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Poultry, People, and Progress1
WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE INVITED LECTURE Poultry, People, and Progress 1 N. R. GYLES Department of Animal Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701 (Received for publication July 28, 1988) ABSTRACT Over the past 50 yr private enterprise companies have built today's pre-eminent commercial poultry industry. Rugged pioneers of poultry production, and bankers of sound judgment founded and integrated the industry. Students, researchers, and extension workers from land-grant colleges were paramount in developing the industry. Genetic selection and improvements in poultry health, management, housing, and nutrition have brought unprecedented progress in growth rate and feed conversion of broilers between 1950 and 1980. During the year 1950 broilers reached 1.82 kg live body weight at 12 wk of age and utilized 3.25 kg feed/kg gain. In 1988, broilers averaged the same body weight at 6 wk 2 days on 1.95 kg feed/kg gain. Competition for the world market has intensified and brought into focus the interface between land-grant colleges and private industry. Care must be taken to preserve the assets of this past relationship and the academic freedoms necessary for comprehensive universities. Systems of education are being re-evaluated to meet the challenges of competition for world markets. In spite of great developments from the sciences, society remains under the duress of serious sociological and behavioral problems. A classification of the sciences illustrates the great difficulties in addressing social problems. A legitimate concern is that in our zest to meet the economic goals offered by the world market, we will neglect the humanities in education with attendant negative impacts on society. A classification of the arts and humanities is offered. (Key words: progress, industry, land-grant colleges, civilization, education) 1989 Poultry Science 6 8 : 1 - 8
INTRODUCTION
Dr. Hunton, members of the Poultry Science Association, ladies, and gentlemen: A few months ago I received a telephone call from Dr. James Heath, our Program Chairperson inviting me, on behalf of the General Program Committee, to present the lecture sponsored by the United States and Canadian branches of the World's Poultry Science Association. I replied that I was surprised, highly honored, and would accept the invitation. I was surprised because I hold no qualifications of eminence for this signal honor. The only reasonable explanation is the invocation of direct democracy, in which each person has an opportunity to speak. A few hundred miles south of here, in the sixteenth century, direct democracy was invoked on occasion by the buccaneers. The buccaneers were the beachcombers of the West Indian Islands, who made a peaceful but precarious living hunting cattle and wild hogs that had razor sharp
'A lecture sponsored by the United States and Canadian branches of the World's Poultry Science Association and presented at the 77th annual meeting of the Poultry Science Association at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, July 28, 1988.
backs. They prepared dried meat by smoking it over a slow fire on a wooden grill called a boucan. From this word the name buccaneer was derived. Perhaps their cooking technique filtered north to become a precursor of the southern fried chicken so beautifully prepared in Louisiana. The proud Spanish invaders sought to exterminate these peaceful buccaneers. In self defense they made common cause with the British, and took to the sea as privateers to fight the Spanish. Buccaneers are not to be confused with pirates. Buccaneers only attacked Spanish ships. Pirates attacked ships of all nations. Among the most colorful pirates were the women captains, Mary Read and Anne Bonny. They were finally captured by the British, sentenced to death, and placed in solitary confinement. There was a caveat in British law that a pregnant woman could not be hanged. Both ladies, awaiting the gallows in solitary confinement, mysteriously became pregnant. The buccaneers were not mean men. They maintained a strict code of ethics. At heart they were peaceful agriculturists and champions of freedom. I speak to you today in the spirit of a buccaneer. In times of difficulty they called a common council and gave each person an opportunity to speak. This is my opportunity.
GYLES
2 PROGRESS
Students, today, may gain the impression that progress in most areas of human endeavor has been linear with time. This is not the case with art, music, literature, science, or the association between people and chickens. People had used chickens primarily for sport and gambling from 1400 B.C. until remarkably recent times. After strenuous debate, cockfighting was outlawed by act of parliament in England in 1849. Poultry. Cockfighting was replaced by people's admiration for the beauty and stately carriage of the chicken. Poultry exhibitions and shows replaced cockfighting. Numerous breeders of exhibition poultry developed varieties of different sizes, shapes and plumage colors. They remain active today as poultry fanciers, and are an important resource for the preservation of poultry germplasm. They merit our assistance in disease control and eradication. Government agencies and universities should address this concern. Lack of attention perpetuates a reservoir for disease organisms that is a potential threat to the poultry industry, and limits the usefulness of genes in these stocks. The association between people and poultry changed dramatically after the biggest single breakthrough in agricultural research in modern times occurred at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in 1911. Hybrid corn was discovered. The poultry industry, as we know it, could not have developed without the discovery of hybrid corn. Sufficient grain was produced to support the industry and to export overseas. Other supporting discoveries that gave impetus to the industry were: coccidiostats, control of Salmonella pullorum, vaccine against Newcastle disease, and refrigeration equipment. These scientific developments, which have contributed so much to the growth and development of the industry, have come primarily through research at land-grant colleges and supporting state and federal laboratories. These results are particularly remarkable when we consider that only nine plants and one animal indigenous to North America are in commercial use today. The plants are: sunflower, tepary beans, wild rice, hops, pecans, black walnut, cranberry, blueberry, and strawberry. The one animal is the wild turkey. Instructions were sent from Washington, DC to all American embassies to gather samples of seeds, plant cuttings, and animals for importation into the United States. These importations were im-
proved by research at land-grant colleges and developed by private sector industry to furnish the greatest agricultural development of modern times. Numerous purebreeds of chickens from England, Europe, the Mediterranean countries, China and the Far East were imported. Fighting breeds from India were the prototypes for the male parent lines of our broilers today. The British developed the Cornish breed from three fighting breeds. The Americans used the Cornish to synthesize our present dominant white male parent lines of the broilers produced today. The large body size Chinese breeds that caused such amazement when first seen by British sailors in the sixteenth century have played an important role in the development of the female parent lines of broilers. The Chinese Cochin breed was crossed with the American Dominique and the Java breed to produce the Barred Plymouth Rock. In later years the White Plymouth Rock was extracted from the Barred Plymouth Rock, and became the main contributing breed to the synthetic female parent lines of today's broilers. Broilers. The mass production commercial broiler industry started between 1935 and 1940. Purebred Barred Plymouth Rocks were transported alive in coops on trucks to the large cities. They were sold alive to the housewife at farmers' markets. She did the killing, dressing, cooking, and serving. Barred Plymouth Rock males mated to New Hampshire females replaced purebred Barred Rocks. Hatchability and growth rate were improved. In the period from 1940 to 1950 broilers were bred from White Wyandotte males mated to New Hampshire females, and also from purebred New Hampshires. The broilers were killed, allowed to bleed out, and the feathers were removed. They were hung by their feet on shackles in meat markets with viscera and head intact. The housewife was relieved of killing and picking. The White Wyandotte male parent improved the growth rate of the broilers. The decade from 1950 to 1960 was pivotal and significant for progress in poultry processing. Engineering research and development produced large processing plants with equipment to scald, dress, and assist in evisceration. Engineering research had developed refrigeration to preserve, transport, and market broiler carcasses. Carcasses were ice-packed and displayed in supermarkets for the convenience of the housewife. A landmark event in the develop-
WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE INVITED LECTURE
ment of the poultry industry took place at the University of Arkansas in 1951. The national Chicken-of-Tomorrow contest was held. Breeders of meat type chickens throughout the United States sent eggs from their breeding stock to enter the competition. The overall merit of each breed of chicken was assessed from a total score for all traits. Vice-President Alben Barkley presented prizes to the winning entrants in a gala affair held in Razorback stadium. The presence of chicken people in Razorback stadium signalled the arrival of the poultry industry on the local, state, national, and international scene. Red-plumaged broilers from a Red Cornish male parent line crossed with a purebred New Hampshire female parent line won the contest. The male parent transmitted rapid early growth and improved fleshing on the breast. The female parent provided adequate growth, egg production, and good hatchability. This pattern of crossbreeding for economical production of broilers persists today. The housewife liked the improvement in convenience and quality but became understandably persnickety. She noticed and complained about the red "pin feathers" on carcasses from redplumaged broilers. She did not easily see white "pin feathers" from white plumaged broilers. Processors heeded the preferences of the housewife and notified the industry that they wanted white-plumaged broilers. Immediately the breeders of purebred White Plymouth Rocks received strong demand for their breeding stock. The breeders of Red Cornish male parent lines had to introduce the dominant white / gene and the sex-linked silver S gene into their breeding stocks. This work was accomplished in a few generations to give the industry synthetic Dominant White male parent lines. The next ten years, 1960 to 1970, saw a complete swing towards the exclusive production of white-plumaged broilers. As usual, the housewife had her way. Broilers were produced from synthetic Dominant White male parent lines mated to purebred White Plymouth Rock female parent lines. Birds were marketed as icepacked eviscerated carcasses, and for added convenience to the housewife, some carcasses were cut-up and packaged. For the decade 1970 to 1980, broilers were produced from synthetic Dominant White male parent lines mated with synthetic strain-cross female parent lines. The synthetic strain-cross females were superior in reproduction performance to purebred White Plymouth Rocks. Equip-
3
ment was introduced into processing plants to perform automated evisceration of carcasses. A modification in refrigeration facilitated deep chilling of eviscerated carcasses. During these years further processing was started for the convenience of the work-away-from-home housewife. Selected chicken parts and vegetables were cooked, packaged on trays, and frozen as convenience meals to be quickly prepared in toaster ovens for consumption. During the current decade, 1980 to 1990, broilers are being produced primarily from synthetic Dominant White strain-cross male parent lines mated to synthetic strain-cross female parent lines. The method of marketing broilers has been significantly influenced by changes in lifestyle of the consumer. About 50% of the broilers are being further processed. This sharp increase in further processing has occurred in response to the needs of the female home provider. A new development has been the introduction of equipment and manual labor to produce deboned chicken meat in processing plants. Deboned meat, particularly white breast meat, is used to prepare "stir-fried" chicken menus by the homemaker. Deboned chicken meat is also used to great advantage in fast food restaurants. Genetic selection between breeds and within breeds and strains from 1935 to 1988 has resulted in impressive gains in broiler performance. The introduction of high energy feeds during the 1950's caused performance in growth rate to increase significantly. Improvements in poultry health from the eradication of Mycoplasmas, and the development of a vaccine against Marek's disease, have contributed greatly to increases in overall performance of broiler breeders and their broiler offspring. Improvements in management, housing, and feed restriction of broiler breeders have also contributed to escalating performance. The accumulation of this progress is evident in the enhanced growth rate and feed conversion of broilers between 1950 and 1988. In the year 1950 broilers reached 1.82 kg live body weight at 12 wk of age and utilized 3.25 kg feed/kg gain. In 1988, broilers averaged 1.82 kg body weight in 6 wk 2 days on 1.95 kg feed/kg gain (see Table 1). These improvements in broiler performance have been timed to meet a new and increased demand for poultry meat as a result of two social changes in America. With husband and wife working in 70% of the families, the need for fast food restaurants to serve families away from home has emerged. A second change is a grow-
GYLES
4
TABLE 1. Estimated progress in broiler performance
Year
1950 1960 1970 1980 1988
Age
Body weight
Feed conversion (feed: live BW)
(wk)
(kg)
(kg/kg)
12 10 8!S 7'4 6'4
1.82 1.82 1.82 1.82 1.82
3.25 2.50 2.20 2.10 1.95
ing general awareness of the health advantages from eating food with less animal fat. Poultry as Laboratory Animal. Another area of association between mankind and the chicken has developed during the past ten years. The chicken has become a credible and useful laboratory animal. Previously, only mammals such as the mouse, rat, and guinea pig had occupied this position. Researchers contributing to the NE-60 regional poultry breeding project entitled "genetic bases for resistance to avian diseases" have shown commonality between the structure and function of the major histocompatibility complex of the chicken and that of humans and other animals. The chicken is now regarded as an acceptable laboratory animal with which to study genetic resistance, immunology, and nutritional consequences of diseases that affect humans and other animals. Poultry Industry Pioneers. The development of the poultry industry to its present state of pre-eminence in our economy has been accomplished through inspiration, dedication, and hard work by a few pioneering personalities. These rugged individuals had the vision, shared the risk with bankers of sound judgement, and vertically integrated the industry for mass production and efficiency. They used the research findings coming out of the land-grant college system, and employed its graduates in increasing numbers. A good relationship has existed between the industry and the land-grant college system. These pioneers share a common kinship of spirit with the buccaneers. They believe in free enterprise and freedom from government control and direction. They launched forth on the seas of private enterprise. Some became multimillionaires. Others lost everything. They all held their heads high. They contributed to a mighty industry.
