(Witnesses: Melvin, Zappone.) poultry diseases and feeding. We have always considered that proper. The CHAIRMAN. They come under that general designation? The CHAIRMAN. What breed of poultry are you developing in Maine, and is that through the method of selection and choice as distinguished from combining and crossing other breeds? Doctor MELVIN. I think that the selection is the Plymouth Rock, the idea being to develop a type from those individuals that are the greatest producers of eggs, so that eventually a distinct type of chicken will be produced. It is so much easier to establish a distinct variety of chickens than it would be of either cattle or horses, so that the same policy is not pursued in the chicken-breeding experiments. Mr. SAMUEL. That is regardless of size? Doctor MELVIN. Not altogether. Of course the size is considered as well, not only the size of the hen, but of the eggs produced. We have one other experiment in connection with the breeding of small animals-guinea pigs principally--that is, under the general fund. The CHAIRMAN. Have you authority under the general fund to make experiments in breeding? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir; we consider the term broad enough to cover-it. The CHAIRMAN. What is the language? Doctor MELVIN. Our solicitor advises us that we have authority. The CHAIRMAN. Is that so? Under what language do you have that authority? * * * * Mr. ZAPPONE. “* the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to use any part of this sum he may deem necessary or expedient in such manner as he may think best *." That, Mr. Chairman, seems to fully cover the case in every way. It leaves it purely as a matter of discretion with the Secretary. He is authorized to expend the money as he may think best. The CHAIRMAN. As I understand, the language that gives you the general authority to which you refer is: And the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to use any part of this sum he may deem necessary or expedient, in such manner as he may think best, in the collection of information and dissemination of knowledge concerning live stock, dairy, and other animal products, and to prevent the spread of pleuro-pneumonia, blackleg, tuberculosis, sheep scab, glanders or farcy, hog cholera, and other diseases of animals, and for this purpose to employ as many persons in the city of Washington or elsewhere as he may deem necessary, and to expend any part of this sum in the purchase and destruction of diseased or exposed animals and the quarantine of the same whenever in his judgment it is essential to prevent the spread of pleuro-pneumonia, tuberculosis, or other diseases of animals from one State to another. That is the authority? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. How long has the experiment been going on at Orono? Doctor MELVIN. I think it was taken up three years ago. The CHAIRMAN. Is it possible as yet to state what results have been reached? (Witness: Melvin.) Doctor MELVIN. The results are not complete yet, but those that have been obtained are very favorable to the continuation of the experiment. We estimate their present annual value at $100,000. The CHAIRMAN. You mean at Orono? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. That is, you are gradually producing a fowl that will be the prolific layer you speak of? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. Mr. FLOOD. What do you call that chicken? Doctor MELVIN. I do not think a special name has been decided upon. Mr. FLOOD. You say they have laid 200 eggs a year? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. In the report for 1906 it states: Already several hens have been found to lay more than 200 eggs in one year, and the results seem to indicate that the average egg yield of a flock can be increased by selection. A bulletin describing the methods used and the results so far obtained in this work has been prepared for publication. Mr. FLOOD. Is there any manner in which an outsider can get those eggs for breeding purposes? Doctor MELVIN. I do not think any arrangement has been made, although I could not say positively as to that. I think that the eggs become the property of the experiment station of the State, and I can not say what disposition they do make of them. The CHAIRMAN. What is the average lay of hens per year in the better breeds that have not had the advantage of these experiments? Doctor MELVIN. There is a very great variation. Mr. FLOOD. For the White Leghorn it is about 180? Doctor MELVIN. In some seasons; there is such a tremendous variation, and I think a definite average is hardly known, although the White Leghorn is very prolific and, I imagine, would be about that the best of them. The CHAIRMAN. You look upon the White Leghorn as the most prolific? Doctor MELVIN. It is one of the most prolific-I would not say the most prolific layer. Mr. FLOOD. What chicken equals the White Leghorn? Doctor MELVIN. I think all the Leghorns are about the same. The Brown Leghorn, the Black Spanish, and several other varieties are also large layers, but some of those are very small in size and their eggs are very small, so that the result is not what one would get if he could obtain a larger fowl which would be both serviceable for laying and for the table. Mr. SAMUEL. Do you know what combination of breed has produced the 200 eggs a year? Doctor MELVIN. No, sir; I could not say. Probably this bulletin speaks of that. The CHAIRMAN. Is it the intention of the Department, when it gets this breed established or this hen developed, to put the eggs on the market for breeding purposes, or what use do they propose to make of the results of their experiments? Doctor MELVIN. I think the Department is assisting more than anything else in conducting the experiment until it has reached completeness. (Witness: Melvin.) The CHAIRMAN. Does the Government own the fowls there? The CHAIRMAN. Whose property are they-the State of Maine? Doctor MELVIN. I think I can give you more of the details of the experiment from this book. The CHAIRMAN. I do not know whether we care to take the time to go into the details. Are the fowls the property of the State or the United States? Doctor MELVIN. This is very short, and I will read it: Organization and cooperation, breeding hens for egg production. The Maine Experiment Station has been conducting investigations in breeding hens for egg production for several years and the Department is assisting them to the extent of $1,000 a year. The study in breeding for egg production can hardly be called cooperative as yet; that of floor space was not begun until the Department entered the work, and it is therefore strictly cooperative That is amount of floor space for the hens The Department paid last year $800 to defray the expenses of an additional poultry house and $200 for labor. During the year 1905-6 we will pay $400 for feed, $500 as part of Professor Gowell's salary, and $100 for labor. The station bears all other items of expense. The CHAIRMAN. That "station " means the State of Maine? Cost of maintenance, appropriation for general expenses, Bureau of Animal Industry (animal breeding and feeding), and funds of the Maine experiment station. Method of procedure: The records of hens are kept individually by means of trap nests and breeding up accomplished by selection. The floor-space problem will be studied by comparing the health of hens in pens of various sizes with various amounts of floor space per hen. The CHAIRMAN. Under that arrangement what is the understanding of the Department as to who has control of the eggs that may be ultimately produced? Doctor MELVIN. The State. The CHAIRMAN. The State of Maine? