Animal Husbandry Investigations in 1916. 129 



2. PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION. 



In all of its work the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station 

 endeavors in every possible way to meet the most pressing im- 

 mediate needs of the farmers of the State for practical infor- 

 mation at the same time that it is carrying on fundamental in- 

 vestigations, having for their object the (discovery of the 

 underlying principles of science on which agricultural practice 

 depends. A good index of the immediate practical needs of 

 the farmer is found in the inquiries and requests for information 

 which he sends in to the Station. Experience shows that a 

 large portion of the correspondence of the Station relating in 

 any way to breeding has to do with inquiries concerning one 

 or another phase of the general subject of the physiology of 

 breeding. There is a great dearth of information in the avail- 

 able agricultural literature regarding the biological or physiolo- 

 gical processes concerned in reproduction and breeding. 



As has already been pointed out in the preceding portion 

 of this report, the Experiment Station, through its cooperative 

 breeding record project, is in possession of a unique body of 

 original material throwing light on many of the most puzzling 

 of these biological questions relating to reproduction and 

 breeding in cattle. In view of this fact, and because of the 

 very evident interest in this subject, and desire for information 

 about it, it has seemed wise to devote a considerable amount 

 of time during the past year to the preparation of a comprehen- 

 sive bulletin on "The Physiology of Breeding with Special 

 Reference to Dairy Cattle." This bulletin is now nearly ready 

 for the press. It is expected that it will be issued as an appen- 

 dix to this report sometime in the year 1917. It is estimated 

 that it will make a volume of about 150 printed pages. This 

 will, of course, be distributed free to residents of Maine. It 

 will not be distributed by the Station outside of the State of 

 Maine. Instead, the same material composing this bulletin will 

 be issued in book form by one of the large commercial pub- 

 lishing firms, from whom it may be obtained, on payment of 

 the regular price of the book, by anyone not a resident of Maine. 