Consumption of Chicken Meat. Americans used to eat chicken once a week as a Sunday specialty. Chicken is now on the menu every day. Arkansas has ranked as number one among the States in numbers of broilers produced for each of the past 12 yr. Our position is well entrenched as the largest agricultural industry in Arkansas. We don't have to be concerned about a bowl game. We are in the chicken bowl every year. Our personnel know their assignments. We take only one unofficial "time-out" each year-the opening of deer-hunting season. People from all over the world have come to the United States to observe and learn of our methods of production. Our breeding stock, feed grains, and equipment are exported to most countries. The people of the world have benefited from our efforts. The annual consumption of poultry meat per person has increased sharply. The following are the numbers of kilograms of poultry meat (ready-to-cook equivalent) consumed per capita in year 1986 by various countries and areas of the world: Saudi Arabia, 38; Israel, 34; United States, 33; Hong Kong, 29; Canada, 26; Australia, 23; Hungary, 22; Venezuela, 20; Spain, 20; Taiwan, 20; France, 19; United Kingdom, 17; Italy, 17; Ireland, 17; Portugal, 16; New Zealand, 14; Japan, 13; Argentina, 12; Soviet Union, 11; Brazil, 10; Poland, 8; Mexico, 7; Thailand, 7; Phillipines, 4; North America, 27; Western Europe, 16; Eastern Europe, 12; South America, 11; Middle East, 11; Asia, 9. Southern fried chicken has replaced coca-cola as the best ambassador for the United States throughout the world. PEOPLE
However, a new set of circumstances now prevails. Many countries have recovered from the ravages of World War II and have developed industrial and agricultural competence to challenge North American production for the world market. The United States has helped many of these countries to develop their agricultural resources and production. These countries have received reciprocally the benefits of years of research and development of the seed, plant cuttings, and germplasm that were collected from them years ago to develop American agriculture. American Ownership. Many overseas countries have developed poultry breeding and poultry production efficiency strongly competitive with that of the United States. The majority of
WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE INVITED LECTURE
the major poultry breeding farms have traditionally been located in the United States under American ownership. This predominance of American ownership has changed. Of the eleven major poultry breeding farms for meat type chickens contributing to the world market, seven are located in the United States, one in Canada, and three in overseas countries. However, seven are owned by overseas companies and four by United States companies. Of the three major turkey breeding farms, one is located in the United States, one in Canada, and one overseas. The distribution of ownership is: one by a United States company and two by overseas companies. There are ten major commercial egg poultry breeding farms supplying the world market. Six are located in the United States, one in Canada, and three in countries overseas. Of these, two are owned by United States companies and eight by overseas companies. In discussing these statistics with an American student having several years of experience working with the poultry industry overseas, he challenged me for an explanation of the decline in ownership by American companies. Partly in jest and part seriously, I asked him if he thought it might be related to the amount of abdominal fat. He immediately replied, "You are on the right track; after so much success the desire is cooling in the United States, and the fires of motivation are burning strong in overseas countries to compete in the world market." The World Market. Competition on the world market is currently being emphasized by all countries. The British model to meet this new worldwide situation is essentially being followed, with various modifications, by all the western democracies. Executives from industry have been asked to form boards of control to give central guidance over research conducted by public institutions. Research centers of excellence are being organized and funded by government. Grants from industry are used to pursue priority research deemed likely to help the national economy. These developments affect research and education. Industry and Land-Grant Colleges. During the past 5 yr a new attitude has developed regarding the interface between industry and land-grant colleges in the United States. The federal and state governments are no longer funding the colleges sufficiently to maintain and develop recommended standards for research and extension services. Grants from industry to support priority research of their choosing are solicited. This
5
development is necessary. However, the interface with industry must be done with care to preserve the unique features of the land-grant college system that have made the United States the foremost agricultural research and production country of the world. Basic research should be funded exclusively by funds from state or federal agencies. The emergence of new knowledge from basic research in public institutions should belong to us; "we the people" must retain the rights to this knowledge. Government funds should also be reserved for researchers to explore the validity of new ideas that may emerge from existing projects. Grants from industry should focus on the areas of applied research, with priority for commercial use. The interface with industry must carefully preserve the integrity of the academic freedoms characteristic of the land-grant college system. Systems of Education. Competition in the world market is causing the nations to examine their systems of education. The main concern seems to be directed towards gearing higher education and research towards producing material goods that will compete successfully on the world market. The House of Lords in England's parliament has recently suggested that 1% of the research budget in the UK should be spent on the evaluation of research results. Their report underscores the current resolve that' 'evaluation must be approached as a discipline and not as a threat". Cummings and Wise (1977) in their book Democracy under Pressure make this summation: "America has experienced a knowledge explosion. The impact of science and technology, of computers, electronics, and highspeed communications is shaping American society. We have split the atom and travelled to the moon and returned. There appears to be no limits to technological potential except the inability of human beings to control their own nature." In spite of the unprecedented growth in accomplishments in the sciences, the problems of poverty, illiteracy, adolescence and social adjustment, peace and war, situations of sexuality, drugs and crime, power and wealth, are no nearer solution today than they were before the start of recorded scientific investigations. Why do these human behavioral problems persist in an era in which so much progress has been made in the sciences? The reason for this paradox becomes evident when we inspect the classification of the sciences as suggested by Comte and described by Lewis in 1904 (see Table 2). The
GYLES
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TABLE 2. Classification of the sciences by Comte as described by Lewes in 19041 M
Anthropology, psychology, sociology, political science, economics
A
Medical sciences
T
Agricultural sciences
H
Environmental sciences, geography
E
Botany, bacteriology, zoology
M
Biology
A
Geology
T
Engineering sciences
I
Computer science2
C
Chemistry, physics
S
Astronomy 'SeeG. H. Lewes (1904). 1
A modification by the author.
