civ Department of Poultry Husbandry. 



course requirement. The practice courses are required of all who 

 take the lecture course because it has been found that the 

 student must actually handle fowls and become familiar with the 

 various operations of a poultry farm before he can master the sub- 

 ject. The requirement of practice work limits the number of stu- 

 dents that we can accommodate. Our sections are already larger 

 than they should be for the most effective teaching with our present 

 staff. We must increase the size of our laboratories, the number of 

 pens, the capacity of incubator cellar, brooder house and fattening 

 and killing rooms, if we are to meet the demand for instruction. 

 This applies to the teaching of the regular and special students, 

 as well as to those in the Winter Course. 



The following table shows the number of University hours taught 

 during the past six years. During 1908^9 the number of students 

 taking courses in Poultry Husbandry were regulars, 38; specials, 

 46 ; Winter Poultry-Course, 54 ; electing poultry from other winter 

 courses, 31 ; total, 169. 



Table showing the number "of "University hours" taught during 



the past six years. 



1903-j 1504— 5 1905-6 1906-7 1907-8 IC0S-9 



Regulars and Specials 74 339 158 474 527 589 



Winter Poultry-Couise 22J 540 690 690 780 



Winter-Course, Elective 54 60 to 64 66 62 



Total 12S 624 778 1228 1183 1431 



III. INVESTIGATION. 



During the year, seventeen projects have been or are now being 

 investigated. These all have to do with the influence of various 

 methods of handling poultry on constitutional vigor. They are 

 intended to throw light on the question of heredity of constitutional 

 vigor as effected by cross-breeding, the influence of the method of 

 keeping eggs for hatching, the comparative influence of natural ver- 

 sus artificial incubation, the effect of different conditions of yarding 

 and feeding fowls, and the influence of various methods of rearing 

 chickens. Most of these experiments are planned to continue for 

 a series of years. We are hampered by lack of facilities properly to 

 conduct these investigations, which we believe are of vital impor- 

 tance to the poultrymen of the State. The area of land for the 

 breeding pens is wholly inadequate. The number of pens available 

 for investigational work, without interfering with the instruction of 

 students is far short of our needs. Important experiments which 

 should be conducted remain untouched. The writer is convinced 



