1908. 
A QUESTION OF BREEDING. 
Plant Breeding Compared with Live Stock. 
Poultry raisers will be interested in a recent bulletin 
(No. 157) issued by the Agricultural Experiment Sta¬ 
tion of Maine, in which is set forth certain conclu¬ 
sions regarding the results of work carried on for the 
past 10 years. The readers of this paper are generally 
familiar with the advances made by the Maine Sta¬ 
tion in the matter of curtain-front houses, dry mash 
feeding, and improved methods of incubating and 
rearing chicks. The most important experiment con¬ 
ducted at the station, however, had for its purpose 
the development of a strain of Barred Plymouth 
Rocks, capable of increased egg production, a utility 
strain as it were. With the object of building up 
this strain, investigations and experiments were in¬ 
augurated at the station nine years ago. To quote 
from Dr. Woods’ bulletin: “One of these experiments 
has as its object to determine whether <by breeding 
only from relatively high layers the average annual 
egg production of the flock could be increased. This 
experiment was carried out by Prof. Gowell through 
nine consecutive years. The limit of 'relatively high 
layers’ was taken at 150 eggs. All birds laying more 
than that in their first laying year were used as breed¬ 
ers during the nine years in which this experiment 
was continued. The cockerels used in this breeding 
experiment were sons of birds laying 200 or more 
eggs in their first laying year.” 
After nine years of this work, the records which 
have just been carefully studied with special relation 
to points bearing on hereditary tendencies, bring out 
a number of interesting facts. In the first place it 
has been demonstrated beyond question that, as was 
to be expected, there were wide variations in the egg- 
laying ability of different birds. This capacity to 
lay eggs has been found to range all the way from 
zero to 250 eggs per annum. It seemed a simple 
proposition that by carefully trap-nesting and selecting 
from these high-laying birds, in the end the average 
egg producing ability of the flock would be increased. 
On the contrary, this is found not to be the case, the 
average egg production of the flock actually decreas¬ 
ing with each succeeding year. The figures as set 
forth in the bulletin show that the average egg pro¬ 
duction at the beginning of the work, 1899-1900, was 
between 140 and 150, while the average egg production 
of the years ending 1906-1907, was between 120 and 
130. Dr. Woods in the bulletin in question frankly 
states that the averages do not agree with those which 
have previously been published, and attributes this 
fact to faulty methods of handling the statistical 
material and arithmetical mistakes. Aside from the 
negative results secured in the attempt to develop a 
strain of high-laying fowls, the ex¬ 
periment is not without value in a 
number of directions. 
In the first place it has resulted in 
the accumulation of a mass of data 
which will unquestionably be of serv¬ 
ice for future work, not only in the 
breeding of poultry, but in the breed¬ 
ing of other live stock as well; 
second, it emphasises what students 
of heredity and others are coming 
to see, namely, that selections of 
fluctuations alone can have no per¬ 
manent value. Plant breeders have 
for some time recognized and met 
some of the difficulties which have 
been encountered in this experiment 
in the breeding of a high-laying 
strain of fowls at the Maine Station, 
and it seems to us that the breed¬ 
ers of poultry in the future, espe¬ 
cially those who are working for 
utilitarian purposes, might profit by 
a study of some of the plant breed¬ 
er’s results. At the same time it 
should be pointed out that plant 
breeders, especially those who have been so stre 
uously advocating the value of seed selection, might 
well pause and consider whether the results they 
appear to get in the matter of improved types of 
corn, for instance, are really improvements. 
Starting out 10 or 12 years ago when we began to 
select corn, following the practices of the French and 
others in the matter of improving the sugar beet, 
this method appeared to be a comparatively simple 
one. It seemed to be largely a question of mathe- 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
have few poultrymen in this country who are 
systematically working along any other line. For 
several years we have been breeding White Leghorns 
along lines similar to those followed at the Maine 
Station, our object being egg production rather than 
form or feathers. We make our selections by the 
use of trap-nests, but before actual breeding begins 
we want to know the individual potentiality of our 
selections, i. c., whether the ability to lay eggs in 
desired numbers has persisted as a character. When 
this is determined we inbreed as closely as possible in 
recognition of what appears to be a fact, namely, 
that the propagation of a character, such as egg lay¬ 
ing, is analogous to asexual or bud propagation in 
plants, the object of which we all know is to main¬ 
tain desirable characters that would otherwise be lost 
by a mixture of new blood. It is not essential to 
SPRAYING POTATOES AT WHOLESALE. Fig. 280. 
know how long we can keep this up because we 
can start anew at any time. There is very little 
in the inbreeding bogie provided proper attention is 
given to vigor in selections within the strain. Consid¬ 
ering the vast and growing interests in poultry work, 
we need more breeders along purely utility lines; we 
need competitive shows 'based on commercial rather 
than fancy standards, and finally, we would like to 
see some of the experiment stations inaugurate per¬ 
formance tests whereby the actual utility of the breed 
is tested by the year’s work under what approximates 
ordinary farm conditions. b. t. galloway. 
U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. 
A CITY MAN IN THE COUNTRY. 
The city man, with a comfortable income, has an 
advantage on a farm, for lie can better stand the 
cost of the mistakes that are made. The great diffi¬ 
culty in the general management is the lack of knowl¬ 
edge and experience in agriculture. There are but 
631 
such as poultry, pigs and fruit culture. General farm¬ 
ing requires a larger outlay of capital and the prob¬ 
lem is more complex where live stock and machinery 
are introduced. 
