Research of the New Hampshire Experiment 



Station in Animal Breeding and Nutrition 



by 

 E. G. Ritzman 



INVESTIGATIONAL methods for the benefit of the stockman and 

 farmer are of two distinct kinds. 



One type, which is particularly popular in this country, seeks to 

 determine the best practices in animal breeding and feeding by the 

 "trial and error" method in which merely the end results are sought 

 as a measure of comparative utility. Basic causes of differences in 

 results, such as inherent adaptations of individuals or specific differ- 

 ences in chemical composition of substance, are not a matter of con- 

 sideration for record. As a consequence the results from this type 

 of procedure are about as varied as the number of attempts because 

 differences in conditions have varied accordingly. 



The second method of experimentation which can be considered 

 as pure research is concerned primarily with specific fundamental 

 causes which insure permanence of values for the establishment of 

 laws so that the effect of an attempted venture in breeding or nutri- 

 tion can be predicted with a greater degree of probability. 



The character of the experimental program in animal husbandry at 

 this station has been determined by the firm conviction that perma- 

 nence of value in results is of more service than a temporary exped- 

 ient ; hence, the researches conducted during the last twenty-five 

 years have been of the latter kind. 



Applied Genetics in Sheep Breeding 



The Experiment Station of New Hampshire is about to bring to a 

 conclusion a unic|ue series of experiments in animal breeding, with 

 sheep, which has been in prog-ress for over twenty-five years. 



The plan of this research was originally outlined by Dr. C. B. Dav- 

 enport, Director of the Department- of Genetics of the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington, and one of the foremost international 

 authorities on this subject. 



When the investigation in sheep breeding was begun, the possible 

 effect of inbreeding farm livestock on the principle of Mendelism 

 suggested a great economic prospect. 



While the history of practical breeding of large domestic animals 

 even before that time records a marked achievement in the produc- 

 tion of new breeds representing improved types to meet economic 

 requirements, the greater part of this progress was accomplished 

 by a relatively small number of resourceful practical stockmen who 

 had no definite fundamental rule to go by except the old adage that 

 "like produces like". This, however, only too frequently proved a 

 disappointing delusion when applied by the average breeder. 



