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Twelve hundred lambs were fed last year by 75 club boys who
entered C. W. McDonald's Iowa project wherein each boy feeds a
pen of 16 lambs. These lambs were fed 100 to 110 days, brought to
central district shows, and then sold at auction. The reaction of
the boys and their parents is indicated by the fact that this year
520 boys are feeding 8,352 lambs.
Whole herds of sows that average ton litters of pigs in 180 days
are the result of J. W. Schwab's Thrifty Pig Club in Indiana. A
county swine committee is organized, a swine school held, 10 to 25
volunteers obtained among the farmers in the county, and J u l y
and August tours are held to the farms of these volunteers to observe results obtained. Series of circular letters and news notices
similar to those used by Mr. Morris have been employed successfully in Indiana.
The success of P. T. Brown's Indiana Gold Medal Colt Club
has warranted the use of that method in a Gold Medal Calf Club.
Shows include individual competition among the calves and among
the sires and competition between the get of each sire.
Community shows and sales of fat cattle in Mississippi were reported by Paul F. Newell as being a source of stimulation to proper
cattle production methods and as an outlet for both commercial
cattle and 4-H Club calves. Pioneering along the same line in a
woods section of Arkansas, M. W. Muldrow brought in two carloads of bulls and has followed with annual shows for feeder calves.
More calves and a continuing demand for purebred bulls has resulted from this practice.
Sixty county cattle feeders' associations meet almost monthly
during the feeding season in Iowa to discuss procedures and prospects and to see if their guess on the future cattle market will be
better than that of Rex Beresford. Refreshments for the next
meeting are provided by a hat, into which goes each man's coin
and his guess for the top Chicago price for cattle 30 days hence.
The winner at the following meeting has the privilege of selecting
the kind of sandwich and cigar that he prefers and of buying them
for the group.
CONFERENCE ON ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
R A L P H W. PHILLIPS, U. S. D. A.
The third annual conference on artificial insemination was called
to order by the chairman, Dr. L. M. Winters of Minnesota. In his
introductory remarks Dr. Winters pointed out that the main objects of the conference were to make possible the exchange of ideas
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PRODUCTION
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and findings of men working in the 'field, and to stimulate discussion. No formal papers had been included in the program in previous years, but a few were planned for this year to form a basis
for discussion.
Dr. L. E. Casida of Wisconsin discussed a project designed to
study fertility in dairy cattle. Three phases of the work were discussed, namely: (1) Interval from parturition to first succeeding
oestrum; (2) Abnormalities at first heat following parturition;
and (3) Experimental ovulation. The period from parturition to
the first oestrum varied from 4 to 250 days. Ovarian changes associated with longer periods included quiescent ovaries, anovulatory follicles, corpus luteum atreticum without heat, and ovulation
without heat. Abnormalities observed at the first heat included
regression of the follicle without ovulation, the formation of atretic
corpus luteum, and ovulation on the second day or later following
heat. Ovulation was produced in a number of cases with injections
of an unfractionated extract of the anterior pituitary of the sheep.
Ruptured follicles varied from 2 to 27 per cow. Dr. Casida pointed
out that these results are all preliminary in nature.
Two formal papers were presented, "A study of the character
of normal and abnormal semen of the sheep," by R. E. Comstock
and D. E. Brady of Minnesota, and "Artificial insemination of
ewes," by Dr. C. E. Terrill of the United States Department of Agriculture (Dubois, Idaho) and Dr. E. M. Gildow of Idaho. The former paper and an abstract of the latter appear in these Proceedings on pages 223 to 238.
Dr. Ralph W. Phillips of the United States Department of Agriculture reported that a number of shipments of ram semen had
been made from Beltsville, Maryland, to Moscow, Idaho, during
the recent breeding season. A number of ewes have failed to come
back in heat after being inseminated, but definite breeding results
will not be available until after the lambing season next spring.
This work is being carried on jointly by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station.
Clarence Cole of Minnesota discussed some of his work with artificial insemination in dairy cattle. Semen is being collected by
massage of the ampulla of the vas deferens of the bull, and is used
fresh. A total of 47 cows have been inseminated with a total of 65
inseminations. To date 20 of these cows are known to be pregnant
and 8 more are believed to be.
Dr. Fred F. McKenzie of Missouri reported on a few of the observations he has made during a four-months trip in Europe. These
are as follows:
1. A n opal blue stain is being used by Professor Nils LagerlSf
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THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION
of the Royal Veterinary College, Stockholm, to detect protoplasmic droplets. This abnormality of spermatozoa is seldom detected by other stains. The opal blue must be applied within 5
minutes after ejaculation. The technique is to heat opal blue solution (Bresslau, prepared by Griibler) in test tube and cool immediately before use. Filter. Place 1 or 2 drops of semen on the slide,
add 2 or 3 drops of the stain, mix, spread thin, and air dry. If the
semen is dense add an extra drop of stain.
