270 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



mare families. Tlie more top crosses we get from botli sides, ttie more certain 

 it seems to be that tlie produce will be of liigh standard." 



[International review of Percherons] {Fercheron Soc. Amer. Intcrnat. Rev., 

 1 (1914), pp. 50, figs. 38). — ^A review of the Percheron showing at the Inter- 

 national Live Stock Show, 1913, together with photographic illustrations of the 

 first and second prize winners in each class, and other data. 



Farm poultry, G. C. Watson {New York and London, 1913, 11. ed., pp. Z+ 

 369, figs. 104). — This book, which is one of the Rural Science Series, is a com- 

 plete treatise on breeds of poultry and the breeding, feed, care and management 

 of poultry, ducks, geese, and turkeys. 



Productive poulti-y husbandry, H. R. Lewis (Philadelphia and London, 

 1913, pp. XIX-\-o36, pi. 1. figs. 217). — ^A complete and practical treatise on the 

 Itreeding, feed, care, and management of poultry, together with chapters on 

 fattening, killing, and preparing for market. 



New breeds of poultry (Agr. Jour. Union So. Africa, 6 (1913), No. 5, pp. 

 826-828, figs. 3).— An account of the Bustin Black Pretors breed of poultry 

 which originated in an attempt to outbreed " liver disease " which is so preva- 

 lent among poultry in South America. There are two varieties, the single and 

 the rose-combed. The former is a large bird, greenish black in appearance, 

 with dark feet, black eyes, white ear lobes, red comb, upright carriage, and 

 broad chested. From 178 to 200 eggs are laid per hen in 12 months, the eggs 

 being large, round, and brown or tinted. The rose-comb variety was produced 

 as the result of a freak, the outcome of a cross from the single-comb variety. 

 Both breeds are said to be free from disease of a tubercular nature. 



Some factors affecting the weight, composition, and hatchability of hen 

 eggs, H. Atwood (West Virginia Sta. Bui. 145 (1914), PP- 73-i 02). —Earlier 

 experiments (E. S. R., 23, p. 76) are cited showing that there is a relation 

 between size of eggs and weight and thrift of chicks hatched from them, and 

 that as previously shown (E. S. R., 13, p. 276) there appears to be a seasonal 

 variation in the weight of eggs, the weight being greater from November to 

 April and lightest from May to October. 



During the season 1911-12, three lots of fowls were fed liberally and three 

 lots scantily. While the former showed a fairly uniform increase in weight, 

 the latter showed little, if any, increase. The lots fed liberally produced 

 during the year 8,062 eggs while the scantily fed lots produced 5,144 eggs. 

 The pullets of the liberally fed lots averaged 38.7 eggs each while the cor- 

 responding yearling hens produced an average of 125.6 eggs each. The 

 heaviest eggs were laid during February, March, and April. During March the 

 eggs of the liberally-fed lots averaged 60.3 gm. in weight while the scantily fed 

 averaged 57.6 gm., indicating that quantity of feed slightly affects the size of eggs. 

 The results of five hatches indicated that in general eggs from liberally-fed hens 

 ;;re more fertile than those from scantily-fed hens, but that the percentage 

 hatch is practically the same among those eggs that are fertile. There ap- 

 peared to be no great difference in the vigor of the chicks from the two lots 

 of fowls. 



Duplicate experiments conducted during 1912-13 gave results similar to those of 

 1011-12. It w;is noted that the average weight of eggs from the fowls of the first 

 year of test was 57.5 gm. and of the second year 58.92 gm. or 1.4 gm. increase, 

 apparently due to increased age of the fowls. Likewise eggs from yearling 

 hens showed greater weight than those from pullets. Further hatching tests 

 showed practically no difference in the average fertility or hatchability of the 

 eggs from the fowls fed heavily or scantily. There was considerable variation, 

 however, in the results from the different pens, due, probably in large measure, 

 to variations in the vigor of the males. Mortality tests were inconclusive. 



