Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-12-23
AMONG THE FARMERS.
"srsrD TIE pLow."

| AMONG THE FARMERS.
"sPsED TIE PLow"
Breeding for Milk Production.
A KNOWLEDGE OF LAWS OF IHHERITANo
ESSENTIAL.
Since 1918 the Maine Agriculture
Experiment Station as an important par
of its animal husbandry investigation
has been studying the laws of inberi'
ance of milk and butter-fat production
through matings of high and low pro
duoers. This has led to the accumula
tion of nearly 30 animals that are frs
and second crosses. Occasionally cat
tie breeder whose vision is limited b.
his love for pure bred and who can ii
consequence look only with antipath,
upon the CROSS bred animal fails to gras]
the meaning of the experiment. Alst
because some high producing animal
are through breeding, handling and feed
ing, now being developed such q mai
thinks that progress In animal breedin(
is being made. The following is ex
tracted from letter written to Just sucl
man who is personal friend and own
er OF one OF the best pure bred dairy
herds In Maine.
Yesterday told you that the study o
the advanced registry showed nothing
that was significant in increase or de
crease Of milk production in the Jerseys
the Guernseys and the Holstein-F Friesiar
on 1856 day basis during the time thai
advanced registries have been kept
This is not quite true. The following
statement summarizes the results of the
analyses of these records.
Jerseys show:
mother to daughter.
A slightly significant decrease in but
ter-fat per cent, mother to daughter.
Guernseys show:
A significant increase in milk yield
mother to daughter.
No significant decrease In butter.fat
per cent, mother to daughter.
HoBtein- -Friesians show: (
No significant increase in milk yield
mother to daughter.
No significant increase in butter-fat
per cent mother to daughter.
While these results are disappointing
they were more or less the expected az
the laws of milk and butter.fat inherit.
snce areI unknown and these breeders
have depended upon mass selection and
the assumption as fact that ''like be.
gets like'' which is not true In all par.
ticulars.
After this Station discovered in 1911
that high egg laying was transmitted
through the SONS and not through the
daughters 1t began a preliminary study
of the advanced registry for Jerseys to
see II by any chance this law might seem
to hold for neat cattle. A few animal
records taken at random indicated tha,
there was such a relation and a prelimi.
nary paper was published. These
studies have been continued and we
have in press at the present time paper
showing what each and every bull In the
Jersey breed did in raising or lowering
the milk, butter-fat per cent, and butter.
fat yield Of his daughters as compared
with their dams. We have in manuscript
form the same information on the Guern
sey breed. We now have nearly com.
pleted the same Information for all Hol.
stein. Friesian sires that have daughters
with records of 305 or 1856 days. Over
1000 records have been studied in this
work. We are now as rapidly as pos.
;hlo do;po Tho mn ~ a uor6 for Tho y Iou
and the 30 day test. This will include
nearly 100, 900 records.
These data will be further analysed az
soon as we can do 80 in the light of the
apparent results thus far obtained from
the first generation in the cross bred ex.
pertinent that high milk production is
dominant over low milk production.
But assuming that the conclusions
thus far found will be substantiated, the
fact remains that with existing informa'
ton the sire whose performance test Ia
known Is only good as long as he lives
and with his death dies the value of bis
test. This would not be 30 IL the way
in which high milk or butter-fat are
transmitted from sire to daughter were
known, for by the application of these
rules, once discovered, it would be pos.
sible to produce from that sire, sons OF
daughters whose progeny performance
would be known when they were
born. To have the progeny test on these
sires of lasting value 1t is consequently
necessary to obtain the facts of milk
production inheritance as we are trying
to do through the agency of the care.
fully controlled mstings of high and low
milking animals.
I was very sorry that you were not
able to take the time to 60 over this
work with US and find that what we are
trying to do is not measured at all by
the animal thai yor see in the barn, and
that we have no interest In the animal
itself except as means for studying the
laws of Inheritance In the investigation.
1t is not the animal that interests us.
We first began our poultry work under
Professor Gowell who was only prac.
ticsl man without scientific training but
remarkably good observer. He made
the same mistake that many q practical
man might In considering that it was the
hen which he obtained rather than the
facts concerning the hen which were oI
Importance. And when the facts, sim.
liar to those which I have cited above
for the cattle, did not accord with the
bird which be had, he believed the bird
and distrusted the data, the whole thing
eliminating in the tragedy of bis sui
eide.
The moral of this is that while the in.
vestigator and the practical man are
both interested In the same end, the In.
vestigstor regards the intermediate gets
as instruments and there is always dan
ger of the practical man looking upon
the necessary gets as animals and not az
data. appreciate the fact that you dc
not like the looks OF the progeny nor dc
we as animals. But as links In chair
they interest Us immensely. For 1t II
these links In combination that we hope
will give the answer to how milk anC
butter-fat production powers sre trans
mitted.-Chas. D. Woods, Director. -
Jack London, the author, was maker
of unusually interesting friends. HI
seemed to want to mix with people Wit
bad messages to deliver and stories t
tell. Among these fast friends was ont
Walter Hogan, who is now known a
"The Burbank Of the Poultry World
1t Is Hogan's business and pet hobby Il
bring up pedigree fowls and to maxi
them accomplish things that chicken
never did before. He once paid ON
thousand dollars for one chicken be
cause be wanted to examine it's brain
Think of thatl For you see, Hogan goe