liar to the horse are especially common and virulent. The ability of animals to "stand the climate" is more frequently a matter of resistance to diseases, and we should not expose our stock to fatal contagion at the risk of ruining what may be a very profitable export trade.

FRAUDS IN PEDIGREES.

Complaints have sometimes reached the Bureau of Animal Industry that some unscrupulous speculators have foisted inferior animals on foreign buyers, especially in Mexico. It is stated that grade dairy cattle have been taken to that country and sold as purebred, registry certificates being furnished which were manufactured and printed by the dealer who was not in any way connected with a reputable pedigree record association certified by the Secretary of Agriculture. This can be easily remedied by prohibiting the export of animals for breeding purposes unless they are accompanied with certificates of the secretary of an association which has the certification of the Secretary of Agriculture, and these certificates in turn certified as genuine by an official of the United States Government, preferably the Secretary of Agriculture. Foreign buyers would soon learn that a certificate to be genuine should bear the stamp of approval of the Agricultural Department, and that the purchase of an animal not accompanied by such a certificate would be at the buyer's risk.

HOW THE EXPORT TRADE MAY BE BUILT UP.

Granted that the preliminaries to a thriving export trade are provided-good steamship lines, good bank exchange, and the like—it then remains to show the foreign buyer what we have from the standpoint of individuality and to prove to his satisfaction the worth of American breeding stock. To this end a thorough campaign of education and exploitation is necessary. Through American consuls literature can be distributed setting forth the merits of our animals. By advertising and by correspondence, using foreign newspapers as freely as possible, the same end can be accomplished. One attempt should not be regarded as sufficient, but breeders should hammer away at the same point until an opening is effected.

It might pay breeders' associations to club together, as it were, and employ a good wide-awake man as a commercial agent, to be stationed, say, at Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires, to solicit trade, handle importations, manage sales, and attend to the thousand and one details which would come up in connection with such a position. On account of his familiarity with local conditions such a man could be of the greatest assistance to the American exporter and could save him many a troublesome experience. By pooling expenses the burden of his support would be only nominal to any one association entering

into the arrangement. One of the strongest features of this plan of selling would be its semiofficial character. Working under the auspices of reputable breeders' associations certified by the United States Secretary of Agriculture, selling animals whose pedigrees were also certified by the Secretary of Agriculture, the American seller could give his customers every assurance that they would get good value and honest dealing.

Experimental shipments of first-class animals, such as have already been made by several Americans, are of the greatest value in showing stockmen in other countries what kind of live stock the United States can produce. Sent to a foreign country under competent care, and landed in good condition, they will be almost certain to create a good impression and stimulate trade.

A further means of education can be obtained by an effort to bring the representatives of foreign countries in the United States into touch with our live-stock interests. Once or twice this has been tried, with rather indifferent success. If we could get foreign diplomats and consuls to attend our great live-stock shows occasionally, so that they could see for themselves, we could more easily build up a foreign trade. Governments send their representatives abroad not alone on matters of statesmanship but on business affairs as well. Doubtless many a clever American invention has found a ready sale abroad for the reason that a representative of foreign government in the United States saw it in successful operation and interested his countrymen in it. The same could be done in the case of American breeding stock. The tremendous energy and remarkable progressiveness of the Japanese in this respect are cases in point, and what may be expected from such a source by the American stock breeder is indicated by the rather large purchases of horses and dairy cattle made by Japan during recent years. That country is also awakening to the value of the dairy industry, and when once started her demand for dairy breeding stock is more likely to seek its supply in the United States than elsewhere. Still another fact which illustrates this point is that the attendance of young men from Mexico and South America. at our agricultural colleges, especially those institutions which pay much attention to animal husbandry, is stimulating in their home countries a demand for purebred live stock which will certainly enlarge the market at the command of the American breeder.

A GOVERNMENT BREEDING FARM.

