April, 1932] Agricultural Research in N. H. 11 



Fertilizer Placement for Corn 



Tests carried on by 23 state experiment stations, of which New 

 Hampshire was one, seem to indicate that the most strategic place- 

 ment of fertilizer for corn is in narrow bands on each side of the hill 

 at or above the level of the seed. 



Seven different placements and rates of application were tried. Every 

 third plot was a check, and the series was duplicated five times. Yields 

 ranged from 64 to 76 bushels per acre in the tests conducted here by 

 F. W. Taylor. (Hatch Fund) 



Sheep Breeding Experiments 



The result of systematic inbreeding of sheep on fecundity and on 

 growth rate indicates that continuance of this practice is followed by a 

 strong tendency toward decadence in most inbred groups, reports E. G. 

 Ritzman. 



Of thirty-six different family groups which were inbred there was 

 only one group in which the standard of fertility and of growth rate 

 did not diminish during four generations of inbreeding. In most 

 family groups there occur individuals of superior merit, but the num- 

 ber of inferior members outnumbered the good ones. 



Inbreeding served as a clarifying agent by bringing undesirable re- 

 cessive characters to the surface so that the animals possessing them 

 could be weeded out. 



By rigid systematic selection of animals kept for breeding through 

 succeeding generations the standard of fecundity and of adult size 

 was easily maintained, but in the fourth generation the flock was com- 

 posed almost entirely of one family line. 



The results also emphasize the corollary point that under the pres- 

 ent standards of flock management it is the general practice to change 

 rams often and thus to avoid inbreeding. In essence it amounts to out- 

 crossing, which brings about the formation of heterozygous traits. 



Undesirable recessive characteristics are thus not eliminated. They 

 are simply covered up. These latent characteristics, being unobserved, 

 tend to become homozygous, and so by inbreeding come to the surface 

 in succeeding generations. This has been amply demonstrated by the 

 lack of uniformity which characterizes the membership or composition 

 of most of our breeding flocks. (Adams Fund) 



Nutrition Studies 



Dairy Cows 



The nutrition studies, conducted in cooperation with the Nutrition 

 Laboratory of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, have included this 

 year a number of digestion experiments and of metabolism measure- 

 ments with three Holstein cows to determine the net energy for main- 

 tenance of various feed-stuffs in common use. These feed-stuffs in- 

 clude alfalfa hay, timothy hay, hominy feed, oats (ground), wheat, 

 bran, and gluten feed. The results (with the exception of alfalfa hay 

 and gluten feed) correspond closely with the net energy values given 



