586 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



Mrs. Mary Treat, in her study of insects, has shown, of butter- 

 flies, that, "if the larvae be not well fed before going into the 

 chrysalis state, the perfect insects developed from them are 

 males ; but if the larvae are abundantly fed, the perfect in- 

 sects are females." 



Dzirerzon, in his study of bees, has shown that the females 

 come from the eggs of the queen which have been fertilized by 

 impregnation, and the unimpregnated eggs produce males. The 

 bee men understand that if a swarm lose its queen, a new queen 

 can be produced from working-larvae, provided their cells be en- 

 larged, and the larvae therein be supplied with appropriate food. 

 Incredible as this may seem, it is so well established th;it even 

 Baron Berlepsch says, "it is nevertheless true." Mr. Knight 

 has shown, in regard to some plants, that he can regulate the 

 production of male or female blossoms by regulating the heat 

 and light. "If heat be, comparatively with the quantity of 

 light which the plant receives, excessive, then male flowers only 

 appear." From such and similar facts, Miles says, " It may be 

 that the determination of sex depends upon a number of con- 

 ditions that are all intimately connected with the function of 

 nutrition." 



The Stuyvesant theory, which has been so widely published, 

 is based on two assumptions, and only assumptions. The first 

 is, " The sex of the offspring depends entirely upon the female ;" 

 and the second is, " Every alternate egg is of the same sex." If 

 the last colt or calf was a female, and a male was desired next 

 time, then the dam must be served by the male the first time 

 she comes in heat. If she fails to conceive then, she must go 

 again the third heat, or fifth, and so on. The long line of ex- 

 periments on this theory have not established it. The condition 

 of the female at time of service seems to be an important fea- 

 ture, not only in the matter of producing the best animal, but, 

 if the theory of nutrition affecting the ovum have force, then 

 the breeder may well pursue his studies further along that line, 

 and note carefully the results. 



It is held by many that young heifers and young mares bred 

 to vigorous males drop a larger per cent of males. On the 



