No. 581] INHERITANCE OF FECUNDITY 



315 



that they were in 1904; are fed substantially the same 

 feed, the only modification of the ration having been in 

 the direction of one less stimulating to production than 

 the one formerly used; are hatched in the same sort of 

 incubators ; reared in the same yards, etc. 



(d) That the most marked gains have been in that 

 cycle of production (winter laying) to which especial 

 attention was paid in the breeding. 



(e) That when analyzed in terms of individual matings 

 the results obtained in egg production have been the re- 

 sults to be expected on the Mendelian hypothesis of the 

 inheritance of this character earlier set forth, with only 

 minor exceptions for which the explanation is in nearly 

 all cases apparent. 



II. An Independent Confirmation of the Sex-linkage 

 of the Factor for High Fecundity 



Besides the results with large flocks which have fol- 

 lowed the practical application of the Mendelian hypoth- 

 esis of fecundity inheritance at this Station, numerous 

 poultrymen in various parts of the world have obtained 

 similar results. Several instances of this sort might be 

 cited from private correspondence. The writer has felt, 

 however, that such cases really contributed nothing new 

 in principle, and that therefore there was no special need 

 of calling attention to them. 



There lately appeared, however, in an English poultry 

 paper, a note which seemed to me to be of interest on 

 several grounds. In the first place, it is evident that the 

 writer, Mr. E. N. Steane, is a careful observer, and an 

 experienced poultryman. In the second place, his ob- 

 servations on inheritance of egg producing ability appear 

 to be, from his point of view, entirely original and unin- 

 fluenced by any earlier work. 



The parts of Mr. Steane's note 10 which are pertinent in 

 the present connection are these: 



io Steane, E. N., "The Production of 'Bert Layers,' " The Feathered 

 World (London), Vol. 52, p. 2S5, 1915. 