general thrust of this classification places the basic sciences as the more easily understood, with the applied sciences, intermediary, and the human behavioral sciences and sociology, the most complex. The "language of nature," mathematics, is the common thread that runs through all the sciences. As a consequence of Comte's classification we can understand why most of the revolutionary scientific discoveries, as pointed out by Kuhn (1970) in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, have occurred in the basic sciences. Increase in knowledge accumulates at a much more rapid rate in the basic and applied sciences than in sociology and human behavioral sciences. This trend will continue. These discoveries will be used to improve the material living standards of people and to fashion more awesome weapons of war. Therefore, it becomes imperative to increase our understanding of human behavior and of the social sciences. The problem is compounded with the passage of time, because according to the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States, the world population will double its size by the Year 2006 as compared with its size in Year 1973. Behavior. The need for improving our understanding of human behavior brings us to a recent area of man's association with the chicken. Scientists are using the chicken as a model for studying behavior. Paradoxically, this brings us back to cockfighting. Scientists tell us that the social behavior of the chicken consists primarily
of a social hierarchy that is based on dominancesubordinance interactions. A stable social hierarchy has several important biological advantages, including a reduction in energy expenditure. High social rank within a flock offers several advantages, including greater access to feed and water. Two of the main bases of social stratification among chickens are the size of the comb and the color of plumage. In a flock, the subordinate chickens keep their heads lower than their dominant neighbors. This posture enables the subordinate individual to communicate its submission to the dominant flockmates. Each chicken has its own minimum air space that is not to be traversed. Increases in population density force intrusion into each other's space. This leads to social strife and nonproductive use of energy. Poultry producers provide enough feeders, waterers, and nests at strategic locations in the chicken house to reduce social strife, and thereby conserve energy and increase the efficiency of production. Special precautions are taken to reduce social strife when individuals from different flocks have to be intermingled. We all experience the phenotypic expressions of inherent genetic forces that contribute to the aggressive-submissive variance among human beings. This total phenotypic variance is much more complex than that expressed in the chickens' behavior, because in addition to common biological factors, it contains variances relating to the human intel-
WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE INVITED LECTURE
lect and spirit. The development of the human intellect is that which separates humans from animals. Civilization. A logical concern is that in our zeal to give priority to the sciences in order to compete on the world market, we will diminish the important role of the arts and humanities. At a comprehensive university we may specialize and develop expertise in our chosen disciplines, but let us recognize and accept the fact that nature is not a specialist. We must balance our teaching or the sciences with teaching of the arts and humanities. Plato, the great philosopher of ancient Greece, warns us that even if the world were to develop a state in which each person had all the material possessions one could desire or use, it still would not be a civilization. It would be what Plato called 'a city of swine' or paraphrased in our time 'a house of chickens', eating, drinking, mating, and sleeping until they died. Education is the development of the intellect of the mind. Civilization is the state of the mind. The life of the mind controls the stability of society and the interrelations between peoples. Ancient Greece and Rome understood this. They fostered steeping the mind in literature, to exercise and inform the mind of the social and psychological forces and responses experienced by people. They encouraged writing, speech making, and debating. They exercised the mind as fervently as we physically train our NCAA basketball and football teams. From ancient Greece and Rome we have received the great principles of democracy that provide for the separate powers of our executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of government. The life of the mind determines the actions of individuals, communities, societies, and nations. We must grasp the literary legacy from ancient Greece and Rome together with the best of world literature. As the geneticist selects the superior genes to reproduce, so we must debate, examine, measure, and select out the best food for the mind. We must contribute to building a modern civilization with the capacity to manage peaceably the increasing power and energy that nature will yield from future research. Spengler (1946), in his book entited The Decline of the West, and Toynbee (1948) in his essays on Civilization on Trial, agree that all civilizations follow the same rhythmic pattern from birth to inevitable death. This fatalistic attitude to life is unacceptable, and is no excuse for trying to get as much as one can while it lasts. The geneticist knows that
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TABLE 3. Classification of the arts and humanities1 H
Religion, government
I
Civilization, cultures, traditions
S
Law
T
Theatre, films, television, music
O
Art, architecture
R
Journalism
Y
Languages 1
Developed by the author.
with a closed population, inbreeding will "get you in the end". However, knowing the principles involved, one can avoid the so-called inevitable decline from inbreeding. Similarly, as educators, we bear the responsibility to elucidate through our curricula the behavioral principles characteristic of expanding, divergent societies during advancing scientific developments in a communicatively shrinking world. In this regard I suggest for your consideration a classification of the humanities, arts, law, and media of communication (see Table 3). The classification extends from languages, which are the easiest to understand, to religion and government, which are the most complex. The connecting fabric that binds these together is history. These disciplines exert much influence on the states of mind, outlooks, and attitudes that shape public opinion. Representative democracies such as America act through the weight of public opinion. Walter Lippmann (1965), in his classic study of public opinion, observed that each individual in viewing distant events, tends to form "a picture inside his or her head of the world beyond his or her reach''. How unfortunate it becomes if there are serious misconceptions about overseas countries due to lack of knowledge and biased communications. Conversely, how important it is to project an accurate image of America through the arts and humanities that are sent to foreign lands. The great magnetism of America that draws people from distant lands are the freedoms of body, mind, and spirit that are upheld by its constitution. Perhaps by her example, more than any other force, she has the opportunity to bring stability and reduce social strife. Ancient Greece was not as rich as Persia or as strong as Egypt, but she held the keys of civilization. Her legacy alone endured the ages to become the fiber and fabric of our culture.
8
GYLES
As the great universities of Europe were formed during the Middle Ages to be beacons of light to dispel the ignorance of the Dark Ages, so must the comprehensive universities of the land-grant system play a special role. Their research scientists, in the words of Howard C. Pierce, sponsor of the 1951 Chicken-of-Tomorrow Contest,' 'must always remember that quality creates desire and price regulates the ability to buy". This we have done and must continue to do, because we can best serve society through excellence in our chosen professions. However, there is a higher responsibility that goes beyond the confines of any parochial profession. Our universities must lead and convince industries that the fruits of education are the best assurance for good business. They must secure the assistance of industry to solve the problems of illiteracy, poverty, indiscipline, and crime. A damaging fallacy is that education ceases the day of commencement. Education is a lifelong experience. Civilization is not transmitted by a gene or programmed in an individual. Homes, schools, higher education, and adult experiences and training all contribute to develop the intellect and life of the mind. The engine and spark that drive these coordinated efforts to fashion a civilized society reside with the universities. The universities carry the torch from one generation to the next and are the custodians of the values that mold our culture. They must keep these responsibilities of public trust. Let us recall the words of John Tyler Caldwell, President of the University of Arkansas, in an address to the faculty in 1953: "If at some future point this society should be bogged
down in a morass of uncertainty and doubt, then let the campuses stand tall on the high ground of integrity as beacons of hope for the future.'' Together, the land-grant colleges and the poultry industry can put a chicken in every pot. The actor Humphrey Bogart once said, "What this world needs is one more drink." Take my advice, what this world needs is more southern fried chicken. REFERENCES Animal germplasm preservation and utilization in agriculture, 1984. Council for Agriculture Science and Technology (CAST) Report No. 101. Cummings, M. C , Jr., and D. Wise, 1977. Democracy under Pressure. 3rd ed. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, NY. Foreign Agricultural Service, 1987. World Livestock and Poultry Situation. United States Department of Agriculture, Circular Series FL & P 1-87, Room 6616 South Agriculture Building, Washington, DC 20250. Hamshere, C , 1972. The British in the Caribbean. The Trinity Press, London, England, UK. Highet, G., 1949. The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, NY. Kuhn, T. S., 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. Lewes, G. H., 1904. Comte's Philosophy of the Sciences. G. Bell and Sons Publ. Co., London, England, UK. Lippmann, W., 1965. Public Opinion. MacMillan Publ. Co., New York, NY. Plant germplasm preservation and utilization in U. S. agriculture, 1985. Council for Agriculture Science and Technology (CAST) Report No. 106. Spengler, O., 1946. The Decline of the West. Vol. 1 and 2. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY. Standard of Perfection, 1983 ed. Am. Poul. Assoc., Inc. Troy, NY. Toynbee, A. J., 1948. Civilization on Trial. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, NY.
