POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 20

POULTRY KEEPING.

(By E. J. TERR..)

TO CORRESPONDENTS. DUCK (rapatoetoe) has n duck which has been sick. It would hardly eat or drink anything. The bird is very thin", lias practically lost the use of its and the droppings are greenish—The bird Is suffering from enteritis, possibly indued to a certain extent by a chill. Isolate the bird, nnd give it a teaspoonful of kerosene, followed by a second dose in twelve hours. It will probably not be worth saving. COHOMAXDEL writes: Would I tell tbe cause of fowls getting sore heads, cheesy matter in the eyes, which if not attended to eventually destroys the eye. Somo of the fowls get nlso a wasting disease— If the cheesy mntter Is confined to the eye, mouth, and throat, nnd docs not spread over the comb and face, then the complaint is roup. The easiest method of keeping it In check is to treat when two or three bubbles appear In the eye. At this stage any mild antiseptic will cure. The cheesy matter is practicnlly pus. It should b<» removed before washing the eve. Condy's is not powerful enough an antiseptic. The fowls which have the wasting disonse bnve either tuberculosis or nre badly affected with worms. It the latter you would sec signs in tbe droppings. INQUIRER (Epsom) asks for advice re a certain spice—Do not use it constantly. It is not a food, therefore It cannot make eggs. It may act as a slight tonic. EI'SOM.—I have written yon, as the editor objects to free advertisemeuts in this column. HOUSEWIFE (namtlton). —I am writing you re the antiseptic. HARD LUCK has lost three hens lately. Their combs go pale, and they lose the use of their legs. The birds are fed on sharps and bran, chopped green feed, and a spice, evening wheat and oats mixed— You do not say if tbe birds have lost condition. After a very heavy laying season birds will sometimes go to pieces as it might be for a time. Are tbe birds through the moult? Have tbey been laying heavily? Are the toes of the foot drawn up at all, or are they straight and natural? What is the colour of the droppings? If you give mc tbe nbove information I no doubt will help you. W.W. (Ellerslle) writes that she would be greatly obliged for advice re feeding her fowls. There arc sl_ White Leghorns, two-year-Olds, and the rest Orpingtons and Minorcns. During the summer months the birds did not lay any eggs. The birds are all over the moult a couple of months ago, and look the picture of health. One Leghorn a fortnight ago laid a couple of eggs, and then no more. Sometimes they go on the nest, but do not lay. The feeding is boiled potato peelings and house scraps, mixed with pollard to a dry mush; evening, maize. The fowls have been run at a loss for the last six months—Your fowls are wrongly fed. Mix bran with the potato pe-illngs and house scraps, which are chiefly starchy, and as tbe birds have probably been lacking for some time in the essentials they would get from bran, place some bran where tbe birds may help themselves to it. Maize is wrong for evening feed following on your morning feed. If you can procure some broken pegs reasonable, fede them for a while. If' not, short stout oats will do, and, failing both of these, feed wheat. There is just one other possible explanation,, and that is, that you do not give the birds sufficient f6od to have a surplus over and above their own requirements to make eggs, but this is Improbable. The chances arc that your birds are too fat, but not necessarily fleshy. W (Mount Albert) sends further particulars re ber poultry, which seems to be kept very satisfactorily—lt is probable that the lameness complained of mny have been due to jumping high for tbe suspended green food. Re the bird which has a swelling on the middle toe, it will probably be found tbat the swelling emanates from the ball of the foot. Lance it underneath, plus it with a small piece of clean rag dipped in an antiseptic, ltemovc the plug every day till the wound is healing well from the bottom. A piece of rag will have to be tied round the foot to keep the plug In place. OKATUKURA writes re a White Leghorn cockerel, which seems to be suffering from leg weakness. The bird has a staggering gait at all times. The appetite of the bird Is extraordinarily good. As the bird is of a good laying strain the owner would like to keep him for another season—lf the toes of the bird are not cramped or drawn up, then the chances are the trouble is not rheumatism, but It may be worms. Fast the bird for 24 hours, then give a teaspoonful of turpentine in two teaspoonfuls of olive oil. Repeat the dose for two subsequent weeks. Put a little Parish's chemical food in the drinking water. You need give him only a small tin of drinking water. Wash the comb well and rub on It a small quantity of yellow oxide of mercury ointment. BATANUI states that he Is coming np from the South to grow poultry and vegetables for the Auckland market, lie seeks advice re the management of poultrj aud feeding same.—Tbe advice would be too lengthy in "Answers to Correspondents." Come and see mc when you come North. I will help you, if possible. A note to the Star office will find mc. PUZZLED (Epsom) has a few Black Orpingtons which were in an open run all the summer. They have been laying about eight months, and are now just through their moult again. They~-ave been moved Into an old trap-shed, as tbey were looklnr miserable. One hen has died, and otheri keep shaking their heads and scratching them with their feet. Some of their eyes are nearly closed. Their combs have lost their healthy look. Is Condy's fluid of any nse.—l am just a little puzzled as to whether the birds are badly Infected with vermin, nnd In scratching tbelr beads have made their eyes sore, or whether the trouble Is due to roup, probably brought about through mistaken kindness in shutting the birds up after they had been used to an open run. You can ascer- * tain whether it is vermin by looking well Into the feathers round the head. If there is a cheesy growth in the eye which grew very rapidly, then it is roup. Remove the gTowth with a blunt piece of wood or similar instrument, and wash avlth a good antiseptic. It Is of no use washing until you have removed what might be called congealed pus. Write mc more fully. CONSUMPTION OF EGGS. I A correspondent writes that the cxI port of eggs from the Dominion to Lon- . don is responsible for the high price of • eggs at present time and that if there j were no export then eggs would be cheap I and a valuable article of diet to the I masses. | Well, it is very evident that my eorl respondent does not keep poultry to any i great extent. In the first place the I export of eggs to London would have : little»or no effect on the prices ruling at . the present time. It may sound a large j number of eggs to my correspondent I when the figures of the export are i quoted, but it is a mere nothing in the I egg production of the Dominion. Few j people realise the quantity of eggs I which are produced and consumed in ! New Zealand. The price of eggs at the ! present time is due chiefly to the fact that the price of poultry food was very high during the last breeding season, the general prospects were not too bright, (or rather that was the case with many breeders who did not see ahead), with the result that there were not so many birds hatched. Further when the birds were partly grown, but still giv--1 ing no returns, the small man got tired of paying the food bills and birds were sacrificed, with the result that there is at the present time a shortage of young j birds to take the place of those which are in moult or have got past the profitable age for egg production. The export of eggs does not influence the industry as much as some may suppose. The home market and the home coa-

