New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 215 
poorest record, and these are reserved for breeding; cockerels — 
again being bred in the same way for sires of the next generation. 
This experiment has now made all the progress that perhaps 
could be made in two years. But any reliable information in 
regard to the laws of breeding and inheritance can not be 
obtained without some years of careful record. It is not possi- 
ble to predict just how many generations must be before certain 
traits, developed considerably away from the normal, become so 
fixed that any mating although carefully made may not obscure 
or destroy them. The certainty, however, with which many 
breeds established by the fancier can be depended upon to repro- 
duce certain characteristics, gives encouragement to the belief 
that still further development in some directions may be brought 
about by selection and fixed by careful breeding. 
Whether or not within any reasonable length of time, by 
breeding from only the very best layers the prolificacy of a strain 
can be definitely increased — whether or not breeding from the 
poorest layers, though vigorous and healthy birds, will cause 
rapid deterioration in the laying qualities of an established | 
breed — whether such a breed as the Leghorn has been developed 
to the point where it is only a question of proper feeding and 
careful general management to obtain the highest possible egg 
yield, or whether the capacity for egg production can be further 
improved by breeding— whether or not the laying qualities 
of such a breed as the Cochin can be greatly improved without 
losing appreciably the size and typical shape— whether or not 
breeding for several generations from the best and poorest layers 
will develop easily recognizable types in the two lines, are all 
questions of great interest to the breeder and poultryman, but 
can not be answered satisfactorily except by several years of 
careful experiment. It is hoped that this breeding experiment 
may help to answer some of these questions. 
In growing, this past year, some pullets for use in feeding 
experiments which are now under way, the cost of hatching and 
of food for growing was recorded for the purpose of determining 
approximately the cost of young fowls, as they are usually 
grown on the farm. As the information obtained as part of an 
experiment not complete may be of service in itself, the results 
are here given. 

