GUAM AGKICULTUKAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 21 



The station has recognized the fact that under ordinary conditions 

 the Uve-stock farmer wiU. not find the use of imported feeds prac- 

 ticable, and from the beginning we have adopted the policy of 

 depending as largely as possible upon island-grown feed. Practi- 

 cally all the roughage as well as a considerable portion of the gi^ain 

 fed to both horses and cattle durmg the past year has been pro- 

 duced on the station grounds. 



HOGS. 



The Berkshire hogs have remained in good health during the course 

 of the year. All have made satisfactory gains, but both of the sows 

 have failed to breed. Twenty-two sows were bred to the two boars 

 during the season beginning with the time of their arrival and ending 

 with the close of the fiscal year. A number of these sows had far- 

 rowed prior to the end of the year and the pigs generally showed a 

 marked improvement over the ordinary native pig. (PI. Ill, fig. 3.) 



CHICKENS. 



So far the results with the Barred Plymouth Rock and Brown 

 Leghorn breeds are favorable. Hens of both breeds have proved 

 much better laj-ers than the native hens, and the eggs of the former 

 breeds are also much larger than those of the latter. Chicken pox 

 has caused considerable loss at the station, but the native chickens 

 seem to be fuUy as susceptible to the disease, and, due probably to 

 less careful management, the mortality among native chickens in 

 the neighborhood of the station was considerably' higher than among 

 the newly introduced breeds at the station. 



A small incubator has been in operation at the station during the 

 last half of the year. Although the machine is simple of adjustment 

 and the temperature is easily controlled, satisfactory hatches have 

 not been obtained, and it seems probable that climatic conditions 

 in Guam exert an influence over incubation which will necessitate 

 special manipulation of the machine. 



The intrinsic utility of these breeds in Guam will depend largely 

 upon the manner in which they thrive under the ordinary conditions 

 to which chickens are subjected here, and with a view to reaching a 

 practical determination of this point such eggs as were not required 

 at the station for hatching purposes were given out in general dis- 

 tribution to those desiring to set them. A total of 438 eggs were 

 thus distributed during the course of the year. The results of this 

 work should give early indications of the practical value of these 

 breeds as compared vnih the native strains when raised under similar 

 environments and given the same care and attention. 



The complete egg record of each pen of pullets from the time they 

 began to lay until the close of the year is given m the following table. 

 It should be explained that at the time of theh arrival these were 



