NOTES. 695 



C. W. Gay discussed Tho Breeding of the American Harness Horse. There is^ 

 according to the speaker, a growing demand for this type of horse, which is now 

 produced by. chance. Utilizing the American breeds for the production of this 

 type of horse, the speaker suggested keeping en the top cross a standard-bred 

 sire of the heavy harness type and using for dams mares of the American saddle 

 or preferably of the .Morgan breeds. (Joing outside of native breeds, the 

 speaker would suggest the use of an English hackney dam. 



The Teaching of Animal Selection or Animal .Judging wm>< discussed liy C. S. 

 Plumb. Methods of teaching animal judging t<> stud<'nts in agricultural col- 

 leges were briefly presented. 



II. II. Johnson, in discussing the sul>.ject What tli<' I'oultry I*.r(>eder Can Learii 

 from the Cattle Breeder, compared the two lines of animal breeding as regards 

 (1) quality of stock, (2) selection, (3) competitive shows. (4) performance 

 records, (5) centgener power, and (G) performance tests. In many respects the 

 poultry breeders were shown to be behind the cattle breeders. Special emphasis 

 was laid upon performance contests. The speaker Was in favor of securing: 

 individual records, of making the competition one between individuals and 

 strains rather than breeds, and of instituting contests in which not only egg: 

 records but gain in weight in proportion to food <-(msuni('d should be taken into 

 account. 



C. B. Davenport addressed the association on The Inheritance of Pedigree 

 I'.reediug in Poultry. The different forms of inheritance recognizable in hy- 

 bridization were stated as follows: (1) Inheritance is alternative, i. e., one of 

 the two contrasted conditions of a given organ is dominant over the other and 

 alone appears in the progeny; (2) inheritance is particulate, i. e.. both of the 

 contrasted characters appear in the offspring side by side in a patchwork; (3) 

 inheritance is blending, i. e.. the opposed characters being (luantitatively un- 

 like, the offspring are approximately intermediate between the two parents; 

 and (4) inheritance is neomorphic. i. e.. a characteristic appears in the hybrids 

 that can not be seen in the parents. In illustrating these laws the speaker 

 '•ousidered various characters, such as color of plumage, form of comb, etc., in 

 hybrids. 



The processes necessary for the creation of a new race which shall combine 

 various desirable characters found in two or more races were sununarized by 

 the speaker as follows: (1) Hybridization by which the desired combination 

 may be obtained at least in the second hybrid generation; (2) purification of 

 the race by the elimination of germ cells carrying the characteristics that are 

 opposed to those sought; and (3) selection of the best breeding individuals 

 as parents, by which there will be obtained a larger percentage of offspring of 

 the best (juality. This work of obtaining and fixing a desiral)le characteristic 

 will, of course, be hastened if there can be found some indivi<iual which is pre- 

 potent in respect to that characteristic. 



In discussing The Production and Fixation of New Breeds, W. E. Castle 

 gave the results of extended investigations in crossing rats. The variation: 

 following crossing was considered due largely to the production of new combi- 

 nations of unit characters. Such combinations may be fixed by selection. In- 

 breeding is not essential. No fixation is required when crossing results in a 

 blend rather than in alternative inheritance. 



In summarizing the results of his experiments, the speaker stated that where 

 Mendelian inheritance is involved new characters are produced by cross breed- 

 ing by the forming of a mosaic differing fi-om either parent, or by the becoming: 

 visible of an element previously invisible in one of the parents. The fixation 

 of the new character will c(msist in securing gametes which sepai-ately contain 

 all the factors necessary for the i)roducti(in of the new charai:ter. When the 



