1918] ANIMAL PEODUCTION'. 173 



son of a similar hen, the pullet offspring invariably laid eggs of first grade. 

 Small eggs were not always coupled with heavy production. 



In grading up flocks at the Munster Institute all birds have been weeded out 

 that failed to lay 30 eggs during the three winter months, and the best pens are 

 made up of hens that have a winter egg record of 40 eggs. To learn the effect 

 of mating the son of a good layer to a pen of birds with poor egg records a 

 cockerel from a 200-egg hen was mated to 6 hens with an average record of 95 

 eggs for 11 months. Twelve pullets saved from this mating averaged 127 eggs 

 each for 11 months. It is stated that for the specialist breeder accurate trap- 

 nest records and the most vigorous culling are essentials to success. " The 

 number of eggs laid during the winter period, the size of egg, the substance of 

 the shell, the suitability of the eggs for hatching, the ease with which chickens 

 can be retired, and the rate of growth of young birds have all to be taken into 

 consideration. If the hen fails seriously in any one of these points, she is unfit 

 for the breeding pen no matter what her egg record may be." 



Final report on egg-laying competition, Queensland Agricultural College, 

 April, 1916, to March, 1917 {Queensland Agr. Jour., n. ser., 7 (1917), No. 5, 

 pp. 222-229). — A detailed account is given of the thirteenth egg-laying com- 

 petition at the Queensland Agricultural College. 



In all, 438 birds were subjected to the year's test, 318 in groups of six, while 

 120 were tested individually. It is stated that group testing has to a great 

 extent served its purpose, and that single-pen tests will be substituted for the 

 gi'oup tests in the future as rapidly as funds become available for the recon- 

 struction of yards and houses. 



Origin of the sex cords and definitive spermatogonia in the male chick, 

 C. H. Swift (Amer. Jour. Anat., 20 (1916), No. 3, pp. 375-^10, figs. 6; abs. in 

 Jour. Roy. Micros. Sac, No. 1 (1917), p. 109). — The true sex cords or semi- 

 niferous cords originate from the germinal epithelium during the sixtli and 

 seventh days of development, and are the result of localized activity of tlie 

 epithelium. Nearly all the primordial germ cells present in the germinal epi- 

 tlielium are carried down into the seminiferous cords, but they play only a 

 passive role, for at this time they show no evidences of cell division. The sex 

 cords remain attached to the germinal epithelium for only a short time, and 

 continue to grow, after formation of the albuginea, as a result of division of 

 the peritoneal cells. At the end of the seventh day of development the sex of 

 the individual can be easily told, for in the male the gonads are of nearly equal 

 size, while in the female the left gonad is much the larger. 



Cavities begin to appear in the network of seminiferous cords during the 

 twentieth day, arising by liquefaction of axial cells. At this date the sperma- 

 togonia are found against the basement membrane, with the nucleus toward 

 the central axis of the cord, and the mitochondrial crescent near the basement 

 membrane. They probably reach this position by amoeboid migration. The 

 elongated cells between the spermatogonia are derived from the peritoneal 

 cells of the seminiferous cords. The primordial germ cells give rise to the 

 spermatogonia, and the coelomic cells of the germinal epithelium produce the 

 supporting cells of the seminiferous tubule. 



New Jersey poultry survey, A. G. Waller (Neic Jersey Stas., Hints to 

 Poultrymen, 6 (1917), No. 1, pp. 4)- — Data as to receipts and expenses on 150 

 poultry farms in Vineland, Lakewood, and Sussex Counties for the year ended 

 November 1, 1916, are reported. The average number of birds was 787 and the 

 labor income $730. 



Poultry keeping in town and country, F. C. Elfobd (Canada Dept. Agr., 

 Poultry Div. Bui. 89 (1917), pp. 47, figs. 66).— This is a treatise on the industry 

 in a general way, written in popular style for general distribution. The various 