2. Professor Ed Sorenson of the Royal Veterinary College,
Copenhagen, has carried on an interesting project on the Island of
Sams5 since August, 1936. On this island 1,500 cows and heifers
are being bred to one bull. Artificial insemination is being used
with 60-70 percent of the inseminations being successful.
3. Professor Kiist of the Veterinary College, University of
Giessen, Germany, has had about 75 percent success with artificial
insemination. Approximately 2,000 calves have been produced.
4. Dr. J. Siebenga, a veterinarian at Dierenartes, Oldeberkoop,
Holland, keeps a bull and inseminates his clients' cows for approximately $1.50 per service. He inseminates approximately 800
cows a year. This practice is gaining in popularity in Europe.
5. Dr. Arthur Walton of Cambridge is carrying on experiments
to develop more adequate laboratory measures of the quality of
sperm, ~n'~dto devise means of extending the period of storage of
sperm. Horse sperm are being stored after concentrating the
sperm in a small amount of liquid by centrifuging. They are then
diluted at the time of insemination.
Dr. McKenzie also exhibited artificial vaginae for the collection
of semen from the ram, bull, stallion and boar. Models in use at
Cambridge are manufactured by the Holborn Surgical Instrument
Company of London. The vagina for the bull which is being used
by Professors LagerlSf and Sorenson was also exhibited, and pictures were shown of the d u m m y and vagina used by Dr. K~re
B~ckstrSm of the Animal Breeding Institute, Wiad, Sweden, for
collecting semen from the boar.
Dr. F. B. Morrison of New York reported that the Bureau of
Animal Industry in the Philippines was using artificial insemination quite successfully in their horse breeding work.
The question of eligibility for registration of animals produced
by artificial insemination was raised. No definite information was
available.
Prof. D. W. Chittenden of Montana moved that a conference be
held next year. Professor M. P. Jarnagin of Georgia moved that
formal papers be included in the program again next year. Dr.
F. F. McKenzie of Missouri moved that the Executive Committee
of the American Society of Animal Production be asked to name
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233
a c h a i r m a n to h a v e charge of the p r o g r a m n e x t year. These motions w e r e all seconded and adopted b y u n a n i m o u s vote.
A S T U D Y OF CHARACTERISTICS OF NORMAL A N D
A B N O R M A L SEMEN OF THE SHEEP
R. E. C O M S T O C K A N D D. E. B R A D Y
INTRODUCTION
Spermatozoa used for artificial insemination m u s t live f r o m the
time g a t h e r e d until used and retain enough e n e r g y to m o v e up
the female r e p r o d u c t i v e tract. This is an e x t r a d e m a n d on t h e m
which we will call "livability." The limit of accomplishment with
artificial insemination m a y d e p e n d u p o n this characteristic of
spermatozoa.
This p a p e r contains beginning w o r k in a s t u d y of livability in
spermatozoa of sheep. P e r c e n t motility after storage was used
as a m e a s u r e of livability. Data w e r e collected on sperm head
lengths, coefficient of variability of head lengths (C.V.), n u m b e r
of spermatozoa p e r cu. mm., and p H of s e m e n in o r d e r (a) to
d e t e r m i n e if correlated with livablity and (b) to furnish a base
of knowledge for f u t u r e e x p e r i m e n t a l comparison.
PREVIOUS WORK
McKenzie and Phillips (1) give 8.13 micron as m e a n head length
of sheep sperm. T h e y r e p o r t that high n u m b e r s of morphologically abnormal cells indicate low fertility. Savage et al (2,3),
studying horse and bull sperm, Moench (4), studying h u m a n
sperm, r e p o r t e d similar results. Both of these w o r k e r s found
that a h i g h e r t h a n n o r m a l coefficient of variability also indicates
low fertility.
SOURCE OF MATERIAL
The w o r k was done in the s u m m e r of 1936 and spring of 1937.
In 1936 the semen was f r o m four rams with n o r m a l breeding
records being fed n o r m a l rations. In 1937 it was f r o m 12 rams that
had b e e n on specified rations since N o v e m b e r 28, 1936. Nine w e r e
fed on a ration t h o u g h t to be of a d e q u a t e quality consisting of corn,
linseed oilmeal, bonemeal, and alfalfa. T h r e e of the nine (33, 55,
59) w e r e fed at a level 30% less t h a n h a d b e e n f o u n d n e c e s s a r y to
maintain constant b o d y weight. T h e i r weights fell f r o m 132 to
105 pounds, 172 to 130 pounds, and 152 to 118 pounds, respectively.
1Published as Paper No. 1557 of the Scientific Journal Series of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.