Prof. R. G. White prefaced his paper by referring to a letter which had been circulated among the members from Dr. Hugh C. McPhee of the United States Department of Agriculture at Washington. It had been hoped by the Executive Committee that some member of that Department might be in this country at the present time and be able to give an authoritative account of breeding in the United States but unfortunately this proved to be not possible. He would therefore try to lead up to some points brought out in Dr. McPhee's letter and give a short description of some centres at which research was being conducted. Before turning to those parts of the letter which he thought might form the basis of the greater part of their discussion he would venture to offer a few introductory remarks which he hoped would make it easier to appreciate the points brought out by Dr. McPhee.