new varieties of chrysanthemums. 

 Holley wrote a very popular Station bul- 

 letin entitled "Growing House Plants" 

 and developed a purple variety of lilac 

 called 'Ann Tighe'. Risley produced the 

 'Granite Pink' bee balm, and with Yeager 

 two new lilacs — 'Anna Amhoff and 

 'Nellie Bean'. Some years later a beauti- 

 ful bright pink, later blooming lilac was 

 named after James MacFarlane who 

 conducted floriculture research at the 

 university for many years. 



Use of greenhouse facilities accel- 

 erated breeding, especially of seed 

 propagated vegetables, from seven 

 years to a bit more than two years be- 

 cause one generation was raised in the 

 field, followed by two in the greenhouse 

 in vdnter. Thus, by 1950, the depart- 

 ment had originated some 30 improved 

 varieties of horticultural plants, and the 

 breeding work underway assured many 

 more to come. 



Poultry Husbandry 



W. C. Skoglund replaced T. B. Charles as 

 department chairman in 1950 and be- 

 gan investigations on the effect of artifi- 

 cial light and other factors on grovv1;h 

 and egg production. In 1951, he initi- 

 ated the New Hampshire Broiler Test, 

 partly supported by the Experiment 

 Station, to provide information of mu- 

 tual interest to both breeders and broiler 

 growers. This official test provided a 

 useful service to the industry for 13 

 years. 



Shortage of animal protein during 

 the war led nutritionists to search for 

 suitable substitute sources of protein. R. 

 C. Ringrose, who followed A. E. Tepper 

 as nutritionist, found soybean oil meal 

 and Torula yeast to be satisfactory 

 sources of vegetable protein for both 

 growing chicks and laying pullets, but 

 not for breeders. This led to an investiga- 

 tion with H. A. Davis on the choline 

 requirements of the laying hen. With 

 30 



graduate students, Ringrose evaluated 

 use of methionine to improve grow^ 

 and feed efficiency of broiler rations and 

 feed restriction to delay sexual maturity 

 and increase egg size of pullets. 



C. W. Hess was appointed in 1942 

 as the first poultry geneticist in the de- 

 partment. He began development of an 

 improved meat-type chicken and initi- 

 ated a selection program for improved 

 feed efficiency. In 1949 he resigned to 

 accept a position with the U.S.D.A. in 

 Beltsville, MD. W. M. Collins was ap- 

 pointed geneticist in 1951. 



Responding to processor demand 

 for whiter plumaged broilers, Collins 

 and graduate student F. F. Cherms iden- 

 tified plumage color genes which 

 would reduce the incidence of colored 

 feathers in crossbred chickens. In other 

 research during this period Collins indi- 

 cated yellow shank pigmentation of 

 broilers, of concern to buyers of live 

 poultry, was inherited and could be 

 improved through selection. 



"Blue Comb," a disease of pullets 

 soon after beginning to lay, was causing 

 mortality of about 5 percent in 1945. E. 

 W. Waller, pathologist, isolated a filter- 

 able agent from affected live birds and 

 then developed a vaccine which gave 

 some protection against the disease. W. 

 R. Dunlop, who joined the department 

 in 1950, began working on two virally 

 caused respiratory diseases of chickens 

 that caused serious losses to 

 poultrymen. Dunlop, and then graduate 

 student R. G. Strout, developed spray 

 vaccines against these diseases which 

 they used in combination for experi- 

 mental mass immunization on both 

 broiler and replacement flocks. Com- 

 mercial companies shortly thereafter 

 began producing and marketing vac- 

 cines against these two diseases and 

 these researchers turned to other inves- 

 tigations. 



