POULTRY KEEPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 96, 24 April 1926, Page 24

POULTRY KEEPING.

(By R. J. TERRX.) TO CORRESPONDENTS. A.S\ (Devonport) asks what age a rooster should be before being mated with hens. They have a White Leghorn rooster six months old and pullets eight months. — You could mate the rooster with hens in : June. The age depends to a certain extent on the individual bird, but eight or nine months would toe a good average. Don't mate a young bird with pullets If yon Can possibly avoid it. If you have no other birds, and you really wish to breed from the pullets, ease them off the laying for a little time previously to the mating: and sitting of the eggs. ANXIOUS has several Black Orpington 'pullets hatched the beginning of last November. The droppings are soft, yellowish, and offensive in smell. —Don't give the birds any food for 30 hours. Put some germicide in the drinking water for two days. I think that will put things right as regards any bowel trouble. If the droppings continue to be yellow there - may be ildney trouble, as the urates from, the kidneys often discolour the excreta; but I think the starving and the germicide will put things right. J\A. Is a worker with a rather large section. He enjoys reading this column of a Sunday afternoon, and asks, Are. Chinese Langshans good? He keeps Orpingtons and White Leghorns and a few ducks. Are 'Mallard ducks fair layers, and what •would they cost? Which would I consider (best—pollard or ibran—to mix with eoofced scraps? Or is it best to use pollard one week and bran another weefc? Chinese Langshans are good, but naturally it depends on the strain that you procure. If you are quite satisfied .with your Orpingtons and White (Leghorns Stick to them. Mallard ducks are poor layers. Those I mentioned at the same time as the grape vine were kept to breed birds for table purposes. They are the English wild duck. It depends on what the cooked scraps chiefly consist as to whether It ie best to use bran or'pollard. If they are composed of pieces ofv white bread, rice, potatoes, pie crust, etc., then mix bran; If they are the ordinary mixed scraps, mix bran and pollard, if there is plenty of green stuff In the scraps and whole meal bread, use pollard. LEARXE-R is thankful for past help, and would like advice on how to treat an old "poultry run so as to have it in good order ready for use nest spring or summer, it .was thought to sow clover. —Sow rye or barley at once. When this" has grown the full height cut it and remove It from the (round, then bow rape. You may pull off the outside leaves of the rape and feed to the birds in the other pen, and eventually turn the birds into the run-to finish oil the rape, but let It be well grown first. It should grow very luxuriously In an old poultry run. If you have had any disease in the run write mc again. HOKIANGA wishes for general advice re the feeding of fowls. He ha* some Black Orpingtons two or three years' old which are not laying. He has also some White Leghorn pullets which are not - laying, although, they ought to be. Wheat seems to be the only food given to them.—You will not get many eggs by feeding wheat alone during the winter months. It Is a different matter in the spring and early summer when the birds can supplement their food. Give the birds a mash in the morning; consisting of equal parts of bran and pollard and 10 per cent of the weight of the dry mash of albumon meal. Give a full two ounces dry weight of mash to each bird, that Is; eight birds would require one pound mixed bran and pollard before the water la added. They would require at least two ounces each of grain at night and a light feed mid-day unless there are plenty of table scraps. If there are, you need not give grain mid-day. You will find the albumon meal will bring them on to lay In two or three weeks, and . they will continue for a lengthy period. MUSCOVY asks how long is the period ot incubation for Muscory eggs.—Five weeks. HOMIB asks if one should Use black or white pepper is the mash. Don't use either. Pepper has no feeding value, and Iβ absolutely unnecessary in a climate inch si this. In fact, If continued, it would do the birds harm. THE GOVERNMENT AND THE POULTRY INDUSTRY. (Several little paragraphs in. the Press point to the fact that the new Minister of Agriculture is sympathetic towards the requirements of poultry:keepers. This ie certainly a step in the right direction. There ie all the difference between a Minister who ie sympathetic and one .who has no time : for a particular industry. But it has to he remembered that Ministers are guided in their actions to a great extent, if not entirely, by the permanent head and subheads of the department. A Minister may take office full of enthusiasm as to what he intends to do, but unless he is an exceptionally strong man, he finds that the permanent head of the department guides' him. He does not' guide ■ the department. A Minister or Ministers may dictate the policy, hut the routine work of carrying out that policy is invariably. left to his officers. In many cases the Minister is not a trained man, and it is an easy matter for" the trained official to point put a few mistakes in his policy, with the result that the ordinary politician is quite prepared to rest on hie oars after having given to the Press, and so made public, the fact that lie intends to help a certain industry or industries. ' The new Minister has stated' that research work will be carried out in the hatching and rearing of poultry on up-to-date lines, research work as regards disease and ' control of same, - modern .feeding- and general management of poultry," with a view of building up an export trade. Well, I am going ;to say at once 'the*• the- - 'bulk 'of this work is being - carried out >in either countries" than it will be done here, i One reason, •' is -that there" will' .not be:,, a sufficient Amount' of; money available for this 'research work, ■- neither are : ,there trained ' men available , at the present time. Wte 'have, speaking generally, good poultry, experts, but 1 it is quite, a.different matter -when original, research work has to 'be, ; undertaken,and if it is m ot original and; applying especially to;this Dominion, why. waste,,money ,on. it-■:We don't., want to follow in. the r 'footstepe oj. some other countries, including; the Old Country, which, in recent years, has been expending comparatively t large -sums -in so-called research, work, much of which is just twaddle, and playing to > the gallery. What the Minister lias to face is the present commercial position as regards poultry keeping:" We 'have Australia, a near neighbour, starting to build up an export trade ■: jvith the British market, the same market that we are to cater for. But in Australia the grain used for poultry feed on an average of 2/ to 3/ per bushel cheaper than here. This is the crux of the whole position. Ministers and politicians generally are apt to be led away with, what happens to be a popular slogan at that' time, but they do not always see the practical eide. I . well remember a Minister in Tasmania saying that we, the officers, of the Department, must push dairying, especially winter dairying. I had been trained on Smithfield market, London, and pointed out to him that winter dairying could not be a success it that time, as Queensland could place ier butters on the Tasmanian wharf at Od per lb, ; and. butter ' could not be Produced in -Tasmania- at 10d per lb. )ur,hig the winter months, . owing to ■=.old nights and frost, cattle had to be •ugged or housed, crops grown, all of ,vh ich meant expense. And that ie the

