Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-10

IlOn.
The Importance Of increasing the egg
supply has been recognized for some
time. and if definite methods of i'm
proving the average egg production of
fowls can be discovered it VIII be Of
great economic value to farmers and
poultry keepers throughout the coun-
try.
Such a consideration as this was the
reason for institutinl the work at the
Maine station in 1888 Bulletin Nc
1872. recently issued is a somewhat
long and technical summary Of these
Investigations.
In the general summary, the first
conclusion deduced is that mass Sc
lection for high egg production on the
basis of the trapnest record Of the in
dividual alone did not result in a steady
continuous improvement in average
flock production, even though it was
continued for a period of ten years"
To the casual reader such a conclu
sion would seem to preclude the posi-
bility of increasing the egg production
Of flocks Of poultry by systematic
breeding
The conditions, however, are quite
different in these cases and when right
ly understood the results are by no
means 50 discouragine as they at first
seem to be.
. Statistics show that the average an
nual production of fowl on farms il
the United States is from y to "a eggs.
All thoroughly practical experiments
must aim to show that this average
can be greatly increased.
The Maine station experiments be
ganN with fowls which annually laid
more than double this number of eggs.
The practice in breeding was to use
as mothers of the stock bred in any
year only the hens that laid between
November ! of the year in which they
were Matched and November ! of the
following year $50 or more eggs, After
the first year all male birds used in the
breeding were the sons of mothers
whose production in their first laying
year was 200 eggs or more. Since the
normal average annual production of
these birds may be taken to have been
about 1926 eggs. it will be seen that the
It is no matter of surprise therefore,
to learn that not only was there no
Improvement in average flock produc-
ton, but that there was actually
slight decline in production during the
selection period
Yet. the results show cOncIusively
that the average egg production pc
fowl in the country at large can be In
creased. II the Maine station can raise
and maintain poultry flOCks capable Of
laying annually an average of 125 eggs
per fowl, with individuals having a
laying capacity ranging from $50 to
more than 200 eggs year, and do 1t
without the introduction of new blood,
surely the farmer and practical poultry
keeper can do the same thing with sys-
tematic Matching. care and feeding OF
their f1ocks. This is the practical les
son from these experiments which
should not be lost to view, notwith-
standing the stations failure to in
crease still further the egg production
of the hocks by breeding from its best
layers.
In the earlier tests, which sought
particularly to deal with the practical
side of poultry keeping it had been
noted that the daughters of hens that
had produced 200 or more eggs each in
the puIet year did not usually make
high egg records and We're in fact no
better layers on the average than birds
from the general flock. and when neF
plan of breeding was adopted in the
wear 19O7-OS one of the factors of its
working hypothesis was TO discover
by means of pedigree analysis those
individuals Of the general flock Whicn
possess high fecundity in Unbeatable
form"
One other practical feature of the
Maine station poultry experiments re-
lates to the subject of inbreeding tina
is. the maintenance of the focks fo'
thirteen years without the introduction
of new blood. on this point the con
clusion is reached after a summary OF
the first ten years breeding work. that
there is no evidence that the amount
of inbreeding practiced during the mass
selection experiment had any unfavor- |
able influence on either the egg pro- |
duction or the general vitality of the
stock"
1t would probably be risky, however. |
for the owners of small focks to adoIt !
this conclusion as working hypoth- !
isis. The Maine station nocks always
contained more than 300 fowls and
usually nearer 600. and this gave OPP
portunity for avoiding close inbreedmg
which could not be practiced by the
q -.roga rp,1ltr,r L.aapar in tpCtC D