1019] DAIRY FARMING DA lit Y IXO. 177 



Hong in the West "Methods now in vogue axe doubtless f:ir from perfect, 

 but we believe that all real Improvement must be based on an accurate 

 knowledge of present practices. We are therefore presenting here the Informa- 

 tion which experienced stockmen already possess, hut which the young man 0T 

 the beginner often finds slow and expensive to acquire." 



The editor gives a general introduction on western conditions and their 

 influence on live-stock production and treats of beef cattle. 0. M. Nelson deals 

 with sheep, C. N. Kennedy with horses, and G. It. Samson with swine. An 

 effort has evidently been made toward concise but comprehensive treatment 

 The volume closes with a classified glossary of 10 pages and a full Index. 



Live stock on the farm, \Y. Dietrich (Philadelphia and London: W. l>. Saun- 

 ders Co., 1917, pp. 261, figs. 68). — An elementary exposition in which, after 

 some introductory matter on live-stock farming, feeds, and breeding, there are 

 separate treatments of each class of stock, including a chapter on poultry by 

 C. E. Brown and ending with a discussion of swine feeding. 



Biggie poultry book, J. Biggi.e (Philadelphia: Wilmer Atkinson Co., 1917, 

 pp. 176, flga. lox). — A small, compact manual covering the general field of 

 poultry management on the farm, including reference to turkeys, guinea fowls, 

 ducks, geese, and pigeons.. 



Inheritance studies with poultry [at the Rhode Island Experiment Sta- 

 tion] (Bui. R. I. State Col, 18 (1918), No. 4, pp. 41, J,.l).— It is stated that fur- 

 ther evidence is at band to show that ability to lay large, heavy eggs is a 

 heritable character. Hereditary factors for black pigmentation have been 

 found In the White Dorking breed similar to those already reported for the 

 White Leghorn. 



Pigmentation in guinea pig hair, H. R. Hunt and S. Weight (Jour. Hered- 

 ity, 9 (1918), No. k, pp. 178-181, figs. 4).— Black and red guinea pigs differ 

 genetically by a single factor, but microscopic examination of the hair discloses 

 several structural differences. Pigment in black individuals is black, rod-like 

 in shape, and distributed extensively in the cortex as well as in the medulla 

 (center) of the hair. In reds it is yellowish, generally in the form of spherical 

 granules, and almost entirely restricted to the medulla. Diffuse (nongranular) 

 yellow pigment is sometimes present. Similarly sepia, the dilute form of black, 

 has pigment granules in the cortex, but yellows and creams, the dilute forms 

 of red, do not. It is held that in blacks and yellows there is a specific enzym 

 not found in reds and yellows, which increases the oxidizing power of the 

 fundamental pigmentation enzym and enables the latter to overcome a certain 

 resistance on the part of the cortex to the production of pigment 



Practically no microscopic differences could be found between black and 

 sepia, but yellow showed distinctly fewer granules than the reds, some of them 

 being blackish in color, while in creams the minute, scattered granules are 

 apparently all black. The authors do not suggest a cause for the difference 

 in the effect of the dilution factor. 



Oyster propagation (New Jersey Stas. Bui. 317 (1917), p. J^l). — Observations 

 by P. C. Caniemn indicate that oysters will spawn later in the season and at 

 much lower temperatures than previously assumed. Studies of oyster propaga- 

 tion should not, therefore, be limited to summer months. 



DAIRY FARMING— DAIRYING. 



The open shed compared with the closed barn for dairy cows, T. E. Wood- 

 ward, W. F. Turner, W. R. H.uk. and J. P.. McNulty (U. S. Dept. Agr. Huh 

 736 (1918), pp. 13). — Earlier work along this line is briefly reviewed, and simi- 

 lar experimental work in progress for three years at the Dairy Division Experi- 