position that the Minister, the Cabinet, or the Department has to face" to-day: If Australia and 'New Zealand are both going to supply the .same market at the same period of the year, then the cost of feed must be more equal than it is- at present. If the Minister or hie officers were to devote time and thought to this problem, which, by tie way, could be easily solved -without affectirig the milling industry, the poultrymen themeelvea are quite capable of solving the problems ■-of disease. _ artificial incubation and rearing.. I am stating a» absolute fact when I say that New Zealand will -never be a wheat-growing country; that is, she will not go on increasing her acreage of wheat, but she will decrease it in the natural order of things. Then why not face the' position. at once and make a free market for poultry foods, or drop the hypocrisy of the oft-repeated claim to help the industry. V '

ensure complete control. Oil sprays are best used when the foliage is firm or when there is little growth and few iQ^nrtL^iE' 1,1 the * asc ot ci * rn a fruits JfLi url ?* * h , e summer, the trees making ■ffig? groWth during "**£?«£ E 'Tefrs (: ifnrho Ede ? ) > writes: M3r garden for mnYh S-ui £ en j Infeste <l with a small Sines UkJ Ch J, Umps wh6n tonehea. and llis it P w n n ?'^ p ? rti ,S ularl y Scarle t vino" T i, originally, oa an old Passion nia% T h , a ! e trle<i awenate of lead and 7u f°K Leaf 40 - but " see ms to do no good. whf?h t^ thMlg l can «se during winter ™™ ,v«i Oul , d exterminate the pest?—lt is it y , 1% CU }\ \° , get rid of tnl s white fly. snrnJ? be t0 "t OOOII It with any fhf« y f l^'" ,-6 - , B lack leaf 40 Is the best «nfen L U * wlll only be after repeated spraying that you will overcome it. 4. plant Tecon,a cuttings, whlcn growths to use, and bow to plant? (2) l i,o^« a 'f^ ,1 tree wlth a lot of sc ale on, how can it be cleaned? (S) Is it best to sow ff. G M- °r PUt in. plants of 'Passion fruit?— {. I, * est *L me t0 plant Tecoma cuttings * ««,« tUL ?Sj about now (April) is a good i .. Cnoos e young top-growths ana make the cuttings about four inches long, i? c^} a P should be planted in sandy = n 'I J, 8 best to Jnake up a bed of candy son with some boards round it, dibble in tne cuttings about four inches apart. They must be- kept moist and shaded. When rooted the cuttings must be lifted and planted, out in rows; this will need to be S?i c in . earl y spring. (2) Spray the~ tree Mth red or spraying oil. Use according ' v to directions on container. (3) Seeds are vest, and should be sown in autumn. The soil should be well prepared and manure added. If stable manure is used, dig It in sometime before planting. AMATEUR {Mount Eden) writes: can you advise -mc of a hardy ornamental tree or shrnb which will grow well in an exposed position? I have a site almo* on the crest of a hill exposed to all winds except due east and west. A Pepper tree planted there makes little progress, and is "stripped- of leaves on the south side. Would the-Myrtle do?—ft will be difficult to get any tree that will stand in such a position, Conifers are the only' kind that could- stand it. The trouble with such a ;>ositlon is not so much the cold as th"c fact that the leaves are stripped off by . the force of the wind, with the result that under such circumstances one eide grows faster than the other, and a stunted or lop-elded : tree Is the remit. Plttosponuft «r»HlfoUna, a satire tree, will

