February, 1922, 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 



201 



egg production at the various Govern- 

 ment institutions and by private breed- 

 ers in Canada. No serious difficulty has 

 been encount^ered in the breeding work 

 so far conducted at the University of B. 

 C. in ability to secure birds that are fair- 

 ly tj'pical of the breed. Selection for 

 type, however is never ignored even in 

 the face of high production. The barred 

 markings that have made this variety so 

 attractive in appearance, have not been 

 neglectied and very litle smokiness or 

 splashy barring is apparent so far in the 

 progeny. Ringlet barring as seen in the 

 best exhibition specimens as called for 

 by the standard is not common, although 

 fair exhibition specimens can be found. 

 It s?ems to require only a reasonable 

 amount of selection for bright colour 

 marking in the males along with pedi- 

 gree, to maintain a fair brightness in the 

 average female. 



The most serious problem to overcome 

 so far has appeared to be the tendency 

 towards degeneration in size of egg and 

 texture of shell as birds are bred and 



Barred Rock Hen B. 679 that laid 283 eggs in 



her pullet year to Nov. 1st. .Her eggs weigh 



2 ounces each. 



selected for egg production. The most 

 radical elimination of all females regard- 

 less of egg number has had to be exer- 

 cised, in order to combat this tendency. 



-^"^ -i-'j*- 



Rhode Island Hen 130, averaged over 200 eggs 



in first two years. Her six daughters last 



year averaged 215 eggs, with low score of 194 



and high one of 264 in 12 months. 



At the same time selection for color and 

 shape of 'egg is steadily maintained. 



Single Comb Reds. 



The S. C. Rhode Island Reds at the 

 University of British Columbia came from 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural College, 

 from stock that had been pedigree bred 

 for a number of generations by Dr. Good- 

 ale, the noted Biologist and Geneticist. 



The male heading the Massachusetts 

 pen was out of a hen that laid 296 eggs 

 ill 365 days, while the hens were of 180 

 :o 200 egg capacity. Good average egg 

 production had been fixed in these birds 

 l)y their pedigree. They were of good 

 size and of fair type, but variable and 

 generally light in color markings. 



Hen 130 laid 230 -eggs in her first year 

 and 175 in her second making a good two 

 year average for a Red. She has proved 

 to be a good breeder. Six of her daugh- 

 ters this last year averaged 215 eggs, 

 laying from 194 to 264 eggs each. The 

 eggs from these hens are of good size 

 and texture with fair hatchability. 



The trapnest records of the first gen- 

 eration of daughters from 130 were not 

 complete, and as such do not appear to 

 be very much above the average of the 



