BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 79 



accumulate data Avith respect to egg production and the method of 

 transmission of this quality of offspring. 



The breeding up of flocks of mongrel hens by the use of pure-bred 

 White and Barred Plj'mouth Rock males is in its second year. There 

 has been a marked improvement in uniformity of the offspring. 



Encouraging progress has been made in the establishment of a new 

 breed having white plumage, four toes, yellow legs, red ear lobes, a 

 body considerably larger than the Leghorn, and laying a white egg. 

 About 2,000 chickens from the various matings are being reared 

 with which to continue the different lines of work. 



Nine new pens of fowls, making 20 in all, have been added to the 

 feeding tests. Rations which have given the best results are being 

 repeated, and new rations containing a much wider variety of feeds 

 are being tested. Department of Agriculture Bulletin 561, " Feed 

 Cost of Egg Production," giving the results of three years' feeding 

 experiments, has been issued. A ration without wheat or wheat 

 j)roducts fed to Leghorn pullets gave an average annual production 

 of 147.3 eggs. Cottonseed meal used to replace half the beef scrap in 

 the mash has given good results and has had no bad effect on the qual- 

 ity of the eggs. Where cottonseed meal replaced all the beef scrap the 

 results were unsatisfactory, both in number and quality of eggs. 

 Mussel meal has not proved as good a substitute for beef scrap as fish 

 meal. Fish meal to the amount of 25 per cent of the mash has not 

 affected the flavor or the taste of the eggs. 



PIGEON AND SQUAB INVESTIGATIONS. 



In the pigeon and squab investigations data are being accumulated 

 on the cost of feeding. squabs and stock birds of several different 

 breeds. Various pure and cross matings have been made for the 

 purpose of making further studies in feeding and breeding. 



OSTKICH INVESTIGATIONS. 



The ostrich investigations at Glendale, Ariz., in cooperation with 

 the Arizona Ostrich Breeders' Association, are being continued for 

 the purpose of improving the quality and increasing the yield of 

 feathers. Crosses have been made between the Nubian and tlie South 

 African birds, and a pair of Somali ostriches have been added to the 

 department flock. 



TURKEY AND GUINEA INVESTIGATIONS. 



During the last spring a study was made of the possibility of rais- 

 ing turkeys in large numbers in the dry sections of the Southwest. 

 Farmers' Bulletins 791, "Turkey Raising," and 858, "The Guinea 

 Fowl," were prepared and published. 



POULTRY HUSBANDRY EXTENSION WORK. 



The improvement of farm eggs and the reduction of waste from 

 spoiled eggs depends largely upon the production of infertile eggs. 

 The bureau is therefore planning a much wider distribution through- 

 out the country of the infertile egg placard, which has proved so 

 effective. 



