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— LIFE LINE OF THE POULTRY INDUSTRY 



By THOMAS W. FOX 



Head, Department of Poultry Science 



In breeding for high fecundity, fast- 

 maturing full brothers are compared 

 carefully for physical development 

 before prospective breeders ore 

 chosen. 



FROM a backyard project to the 

 largest agricultural enterprise in 

 the state, as well as in New England 

 : — this is the story of the phenome- 

 nal growth of the poultry industry. 



Part of this growth can be credited 

 to the research programs estab- 

 lished at our state university. From 

 small beginnings in 1911 under Pro- 

 fessor John C. Graham, the depart- 

 ment has grown to include six staff 

 members and two graduate students. 



By anticipating problems, the de- 

 partment has benefited the poultry 

 industry by supplying valuable in- 

 formation when it is most needed. 



worldwide acclaim 



Our experiment station was one of 

 the first in the United States to 

 study inheritance of egg production. 

 It is easy to see, then, why our 

 poultry breeders have won world- 

 wide acclaim for the excellence of 

 their breeding stock. The story of 

 forty years of research to increase 

 egg production through genetics is 

 told in the pages of numerous scien- 

 tific journals and in our university 



experiment station and extension 

 bulletins. 



Genetic improvement and improved 

 nutrition mean that chickens begin 

 to lay at an earlier age and lay con- 

 tinuously at a high rate. To the 

 poultryman this is translated into 

 a simple well-understood phrase — 

 greater profits. 



demanding public 



Knowledge accumulated ^ andj^^dis- 

 seminated by the University! has 

 helped to meet public demands. You 

 have only to take a trip around the 

 countryside to see that white chick- 

 ens now far outrank the colored birds. 

 How does this happen? How did it 

 come about? We can probably 

 blame it on our modern prepackaging 

 age and a demanding public. 



Dark pin feathers magnified by 

 transparent film wrappers do not 

 make an appealing food package. 

 The rapid change to white-feathered 

 birds was possible because poultry 

 research men had already tackled 

 the problem of inheritance of white 

 feathers. 



