Journal of Agricultural Research 



Vol. XV. No. I 



GENERAL PLAN OF THE MATINGS 



The experiments for the study of the inherited characters of the dif- 

 ferent breeds were intended to include those breeds where careful selec- 

 tion of these characters had been made. Before passing to a study of 

 these characters in the F^ hybrids it seems necessary to have clearly in 

 mind the characters of the breeds used as parents so that a definite con- 

 ception of the breed and type differences may be had. Toward this end 

 Table IV has been drawn up in the simplest form possible. 



Table IV. — Contrasting characters of the parental breeds of the crossbred herd 



Character. 



Body color . . 



Wliite mark- 

 ings. 

 Switch color. 



Pig- 

 pig- 



Muzzle 



ment. 

 Tongue 



ment. 



Horns 



Conformation 

 Milk quantity 

 Milk quality . 



Jersey. 



Fa\vn or dun 



Often absent 



Black or 



white. 

 Black 



.do. 



Honis. . . 

 Dair\'. . . 



Medium. 

 High.... 



Guernsey. 



Light fawn 



or dun. 

 Present 



Light fa\vn 



or white. 



Wliite 



.do. 



Horns. . 

 Dairy. . . 

 Medium. 

 High.... 



Ayrshire. 



Red 



Present 



Red or white 

 Black 



.do. 



Horns. . 



Dairy. . . 

 Medium. 

 ..do.... 



Holstein- 

 Friesian. 



Black. . 

 Present . 



Black or 



white. 

 ..do 



.do. 



Horns. 

 Dairy. 

 Large. 

 Low. . 



Aberdeen- 

 Angus. 



Black. 



Often ab- 

 sent. 

 Black. 



Do. 



Do. 



Polled. 

 Beef. 

 Low. 

 Hidi. 



By comparing the various characters which the different breeds ex- 

 hibit, as seen in Table IV, the following character differences are brought 

 out. The coat variations offer a range of color from black to almost 

 white. This white is divided into more or less definitely centralized 

 white areas, each one of which presumably behaves distinctly. The 

 tongue colors of the Jersey and Guernsey are such that colors from white 

 to black are available. The typical conformation of each breed is dis- 

 tinct, offering many points of difference. Further differences which seem 

 rather too obvious to describe are horns, secretions, skin texture, general 

 body build, mammary development, temperament, and the physical and 

 chemical character of the milk. In all it is believed that the choice of 

 the foundation stock has been almost ideal, for in each breed chosen 

 there has been years of selection for some of the above-mentioned char- 

 acters whose inheritance is to be studied. 



In this connection it may be objected that the inheritance of these 

 characters are not economically important. This is in a sense true; yet 

 the intimate association v/hich exists between the hereditary units 

 necessitates the studying such things as coat color and tongue color for 

 the full analyses of the economically important problems. It is the pur- 

 pose of this preliminary paper on the first generation hybrids to lay the 

 foundation for acquiring exact knowledge of such tilings as milk and 

 beef production. 



