Study of Selections foe Size, Shape, and Color of Hens' Eggs 307 



SUMMARY 



The most important results obtained from the studies reported in this 

 paper may be grouped into the following conclusions: 



1. The variability of a bird's production for a certain character does 

 not depend on the difference existing between that bird's parents for the 

 same character. 



2. Both the male and the female have a distinct and approximately 

 equal effect on the type of egg produced by the progeny, but the combined 

 effect of the two is much greater and is directly inherited by the progeny, 

 as is shown by the type of egg produced. 



3. A mating of two opposite extremes of character always catised the 

 production of a medium character in the progeny. 



4. A matii;g of two similar extremes of character usually caused the 

 production of a character approaching normal, in the progeny. 



5. It appears that small size and length of egg are dominant, while 

 there seems to be no dominancy whatever for color. 



6. The correlations between the type of egg incubated and the mean 

 type produced during the hfe of the respective progeny, are positive in 

 every instance and are significant except for the color character. These 

 correlations are not so significant as those between the mean types of 

 eggs produced by the parents and the respective progeny. 



7. The color character is much more irregular than the size or the 

 shape, and less rehance can be placed on the stabiUty of any color type 

 when selecting eggs for hatching. 



8. It does not appear that any more reliance can be placed on the 

 stabiKty of the progeny type hatched from hens' eggs than on that hatched 

 from pullets' eggs. 



9. The type of egg incubated affects the mean type of egg produced 

 during the life of the bird hatched, to a greater extent than it affects 

 the pullet-year production or the production of any other single year. 



10. A strong correlation exists between the types of eggs produced by 

 individuals and the types of eggs from which these individuals were 

 hatched. 



11. There is no correlation between the size and the shape of eggs 

 produced by the birds used in this experiment. 



12. The size, the shape, and the color of the egg seem to have no effect 

 on its incubation record. 



