MENDELISM AND ITS APPLICATION TO POULTRY BREEDING 



By the Rev. E. Lewis Jones, M.A. 



WITH the twentieth century a new science 

 has sprung up, under the title of Genetics, 

 which concerns itself with the study of 

 the physiological problems of variation and 

 heredity. It is proposed to show in this chapter 

 how Genetics bears upon the work 

 Genetics of the poultry fancier and breeder 



generally. The attempt is of an 

 elementary nature, as only the rudiments of the 

 science will be treated. Those who desire to 

 pursue the subject farther are advised to con- 

 sult the list of books at the end of the chapter. 



Poultry have been found useful to experiment 

 with, as a number can be raised from the same 

 parents in one year. These will breed within 

 the year, and so in a comparatively short time 

 the results will be observed on a number of 

 generations. Flowers, mice, canaries, etc., have 

 also been, for the same reason, found useful 

 subjects for experiment. 



Variation and heredity are familiar problems 

 to the poultry fancier, for he is essentially a 

 breeder. His success depends upon the ability 

 with which he mates his stock to produce the 

 desired results. To him the questions of here- 

 dity are vital questions, as the success of his 

 labours depends largely upon his knowledge 

 — empirical or scientific — of the laws of here- 

 dity. In the course of his work, the breeder 

 meets with many experiences and various pro- 

 blems and riddles, which he would much like to 

 understand. His experience makes him familiar 

 with the many and varied facts of heredity, and 

 so far science has done but little to assist him 

 to an understanding of the numerous complex 

 problems he meets with. 



Are these problems insoluble ? Will the 

 laws of heredity ever be sufficiently understood 

 to enable these riddles to be read ? And 



further, will the laws of heredity be so well 

 known that the breeder can confidently set 

 about his work with the knowledge that he can 

 surely get certain desired results ? So far he is 

 rather sceptical as to there being any possible 

 solution of his difficulty. Be that as it may, 

 those who have observed the progress of Gene- 

 tics during the last few years assert that even if 

 it does not solve all difficulties, it will at any 

 rate solve a great number of them. Genetics 

 will enable us to go definitely to a certain 

 end, will save a number of useless experiments 

 and will prevent waste of material and time. 

 This will be especially noticeable in the manu- 

 facture of new breeds. 



The observant breeder is aware of two facts 

 which are met with in the course of breeding : 

 (i) the transmission of a certain likeness; (2) 

 the difference in the individuals which are the 

 product of any given pair of parents. The 

 progeny superficially resemble the pair in all 

 respects, so much so that a casual observer would 

 say they were all alike and would classify 

 parents and progeny as belonging to a certain 

 breed or variety. This superficial resemblance 

 has led to the well-known statement " like pro- 

 duces like." The breeder knows only too well 

 the limitations of that statement. A close ex- 

 amination would reveal the fact that these 

 individuals ditfer in marked respects amongst 

 themselves, as well as from their parents. This 

 apparent similarity which exists together with 

 real differences, is probably intimately connected 

 with the solution of the problems of heredity. 



The methods of breeders have so far been 

 only empirical, and were so, of necessity, owing 

 to the fact that science had not helped with 

 definite knowledge. To be helpful, science 

 must not only be explanatorj', but must enable 



