676 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.43 



Maturity is measured by tlie age at wiiich the first egg is laid. Breed aver- 

 ages for tliis age were determined as follows: Single Comb White Leghorn 

 205.5 days, Barred IMymouth Rock 239.2 days, and Single Comb Rhode Island 

 Red 250 days. 



Samples cf cornmeal modified in flavor by the addition of different sub- 

 stances (water, acetic acid, sugar, epsom salts, or common salt) were offered 

 to hens that had received no feed for 24 hours, and the amount of each con- 

 sumed during a brief feeding period was observed. Consumption was found to 

 be independent of the flavor to the human palate. The physical consistency, 

 however, was found to be of importance in determining palatability. Neither 

 moist ground rye nor moist wheat bran was particularly palatable to poultry, 

 but a mixture of the two was consumed readily and this is attributed to a 

 change in the physical condition. Whole rye was much less palatable than 

 moist ground rye. 



Poultry culture in Maine, past, present, and future, G. P. Coffin {[Maine] 

 Dept. Ayr. Bui., 19 {1920), No. 1, pp. Jf-18, fig. 1). — The author presents a survey 

 of current poultry practices in Maine, with historical notes. 



Canadian farm poultry, M. A. Jull {[Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec]: 

 Macdonald College, 1920, pp. 5-}, figs. 97). — This manual deals with the breeding, 

 feeding, housing, incubation, marketing, and sanitation problems of the farmer 

 who produces eggs and dressed poultry. Plans for various types of poultry 

 houses are given. 



Export of South African eggs and poultry, year 1919, W. O. John 

 {Union So. Africa, Dept. Agr. Jour., 1 {1920), No. 3, pp. 258-260) .Statistics of 

 the eggs and poultry exported to Great Britain and to various African States 

 from the Union of South Africa in 1919 are tabulated. This is the first year 

 that poultry has been exported on a commercial scale. 



Concerning rabbits, F. AV. Arms {Washington Sta., West Wash. Sta. Mo. 

 Bui., 8 {1920), No. 4, pp. 61-64). — The author reports practical feeding experi- 

 ments with weanling rabbits (grades of the Flemish Giant and New Zealand 

 Red breeds), and outlines the feeding routine followed at the station rabbitry. 



When a wet mash of bran, ground barley, alfalfa meal, and linseed meal 

 (2:3:4:1) was fed, or a variant of this in which 2 parts of beet pulp re- 

 placed 2 parts of alfalfa meal, the gains were slow and expensive, due largely, 

 it is thought, to the absence of dry roughage. Each mixture was fed to 6 rab- 

 bits for 55 days, and about 5 lbs. of the first mixture was required for a pound 

 of gain. 



In another comparison, lasting 40 days, one lot of 6 animals gained 45.5 

 lbs. on 105 lbs of a mixture of beet pulp, bran, and corn meal (1:1:1), and 47 

 lbs. of dry alfalfa meal, while a similar lot gained 49 lbs. on 120 lbs. of beet 

 pulp, bran, and oats (2:3:2), and 65 lbs. of alfalfa hay. In each case the 

 animals had all the alfalfa they would eat. 



In 36 days 17 3-lb. rabbits gained 42.75 lbs. on 129 lbs. of a mash of alfalfa 

 meal, beet pulp, oats, bran, and corn meal (1:1:2:2:1), and 67 lbs. of 

 alfalfa hay. The first three ingredients of the mixture were soaked over night 

 and added to the bran and corn before feeding. 



DAIRY FAKMING— DAIRYING. 



Studies in milk secretion. — V, On the variations and correlations of milk 

 secretion with age, J. W. Gowen {Genetics, 5 {1920), No. 2, pp. 111-188, figs. 

 9). — This is a biometrical study of the total milk yields in tfee first eight 

 months of each lactation of the cows in a .Jersey herd where the production 

 records date back to 1897. The foundation stock were Island cattle, and the 