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. So that whatever may be done with the results of the experiment is a matter for the State of Maine, and you have been cooperating with them for the production of these results? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir; we have another poultry-breeding experiment with the State of Rhode Island, that being to obtain, if we can, a breed of turkeys resistant to the blackhead disease, or enterohepatitis. In this case the station furnishes the necessary animals, grounds, buildings, pays for part of the feed, and furnishes superintendence. The Department pays $500 of Doctor Curtice's salary, all of the salary of an assistant, $700; and a laborer $37 per month, $200 for temporary fences during the first year, and $400 for feed. The source of maintenance is the same-half from the breeding and feeding fund and half from the Rhode Island Experiment Station. Method of procedure: Turkeys will be confined in pens to note possible sources of infection. Wild birds will be purchased to note whether crosses are more resistant than domesticated stock. The CHAIRMAN. And the product of that work is the same so far as property is concerned as in the State of Maine? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. (Witness: Melvin.) The CHAIRMAN. That is, whatever the result is in that line the turkeys or eggs belong to the State of Rhode Island? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. That is not for the purpose of developing and improving the breed, but for the purpose of eliminating a disease? Doctor MELVIN. It is also to endeavor to develop a breed resistant to this disease. The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir; to practically make them immune to the disease? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. How long has that been going on? Doctor MELVIN. The same length of time. The CHAIRMAN. Have you any results there or is it not time to expect a result? Doctor MELVIN. We have not had the experiment under observation long enough to have results yet. The CHAIRMAN. Does that cover everything that occurs to you in connection with experimental work going on under your Bureau? Doctor MELVIN. That is, in breeding. We have some other experiments under this same fund-one in Alabama, beef production in connection with the Alabama Experiment Station. The CHAIRMAN. Is that on the same line as the experiments you have been describing, where you cooperate with the farmers in a certain vicinity? Doctor MELVIN. Not exactly; no, sir. The CHAIRMAN. This is in connection with the State experiment station in Alabama? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. How long has that been going on? Doctor MELVIN. This was authorized December 7, 1904. The CHAIRMAN. Is that a case where the State owns the cattle? Doctor MELVIN. In some instances the cattle are owned by individuals and kept under observation by the Government. The CHAIRMAN. Joint authority? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. In that case you are acting in an advisory and instructive capacity rather than in purchasing the stock and making the experiments upon the cattle of the Government? Doctor MELVIN. To some extent the State has owned some of the cattle that have been under observation. The CHAIRMAN. Is that for the purpose of increasing the size of the breed and the quality of the cattle? Doctor MELVIN. Not so much as to determine the more valuable foods in that section of the country for beef production. The CHAIRMAN. That is a question of nutrition? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Not so much development, but what is the most feasible and valuable food to develop the cattle? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir; the food that is produced in that section of the country. The CHAIRMAN. That is for the purpose of ascertaining which of those foods is the better food for producing the best results in connection with those cattle? (Witness: Melvin.) Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. That is rather a food experiment than a cattle experiment? Doctor MELVIN. It is one of those experiments that dovetails into the other. The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir; but the prime purpose is to ascertain the best quality of food? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. These experiments are made in relation to food produced in a certain section; are they therefore circumscribed by that area in their usefulness and value, or will they be of benefit to the breeder of cattle throughout the entire country? Doctor MELVIN. Nothing that would generally be called local. It is confined to that section of the South and to corresponding areas in the South, but not to the northern feeder. The CHAIRMAN. What does that relate to, grass, hay, and grain? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The foodstuffs of the South are quite different from those of the North. The CHAIRMAN. In what respect? Doctor MELVIN. They can not obtain the same grasses they can farther north. The CHAIRMAN. They have the same grain? Doctor MELVIN. No, sir. They rely quite largely on cotton seed for food, which they do not have north, except as it is shipped north. The CHAIRMAN. Cotton seed is an article of merchandise that goes pretty well over the entire country, is it not? Doctor MELVIN. But it is more abundant in the South than in the North. The CHAIRMAN. There is no difference in the cotton seed, whether it is fed in a Southern State or a Northern State? Doctor MELVIN. No, sir; except it may be combined with different varieties of grass. The CHAIRMAN. It depends upon the manner in which it is used? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. The principal distinction is in the grasses that they have to depend upon? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Which I suppose furnishes the foundation for the feeding of cattle in that section. Doctor MELVIN. I think there is very little corn used for stock fattening in the South, as a rule. The CHAIRMAN. Please state what the differentiation is between the grasses of the South and the North-that is, what kind of grasses they raise there and feed to their cattle that are not raised in other sections of the country? Doctor MELVIN. I am not an agrostologist and I can not go into that very deeply. The CHAIRMAN. Well, there are grasses of various kinds which are indigenous to that country which you do not find elsewhere, and the purpose of this experiment, mainly, is to ascertain which of those grasses is the most nutritious and what kind of combinations with grain or cotton-seed meal are the most advantageous and useful in producing the desired results? |