POULTRY KEEPING.

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

POULTRY KEEPING.

• (By R. J. TERRT.) TO CORRESPONDENTS. DUCK (I'npatoetoe) has a duck which has been sick. It would hardly eat or drink anything. The bird 's very thin; lias practically lost the use of Its legs, and the droppings are greenish—The bird Is suffering from enteritis, possibly Induced to a certain extent by a chill. Isolate the bird, nnd give it a teaspoonful of koroseue, followed by a second dose in twelve hours. It will probably not be worth saving. COROMANDEL writes: Would I tell the cause of fowls getting sore heads, cheesy matter In the eyes, which If not attended to eventually destroys the eye. Some of the fowls get also n wasting disease— If the cheesy matter Is confined to the eye, mouth, and throat, and does not spread over the comb and face, then tbe 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 practically pus. It should be removed before washing the eve. Condy's is not powerful enough nu antiseptic. The fowls which have the wasting disease have either tuberculosis or are badly affected with worms. If the latter you would see signs in the droppings. INQCIRER (Epsom) asks for advice re a certain splee—Do not use It constantly. It is not v food, therefore It cannot make eggs. It may act as a slight tonic. EPSOM.—I have written you, as tbe editor objects to free advertisements in this column. HOUSEWIFE (namllton). —I am writing you re the antiseptic. HARD I.UCK has lost three hens lately. Tbclr combs go pale, and they lose the use of their legs. Tbe birds are fed nn sharps and bran, chopped green feed, and a spice, evening wheat and oats mixed — You do not sny if the birds have lost condition. After n very heavy lay lire; season birds will sometimes go to pieces as It might be for « time. Are the birds through the moult? Have they been laying heavily? Are the toes of tbe foot drawn up at all, or are tbey straight and natural! What Is the colour of the droppings? If you give mc the above 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 six White Leghorns, two-year-olds, and tbe rest Orpingtons and Mlnorcas. During the summer mouths the birds did not lay any eggs. The birds are all over the moult a couple of mouths ago, and look the picture of health. One Leghorn a fortulgbt ago laid a couple of eggs, and tbeu 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 mash; evening, maize. The fowls have been run at a loss for the last six month.—Your fowls are wrongly fed. Mix bran with the potnto pe-jllngs and house scraps, which are chiefly starchy, and as the birds have probably been lacking for some time In the essentials they would get from brnn. place some bran where the birds may help themselves to It. Maize Is wrong for evening feed following on your morning feed. If you can procure some broken peas 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 are that your birds are too fat, but not necessarily fleshy. W (Mou_._ Albert) sends further particulars re ber poultry, which seems to be kept very satisfactorily—lt is probable that the lameness complained of may have been due to Jumping high for tbe suspended green food. Re the hlrd which has a swelling on the middle toe. It will probably be found that tbe swelling emanates from the ball of tbe foot. L.au_e It underneath, plug It with a small piece of clean rag dipped In an antiseptic. Remove the plug every day till tbe wouud is healing well from tbe bottom. A piece of rag will have to be tied round the foot to keep the plug in place. 3KATUKDUA writes re a White Leghorn cockerel, which 6cems to be suffering from leg weakness. The bird bas a staggering gait at all times. The appetite ot the bird Is extraordinarily good. As the bird is of a good laying strain the owner would like to keep blm for another season—lf the toes of the bird are not cramped or drawn up, then tbe 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. *_ou need give him only a small tin of drinking j water. Wash the comb well nnd rub on it a small quantity of yellow oxide of mercury ointment. iATANUI states that he is coming up from the South to grow poultry aud vegetables for the Auckland market. He seeks advice re the managemeut of poultr. aud feeding same.—The 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. •DZZLED (Epsom) bas a few Black Orpingtons which were in an open run all the sumtfaer. They have been laying about eight months, and nre now Just through their moult again. TheyUave been moved Into an old trap-shed, as they were lookinjmiserable. One hen has died, and other, keep shaking their beads and scratching them with their feet. Some of their eyes are nearly closed. Tbelr combs have lost their healthy look. Is Condy's fluid of any use. —I nm Just a little puzzled us to whether the birds are badly infected with vermin, and in scratching their heads 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 bad been used to an open run. Yon can ascertain 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 growth with a blunt piece of wood or similar Instrument, ami wash frith a good antlsep_l_. It Is of no washing until you have removed what might be called congealed pus. Write mo more fully. CONSUMPTION OF EGGS. A correspondent writes that the cxnort of eggs from the Dominion to Lonion is responsible for tho high price of ;ggs at present time and that if there vvcre no export then eggs would bo cheap md a valuable article of diet to the masses. Well, it is very evident that my correspondent does not keep poultry to any jreat extent. In the first place the .xport of eggs to London would have ittle»or no effect on the prices ruling at the present time. It may sound a large lumber of eggs to my correspondent ivlien the figures of the export are quoted, but it is a mere nothing in the ;gg production of the Dominion. Few people realise the quantity of eggs ivhieh 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 _igh during the last breeding season, the general prospects were not too bright, (or rather that was the case with nany breeders who did not see ahead), ,vith the result that there were not so nany birds hatched. Further when the jirds were partly grown, but still givng no returns, the small man got tired >f paying the food bills and birds were sacrificed, with the result that there is it the present time a shortage of young lirds to take the place of those which ire in moult or have got past the proitable age for egg production. The xport of eggs does not influence the industry as much as some may suppose. "be home market and the home con-