Stand In exposed positions. . Some of the dwarf Oonifere, such as the Juniperus, iPleea, Rettnosporas, Taxus. The Myrtle is hasdy and will stand a fair amount of exposure, but I am afraid that, according to yonr account, the position would be too severe for it to remain ornamental for_ long. • 'GLAD (Takapu.na) writes: (1) I am enclosing one of my Gladioli bulbs which has taken a disease. Could you please give mc a remedy for same? Some of the leaves on the growing bulbs are going yellow. Couia I spray these to prevent this happening/ (2) Some of my earlier planted bulbs, which have been out of the ground about two months, are beginning to shoot. Would these bloom If planted from now on?—a) The Gladioli bulb is affected wltn smut, or rust. It is a very serious disease so far as the Gladioli Is concerned, ana unless controlled will eventually kill tne •bulbs. There is only one preventive, ana. that is soaking the bulbs In a solution of formalin. A pound or pint ot commercial formalin should be added to fifty gallons of water and the bulbs soaked In this for fourteen hours. If a smaller quantity ot liquid is' required use two ounces to five gallons of water. It is important that every bulb diseased or clean that is to be planted or is lifted should be soaked for the full period of time. (3) - The bulbs - that are sprouting can be pXanted from now on. » L.'ll. <Te Aroha) writes: I p.m desirous of planting twelve flowering ehrubs with a view to having flower or coloured autumn lear.es for the greater part of the year. Would you recommend a list which would provide a succession? —The following would give you a succession: Acacia Baileyana, Acer negundo variesata, Azara micropbylla, Berberis Bealii, Buddleia Veitchiana, Callistemon coeclnea, Cotofleaster Simonsil, Diospyros Kaki (Persimmon), Kerria .japbnica flore pleno, Lageretroemia indica, Xieycesteria variegata, Liquidamber styraciflua, Nandina domestlca. INQUIRER (Symonds Street) writes: (1) WIU you tell mc of a hedging plant that does not get the borer? I have a Privet, but that is slowly dying from the borer. Would Tecoma or Eleagnus do? (2) Do you cut down Campanulas when they have finished flowering, or shall I puU them up?—(1) iPHtosporum craesifolium, Hakea sallgna, or Tecoma all make gooa hedges and are not troubled with borer. (2) If the Campanulas you refer to are Canterbury Bells you can pull them up, for they are very unsatisfactory if cut down, few live, and those that do make poor specimens. The perennial Campanulas such as Persicifolia should toe cut down after flowering, 'BACH (Epsom) writes: I have a seaside section and am making a garden. I wOuW like a Pohutukawa plantea. Should I proi cure a tree, seed, or a cutting?— The iPohutukawa is easily transplanted i* lifted during autumn or spring, and -l should advise you to procure a good tree. It would he much quicker and more' satisfactory than seeds. ' / WINTER FLOWERS FOR THE GREENHOUSE. As the season is again approaching when many of the best and most profuee summer and autumn flowering ; plants will begin to fade, special 'attention should be given to such other varieties as will assist to keep up a succession of bloom during the late autumn and winter months. For some time past the magnificent display of flowers obtained from such varieties as Tuberous Begonias, Gloxinias, Achemines and other plants have been sufficient for all requirements, though the Tuberous Begonias, without doubt, have made the most brilliant and interesting display. This is, without doubt,'the most popular of autumn flowering plants, and is becoming more extensively cultivated each year, as it is of easy culture and succeeds well under reasonable treatment in any greenhouse. But ' the dying away of such profuse flowering plants naturally creates a blank that is not easily filled, although a - supply of flowers equal to that of summer is scarcely to 'be expected. There are numbers of plants well grown that will assist to keep up a display during the winter and spring. Among the most useful and effective is the Cyclamen. There is probably no more useful plant for winter and spring decoration than this free-flowering and interesting favourite. Primulas and Cinerarias, too, are both useful and effective plants for winter decoration. Primulas that have been kept over from last season should be pushed on for early winter flowers, the younger plants being potted on for later flowering. Cinerarias should be potted on as they advance in growth. These should be shifted into larger pots as soon as the roots chow around the sides of the pots. To obtain the best results the plants should be kept growing without check from the time they are raised until they come into flower. Herbaceous Calceolarias, where well grown, are among the most effective of all spring flowering plants. They are, however, somewhat difficult to grow, the plants being so subject to attacks of the green aphis. They succeed best grown in a close cool frame. In addition to those named, there are numbers of other varieties, such as Generias, Lydaeaa, Bouvardias, Fuchsias, shrubby Begonias and various other hardy plants. When well grown they will flower freely and assist in keeping up a display. Many varieties of bulbs, too, such as Freesias, Narcissus, Laehenalias. Hyaciths, Tulips, and other dwarf growing varieties when grown in pots are valuable for greenhouse decoration. The plants, v when successfully grown, come into flower Weeks "before/ those that are grown in the open ground and at a time (w{hen flowers are valued for indoor work. AUTXTMN SOWING BROAD BEANS. Broad Beans are such a useful vegetable that it behoves one to make an autumn sowing to secure an early crop. The present time is preferable to later on, though sowing may be done from now up to the end of November. To secure