INTRODUCTION
Dr. Hunton, members of the Poultry Science Association, ladies, and gentlemen: A few months ago I received a telephone call from Dr. James Heath, our Program Chairperson inviting me, on behalf of the General Program Committee, to present the lecture sponsored by the United States and Canadian branches of the World's Poultry Science Association. I replied that I was surprised, highly honored, and would accept the invitation. I was surprised because I hold no qualifications of eminence for this signal honor. The only reasonable explanation is the invocation of direct democracy, in which each person has an opportunity to speak. A few hundred miles south of here, in the sixteenth century, direct democracy was invoked on occasion by the buccaneers. The buccaneers were the beachcombers of the West Indian Islands, who made a peaceful but precarious living hunting cattle and wild hogs that had razor sharp
'A lecture sponsored by the United States and Canadian branches of the World's Poultry Science Association and presented at the 77th annual meeting of the Poultry Science Association at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, July 28, 1988.
backs. They prepared dried meat by smoking it over a slow fire on a wooden grill called a boucan. From this word the name buccaneer was derived. Perhaps their cooking technique filtered north to become a precursor of the southern fried chicken so beautifully prepared in Louisiana. The proud Spanish invaders sought to exterminate these peaceful buccaneers. In self defense they made common cause with the British, and took to the sea as privateers to fight the Spanish. Buccaneers are not to be confused with pirates. Buccaneers only attacked Spanish ships. Pirates attacked ships of all nations. Among the most colorful pirates were the women captains, Mary Read and Anne Bonny. They were finally captured by the British, sentenced to death, and placed in solitary confinement. There was a caveat in British law that a pregnant woman could not be hanged. Both ladies, awaiting the gallows in solitary confinement, mysteriously became pregnant. The buccaneers were not mean men. They maintained a strict code of ethics. At heart they were peaceful agriculturists and champions of freedom. I speak to you today in the spirit of a buccaneer. In times of difficulty they called a common council and gave each person an opportunity to speak. This is my opportunity.
GYLES
2 PROGRESS
Students, today, may gain the impression that progress in most areas of human endeavor has been linear with time. This is not the case with art, music, literature, science, or the association between people and chickens. People had used chickens primarily for sport and gambling from 1400 B.C. until remarkably recent times. After strenuous debate, cockfighting was outlawed by act of parliament in England in 1849. Poultry. Cockfighting was replaced by people's admiration for the beauty and stately carriage of the chicken. Poultry exhibitions and shows replaced cockfighting. Numerous breeders of exhibition poultry developed varieties of different sizes, shapes and plumage colors. They remain active today as poultry fanciers, and are an important resource for the preservation of poultry germplasm. They merit our assistance in disease control and eradication. Government agencies and universities should address this concern. Lack of attention perpetuates a reservoir for disease organisms that is a potential threat to the poultry industry, and limits the usefulness of genes in these stocks. The association between people and poultry changed dramatically after the biggest single breakthrough in agricultural research in modern times occurred at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in 1911. Hybrid corn was discovered. The poultry industry, as we know it, could not have developed without the discovery of hybrid corn. Sufficient grain was produced to support the industry and to export overseas. Other supporting discoveries that gave impetus to the industry were: coccidiostats, control of Salmonella pullorum, vaccine against Newcastle disease, and refrigeration equipment. These scientific developments, which have contributed so much to the growth and development of the industry, have come primarily through research at land-grant colleges and supporting state and federal laboratories. These results are particularly remarkable when we consider that only nine plants and one animal indigenous to North America are in commercial use today. The plants are: sunflower, tepary beans, wild rice, hops, pecans, black walnut, cranberry, blueberry, and strawberry. The one animal is the wild turkey. Instructions were sent from Washington, DC to all American embassies to gather samples of seeds, plant cuttings, and animals for importation into the United States. These importations were im-
proved by research at land-grant colleges and developed by private sector industry to furnish the greatest agricultural development of modern times. Numerous purebreeds of chickens from England, Europe, the Mediterranean countries, China and the Far East were imported. Fighting breeds from India were the prototypes for the male parent lines of our broilers today. The British developed the Cornish breed from three fighting breeds. The Americans used the Cornish to synthesize our present dominant white male parent lines of the broilers produced today. The large body size Chinese breeds that caused such amazement when first seen by British sailors in the sixteenth century have played an important role in the development of the female parent lines of broilers. The Chinese Cochin breed was crossed with the American Dominique and the Java breed to produce the Barred Plymouth Rock. In later years the White Plymouth Rock was extracted from the Barred Plymouth Rock, and became the main contributing breed to the synthetic female parent lines of today's broilers. Broilers. The mass production commercial broiler industry started between 1935 and 1940. Purebred Barred Plymouth Rocks were transported alive in coops on trucks to the large cities. They were sold alive to the housewife at farmers' markets. She did the killing, dressing, cooking, and serving. Barred Plymouth Rock males mated to New Hampshire females replaced purebred Barred Rocks. Hatchability and growth rate were improved. In the period from 1940 to 1950 broilers were bred from White Wyandotte males mated to New Hampshire females, and also from purebred New Hampshires. The broilers were killed, allowed to bleed out, and the feathers were removed. They were hung by their feet on shackles in meat markets with viscera and head intact. The housewife was relieved of killing and picking. The White Wyandotte male parent improved the growth rate of the broilers. The decade from 1950 to 1960 was pivotal and significant for progress in poultry processing. Engineering research and development produced large processing plants with equipment to scald, dress, and assist in evisceration. Engineering research had developed refrigeration to preserve, transport, and market broiler carcasses. Carcasses were ice-packed and displayed in supermarkets for the convenience of the housewife. A landmark event in the develop-
WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE INVITED LECTURE
ment of the poultry industry took place at the University of Arkansas in 1951. The national Chicken-of-Tomorrow contest was held. Breeders of meat type chickens throughout the United States sent eggs from their breeding stock to enter the competition. The overall merit of each breed of chicken was assessed from a total score for all traits. Vice-President Alben Barkley presented prizes to the winning entrants in a gala affair held in Razorback stadium. The presence of chicken people in Razorback stadium signalled the arrival of the poultry industry on the local, state, national, and international scene. Red-plumaged broilers from a Red Cornish male parent line crossed with a purebred New Hampshire female parent line won the contest. The male parent transmitted rapid early growth and improved fleshing on the breast. The female parent provided adequate growth, egg production, and good hatchability. This pattern of crossbreeding for economical production of broilers persists today. The housewife liked the improvement in convenience and quality but became understandably persnickety. She noticed and complained about the red "pin feathers" on carcasses from redplumaged broilers. She did not easily see white "pin feathers" from white plumaged broilers. Processors heeded the preferences of the housewife and notified the industry that they wanted white-plumaged broilers. Immediately the breeders of purebred White Plymouth Rocks received strong demand for their breeding stock. The breeders of Red Cornish male parent lines had to introduce the dominant white / gene and the sex-linked silver S gene into their breeding stocks. This work was accomplished in a few generations to give the industry synthetic Dominant White male parent lines. The next ten years, 1960 to 1970, saw a complete swing towards the exclusive production of white-plumaged broilers. As usual, the housewife had her way. Broilers were produced from synthetic Dominant White male parent lines mated to purebred White Plymouth Rock female parent lines. Birds were marketed as icepacked eviscerated carcasses, and for added convenience to the housewife, some carcasses were cut-up and packaged. For the decade 1970 to 1980, broilers were produced from synthetic Dominant White male parent lines mated with synthetic strain-cross female parent lines. The synthetic strain-cross females were superior in reproduction performance to purebred White Plymouth Rocks. Equip-
3
ment was introduced into processing plants to perform automated evisceration of carcasses. A modification in refrigeration facilitated deep chilling of eviscerated carcasses. During these years further processing was started for the convenience of the work-away-from-home housewife. Selected chicken parts and vegetables were cooked, packaged on trays, and frozen as convenience meals to be quickly prepared in toaster ovens for consumption. During the current decade, 1980 to 1990, broilers are being produced primarily from synthetic Dominant White strain-cross male parent lines mated to synthetic strain-cross female parent lines. The method of marketing broilers has been significantly influenced by changes in lifestyle of the consumer. About 50% of the broilers are being further processed. This sharp increase in further processing has occurred in response to the needs of the female home provider. A new development has been the introduction of equipment and manual labor to produce deboned chicken meat in processing plants. Deboned meat, particularly white breast meat, is used to prepare "stir-fried" chicken menus by the homemaker. Deboned chicken meat is also used to great advantage in fast food restaurants. Genetic selection between breeds and within breeds and strains from 1935 to 1988 has resulted in impressive gains in broiler performance. The introduction of high energy feeds during the 1950's caused performance in growth rate to increase significantly. Improvements in poultry health from the eradication of Mycoplasmas, and the development of a vaccine against Marek's disease, have contributed greatly to increases in overall performance of broiler breeders and their broiler offspring. Improvements in management, housing, and feed restriction of broiler breeders have also contributed to escalating performance. The accumulation of this progress is evident in the enhanced growth rate and feed conversion of broilers between 1950 and 1988. In the year 1950 broilers reached 1.82 kg live body weight at 12 wk of age and utilized 3.25 kg feed/kg gain. In 1988, broilers averaged 1.82 kg body weight in 6 wk 2 days on 1.95 kg feed/kg gain (see Table 1). These improvements in broiler performance have been timed to meet a new and increased demand for poultry meat as a result of two social changes in America. With husband and wife working in 70% of the families, the need for fast food restaurants to serve families away from home has emerged. A second change is a grow-
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TABLE 1. Estimated progress in broiler performance
Year
1950 1960 1970 1980 1988
Age
Body weight
Feed conversion (feed: live BW)
(wk)
(kg)
(kg/kg)
12 10 8!S 7'4 6'4
1.82 1.82 1.82 1.82 1.82
3.25 2.50 2.20 2.10 1.95
ing general awareness of the health advantages from eating food with less animal fat. Poultry as Laboratory Animal. Another area of association between mankind and the chicken has developed during the past ten years. The chicken has become a credible and useful laboratory animal. Previously, only mammals such as the mouse, rat, and guinea pig had occupied this position. Researchers contributing to the NE-60 regional poultry breeding project entitled "genetic bases for resistance to avian diseases" have shown commonality between the structure and function of the major histocompatibility complex of the chicken and that of humans and other animals. The chicken is now regarded as an acceptable laboratory animal with which to study genetic resistance, immunology, and nutritional consequences of diseases that affect humans and other animals. Poultry Industry Pioneers. The development of the poultry industry to its present state of pre-eminence in our economy has been accomplished through inspiration, dedication, and hard work by a few pioneering personalities. These rugged individuals had the vision, shared the risk with bankers of sound judgement, and vertically integrated the industry for mass production and efficiency. They used the research findings coming out of the land-grant college system, and employed its graduates in increasing numbers. A good relationship has existed between the industry and the land-grant college system. These pioneers share a common kinship of spirit with the buccaneers. They believe in free enterprise and freedom from government control and direction. They launched forth on the seas of private enterprise. Some became multimillionaires. Others lost everything. They all held their heads high. They contributed to a mighty industry.
