Agricultural Research in New Hampshire 59 



Pullorum Testing 



To control and eliminate pullorum disease from the poultry popu- 

 lation of New Hampshire this laboratory ran agglutination tests on the 

 blood of 1,244,985 hens. In addition, 85,542 retests were made on in- 

 fected flocks. This made a grand total of 1,330,527 samples during the 

 past fiscal year. 



Of approximately 750 flocks tested, infection was found in 27 flocks. 

 Of the 27 reacting flocks, 12 were tested for the first time or had suffered 

 infection during the previous year. The 1 5 remaining flocks were classi- 

 fied as breaks in that they had previously been free of infection. 



F. E. Allen 



Manufacture of Fowl-Pox Vaccine 



The manufacture of fowl-pox vaccine by chick-origin method was 

 discontinued during the past fiscal year because of outbreaks of New- 

 castle disease in this country. This disease has apparently been intro- 

 duced from Europe and to prevent its spread the Bureau of Animal In- 

 dustry has ordered all poultry vaccines to be produced by the^ ^egg-" 

 embryo method. The department was allowed to sell the vaccine manu- 

 factured prior to the date of the above order and our sales for the past 

 fiscal year amounted to approximately 345,000 doses. 



F. E. Allen 



Infectious Bronchitis Work 



During the year, several thousand birds were immunized against in- 

 fectious bronchitis. Live birds infected with bronchitis were taken to 

 the farms for the inoculation work. 



The office of the state veterinarian has limited the use of this virus 

 to farms where the infection has existed in the past. 



F. E. Allen 



National Poultry Improvement Plan 



The National Poultry Improvement Plan is in operation in 45 states. 

 Its purpose is to set up uniform standards •:hroughout the country for 

 hatching eggs, baby chicks, and breeding stock. The official agency in 

 this state is the New Hampshire Poultry Improvement Board, Inc. which 

 consists of 10 members from the industry. Co-operating with this agency 

 are the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hamp- 

 shire, and the State Department of Agriculture. The four progressive 

 breeding stages of the plan are administered by the Poultry Department 

 at the University. 



These stages from the lowest to the most advanced are: Approved, 

 Certified, Record of Performance (R. O. P.) and Register of Merit 

 (R. O. AI.) All stages of the plan showed a large increase over the pre- 

 vious year. Sixty-three additional poultrymen qualified as Flock Selec- 

 tion Agents bringing the total to 250. 