sumption is the real backbone of the ] industry. I say that if suitable propaganda were used as regards the value I of an egg that we should increase egg consumption by at least fifty per cent, ] and possibly double it. Even with the present price of eggs the poultry breeder who has a good line of fresh clean eggs, fair size and heavy in weight, is chased by the merchant and storekeeper, plainly showing that as in every other industry or production, the i market for something just a little above the average is never overdone, nor the price too high to pay. As an illustration that it is not a question of price but the main essentials as regards quality (as most of my readers are aware originally I was on Smithfield Market so that I know the egg and provision trade) -. Fifty-five countries prior to the war, that is in normal times, shipped eggs to Britain. Let mc take two extremes in those countries. Denmark shipped yearly about forty million dozens of eggs to Great Britain, Egypt shipped three million. The Danish eggs would cost far more to produce than the Egyptian eggs. The Egyptian egg could have been sold on the British market for half the price of the Danish. Egypt and similar countries could flood the British market if their class of goods was required, but the quality is not in the Egyptian egg. It is not what might be called a breakfaßt table egg. Owing to the feeding of the birds, the mongrel breed, and last but far from least, the high temperature, the bulk of the eggs being fertile, the eggs are fit to use only in certain processes of manufactured articles, and not for human consumption generally.

If we take the large lines of passenger steamers calling at Egyptian ports where eggs can be purchased for a few pence per dozen, we find that the eggs are not taken as ship's stores for the voyage, but they are purchased at Continental and Australian ports, Tasmania for preference, at a much higher price.

