304 



The Journal of Heredity 



hybrids. Mr. Griffith has obtained 

 sows weighing 600 pounds at 16 months, 

 and thinks his hogs mature about two 

 months eariier than any of the pure 

 bred breeds which he carries on an 

 equally large farm not far away. 



"When wc get through with them, 

 they shall be uniform and breed true," 

 was one of Mr. Griffith's last remarks 

 to me, and one felt that if it can be 

 accomplished at all, it will be. It might 

 seem that perhaps these sapphire hogs 

 can not be more "true blue" than can 

 the Blue Andalusian fowls. We know 

 that in certain fancy breeds of rabbits 

 there are many wasters in every genera- 

 tion. Judging from a day's visit at the 

 farm, this would not seem to be the 

 case with the hogs, for from sapphire 

 sows bred to sapphire boars, there 

 were very few litters that carried pure 

 whites or pure blacks. There were, 

 however, litters from spotted sows that 

 had only one cross of sapphire in the 



ancestry, that had in their litters pure 

 blacks, spotted ones like the dam, and 

 mackerel-marked sapphires. 



There were other exceedingly inter- 

 esting variations in color which, if they 

 will breed true, will some day also 

 apjjear as breeds; from a hereditary 

 standpoint, they are now exceedingly 

 interesting. There was, for instance, a 

 Titian coated young sow of unusual 

 beauty and a shade of color I ha\-e 

 never seen in Tamworth or Duroc 

 Jersey. There were a half dozen very 

 uniformly and peculiarly marked black 

 and white pigs, which promise interest- 

 ing results. 



No claim for iminunity is made for 

 the breed, but it is an interesting state- 

 ment of fact that although these pigs, 

 by the thousand for the last five years, 

 have been raised almost entirely on 

 city swill, yet there has never been 

 any outbreak of cholera. 



Such is the Sapphire Hog in the making. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS 



HANDBUCH DER LANDWIRTSCHAFTLICHEX PFLAXZENZUCHTING, Band I, 

 Allgemeine Zuchtungslehre (Handbook of Agricultural Plant-Breeding, Vol. I, General 

 Principles of Breeding) by C. Fruwirth. Pp. xxiii+442, price M. 14. Berlin, Paul Parey, 1914. 



The first volume of Professor Fruwirth's encyclopedic work on plant breeding 

 has been rewritten and issued in its fourth edition. As a compendium of knowledge 

 on every aspect of plant breeding, it stands unrivaled; it must be admitted that 

 nothing equahng it has been produced in the English language. It is difficult 

 to think of any subject connected with plant breeding which the author has not 

 discussed fully and profoundly. Pains have been taken to keep the practical 

 work of the breeder in mind, but from its nature, the volume is highly technical, 

 and will be of value only to professional students of genetics. To the great body 

 of them who are teaching genetics in colleges or practising it at exi)erimcnt stations, 

 the book would seem to be almost a necessary part of their equipment. 



Vol. Ill, A. B. A. Reports, Wanted 



A member of the American Genetic Association wants a copy of Vol. Ill, annual 

 reports of the American Breeders' Association, to complete his file, antl has ex- 

 pressed a willingness to pay S5 for it. Any member willing to dispose of his copy 

 at this price is requested to notify the secretary. Copies of Vols. I, II and V are 

 also in demand, and the secretary will be glad to learn of the whereabouts of any 

 of these volumes which the owners arc willing to relinquish. 



