Introduction 



Poultry and eggs are more important to the agriculture of the 

 Northeastern States than to any of the other 3 geographical regions of 

 the United States. Poultry and eggs are second only to dairy and dairy 

 products as producers of cash farm income in this area. 



When NE-6 began in 1954, poultry and eggs accounted for 22% of 

 the realized gross farm income in the Northeast. The area had about 

 60 million layers on hand which averaged about 195 eggs per layer. 

 The area produced about 290 million broilers and 5.5 million turkeys. 

 Cash farm income from poultry and eggs totaled about $628 million. 



When NE-6 closed in 1963, poultry and eggs contributed $644 mil- 

 lion of the realized gross farm income to the area. The number of layers 

 on hand had dropped to less than 49 million but egg production per 

 layer had increased to 209. Although turkey production dropped to 

 4.5 million, broiler production had increased to almost 390 million. 



Egg and meat production in the Northeastern States must be main- 

 tained at optimum efficiency if profitable poultry enterprises are to con- 

 tinue. 



The Regional project was designed to solve some of the basic gen- 

 etic and physiological problems facing poultry breeders in the North- 

 eastern States. 



History 



Federal-grant funds for Regional research were authorized with the 

 passage on August 14, 1946 of the amendment to the Bankhead-Jones 

 Act. These Regional research funds were to be used only for cooperative 

 Regional research projects recommended by a committee of nine per- 

 sons representing the Directors of the State Agricultural Experiment 

 Stations, and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture. 



A Regional poultry breeding project was already envisioned in the 

 Northeastern United States. At the December 16-17, 1946 meeting of the 

 Committee of Nine, M. H. Campbell, Director of the Rhode Island Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, was appointed Administrative Advisor to 

 the Northeast Regional Poultry Breeding Project. NE-6 was the number 

 assigned to the project. 



However, for financial reasons NE-6 lay dormant for more than 

 seven years. The Northeast Directors at their July 1953 meeting voted to 

 activate NE-6 in view of an expected increase in Regional research funds. 

 By this time Associate Director William H. Wiley of the Rhode Island 

 Agricultural Experiment Station was Administrative Advisor. 



Following a Technical Committee meeting January 28-29, 1954, a 

 project outline entitled, "Effectiveness of Different Methods of Selective 

 Breeding of Poultry Upon Specific Characters and Associated Charac- 

 ters." was prepared and accepted. Its objectives were: 



1. To develop and evaluate methods for breeding improvement of 

 poultry, especially in egg production, meat production, egg 

 quality, viability, and other economically important factors. 



2. To study genetic correlations among economic traits, especially 

 egg production and growth rate. 



