1919] [MAL PRODUCTION. 6 i I 



,-is the birds came oul of the house, bo .'is to Becare minimum excitement of the 

 liinis ,'imi .is nearly uniform crop contents as possible. Complete data i 

 famished in a scries of tables both for each i"i separately and the average by 

 breeds. 



II. chi<i; rearing methods employed <ii the Storrs Agricultural Experiment 

 Station (pp. 373-393). — Information is provided as to methods of brooding, 

 feeding, and caring for chicks until thej are pul In the laying pena 



The effects of subnormal temperature upon the chick embryo in incuba- 

 tion, G. II. i.wison. .11:. {Jour. Amer. Issoc. Instr. and Invest, Poultry Husb., 

 4 (1918), No. 5, pp. .1'). 56*).— Experiments conducted during the years 1910- 

 i!M7 al Hie Connecticui Storrs Station are summarized as follows: " < 'h'n-k 

 embryos from Btrong stock will stand from \ to •"> hours' exposure .-it a temper- 

 ature of 50° v. after the first 24 hours <>f Incubation, and from this poinl on 

 tin- time may be Increased up to 15 h<>urs for the tenth in twelfth day <>f incu- 

 bation, but after the seventeenth 'lay continued exposure to a temperature <»f 

 BO F. for more than 6 hours caused death to the embryos before the normal 

 time for exclusion." 



In another experiment to determine the value of tho ordinary practice of 

 daily CQOling during incubation :;.7'.»'.t eggs were used. It is stated that in the 

 case of Incubators which were cooled 67 per cent of the fertile eggs hatched, 

 whereas in those incubators not cooled 70 per eent hatched. The experimental 

 methods used were designed to make 'he two lots exactly comparable. Records 

 were kept of the mortality of 250 chicks Croom each group of eggs. Twenty 

 from the cooled cu'lts died in a month and 1 I from the uncooled e'-, r gs. 



"The only advantage that the writer can see in the process of cooling Is 

 that in those cases where the temperature has been considerably above what 

 is considered a normal temperature, the operator might help to reduce tins 

 high temperature more quickly than he would by the natural regulation of the 

 incubator temperature." 



A brief study of the mating habits of fowls with a test of the value of a 

 single mating. A. G. Philips {Jour. Amer. Assoc. Instr. and Invest. Poultry 

 Hush., '/ (1918), No. J. pi>. SO, •?/). — A small scale experiment by one of the 

 author's students, T. W. Townsley, provides among other things some data as 

 to the number of fertile eggs laid by hens following a single copulation. Fer- 

 tility varied from 7."> to 100 per cent from the second to the eighth day. Be- 

 ginning with the ninth day there was a distinct drop. No fertile eggs were 

 secured after the fifteenth day. 



Fifth Irish egg-laying competition. T>. MuBPHV (Dept. Agr. and Tech. Instr. 

 Ireland Jour., is (1918), No. 1. ///*. 53 J8). — Continuing the reports on the 1 

 laying contests (E. S. I!., .'is, p. 172) held annually at the Minister Institute. 

 Cork, Ireland, this paper gives the details of the fifth, which was held from 

 October 1, 1916, to Augusl 31, 1017. Monthly egg records are given for in- 

 dividual hens ami the number of times each was broody. 



Sixth Irish egg-laying competition (Dept. Igr. and Tech. Instr. Ir<l<iml 

 Jour.. I'.i (1918), No. 1. }>}>■ 25-29)'. — Continuing the work not.d above, corre- 

 sponding details are given of the sixth egg-laying contest, held :it tin- Minister 

 Institute from October 1. 1917, to Augusl .".i. 101s. 



The Importance of keeping male birds used as breeders until their offspring 

 have been tested is emphasized by the fact that two sires of some of the most 

 successful pullets in the competition had been previously disposed of. It is 

 stated that in the yollow-stoanked breeds, good layers show a pronounced loss 

 of pigment in shanks, skin, beak, and lobes. 