So it is not a question of whether | eggs can be purchased in India or simij lar countries at a few pence per dozen, and it is therefore folly for us to build up an export trade which could be taken away from us at any time by India and similar countries, as my correspondent states. I say this is altogether wrong. We have an asset in New Zealand in the seasons being opposite to those of Great Britain, which will always remain with us, and owing to the temperate climate we can always store, as regard quality of dairy and poultry produce. But as before stated export is more or less immaterial. What we want is graded eggs for home consumption, and we must have this grading to make the industry function as it should do. A certain amount of the eggs produced in the Dominion passes through dealers hands, who more or less grade, and the graded product goes out through retailers' hands to the consumer. The bulk of the eggs, especially in spring and early summer, goes into the retail stores direct from farms or smaller stores, and out to the consumers without handling or grading, a very miscellaneous uncertain quality. In other words, consumption of eggs in the home, ordinary consumption of eggs in urban centres, is dwarfed, stunted and blighted by the uncertainty surrounding the quality of the supply. Readers know when the average housewife goes to the store to get eggs that what she got yesterday is no criterion of what she will get to-day. Right there is the crux of the situation. A satisfied, pleased, persistent customer is the storekeeper's greatest asset. In fact we could go further and say it is a nation's greatest asset at home or abroad. Right in and around that point lies the great problem for New Zealand poultrymen to provide in New Zealand, insure in New Zealand, a satisfied customer; a customer that knows if he goes to the store to-morrow and asks for the grade extras (they got extras the other day) they will get extras again or whatever grade for which the culinary art may call. Therein lies the real business of the future. In other words, to sell to the consuming public a graded product. GRIT. Many poultrykeepers believe that if they supply their birds with small grit that is all that is necessary as regards a help to digestion, but the ordinary broken pieces of shell have very little grinding power. Failing a hard metal such as limestone grit or flint, sifted scoria will be greedily eaten by the birds. PRICE OP WHEAT. Again people aro asking mc to take up this question. But why should I raise a controversy when the matter is in the poultry-keepers' hands. If they combined, I mean really combined, not just talked about co-operation, they would be a powerful body and could, to a great extent, bring the powers that be to reason. But now naturally a politician gives very littlo weight to the opinions or wants of a few poultrykeepers as against big vested interests. It is all very well to quote co-operation and co-operative societies and what Denmark has done by co-operation, but unless the spirit of co-operation is present, it is all "bunkum" and "hot air." Numbers would be sent to other markets if they were getting a higher price or could buy cheaper. There is only one thing which make co-operation a success, the penal clauses, if you do not carry out the promises you made when you became a member. I know this does not sound very nice, but it is the truth, the hard fact, which I have had to face and endeavour to overcome more than once in co-operative concerns both as regards bacon and eggs. A combined association really representing the poultrykeepers of the Dominion would have a very strong case to put before Mr. I Massey, quoting his own words and aspirations re the industry. It. should be remembered that if he wishes the egg export trade to be built up on sound lines, then he should endeavour to place us in as near as possible a similar condition to other countries competing with us for that market, notably Australia, which has as good or better facilities to London and poultry foods much cheaper than they are in the Dominion. We are content with the shipping facilities. If the margin between the cost of food could be reduced we would more than hold our own as the temperate climate of the Dominion would enable us to produce a higher class article for the London market. In other words the eggs would not have deteriorated to anything like the same extent before they left these shores as would be the case of eggs sent from Australia, but as before stated true co-operation alone will solve the problem.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. GUM LAND asks : Would Oranges and Lemons thrive in what Is known as "gum land." Also what vegetables or fruit would do well in such land?— Oranges and Lemons do nil right In what Is known ns "(mm land." Of course so-called "gum land" varies a grout deal, but with working and manure poor soil can be made to produce good fruit and vegetables of all kinds. J.C.D. fllerne Bay> nsks : (1) Suitable topdressing for grass sown this autumn without manure; (2) suitable climbing roses for pergola with a westerly aspect? (1) Cse basic slag at the rate of two ounces square yard; apply this now. In August give one ounce of superphosphate and half on ounce of nitrate of soda to the square yard. (_l Any of the Wlchurlana varieties would do. The following would not I>p so coarse growing: Ards Rover. Pauls Carmine Villar, Claire Jaequler, Miss Marion Manifold. A.F. (Newton) asks for advice re the following: (1) A twenty-five foot .ohutukawn tree obstructs my view. Can it be beaded back, and when? (_) Can cuttings of Tecoma be rooted at this time of the year. (3} Is it too late to sow grass seed on a lawn? —(1) The tree can be headed back. The work can be done now or left till August. (2) Yes. (.!) Lawu grass seed can be sown at once with every expectation of success. ASPIDISTRA (Waihi) nsks: (1) When is the correct time for dividing Aspidistras? (2) When to shift Gooseberry trees. — (1) Divide about August or September. (2) Move them' as soon as possible. Gooseberry bushes should always be planted In autumn. G.W. (Arch Hill) writes: I have a crop of seedling Onions, and they are going off in places; it also happened lust year.— You do not give details, but I think it must be due to mildew. Spray with lime sulphur solution one part, water seventylive parts, or Bordeaux mixture, 4-4-40. E.B. (Grey Lynn) asks when and bow to prune Passion Fruit.—Passion Fruits, unless grown on espaliers, require little pruning. All that is necessary is to cut back the thin, weak shoots to the main growths. Too hard cutting is not recommended. The work cau be done now. VIGOROUS GROWTH ON ROSES. Some varieties of dwarf Roses are noted for their vigorous growths, which frequently attain a length of several feet. To leave these long straggling shoots unsupported all the winter is to expose them to injury from the wind, etc., while they are often in the way of other work. It is wise to reduce them by from one third to one half their length. ROSES FOR GUTTING. A great desideratum in a Rose for table decoration is a good length of stem and the bloom carried on a stiff neck. This, unfortunately rules out many of the latest varieties, but a blootu which hangs down its head no matter what its colour is useless for the purpose. The following are good varieties for the purpose: Shades of Red, Hugh Dickson, Lieutenant Chaurc, Brilliant, W. C. Gaunt. Shades of Pink: Mrs. Geo. Shawyer, Mine. Segond Weber, Edith Part. .Shades of Yellow: Sun-. burst, Mrs. Wemyss Quin, Margaret Dickson HamiJl, Lady Dunleath, Mme. Melanie Soupert. Various Shades: Countess Clanwilliam, Ophelia, Gorgeous, Nellie Parker, Lady Pirrie. PENTSTEMON CUTTINGS. This is a good time for propagating Pentstemons by means of cuttings. At the same time there is no need to destroy the old plants unless they were worn out. Finn side shoots will be best for making cuttings, which should be about four inches long and taken off with a heel of the older wood. Trim , the cuttings with a sharp knife. Thousands of cuttings of all kinds fail yearly because the edge of the knife is not j keen enough to cut without bruising. Make up a bed of good sandy soil in a warm, sheltered, shady position, or the cuttings can be put into boxes and the boxes stood in a similar position. Make the soil firm and dibble in the cuttings, making sure that the base of each cutting touches the soil at tbe bottom of the hole. To ensure this, do not make the hole too deep nor too large. Give the cuttings a good watering, and should the weather be dry or sunny, damp them every evening with clean water. If a frame is available the cuttings can be put in this. They will Boon root, and can then be planted out. Of course this method should only be used if the varieties are wortli propagatinir. Should they not be too good, it is better to throw them away and get some new seed and sow that, and raise a fresh stock. There are many beautiful strains ( f Pentstemons that can be easily r.iised from seed, so that it is not worth attempting to perpetuate anything not first class.

