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HISTORIC BACKGROUND ON COOPERATION THE NEED for greater consideration of interrelationships in the experimental design of poultry research was recognized early in the history of the agricultural experiment stations. In 1887, just after the passage of the Hatch Act, at the first meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Experiment Stations, Atwater stated: In a co-ordination of work a pretty full liberty of choice will have to be left to the workers and no definite line can be laid down as to what they shall do. Freedom of action is one of the prime essentials of all successful research.… At the same time, unless I greatly err, there are numerous ways in which the large questions of agricultural experiments, for which Congress is expected to make provision, may be materially facilitated by union of effort. At the second meeting of the Association (1889), Atwater discussed cooperation again, quoting from …

SINCE the publication of the results of the pioneer investigations of Hughes et al. (1924; 1925a, b, and c) on the effects of ultra-violet irradiation on the chicken, several groups of workers have studied the influence of vitamin D supplements on the production, composition, and hatchability of eggs. Hughes and his associates found that ultra-violet irradiation had a markedly beneficial effect on the production and hatchability of eggs and that the quantity of vitamin D stored in the egg could be affected by diet, as well as by ultra-violet irradiation of the chickens. The experiments of Hart and co-workers (1925) yielded similar results. Although the influence of vitamin D on the production and properties of eggs has been fairly widely studied [Shutt (1926); Sheard and Higgins (1929); Taylor and Martin (1928); the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (1928); Martin and co-workers (1930 (1933); and Hendricks, Lee and Godfrey (1931)], the . . .

ALTHOUGH many phases of the calcium metabolism of the chicken have been studied, very little attention has been given to the effect of the calcium and phosphorus content of the diet of laying pullets and hens on the production and hatchability of eggs. The purpose of this paper is to present data on this phase of the calcium and phosphorus metabolism of the chicken. These data demonstrate the deleterious effect, hitherto unsuspected, of a high level of calcium intake of laying chickens on the ability of their eggs to hatch, and they suggest that in practical poultry husbandry it is very desirable to control the calcium intake of laying chickens. LITERATURE Wheeler (1919) made many inorganic analyses of the shells of eggs and of the carcasses of chickens and ducks that had received calcium, magnesium, and strontium from several sources as supplements to their diet. He found that the diets . . .

A FACT as self-evident as the importance of consideration of intra- and interrelationships in the experimental design of biological research, seemingly should not warrant an article devoted exclusively to it. Unfortunately, however, even the most obvious principles are often obscured by our absorption in the immediate problem before us or in a particularly interesting subject of research. This myopia may become evident, however, to former researchers assigned to administrative duties which force them out of the channels of their specialities to survey the broad expanses of agricultural science. All segments of agriculture are so closely interrelated and interdependent, that a scientist cannot leave out of his reckoning the other disciplines beside his own. THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF ALL DISCIPLINES From the infinitesimal neutrons and protons of the atom to the enormous galaxies of the heavens, all nature appears to be interdependent and interrelated. All parts are made to synchronize into a …

INTRODUCTION SOYBEAN meal is widely used as a protein concentrate in the diet of laying fowls. Its value for egg production is not disputed. Hatchability of eggs produced by birds receiving diets containing soybean meal, at least that made from some varieties of soybeans, probably depends on the kinds and amounts of animal protein concentrates included in the same diet. Direct sunlight is a very important factor in the production of hatchable eggs. Byerly, Titus, and Ellis (1933) showed that meal made from the Mammoth Yellow variety of soybeans was inadequate for the production of eggs of high hatchability by semi-confined birds that received an all plant-source diet containing about 20 parts per 100 of the soybean meal. Subsequent studies have shown the Illini variety of soybean to be deficient in the same manner. Nestler, Byerly, Titus, and Ellis (1936) showed that the deficient factor in the diet used was . . .

AN ABNORMAL growth of juvenal wing-feathers occurred in pen-reared Bobwhite quail at the age of two weeks on two experiments planned to determine the optimum level of dried milk products in a diet for growing quail. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The chicks were from pen-reared parent stock and had been hatched in an incubator during June 1942. For the first three weeks they were kept in electric battery brooders, 22.5 by 35.0 by 9.5 inches, and then transferred to field brooders for the following two weeks. Brooding temperature under the hover was maintained at 98°F. for the first week, and then reduced 5 degrees each week thereafter, until the heat was cut off during the fourth week. For the first experiment, 22 chicks were distributed into each of 16 brooder units; for the second experiment, 37 were placed in each of 16 units. They were supplied with feed, water, and grit. Eight . . .

BECAUSE there is a scarcity of high-quality protein supplements, it is desirable to have as much information as possible about the feeding value of all protein materials that might be used in feeding poultry or other livestock. Therefore, it seemed desirable to publish the results of an experiment that was conducted at the Beltsville Research Center between November 2, 1937, and January 11, 1938, for the purpose of comparing the gross nutritive value of the dried contents of several lots of fertile eggs that had been incubated for different lengths of time. Publication would serve two purposes: First, it would put on record the results of the experiment; and, second, those results would give some indication of the probable nutritive value of the dried contents of eggs that customarily are removed from incubators because they are infertile or contain dead embryos. The writers have estimated that in 1942 the refuse . . .