unnption is the real backbone of the ndustry. I say that if suitable propaganda were used as regards the value >f an egg that we should increase egg •onsumption by at least fifty per cent, md possibly double it. Even with the present price of eggs the poultry breeder who has a good line .f 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 market for something just a little above tho average is never overdone, nor the price too high to pay. As an illustration that it is not a question of price but tho main essentials as regards quality (as most of my readers are aware originally 1 was on Smithfield Market so that I know tho egg and provision tradq) : 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 tiie Egyptian egg. It is not what might be called a breakfast table egg. Owing to the feeding of the birds, the mongrel breed, and last but far from least, the high temperature, the bulk of tho 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 bo purchased for a few pence per dozen, we find that the eggs arc not taken as ship's stores for the voyage, but they arc 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 similar countries at a few pence per dozen, and it is therefore folly for us to build up an export trade which could bo taken awny 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 tho seasons being opposite to those of Great Britain, which will always remain with us, and owing to the temperate climate ive can always store, as regard quality _f dairy and poultry produce. But as before stated export is more or less immaterial. What we want is graded eggs for home consumption, and wo must have this grading to make the initistry function as it should do. A certain amount of the eggs produced in the Dominion passes through dealers liands, 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 Btores direct from farms or smaller stores, and out to the consumers with_ut 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 tho store to get eggs that u'hat she got yesterday is no criterion Df 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 homo or xbroad. Right in and around that point lies the great problem for New Zealand poultrymcn 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 ar whatever grade for which the culinary _rt 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 Lbey supply their birds with small grit .hat is all that is necessary as regards i help to digestion, but the ordinary iroken pieces of shell have very little grinding power. Failing a hard metal such as limestone grit or flint, sifted ;coria will be greedily eaten by the jirds. PRICE OF WHJBAT. Again people aro asking mc to take _p this question. But why should I raise i controversy when the matter is in the poultry-keepers' hands. If they comjined, I mean really combined, not just talked about co-operation, they would be a powerful body and could, to a 2-reat extent, bring the powers that be to reason. But now naturally a politi:ian gives very littlo weight to the .pinions or wants of a few poultry_cepers as against big vested interests. It is all very well to quote co-operation md 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 -ould buy cheaper. There is only one thing which make co-operation a success, the penal clauses, if you do not carry -tit the promises you made when you be.arne a member. I know this does not sound very nice, but it is the truth, tho liard fact, which I have had to face and .ndeavour to overcome more than once in co-operative concerns both as regards jacon and eggs. A combined association really representing the poultry_ecpers of the Dominion would have a i-ery strong case to put before Mr. Massey, quoting his own words and ispirations 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 .ompeting 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 ive would more than hold our own as the temperate climate of the Dominion would enable us to produce a higher .lass article for the London market. In other words the eggs would not have letcriorated to anything like the same •xtent before they left these "bores as would be the case of eggs sent from Australia, but as before stated true :o-operation alone will solve the proilem.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. .DI LAXO asks : Would Oranges nn< I-emons thrive in what Is known as "irurr hind." Also what vegetables or fruli would do well In such land V— Orange; nnd Lemons do nil right In what Is knowr ns "gum land." Of course so-callec "(rum land" varies n great deal, but witl working and manure poor soil can b< mnde to produce good fruit and vegetable; of all kinds. LCD. fllcrne Bay) asks: (1) Suitable top dressing for grass sown tills antumt without manure; (_) suitable cllmblm roses for pergola with a westerly aspect' (1) l*sc basic slag at the rate of twt ounces square yard; apply this now. li August give one ounce of superphosphate nnd half an ounce of nitrate of soda tc the square yard. (-) Any of th( Wlchurlana varieties would do. Thi following would not be so coarse growing Ards Rover, Paul's Carmine Villar, Claln Jacquler, Miss Marion Manifold. IF. (Newton) asks for advice re the following: (1) A twenty-live foot Pohutukawa tree obstructs my view. Can it be headed back, and wlieu? (*-') Cau cuttings of Tecomn be rooted at tills time of the yenr. (3) Is it ton lute to sow grass seed on a lawn.—(l) Tbe tree can be headed back. The work can be done now or left till August. C 2) Yes. (.'!) Lawn grass seed cau be sown at once with every expectation of success. I.SPIDISTRA (Waihi) asks: (1) When Is the correct time for dividing Aspidistras? (2) When to shift (looseberry trees. — (1) Divide about August or September. ('J) Move them' as soon ns possible, (ioosebcrry bushes should always be planted in autumn. !.W. (Arch Hill) writes: I have a crop of seedling Onions, and they are going off In places; It also happened last 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 llordeatix mixture, 4-4-40. _._>. (Grey Lynn) asks when and how 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 tbe main growths. Too hard cutting Is not recommended. The work cau be done now. VIGOROUS GROWTH ON ROSES. Some varieties of dwarf Roses arc loted for their vigorous growths, whicl requently attain a length of several eet. To leave these long straggling .hoots unsupported all the winter is tc xpoßO them to injury from the wind itc, while they aro often in the way oi ithcr work. It is wise to reduce them bj rom one third to one half their length. ROSES FOR CUTTING. A great desideratum in a Rose foi able decoration is a good length ot tern and the bloom carried on a still ieck. This, unfortunately rules out nany of the latest varieties, but a bloom vhich hangs down its head no mattei vhat its colour is useless for the purlose. The following are good varieties or the purpose: Shades of Red, Hugl )ickson, Lieutenant Chaure, Brilliant V. C. Gaunt. Shades of Pink: Mrs }co. Shawyer, Mine. Segond Weber _dith Part. Shades of Yellow: Sunmrst, Mrs. Wemyss Quin, Margaret )iekson Hamill, Lady Dunleath, Mmc delanie Soupert. Various Shades: .ountess Clanwilliam, Ophelia, Gorgeous "Jellie Parker, Lady Pirrie. PENTSTEMON CUTTINGS. This is a good time for propagating 'entstemons by means of cuttings. Al he same time there is no need to de itroy the old plants unless they wen .vorn out. Firm side shoots will bt >est for making cuttings, which shoulc' >c about four inches long and taken ol] vith a heel of the older wood. Trin .he cuttings with a sharp knife. Thou lands of cuttings of all kinds fail yearl* .ecause the edge of the knife is nol .een enough to cut without bruising dake up a bed of good sandy soil in f varra, sheltered, shady position, or tin :uttings can be put into boxes and tin >oxes stood in a similar position. Make -he soil firm and dibble in the cuttings naking sure that the base of each cut ,ing touches the soil at the bottom o ;he hole. To ensure this, do not make he hole too deep nor too large. Give .he cuttings a good watering, and shoulc he weather be dry or sunny, damp then ivery evening with clean water. If i rame is available the cuttings can b< >ut in this. They will soon root, ant :an then be planted out. Of course this nethod should only bo used if th. ■arieties are worth propagating. Shoulc ;hey not be too good, it is better tt hrow them away and get some new peei md sow that, and raise a fresh stock rhere are many beautiful strain-; i ?entstemons that can be easily r.tise. 'Rom seed, so that it is not worth at tempting to perpetuate anything nol irst 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 beds 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 j eating off the plants. Tobacco dust I will keep them away or at least make the plants distasteful, but with con- | 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 I winter; in any case continuous liming ,is not too good for the plants. Like [ most work in the garden, one method 1 alone is of little use against such pests as slugs and snails. Use every possible , means of destroying the pests and one often passed over is getting rid of all rubbish, long grass, old leaves, in fact any covering under or among which they can hide and breed. A piece of board or box lying on the damp ground will 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. 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 the I work is not done shiftlessly, or the plot may prove a disappointment in I crop or an eyesore, and to ren ike it will be a bigger job than to make it well at the beginning.

TRANSPLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS. The season for transplanting trees and shrubs has again come round. Early planting is to be recommended. All evergreens, whether large or small, must be treated sometime nefore the actual transplanting takes place. In dealing with large evergreen trees 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 stem. After carefully working all round the tree and cutting any large roots which may be found, replace tbe 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 when 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_t as important with regard to this work as with pruning top growth that the amateur should possess some knowlcdgs of the "why and wherefore" bef.re undertaking the task. 'Where fruit trees are planted in such positions that annual pruning is necessary to keep tbe 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 growth 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 Eystem, and if intelligently carried out, this seldom, if ever, fails to produce the desired results. OliD 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 with old, decrepit, and disease-breedinc trees which seldom give you a clean fruit, and have to go to the Chnaman? Cut out such rubbish, and either grow good fruit, good vegetables, or <r o od flowers in their place. 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 6pores 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 fa, been more or less typical of what to expect, but nevertheless is not the sort that the amateur gardener desires Occasional heavy sqitHlly showers keen the surface of the soil in a saturated, condition and the 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 stoi'gy should not bs tramped on any more than necessary. Although it is as well to get jobs done as soon as possible, there is no advantage in turning the soil into mud to get it done, better to leave it for a week. Trenching and digging h work which can usually be done so long as it is fine overhead, but when digginw in winter leave the surface as rou<*h 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 diain to carry it away. Many gardens need surface drains made during winte. that do not require them during summer. Weeds are growing apace and small geedlinc plants must be kept weeded. With larger plants the best way is to fork the ground over, burying the weeds; this acts well between rows of bulos Cabbages, etc. Most 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 weather, but it has received a check and will be better left for a day or so until there is an improvement in the weather.