BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 77 



BREEDING HORSES FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 



In the breeding of horses for military purposes the 2,150 mares 

 bred in 1915 produced 948 living foals in 1910. During the calendar 

 year 1916, 2,022 mares were bred to the 36 stallions used in this work, 

 and 717 living foals were reported up to June 30, 1917. During the 

 first half of 1917, 1,448 mares were bred to the 35 stallions used. 



The first extensive purchases by the Army of 3-year-olds bred 

 under this plan were made during April and May, 1917. 



BREEDING HORSES ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 



During the calendar year 1916, 454 mares were bred to the 8 stal- 

 lions maintained under this project with headquarters at Eagle Butte, 

 S. Dak. Two hundred and twelve of these mares w^ere bred to the 

 four Percheron stallions, or an average of 53 per stallion ; 127 to the 

 two Saddle stallions, an average of 63^ per stallion; and 115 to the 

 two Standardbred stallions, an average of 57^ per stallion. The 426 

 mares bred in 1915 produced approximately 275 foals. 



COTTON si:ed meal for farm work stock. 



Feeding tests with four mules and one mare were conducted for 

 the purpose of studying cottonseed meal as a feed for farm work 

 stock and for a comparison of cottonseed meal and linseed-oil meal 

 for such animals. The tests were too short to be conclusive, but as 

 the animals lost in weight and condition and showed a pronounced 

 dislike for the meal in the quantities fed as a regular part of the 

 ration, the results seem to enforce the idea that a protein concentrate 

 should be fed only in limited quantities. Further experiments are 

 desirable, however, before drawing positive conclusions regarding the 

 value of this feed for work stock. 



ANIMAL HUSBANDRY EXTENSION WORK. 



A new policy of great importance in the conduct of the extension 

 work carried on by the Animal Husbandry Division was adopted 

 during the fiscal year, resulting in the drawing up of four new 

 projects with the States Relations Service, two with each of the 

 extension offices of that service. The essence of the plan is that the 

 States Relations Service will look to the Animal Husbandry Division 

 for technical information, which division will be responsible for such 

 technical information on animal and poultry husbandry as is given 

 out by the States Relations Service. The States Relations Service, on 

 the other hand, will be responsible for matters of policy and pro- 

 cedure which relate purely to technical States Relations subjects. 

 Offices of animal-husbandry extension and poultry-husbandry exten- 

 sion have been established in the Animal Husbandry Division. The 

 men in charge of this work have their salaries paid by the Bureau 

 of Animal Industry and their traveling expenses by the States Rela- 

 tions Service. AAHien they travel in the field they are representatives 

 of the department in the broadest sense, representing the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry on subjects relating to animal or poultry hus- 

 bandry and the States Relations Service on all subjects of a purely 

 States relation character. This plan has developed the most bar- 



