180 



The Journal of Heredity 



SCORE CARDS THAT TELL THE REAL STORY 



Incompleted egg-laying records (up to February 23) of the two White Wyandotte liens shown 

 in Fig. 12. The one which scored higher by ordinary standards has laid very few eggs, 

 while the one which scored lower by ordinar}' standards has proved to be an excellent layer. 

 In the light of such records as these, breeders are beginning to ask themselves whether 

 the present poultry standards encourage breeding merely for fancy points or for real 

 usefulness. (Fig. 14.) 



is for the genetist, largely by biomet- 

 rical methods, to test out the utility 

 points and for the standards to recog- 

 nize these at their actual value when 

 discovered. Efforts have already been 

 directed to this end by investigators. 

 If the jjrotein content in the corn 

 kernel is roughly ]jroportioned to the 

 amount of horny endosperm, as seems 

 to be the case, this character can he 

 added to the score card for judging high 

 protein ears, to adduce a single example 

 from plants. 



HENS SHOULD LAY EGGS. 



An example from poultry may be 

 taken from Table II. This tal)le 

 shows the relative value of ear-lobes, 

 beak and legs, and of these parts com- 

 bined, in selecting Leghorns with high 

 egg records. If these same relations 

 are found to hold for other times of the 

 year than October, when the color 



records were taken, and are found to 

 be equally significant under other en- 

 vironmental conditions, it would not 

 be difficult to assign to color in different 

 parts of a bird in this breed the proper 

 ntimber of points on the score card. It 

 does not seem unreasonable to dis- 

 qualify from the show room any hen 

 or jjuilct that docs not show evidence 

 of being in a laying condition, and to 

 refuse to admit to registr\- in the " Stand- 

 ard of Perfection" any new breed that 

 has not made a reasonable record in an 

 egg-laying contest. Such a procedure 

 would do much to imi^rove the laying 

 qualities of the different breeds. 



With the ])ure fancier this paper has 

 no complaint. He is to the agricultural 

 breeder what the amateur photograi)her 

 is to the professional. He has done 

 much for genetics, but he breeds pri- 

 marily as a pastime, not for profit. The 

 sale of pets is of course a profitable 