Consumption of Chicken Meat. Americans used to eat chicken once a week as a Sunday specialty. Chicken is now on the menu every day. Arkansas has ranked as number one among the States in numbers of broilers produced for each of the past 12 yr. Our position is well entrenched as the largest agricultural industry in Arkansas. We don't have to be concerned about a bowl game. We are in the chicken bowl every year. Our personnel know their assignments. We take only one unofficial "time-out" each year-the opening of deer-hunting season. People from all over the world have come to the United States to observe and learn of our methods of production. Our breeding stock, feed grains, and equipment are exported to most countries. The people of the world have benefited from our efforts. The annual consumption of poultry meat per person has increased sharply. The following are the numbers of kilograms of poultry meat (ready-to-cook equivalent) consumed per capita in year 1986 by various countries and areas of the world: Saudi Arabia, 38; Israel, 34; United States, 33; Hong Kong, 29; Canada, 26; Australia, 23; Hungary, 22; Venezuela, 20; Spain, 20; Taiwan, 20; France, 19; United Kingdom, 17; Italy, 17; Ireland, 17; Portugal, 16; New Zealand, 14; Japan, 13; Argentina, 12; Soviet Union, 11; Brazil, 10; Poland, 8; Mexico, 7; Thailand, 7; Phillipines, 4; North America, 27; Western Europe, 16; Eastern Europe, 12; South America, 11; Middle East, 11; Asia, 9. Southern fried chicken has replaced coca-cola as the best ambassador for the United States throughout the world. PEOPLE
However, a new set of circumstances now prevails. Many countries have recovered from the ravages of World War II and have developed industrial and agricultural competence to challenge North American production for the world market. The United States has helped many of these countries to develop their agricultural resources and production. These countries have received reciprocally the benefits of years of research and development of the seed, plant cuttings, and germplasm that were collected from them years ago to develop American agriculture. American Ownership. Many overseas countries have developed poultry breeding and poultry production efficiency strongly competitive with that of the United States. The majority of
WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE INVITED LECTURE
the major poultry breeding farms have traditionally been located in the United States under American ownership. This predominance of American ownership has changed. Of the eleven major poultry breeding farms for meat type chickens contributing to the world market, seven are located in the United States, one in Canada, and three in overseas countries. However, seven are owned by overseas companies and four by United States companies. Of the three major turkey breeding farms, one is located in the United States, one in Canada, and one overseas. The distribution of ownership is: one by a United States company and two by overseas companies. There are ten major commercial egg poultry breeding farms supplying the world market. Six are located in the United States, one in Canada, and three in countries overseas. Of these, two are owned by United States companies and eight by overseas companies. In discussing these statistics with an American student having several years of experience working with the poultry industry overseas, he challenged me for an explanation of the decline in ownership by American companies. Partly in jest and part seriously, I asked him if he thought it might be related to the amount of abdominal fat. He immediately replied, "You are on the right track; after so much success the desire is cooling in the United States, and the fires of motivation are burning strong in overseas countries to compete in the world market." The World Market. Competition on the world market is currently being emphasized by all countries. The British model to meet this new worldwide situation is essentially being followed, with various modifications, by all the western democracies. Executives from industry have been asked to form boards of control to give central guidance over research conducted by public institutions. Research centers of excellence are being organized and funded by government. Grants from industry are used to pursue priority research deemed likely to help the national economy. These developments affect research and education. Industry and Land-Grant Colleges. During the past 5 yr a new attitude has developed regarding the interface between industry and land-grant colleges in the United States. The federal and state governments are no longer funding the colleges sufficiently to maintain and develop recommended standards for research and extension services. Grants from industry to support priority research of their choosing are solicited. This
5
development is necessary. However, the interface with industry must be done with care to preserve the unique features of the land-grant college system that have made the United States the foremost agricultural research and production country of the world. Basic research should be funded exclusively by funds from state or federal agencies. The emergence of new knowledge from basic research in public institutions should belong to us; "we the people" must retain the rights to this knowledge. Government funds should also be reserved for researchers to explore the validity of new ideas that may emerge from existing projects. Grants from industry should focus on the areas of applied research, with priority for commercial use. The interface with industry must carefully preserve the integrity of the academic freedoms characteristic of the land-grant college system. Systems of Education. Competition in the world market is causing the nations to examine their systems of education. The main concern seems to be directed towards gearing higher education and research towards producing material goods that will compete successfully on the world market. The House of Lords in England's parliament has recently suggested that 1% of the research budget in the UK should be spent on the evaluation of research results. Their report underscores the current resolve that' 'evaluation must be approached as a discipline and not as a threat". Cummings and Wise (1977) in their book Democracy under Pressure make this summation: "America has experienced a knowledge explosion. The impact of science and technology, of computers, electronics, and highspeed communications is shaping American society. We have split the atom and travelled to the moon and returned. There appears to be no limits to technological potential except the inability of human beings to control their own nature." In spite of the unprecedented growth in accomplishments in the sciences, the problems of poverty, illiteracy, adolescence and social adjustment, peace and war, situations of sexuality, drugs and crime, power and wealth, are no nearer solution today than they were before the start of recorded scientific investigations. Why do these human behavioral problems persist in an era in which so much progress has been made in the sciences? The reason for this paradox becomes evident when we inspect the classification of the sciences as suggested by Comte and described by Lewis in 1904 (see Table 2). The
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TABLE 2. Classification of the sciences by Comte as described by Lewes in 19041 M
Anthropology, psychology, sociology, political science, economics
A
Medical sciences
T
Agricultural sciences
H
Environmental sciences, geography
E
Botany, bacteriology, zoology
M
Biology
A
Geology
T
Engineering sciences
I
Computer science2
C
Chemistry, physics
S
Astronomy 'SeeG. H. Lewes (1904). 1
A modification by the author.