The culture of fruit is one of the most profitable 
uses to which land may be put, but the manager must 
understand the necessity of high culture methods for 
improving the soil, the control of insects, and the 
diseases and blights and the proper handling of fruit 
in marketing. It requires as good brain power to 
manage a farm successfully as a bank, a factory or 
any other business. The possibility of the produc¬ 
tion of an acre of land is as yet unknown. Its range 
is from $5 to $15,000, and this wide' range of possi¬ 
bilities is what is interesting many city men. 
GEORGE T. rOWELL. 
What a Travelling Salesman Did. 
I find on page 585 “A City Man in the Country,” 
signed A. N. M. For his benefit I will give him a 
statement from my farm book for five years. I am 
a city man or rather a traveling salesman for 25 years, 
with but little experience in farming, but I think a 
man from the city can make a success fully as well 
as, if not better than the old-time farmer who will 
not drop his old-fogy notions. 
I bought a 140-acre farm in 1902 for $5,000. I 
spent $1,600 for repairs and improvements. I rented 
the farm for the half and we kept sheep and cattle 
in partnership, taking possession of the farm. March, 
1903. For 1903 my share was $406; 1904, $426; 1905, 
$555; 1906, $560; 1907, $550; total $2,497. Then I 
sold timber and eight acres of land for $750, making 
a total of $3,247. I did no work on the farm except 
to put up good woven wire fence and some new 
buildings. This farm I am told was considered poor, 
but up to this timet I have made 10 per cent on the 
investment, and now this farm will pay five per cent 
on $10,000. I am 90 miles from Washington, D. C., 
and as long as I am able to look after a farm The 
R. N.-Y. will be found on my desk. My motto is, 
keep out of debt; buy for cash. s. A. s. 
Oranda, Va. _ 
PAN-AMERICAN STRAWBERRY. 
On July 17 T. C. Kevitt, of New Jersey, brought 
to this office the two pots of strawberries shown at 
Fig 281 Both were well loaded with berries and 
blooms, showing that they intend to live up to their 
reputation of bearing fruit until very late in the Fall. 
This variety was originated by Samuel Cooper, of 
western New York. Readers will remember that last 
year we printed affidavits from Mr. Cooper and others, 
showing that the Pan-American had been marketed in 
commercial quantities in Buffalo and vicinity the last 
of October. A few early blossoms 
are made, but these are pinched off, 
and usually none is allowed to set 
until the middle of July, thus throw¬ 
ing all the strength of the crown 
into the Fall crop. The Pan-Amer¬ 
ican is well worth trying as a 
novelty at least, and there may 
be commercial profit for those able 
to interest hotels or fancy fruiterers 
in it. Good culture is needed to make 
the berry do its best. 
TWO PLANTS OF THE PAN-AMERICAN STRAWBERRY. Fig. 281. 
LMl- 
few men who may be obtained or hired who are really 
good as managers of other men, and in laying out 
and executing good plans. 
There is no business that calls for so diversified 
knowledge as farming, and the man who undertakes 
is will soon discover how much there is that he needs 
to know. However, a city man has the advantage 
of business training, and some of the most successful 
farmers I have met are those who went into the 
- . . - - business from the city with no knowledge or prior 
matics, supplemented by voluminous records, card experience. I have found them keeping careful* ac- 
catalogues, score cards, etc. We must not lose sight counts. They kept a record of the quantity of milk 
° ^ act that nature herself is kind, and that when and butter produced by each cow, the cost of feed 
S ' e sees fit to present us with something in the way and the receipts from the herd, so that they knew 
a chaiacter, either by addition or omission, the whether the herd was making or losing money. The 
ciaiacter will usually stick. What we need to do is same careful system of accounts was kept with the 
o <-am how to interpret these changes and utilize poultry and pigs and they could quickly detect where- 
iem to the fullest extent. This is what has been in the management could be improved. It would be 
one m large measure by the breeders of poultry who wise for the city man not to attempt too much; to 
lave worked for fancy points. Unfortunately we buy a small farm and to intensify in a few things, 
SECOND CROP BERRIES IN 
COLORADO. 
As most growers know, there are 
usually a few late blooms and fruit 
in most strawberry patches. In Col¬ 
orado, where irrigation is practiced, 
they seem to have worked out the 
secret of a second crop. In “News 
Notes," from the Colorado College 
we find this article by Prof. O. B. 
Whipple: 
“It is rather a novel experience to 
pick fresh strawberries from one’s 
own patch in September and October, yet there 
is nothing mysterious about it, and anyone who 
has his soil conditions well under control may 
pick two crops from his bed each year. The 
principle involved is an old one ; simply artificially pro¬ 
vide for a resting period after the first crop is off. 
This may be done by withholding water until the bed 
is well dried up. As soon as the first pickings begin 
to get light, shut off the water and leave the bed until 
the tops are well browned. Then mow and rake the 
bed, irrigate it thoroughly, and give it frequent culti¬ 
vation and irrigation until the second crop begins to 
ripen. We would naturally expect that such a system 
of caring for the bed would shorten its life, and no 
doubt it does, but a late crop of berries is often quite 
profitable, and the average bed' fs grown too long any¬ 
way. It is often advisable to cut the first crop a little 
short by withholding the water and thus increase the 
second crop. In this way we get two light crops, and 
although they may not exceed one good crop from a 
well-grown bed, they come on the market when the 
prices are good. In western Colorado second-crop 
berries often sell on the retail market at 20 cents 
per box.” 
