ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 763 



86.4 per cent of the pen were laying, the total hatch was 48.1 per cent and the 

 fertility 87,7 per cent. In other tests without mating again fertility could not 

 be traced in egs;s laid after hens had been broody for any length of time. 



In an experiment to determine the best method of cooling eggs in an incu- 

 bator, the eggs in an incubator containing eight trays wei'e cooled for a mere 

 turning 5, 10, 15, and 20 minute periods. The tray that gave the best results 

 was cooled as follows : First week, five minutes in the afternoon ; second week, 

 10 minutes in the afternoon; and third week, 1.5 minutes in the afternoon. 

 Cooling one tray for several hours proved detrimental. 



In an experiment to determine the profit on ducks hatched in incubators, 

 reared in brooders, and sold on the local market at from 10 to 12 weeks old, 

 3.18 lbs. of feed per pound of gain were required, the average weight at the end 

 of 10 weeks being 4 lbs. 11.2 oz. per duck. 



Shipping eggs for hatching by parcel post proved to be quite as safe as by 

 express. 



The value for poultry feeding of screenings, scalpings (chiefly broken and 

 shrunken wheat and the larger weed seeds), wild buckwheat, "black seeds" 

 (lamb's quarter, wild mustard, and tumbling mustard), and each of these three 

 separately, was tested. The presence of the black weed seeds in the ration made 

 it not only unpalatable, but unprofitable as well. Wild buckwheat, however, made 

 a very desirable feed. The mustards and lamb's quarter proved unpalatable 

 and unprofitable. Some birds died, but in no case did death result from 

 "poison," but rather from malnutrition. In the birds that suffered most 

 severely, as in the case of the mustards, upon return to a normal ration the 

 rebound was very rapid. The mustards rather than being poisonous seemed 

 to have a stimulating effect on the dige.stive organs. 



Data on the cost and amount of feed, cost of producing 1 doz. of eggs, and 

 fertility and hatchability of eggs set with White Leghorn hens and pullets and 

 Barred Plymouth Rocks are given, also data on the temperature, amount of oil 

 used, and average cost per chick hatched by four types of incubators. Some 

 lations for various classes of poultry which have been found satisfactory are 

 included. 



The limitations of cotton-seed meal feeding' in poultry, B. F. Kaupp {North 

 Carolina Sta. Giro. 21 {1915), pp. H). — This is a report of preliminary experi- 

 ments to determine the point of limitation of the feeding of cotton-seed meal 

 for the different purposes for which birds are fed. The results are summarized 

 as follows : 



" Cotton-seed meal in dry mash, constituting 10 per cent of the mixtures for 

 laying and breeding stoclc for a space of 90 days, in 19 flocks of birds has shown 

 no noticeable physical effect. They apparently eat it with relish. This mash 

 is given along with a morning and evening scratch feed and acts only as an 

 adjunct. Cotton-seed meal constituting 20 per cent of a fattening ration in 

 seven tests proved unpalatable, and the birds having a tendency to become sick 

 of it did not eat sufficient to make satisfactory gains, and in some cases actually 

 lost weight when liept on it for a period of 18 days. In cram feeding of 12 birds, 

 four, or 33J per cent, were thrown completelj' off digestion, as evidenced by the 

 food remaining in the crop. Three died and one later digested her food again. 

 Twenty per cent cotton-seed meal in one cram test did not produce satisfactory 

 gains, due to its ill effect, in this quantity, upon digestion. In two tests upon 

 three Leghorns gos.sypol (E. S, R., 33, p. 311) apparently produced the same 

 results as were noted in the cram feeding and other lots. 



" In the trough feeding, which proved unsatisfactory, the maximum amount 

 of cotton-seed meal consumed was slightly less than 1 oz. a day. In the cram- 