general thrust of this classification places the basic sciences as the more easily understood, with the applied sciences, intermediary, and the human behavioral sciences and sociology, the most complex. The "language of nature," mathematics, is the common thread that runs through all the sciences. As a consequence of Comte's classification we can understand why most of the revolutionary scientific discoveries, as pointed out by Kuhn (1970) in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, have occurred in the basic sciences. Increase in knowledge accumulates at a much more rapid rate in the basic and applied sciences than in sociology and human behavioral sciences. This trend will continue. These discoveries will be used to improve the material living standards of people and to fashion more awesome weapons of war. Therefore, it becomes imperative to increase our understanding of human behavior and of the social sciences. The problem is compounded with the passage of time, because according to the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States, the world population will double its size by the Year 2006 as compared with its size in Year 1973. Behavior. The need for improving our understanding of human behavior brings us to a recent area of man's association with the chicken. Scientists are using the chicken as a model for studying behavior. Paradoxically, this brings us back to cockfighting. Scientists tell us that the social behavior of the chicken consists primarily
of a social hierarchy that is based on dominancesubordinance interactions. A stable social hierarchy has several important biological advantages, including a reduction in energy expenditure. High social rank within a flock offers several advantages, including greater access to feed and water. Two of the main bases of social stratification among chickens are the size of the comb and the color of plumage. In a flock, the subordinate chickens keep their heads lower than their dominant neighbors. This posture enables the subordinate individual to communicate its submission to the dominant flockmates. Each chicken has its own minimum air space that is not to be traversed. Increases in population density force intrusion into each other's space. This leads to social strife and nonproductive use of energy. Poultry producers provide enough feeders, waterers, and nests at strategic locations in the chicken house to reduce social strife, and thereby conserve energy and increase the efficiency of production. Special precautions are taken to reduce social strife when individuals from different flocks have to be intermingled. We all experience the phenotypic expressions of inherent genetic forces that contribute to the aggressive-submissive variance among human beings. This total phenotypic variance is much more complex than that expressed in the chickens' behavior, because in addition to common biological factors, it contains variances relating to the human intel-
WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE INVITED LECTURE
lect and spirit. The development of the human intellect is that which separates humans from animals. Civilization. A logical concern is that in our zeal to give priority to the sciences in order to compete on the world market, we will diminish the important role of the arts and humanities. At a comprehensive university we may specialize and develop expertise in our chosen disciplines, but let us recognize and accept the fact that nature is not a specialist. We must balance our teaching or the sciences with teaching of the arts and humanities. Plato, the great philosopher of ancient Greece, warns us that even if the world were to develop a state in which each person had all the material possessions one could desire or use, it still would not be a civilization. It would be what Plato called 'a city of swine' or paraphrased in our time 'a house of chickens', eating, drinking, mating, and sleeping until they died. Education is the development of the intellect of the mind. Civilization is the state of the mind. The life of the mind controls the stability of society and the interrelations between peoples. Ancient Greece and Rome understood this. They fostered steeping the mind in literature, to exercise and inform the mind of the social and psychological forces and responses experienced by people. They encouraged writing, speech making, and debating. They exercised the mind as fervently as we physically train our NCAA basketball and football teams. From ancient Greece and Rome we have received the great principles of democracy that provide for the separate powers of our executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of government. The life of the mind determines the actions of individuals, communities, societies, and nations. We must grasp the literary legacy from ancient Greece and Rome together with the best of world literature. As the geneticist selects the superior genes to reproduce, so we must debate, examine, measure, and select out the best food for the mind. We must contribute to building a modern civilization with the capacity to manage peaceably the increasing power and energy that nature will yield from future research. Spengler (1946), in his book entited The Decline of the West, and Toynbee (1948) in his essays on Civilization on Trial, agree that all civilizations follow the same rhythmic pattern from birth to inevitable death. This fatalistic attitude to life is unacceptable, and is no excuse for trying to get as much as one can while it lasts. The geneticist knows that
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TABLE 3. Classification of the arts and humanities1 H
Religion, government
I
Civilization, cultures, traditions
S
Law
T
Theatre, films, television, music
O
Art, architecture
R
Journalism
Y
Languages 1
Developed by the author.
with a closed population, inbreeding will "get you in the end". However, knowing the principles involved, one can avoid the so-called inevitable decline from inbreeding. Similarly, as educators, we bear the responsibility to elucidate through our curricula the behavioral principles characteristic of expanding, divergent societies during advancing scientific developments in a communicatively shrinking world. In this regard I suggest for your consideration a classification of the humanities, arts, law, and media of communication (see Table 3). The classification extends from languages, which are the easiest to understand, to religion and government, which are the most complex. The connecting fabric that binds these together is history. These disciplines exert much influence on the states of mind, outlooks, and attitudes that shape public opinion. Representative democracies such as America act through the weight of public opinion. Walter Lippmann (1965), in his classic study of public opinion, observed that each individual in viewing distant events, tends to form "a picture inside his or her head of the world beyond his or her reach''. How unfortunate it becomes if there are serious misconceptions about overseas countries due to lack of knowledge and biased communications. Conversely, how important it is to project an accurate image of America through the arts and humanities that are sent to foreign lands. The great magnetism of America that draws people from distant lands are the freedoms of body, mind, and spirit that are upheld by its constitution. Perhaps by her example, more than any other force, she has the opportunity to bring stability and reduce social strife. Ancient Greece was not as rich as Persia or as strong as Egypt, but she held the keys of civilization. Her legacy alone endured the ages to become the fiber and fabric of our culture.
8
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As the great universities of Europe were formed during the Middle Ages to be beacons of light to dispel the ignorance of the Dark Ages, so must the comprehensive universities of the land-grant system play a special role. Their research scientists, in the words of Howard C. Pierce, sponsor of the 1951 Chicken-of-Tomorrow Contest,' 'must always remember that quality creates desire and price regulates the ability to buy". This we have done and must continue to do, because we can best serve society through excellence in our chosen professions. However, there is a higher responsibility that goes beyond the confines of any parochial profession. Our universities must lead and convince industries that the fruits of education are the best assurance for good business. They must secure the assistance of industry to solve the problems of illiteracy, poverty, indiscipline, and crime. A damaging fallacy is that education ceases the day of commencement. Education is a lifelong experience. Civilization is not transmitted by a gene or programmed in an individual. Homes, schools, higher education, and adult experiences and training all contribute to develop the intellect and life of the mind. The engine and spark that drive these coordinated efforts to fashion a civilized society reside with the universities. The universities carry the torch from one generation to the next and are the custodians of the values that mold our culture. They must keep these responsibilities of public trust. Let us recall the words of John Tyler Caldwell, President of the University of Arkansas, in an address to the faculty in 1953: "If at some future point this society should be bogged
down in a morass of uncertainty and doubt, then let the campuses stand tall on the high ground of integrity as beacons of hope for the future.'' Together, the land-grant colleges and the poultry industry can put a chicken in every pot. The actor Humphrey Bogart once said, "What this world needs is one more drink." Take my advice, what this world needs is more southern fried chicken. REFERENCES Animal germplasm preservation and utilization in agriculture, 1984. Council for Agriculture Science and Technology (CAST) Report No. 101. Cummings, M. C , Jr., and D. Wise, 1977. Democracy under Pressure. 3rd ed. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, NY. Foreign Agricultural Service, 1987. World Livestock and Poultry Situation. United States Department of Agriculture, Circular Series FL & P 1-87, Room 6616 South Agriculture Building, Washington, DC 20250. Hamshere, C , 1972. The British in the Caribbean. The Trinity Press, London, England, UK. Highet, G., 1949. The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, NY. Kuhn, T. S., 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. Lewes, G. H., 1904. Comte's Philosophy of the Sciences. G. Bell and Sons Publ. Co., London, England, UK. Lippmann, W., 1965. Public Opinion. MacMillan Publ. Co., New York, NY. Plant germplasm preservation and utilization in U. S. agriculture, 1985. Council for Agriculture Science and Technology (CAST) Report No. 106. Spengler, O., 1946. The Decline of the West. Vol. 1 and 2. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY. Standard of Perfection, 1983 ed. Am. Poul. Assoc., Inc. Troy, NY. Toynbee, A. J., 1948. Civilization on Trial. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, NY.