BYERLY, Titus, and Ellis (1933) found that diets consisting of cereal grains, their by-products, alfalfa leaf meal, minerals, and cod liver oil are deficient in some factor, or factors, necessary for the production of eggs of high hatchability. This deficiency is satisfied by range, milk, and certain protein concentrates of animal origin, but not by certain protein concentrates of vegetable origin. Recent investigations by Halpin, Holmes, and Hart (1933) indicate that many diets for laying hens are deficient in vitamin G, and that the hatchability on such diets is low. Their basal diet, composed of yellow corn, oats, wheat bran, wheat middlings, meat scraps, common salt, and cod liver oil, plus scratch feed, grit, and crushed oyster shell, gave a hatchability of only 11 percent whereas the addition of skimmilk or chopped alfalfa hay to the diet raised the hatchability to over 70 percent. In order to determine if vitamin . . .

Criteria for separating young of the year from adult gallinaceous birds are comparatively well known and have been treated in an earlier paper (Petrides, 1942), but more exact methods of determining age have yet to be developed for most species. The present study is an attempt to provide age determination data for bob-whites (Colinus virginianus) one to five months old, similar to that determined by Louis Bureau for the Hungarian partridge (Perdix perdix) and red quail (Alectoris rufa) in France. His reports (1911, 1913) contain tables and diagrams of wing feather replacement and growth that purportedly permit the determination of age, within 1 to 3 days, of healthy birds collected during their post-juvenal molt.

During the summer of 1940, a local breeder brought to the writers several bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) about five weeks old that were afflicted with severe ophthalmia, and characterized by emaciation and a ragged, drooping appearance (P1. 10, A, B). The breeder stated that only one hatch of quail was so afflicted; all others appeared normal. The same brand of growing mash for gamebirds had been used for all his birds, a popular one from a very reputable firm. The afflicted quail, however, had been fed, from the time of hatching, on a new lot of the mash in which deterioration may have occurred. The symptoms indicated avitaminosis A with secondary bacterial infection of low virulence. According to Dr. Don Coburn of the Disease Investigations Unit: "None of the bacterial invaders

Ten years ago the Fish and Wildlife Service (then under the old name of Bureau of Biological Survey) felt that a knowledge of nutritional requirements of upland gamebirds might help to uncover fundamental principles underlying their survival and increase. In 1938 the Service, in collaboration with the Bureau of Animal Industry, obtained funds under the Bankhead-Jones Act to start nutrition research on gallinaceous upland gamebirds. It chose the popular indigenous bobwhite quail as the first subject. During subsequent years the project grew away from Bankhead-Jones support, and became firmly established in the Fish and Wildlife Service. Much information on the dietary requirements of bobwhites has been uncovered, but, as in the case of similar studies on domestic animals, only a very small portion of the vast field has been explored. Up to 1948, the research has involved primarily the requirements of quail for protein; four minerals, namely, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and chlorine; and three vitamins, namely, vitamin A, riboflavin (formerly called vitamin B2 and vitamin G), and pantothenic acid (formerly called filtrate factor). This paper summarizes and evaluates the results of Federal research into bobwhite quail nutrition, since the beginning of the project to the present time. Observations on managerial problems, other than dietary, have been published from time to time, but are not considered here. While it is true that pen-reared birds have been the chief subjects of study, and professional gamebird propagators have received much direct benefit from

was nearly as high as on the diet containing 14 per cent sardine meal, but the average live weight per bird was only 139 grams. The difference between this weight and that for the birds on Diet 11 (3% dried whey) was not statistically significant. The general rating for the diet was as high as that for Diet 11, when ground wheat replaced ground millet in the diet containing 3 per cent dried whey. Survival of birds was 5 per cent-units lower, the average live weight was about the same, and efficiency of feed utilization was higher. Using D-activated animal sterol as a source of vitamin D and yellow corn and a good grade of alfalfa leaf meal as sources of vitamin A, fish oils were omitted from the diets without causing symptons of avitaminosis. However, because of the instability of vitamin A in storage, it is advisable to include sufficient fish oil, if obtainable, in quail diets to supply at least 2,000 I. U. of vitamin A per pound of feed on a total feed basis. LITERATURE CITED

the Patuxent Research Refuge on growing bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) during the past four years, one diet stands out above all others for promoting good growth of chicks, keeping down mortality, and providing a high efficiency of feed utilization. The ingredients are given below. Since fishery products are difficult to obtain during the war, substitutes for them in the preferred diet are considered here.