The apparent difficulty of getting foreign representatives to attend our stock shows has been alluded to, and this leads the writer to suggest that the same end might be accomplished if the Government itself maintained a breeding farm, where representative animals of the

leading breeds could be kept. Such a farm, properly equipped, suitably maintained, and located near Washington, would be one of the points of interest of the national capital. Foreigners stationed at Washington could see, at a minimum of time and trouble, what the United States can produce in live stock, and by prohibiting the sale for export of animals from this farm the Government could safeguard and encourage the interests of American breeders. It would not be official representatives alone whose interest could be excited by such a farm; in addition, others who come to the United States on their own business or pleasure would, if interested in live stock, be very sure to make such an establishment one of their points to visit. When we think that nearly all visitors to the United States from abroad visit Washington, the advertising possibilities of a national breeding farm can be appreciated.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AMERICAN TYPES AND BLOOD LINES.

A suggestion of the highest importance was recently made, namely, that our breeders can not hope to develop an export trade of any magnitude until they advertise their animals as American, and the stockman who made this suggestion pointed out that until we are able honestly to claim for our own American-bred animals that they are for that reason better than animals bred in other countries we can not expect the foreign breeder to adopt such a view. So long as we advertise our Shorthorns as Scotch and claim that for this reason they are the best we can produce, the Shorthorn breeder in Argentina will go to Scotland for his bulls. So long as our Percheron breeders believe that the best they can use on their mares are imported stallions, the South American horseman will go to France for Percheron stallions. The standing of the American Trotter, the American Saddle Horse, the American Merino sheep, the American hog, and the American hen has been made permanent in the world's opinion because these breeds have stood on their own merits without fear or favor and without requiring an imported prop for support. It is highly gratifying to know that several of our breeds of cattle have been so improved since first imported that they are now actually more efficient and profitable under American conditions than they were in the countries of origin, and it is rare that the American breeder of such cattle finds an importation to his advantage. If these cattle are better adapted for the production of meat, milk, and butter in America than their foreign relatives, does it not hold true that they would be better for the same purpose in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, or other cattle-breeding countries? If this is true, why should it be difficult to prove the fact to the satisfaction of Argentine, Brazilian, Uruguayan, or other foreign breeders?

THE VALUE OF AN EXPORT TRADE DURING PERIODS OF LOW PRICES.

Lastly, the possibility of a foreign trade in breeding animals stands in direct ratio to the production of a surplus in the United States. Given a surplus, the trade will seek an outlet, either by way of the market, the abattoir, or by export for breeding purposes. It would be unfortunate indeed if a fall in prices for breeding animals should force the sale of our purebred cattle, sheep, and hogs for slaughter, or of our purebred horses for use on city streets. It is, therefore, timely that breeders' associations are interesting themselves in the development of the foreign trade. If a time of diminished values is now really upon us, the opening of a trade with other lands will save breeders from the disastrous sacrifices to which they were forced from 1893 to 1897.

THE POULTRY WORK OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY."

By ROB R. SLOCUM,

Poultry Assistant, Animal Husbandry Office.

In considering the poultry work of the Bureau of Animal Industry we naturally look back to the first work of this sort taken up by the Bureau. This consisted in answering letters of inquiry concerning the various phases of the poultry business. While the inquiries were, of course, not nearly so numerous as at present, they were important because of the widespread interest which they manifested in poultry and which led to the next step in the work of the Bureau-the publication and distribution of literature on poultry.

POULTRY PUBLICATIONS.

These publications, which were designed to present the fundamental principles of poultry keeping and to give information concerning the various breeds of poultry, are mainly of two classes— Farmers' Bulletins and bulletins of the Bureau of Animal Industry. The first bulletin treating solely of poultry was Farmers' Bulletin 41," Fowls, Care and Feeding," which appeared in 1896. Since that time several other Farmers' Bulletins have been issued, while some of the older bulletins have been revised or superseded by later ones. Among the Farmers' Bulletins may be mentioned the following:

No. 51. Standard Varieties of Chickens. (Recently revised.)

No. 64. Ducks and Geese. (Also recently revised.)

No. 141. Poultry Raising on the Farm. (This, together with No. 41, has been superseded by No. 287.)

No. 177. Squab Raising.

No. 200. Turkeys.

No. 234. The Guinea Fowl and Its Use as Food. (Prepared by the Office of Experiment Stations.)

No. 236. Incubation and Incubators.

No. 287. Poultry Management.

The Farmers' Bulletins, except those which have been discontinued, are available for free distribution by the Department of Agriculture and by Senators, Representatives, and Delegates in Congress.

This paper is based on an address presented before the American Poultry Association at Niagara Falls, N. Y., August 11, 1907.

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