as possible. My customers don't stop eating eggs in winter, and they'll be willing to pay more for them at that season. The Leghorn is too small to make a good broiler, and as half the chicks come cockerels, we must look out for that."
"Why do you throw down the Plymouth Rocks? They're bigger than 'dottes, and just as good layers."
"I threw down the barred Plymouth Rocks on account of color; I like white hens best. It was hard to decide between White Rocks and Wyandottes, for there's mighty little difference between them as all-around hens. I really think I chose the 'dottes because the first reply to my letters was from a man who was breeding them."
"They are 'beauts,' all of them, and I'll give them a good chance to spread themselves," said Sam.
"What percentage of hatch may we expect from purchased eggs?"
"About sixty chicks out of every hundred eggs, I reckon."
"That would be doing pretty well, wouldn't it? If we had good luck with the sixty chicks, how many would grow up?"
"Fifty ought to."