mal pH of blood is partially maintained by the carbonates and phosphates of sodium. Sodium is needed by all planteating animals for the elimination of the excess of potassium contained in the feed. In the case of growing chickens fed mainly on ingredients of cereal origin, the addition of a small proportion of common salt (sodium chloride) to the diet leads to accelerated growth (Branion, 1938, and Ewing, 1947). According to Halpin and associates (1936), 0.5 per cent of salt in the feed will meet the requirements of growing domestic chicks. In fact, they found that when poultry rations contain the usual amounts of meat scraps, fish meal, and dried milk, even as much as 0.5 per cent additional salt can be excessive. Nevertheless, studies by Quigley and Waite (1932) show that chicks have a high tolerance for sodium chloride, a finding which is contrary to general belief. Therefore, for best all around results, 0.5 per cent of additional salt in the feed is now generally advocated for all poultry. In several previous articles, the author has pointed out the value of salt in the control of picking among bobwhite quail in captivity, and its high tolerance by this gamebird (Nestler, 1940, 1943; Nestler, Coburn, and Titus, 1945). However, according to the literature, apparently no studies have been made on the salt requirement of quail. Therefore, in 1947 two experiments with bobwhite quail chicks were conucted at the Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, Maryland, to obtain information on this point.

The question of the value and function of grit in the digestive processes of gallinaceous birds has been debated ever since the latter part of the eighteenth century when Spallanzi (1784) remarked: "We may reasonably conclude that the collecting of pebbles by chickens is less the effect of choice than stupidity." Generally grit is considered to have two functions in avian nutrition, namely (1) assisting the gizzard in the grinding of food, and (2) furnishing necessary minerals for metabolism and reproduction. For grinding, hard non-friable insoluble particles, such as quartz and flint, are the more desirable; whereas for the purpose of supplying nutrients, a soft easily-crumbled material, such as limestone and oyster shell, is required. This paper deals with grit solely as a grinding agent. Strong convictions on the abrasive value of grit have been succinctly expressed by a number of writers on gamebird propagation. Carnegie (1906) emphasized his belief in the need of grit for pheasants and partridges by the pithy statement: "It is of little use feeding them properly if the means for masticating the food be not provided"; and Tegetmeier (1913) admonished propagators that "one of the essentials to health in pheasants is an adequate supplement of suitable grit, and it should be remembered that this is necessary at the earliest stages of their existence. If deprived of this a bird will soon deteriorate in condition owing to the gizzard being unable to perform its function." Although Leopold (1936) presented data to prove that gamebirds consume an appreciable quantity of grit, he seemingly was not completely convinced that grit is essential. Regardi g quail, for example, Leopold wrote: "Quail are commonly believed to require grit. If they do [Italics ours] then ledges of rock or gravel, or windfalls bearing gravelly soil, are necessary during snows." Considerable doubt, however, has been cast on the mechanical value of grit for gallinaceous birds through carefully controlled studies on poultry by Buckner and Martin (1922), Kaupp and Ivey (1923), and Buckner, Martin and Peter (1926). Grit was found to be non-essential to the growth and reproduction of chickens. In fact, birds which did not receive grit appeared to utilize coarse ground feeds and whole corn and wheat as effectively as those that had access to grit. Of even greater interest is the astounding evidence by Burrows (1936) and Fritz, Burrows and Titus (1936) that even the gizzard itself is not essential to life. As might be expected gizzardectomized birds digested coarse feeds much less efficiently than did normal fowl, but on finely ground mashes they showed little difference in the efficiency of feed utilization. As to the retention or grit in the digestive tract, Handley (1931) pointed out that when grit can be easily obtained a portion of the grit in the gizzard is passed on daily, whereas if the

to be obtained. Unless such knowledge gained in the laboratory can be applied directly or indirectly to the field, its value is academic rather than practical. In the laboratory the wild subjects are confined closely in a strange environment; they generally receive unfamiliar foods in an unusual manner; and they are often exposed to bizarre treatments and much handling. In the wild, by contrast, game birds do not live in narrowly restricted areas, seldom find a mass of one kind of food in one pile, are not force-fed, usually have a selection of food that varies in more ways than can be duplicated in the laboratory, and must meet environmental vagaries and dangers throughout their lives with no assistance from man. Only by carefully controlled field studies conducted in conjunction with laboratory research can knowledge (obtained in the latter manner) be applied to game birds under natural conditions.

The most prominent function of calcium and phosphorus is, of course, the formation of the skeleton, approximately 99 per cent of the calcium and 80 per cent of the phosphorus of the body being present in the bones. Nevertheless, in addition to this very weighty role, these minerals have a significant part in maintaining the necessary osmotic pressure and surface tension of the body-fluids, regulating the hydrogen ion concentration of blood and tissues, maintaining acid-base equilibrium, acting as integral portions of living protoplasm, and influencing the response of muscles and nerves to stimuli. Serum calcium also, like vitamin K, is essential for the clotting of blood. These two elements, like other minerals taken into a vertebrate animal's