April, 1914 



Breedins for Hes^vy E>S5 Prodtactioi\. 



Paper by Dr. Raymond I'earl, read 

 belore the American Poultry Asso- 

 ciatiou. 



It s safe to say that never has 

 there been so keen and widespread 

 an interest in the improvement ot 

 poultry m respect to egg produc- 

 tion as exists at the present time. 

 All over the world poultry keepers 

 are waking to the lact that some 

 hens lay more than others ;, that it 

 costs no more to hatch, rear and 

 care lor those which lay more, 

 and that they want this sort m 

 their flocks. 



There would seem to be little 

 doubt that this awakening is due 

 in considerable degree at least, to 

 the rapid development during the 

 last ten years of egg laying con- 

 tests in d Iferent parts of the 

 world. We are indebted for the 

 inauguration of such contests on a 

 large scale to the enterprise of the 

 Australians. In recent years we 

 •have seen their development in this 

 country. It seems likely that we 

 shall see a much further growth 

 of the laying contest idea in the 

 United States as well as in Huro- 

 l)ean countries. 



To be sure some of our friends 

 of the poultry press who apparent- 

 ly see Little or nothing of value 

 in laying tests of any sort have 

 been predicting that the laying 

 competition has about run its 

 course and tliat the end is now in 

 sight, that we are, in point of 

 fact, witnessing its last decline be- 

 fore utter extinction. Unprejudiced 

 observation, however, would seem 

 to indicate that these contests 

 make a strong appeal to the poul- 

 try public. It is difficult to con- 

 ceive of any single measure better 

 calculated to arouse general inter- 

 est in poultry keeping and to call 

 attention to the results which fol- 



low good care and breeding. In 

 other words, the educational value 

 of laying contests would seem to 

 be beyond question. That they can 

 be so conducted as to contribute 

 to existing knowledge of the laws 

 of egg production, also is beyond 

 doubt. I have recently had the 

 opportunity of examining the de- 

 tailed plans for conducting a series 

 of such laving competitions, which 

 are to be undertaken with govern- 

 ment subsidies in two European 

 countfies. There can be no ques- 

 tion that these plans, if carried 

 out, will contribute materially to 

 scientific knowledge of the laws of 

 egg production. 



Underlying the immediate stimu- 

 lus afforded by the laying contests 

 are to be found two fundamental 

 reasons for the present interest 

 and activity in the direction of im- 

 proving egg production. These 

 are : — 



(a) The poultryman's belief that 

 egg production is an inherited 

 character. In holding this opinion 

 he is certainly quite correct. One 

 might, indeed, say " knowledge " 

 instead of " belief " here. 



(b) His belief that any charac- 

 ter which is inherited is capable 

 of improvement by intelligent 

 breeding. Again this belief is en- 

 tirely well founded, provided only 

 that an exception be made for 

 characters (if there be any such) 

 in which all possible improvement 

 in innate hereditary constitution 

 has already been made. 



To say, as we have above, that 

 " '^SS production " is an inherited 

 character is not quite enough. This 

 might be taken to mean only the 

 fact that the mode of reproduction 

 characteristic of birds — which is to 

 say, reproduction by means of 



eggs with albuminous and calcare- 

 ous envelopes — is an innate and 

 here^litarify fixed matter in the 

 fowl. 



But the poultry man is interest- 

 ed, as well as the investigator, in 

 the field of genetics, in something 

 more than this. He wants to 

 know whether the differences w"hich 

 he observes in egg laying capabili- 

 ties among different breeds, or 

 flocks, or finally individuals are in- 

 herited. General observations in- 

 dicate to the poultryman that at 

 bottom the foundation of a great 

 manv of these differences in laying 

 ability with, which he is familiat, 

 is hereditary^. But how and under 

 what limitaitions ? For plainly 

 this is not a simple matter. If it 

 were, none of our hens now would 

 ever lay less than 200 eggs per an- 

 num, except in the case of remote, 

 backwoods regions, where the gos- 

 pel of the trap-nest has not pene- 

 trated. Trap-^iest selection of higl^ 

 producers has opened the eyes of 

 the poultryman to one thing cer- 

 tainlv, even though it may have 

 obscured his vision in other direc- 

 tions. This thing which is clear- 

 est is that afl high producing, hens 

 are not equally capable of trans- 

 mitting this valuable quality to 

 their progeny. So that while it 

 may be perfectly certain that the , 

 difference between a '20o-egg pro- 

 ducer and a .so-egg producer is in 

 some way or other an hereditary 

 difference, we shall not get far to- 

 wards a practical utilisation of 

 this fact until we know something 

 more about its nature. 



— Improving Bgg Production. — 



So, then, the first essential step 

 to be taken towards the improve- 

 ment of egg production by breed- 

 ing is to find out the way in which 

 variations or differences in produc- 

 ing ability are inherited. For some 

 six years past I have devoted con- 

 si'deralile attention to this prob- 

 lem, with results which have been 

 set forth in detail in a series of 

 ])apers from the Biological Labora- 

 torv of the Maine Agricultural Ex- 

 perimental Station. The most re- 

 cent of these papers is Bulletin No. 

 205, which has the title " The Mode 

 of Inheritance of Fecundity in, the 

 Domestic Fowl." This Bulletin is 

 technical in character. It was not 

 written for the poultryman, but fop 

 the professional student of Gene- 

 tics. On this account it has ap. 

 parently not been quite clearly un- 

 derstood by some poultrymen, and 

 the results and conclusions have, 

 in some cases, been misinterpreted. 

 It will be my endeavour here, as 

 briefly as possible, to make clear 

 the essential results of our studies. 



Koonoowarra Poultry Farm - Enfield. 



6 minutes' walk from electric tram. 'Phone 273. 



Breeder, Exhibitor, and Importer of Highest Class 

 BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS. WHITE PLYJIOUTH ROCKS. 

 WHITE ORPINGTONS RHODE ISLAND REDS. 



WHITE LEGHORNS. 

 PEKIN DUCKS. WHITE RUNNER DUCKS. 



(Never beaten in Show Pen). (Wonderful Layers of White Shell Eggs). 

 Stock have won numerous prizes at Adelaide Leading Shows. 

 Eggs and Stock for Sale in Season. 



For further parti culars write — 



P. O. M AIVUE^I^, Proprietor. 



