32 N. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION. [Bulletin 151 



One of the first duties of the animal husbandman, after his appointment in 

 September, 1909, was the erection of a sheep barn large enough to accommo- 

 date seventy-five head. This barn is provided with a small root cellar in 

 one end, and also with a compartment, the walls of which are securely double 

 boarded so as to form a still-air space, where lambs can be dropped without 

 danger from cold even in the most inclement winter weather. 



Another valuable addition to the equipment of the department is a fibre- 

 testing machine which was purchased in March, 1910. This appliance is 

 used for obtaining the tensile strength, elasticity and length of wool fibres 

 which factors must be determined in order to gain information anent the man- 

 ner of inheritance of the many characteristics that comprehend what is com- 

 monly called wool quality. Consequently, for prosecution of the sheep 

 breeding work, the department is now well equipped. 



Prof. J. C. McNutt, who had acted as assistant in this department since 1908, 

 resigned his position in August to accept a similar one in North Carolina 

 College of Agriculture. We have, however, been most fortunate in securing 

 for this position Prof. O. L. Eckman, an '04 graduate of Ohio State University. 



Investigations. 



All investigations are included in three main projects: 



1. Sheep Breeding (Adams Fund). 



2. Sheep Feeding (Hatch Fund), 



a. Clover hay versus New Hampshire native hay; 



b. Value of turnips in the ration. 



3. Tobacco Feeding for the Eradication of the Stomach Worm in Sheep, 

 Hcemonchus conlortus. (Hatch Fund.) 



1. Sheep Breeding. 



This project is being carried on under the Adams Fund in cooperation with 

 Dr. C. B. Davenport, station for experimental evolution, Carnegie Institution 

 of Washington, Cold Spring Harbor, L. I. 



The primary object of the experiment is to discover the manner in which 

 characters are inherited with relation to the Mendelian law. However, 

 coincidentally with the prosecution of the original plan, four new branches 

 have been opened up and carried on: 



a. Crosses and methods of management best adaptable for early or "hot- 

 house" lamb production. 



b. Experimental breeding of multi-nippled sheep inter se and upon the 

 ordinary two-nippled breeds in order to discover the behavior of these two 

 classes of nipples in heredity. 



c. Compilation of data in respect to the inheritance of twins which is being 

 pursued by means of circular letters sent to all the leading sheep breeders in 

 America and by a study of the flock books. 



(1. Determination of post-natal variation in the growth of sheep and partic- 

 ularly in the growth of the large bones of the extremities. 



The experiment whs commenced in 1908 when four rams of the Dorset, 

 Hampshire, Shropshire and Southdown breeds were mated with seventyi- 

 eight ewes: the Dorset ram with nineteen ewes; the Eampshire ram with 



