54 a EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF POULTRY 

 HUSBANDRY. 



H. D. GOODALE. 



The Elimination of Disease. 



The chief item of interest in the work of the year is the 

 drive made against disease, especially paralysis. The plan 

 consisted in hatching from the old stock as usual, but taking 

 the day-old chicks directly from the machines to a quarantined 

 range where the}' were grown to maturity. At the close of 

 the breeding season all old stock was sent to market, and the 

 plant thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. In October the 

 young stock was transferred to the renovated plant. The ex- 

 periment was completely successful as far as the quarantined 

 range was concerned, but a report on the remainder of the 

 experiment cannot be made until more time has elapsed. 



Project Work. 



The fusion of the high-producing line and the non-broody 

 line is complete. Broody birds still appear and doubtless 

 will continue to appear for several years. Judging from this 

 fall's performance, the egg production of this strain is likely 

 to exceed that of any previous flock. Much more rapid prog- 

 ress could be made in the development of the high-producing 

 strain if a thousand pullets could be trap-nested each year for 

 the next two or three years. 



A considerable amount.of work of technical interest has been 

 done on the reproductive organs. 



TiLLsoN Farm. 

 The assignment of the Tillson Farm to the Poultry Depart- 

 ment will remove many hindrances to the progress of the ex- 

 periments as soon as the transfer is completed and the farm 

 is properly equipped. 



