P.D. 123 7 



Sheep offer all the advantages of the beef animal; use less purchased feeds; 

 are in equal or greater demand, and yield a three-fold result, namely: Meat 

 as lamb, wool, soil improvement, by clearing up brush, weeds or undesirable 

 plants, while balancing their raug'hage requirements on pasture; at the same 

 time contributing valuable fertility for soil improvement. 



Poultry Work 



The R.O.P. work for the year was carried on with very good results. There 

 were 19 poultry plants vunder the supervision of the Department, and unan- 

 nounced visits were made to these plants, taking over tihe trapnesting work 

 for the day, and checking the records for accuracy. 



During the year articles were prepared and radio talks given in an effort to 

 explain and publicise R.O.P. Work in this State. Also, a number of State, 

 Sectional and National meetings were attended in the interest of our R.O.P. 

 program. 



The Annual summary of our R.O.P. work was prepared and distributed to 

 poultrymen in this State, and to interested persons throughout the country. 



Following is a brief summary of the results obtained by our R.O.P. Breed- 

 ers for the 1935-36 Season: 



Summary 



Total pullets kept by R.O.P. Breeders 37,537 



Number birds entered by R.O.P. Breeders 7,239 



Number birds passing R.O.P. requirements 3,064 



Average production all birds passing R.O.P. requirements 241.13 



Average egg weight all birds passing R.O.P. requirements 25.48 



Average body weight all birds passing R.O.P. requirements 6.07 



Poultry Certification. — Under our Massachusetts Certified Pullorum Clean 

 Grade, there were 35,565 birds approved and banded. This was approximately 

 4000 more than the previous year. In addition to the inspection of the birds, 

 all other provisions of the work were carried out. 



Pullorum Clean Grade. — The Department supervised 134 flocks, which quali- 

 fied under this Grade. All the flecks qualifying passed at least two annual 

 100% pullorum free tests. 



Pullorum Paused Grade. — The Department supervised 44 flocks which quali- 

 fied for this Grade, which requires one annual 100% free pullorum disease test. 



Poidtry Transportation Law. — There were 575 poultry transportation li- 

 censes issued during the year, with considerable time and effort spent in en- 

 forcing the pro-vision of the law. 



Poultry Tattooing. — This program was continued as in the past with consid- 

 erable time spent in promoting the tattooing of birds in Massachusetts. 



Miscellaneous Poultry Work. — During the course of the year, all of the 

 poultry^' correspondence and requests for poultry information pertaining to the 

 Division's work was handled. 



We cooperated with the U. S. Department erf Agriculture in the operation 

 of the National Uniform Plan, acted as an officer in various poultry organiza- 

 tions for the purpose of promoting the State's Poultry Industry, and assisted 

 at Fairs and Exhibitions, in promoting the work of the Department. 



Milk Goats have received a considerable amount of attention this year, 

 through the six local sectional associations and their State Breeders Council. 

 They offer quite some possibilities to urban and rural people as a part time 

 enterprise. Their product has great possibilities for certain deficiency tro.ubles, 

 skin disorders and digestive disturbances. 



Horse breeders and fanciers cover the field from light pleasure types to fine 

 drafters; there being considerable interest shown with some new people in- 

 quiring about the potential possibilities, and established breeders showing some 

 tendency toward expansion. 



Hog Breeders remain about constant, with some help being asked to im- 

 prove litter sizes by means of better housing, improved stock, etc. 