CINERARIAS. Cinerarias can be planted out in beds and are a success around Auckland in gardens that are well protected and free from frosts, and where the soil is on the light side. Plenty of old manure should be added to the soil and the b»-ds should be piepared early. The plants should be put out about fifteen inches apart and need careful handling as the leaf stems are very brittle and easily snapped. The leaf miner is one of the most serious pests on outdoor grown plants, but this can be kept down by occasionally sprinkling the plants with water tainted with tar or with a very weak solution of any coal tar disinfectant. Should the plants get a slight frosting during the winter, lightly spray the foliage with cold water before the sun shines on them.

SWEET PEAS AND SLUGS. | Keep an eye on the young growing ; Sweet Peas to prevent slugs and snails | eating off the plants. Tobacco dust will keep them away or at least make the plants distasteful, but with conI tinuous showers it washes away and the pests are there again. A circle of gritty shell or coal ashes placed around each plant will keep them off so long as it is loose, but it must be stirred up after heavy showers. Liming is effective in dry weather, but of little use during the (winter; in any case continuous liming iis not too good for the plants. Like I i most work in the garden, one method' I alone is of little use against such pests as slugs and snails. Use every possible j ; means of destroying the pests and one often passed over is getting rid of all rubbish, long grass, old leaves, in fact I ! any covering under or among which they | can hide and breed. A piece of board or box lying on the damp ground will i in a few days be the home of large numbers. Getting rid of all rubbish and keeping the surface soil loose will often do more in keeping them down than anything else. . I A TIP TO REMEMBER. A Rose bed or a fruit plantation, whether of one or more trees, is intended to stand for many years. That the initial outlay of labour or money will not ; recur, care should be taken that tbe i work is not done shiftlessly, or the i plot may prove a disappointment in j crop or an eyesore, and to remake it will be a bigger job than to make it well at the beginning.

, TRANSPLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS. 1 The season for transplanting trees and shrubs has again come round. I Early planting is to be recommended. All evergreens, whether large or small, must be treated sometime oefore the actual transplanting takes place. In dealing with large evergreen frees and shrubs a circle must be dug out around them according to the size of the tree, but in no case should it need to be larger than about thirty inches from the j stem. After carefully working all round the tree and cutting any large roots which may be found, replace the soil and leave the tree for a fortnight or so. This is done to allow the roots to callus and produce new rootlets close back to the stem. When the transplanting is to be performed, dig out this trench and work the soil from under the tree until it is standing on a small pedestal of soil and can be easily pushed over. Lay some sacks or similar material down in the trench so that w-hen the tree is pushed over the ball will be in the sack and by lifting the sack at the two ends the shrub can be carried to its position. When transplanting, do not attempt to take too much soil or too large a ball as it will only fall away. With plenty of labour and proper appliances there is no limit to the size of the trees which can be moved, provided the work is done carefully. ROOT PRUNING FRUIT TREES. The operation of root-pruning is best carried out in autumn, but it is ju.st as important with regard to this work as with pruning top growth that the amateur should possess some knowlcdga of the "why and wherefore" before undertaking the task. Where fruit trees are planted in such positions that annual pruning is necessary to keep the growth within prescribed limits, it naturally follows that in course of time the balance which should exist between growth above and growth below ground —that is, between the branches and roots—is destroyed. The roots gain in extent every year out of proportion to the top growth, and as these roots will carry out their work of supplying the I tree with nutriment it follows that there is an excess of food. This excess having to be utilised somehow, the result is seen in extra vigorous growth, which does not mature and consequently cannot produce fruit. Cutting back "Towth such as this only makes matters worse, for the harder a shoot is cut back the stronger is the subsequent growth. Therefore the only thing to do is to endeavour to restore the balance by reducing the root system, and if intelligently carried out, this seldom, if ever, fails to produce the desired results. OLD FRUIT TREES. In many gardens and orchards trees can be seen that are worthless, being too old or unhealthy for any hopes of recovery. Peaches and Nectarines are particularly early in developing old age if neglected. The trees are allowed to

grow away unpruned until the only apparent life of the tree is in the tips of shoots away out of reach, and fruit is out of the question. Such should be cut down, and cup up for firewood. A young Peach tree will, if well treated, commence to fruit in three years or so, and to renovate old Peach trees will take as long, or even longer. With Apples it is somewhat different, as trees, if properly treated when young, will stand a lot of neglect in after years. Pests and diseases are so numerous now that even if the tree bears fruit it is so diseased that few Apples can be eaten. When trees get thoroughly bad with disease the amount of spraying required is out of all proportion to the possible return. Why encumber your small garden witold, decrepit, and disease-breeding trees which seldom give you a good" clean fruit, and have to go to the Chinaman' Cut out such rubbish, and either grow good fruit, good vegetables, or r, oo d flowers in their place. c CHRYSANTHEMUMS. As soon as the blooms are over cut the stems down to within six inches of the ground. Gather them up and also any leaves lying about and burn them As soon as the young suckers appear through the ground give them a spraying with Lime Sulphur solution or Bordeaux mixture to prevent any spores of rust . from germinating. Although not noticeable the disease is there from the start and if the suckers are sprayed from the start there is a chance of keeping them clean.

' IN THE GARDEN. " ' The weather of the last few days has' been more or less typical of what to expect, but nevertheless is not the sort that tbe amateur gardener desireOccasional heavy squally showers keep the surface of the soil in a saturated, condition and tbe result is that whereever a footstep is made on soft ground a depression is left, which soon fills with water. Some volcanic soils are workable even in such weather, but any soils which ' are inclined to get stodgy should not ba tramped on any more than necessary. Although it is as well to get jobs done as soon as possible, there is n 0 advantage in turning the soil into mud to get it done, better to leave it for a week. Trenching and digging ia work which can usually be done so long as it is fine overhead, but when digging in winter leave the surface as rough as . possible, that is, do not break up the lumps with the spade. This weather will soon point out any badly drained places and if you notice any depressions where the water stands dig an open drain to q carry it away. Many gardens need surface '< drains made during winter that do not * require them during summer. Weeds are growing apace and small aeedlin" plants must be kept weeded. With "h larger plants the best way is to fork the ground over, burying the weeds; this ■ acts well between rows of bulos, Cabbages, etc. -lost of the Dahlias and '■ Chrysanthemums will be over. With Dahlias if the plants are tall and likely ! to blow down with the wind; cut away about half the top, but do not cut away ' all the foliage till after the first frost, or ' until next month. Strawberry planting started in good weatner, but it has rej ceived a check and will be better left for ' a day or so until there is an improve- | ment in the weather.