a -crop of which one can feel proud, thorough cultivation and liberal manurings of the soil are necessary. Sowings are best made in double rows, nine to twelve inches apart and six inches between the seed, and a space of-three feet between each double row. Many growers prefer Early Mazagan, which is a small bean, for this sowing on account of its hardiness, but the Green Windsor, a much larger bean, is equally as suitable for the purpose.

BULBS IN POTS. To grow bulbe in, pots successfully, they should be potted early, so ac to allow them to come along slowly, and the.pots to become well furnished with root 9 before the tops start into active growth. To obtain this result, particularly with Hyacinths and - Narcissus, the pots, after the bulbs are inserted, should be placed in a cool shady place and completely covered with about three inches of ashes, coke breese, or other suitable porous material. By this means root takes place while the tops, for some weeks at least, remain almost dormant. The pots should remain in this position until the crowns have made about two inches of growth, when they should be taken up and placed in a cool frame .and shaded until the bleached growth becomes green and sufficiently hardened to stand exposure to light and sun. The fact of the pote being well furnished with roots result in more healthy, compact growth, and later on, when taken into the house, the foliage and >flowers are much more uniform and not but of proportion, which is invariably the case when they are potted and. placed straight away in the green-house. CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND RUST. Probably the most serious drawback to the culture of Chrysanthemums about Auckland is "rust." The present season, owing to the weather experienced, has not -been very bad, hut all the same "rust" hae spoilt in a certain degree the results. Some varieties are much more liable to the diease than others, and those who are thinking of taking up the culture of Chrysanthemums next season should now make a tour of inspection and note any varieties that arc-nearly or quite-free from this dread trouble. There js no reason why first-class blooms should not be produced on "rust" resistant plants. At present we know that" it is not so, the majority of the best varieties being anything but "rust" resistant. However, where it ie possible, choose varieties' from a "rust" resistant point of view, even if the'biooms are not quite as good • as the others. There is a wide field here for the newly-formed Chrysanthemum Club, viz., the raising of a,new section -of "rust" Teeistant varieties. . There is no great difficulty in raising Chrysanthemums from seed. Sown in autumn or early spring, they can be flowered in autumn. Seed should be saved from • the best varieties, and ahould be hand-fertilised. One ehould not expect to get many plume out of a pan of seedlings, but if only a rustrejistant variety could be produced the further improvement of the flowera could be followed up. Think what a sensation would be produced in the horticultural' world if Auckland could claim to be the home of the rustresistant variety. The advantages that Auckland possesses in raising Chrysanthemums from seed are great. It can be done here with the help-of no more than a pane of glass to cover the seed when first sown, and even thie\ can be/dißpensed with under favourable circumstances. From seedling to flowering stage the plant can be- grown in the open garden. Such ease of cultivation is impossible in Europeijand \ America, where the . present-day varieties are largely produced. Put Auckland on the, "horticultural map" by'raising some f new varieties, and the Chrysanthemum Club will more than justify its existence and bring honour to its members. DELPHINIUMS AND PAEONIES. Few plants add so much beauty to the border during the summer months as these, and in large borders they should be well represented. There are, some very lovely varieties of Delphiniums, ranging in colour from creamy white to deep purple, though numerous shades of blue, and they can be had in various heights. Good varieties of Paeonies are also numerous, including single and double forms. Anchusa Italica is a handsome plant, at its best during early summer, but at continues in bloom for a considerable time. The Diophore variety, with deep indigo blue flowers, should always be grown, and a form known as Opal is very beautiful, the flowers being a pale shade of blue. Bocconia cordata (the Plume Poppy) has spikes of creamy white flowers six feet in height,, and is in bloom in January, while the variety microcarpa is also worth growing. Another handsome perennial flowering at the same time, ie Achillea eupatorium, with large heads of yellow flowers. Achillea ptarmica, The' Pearl, possesses quantities ' of double white flowers; it attains a height of two and "a-half feet and continues in flower for many -weeks. LEAF MOULD. Leaf mould of good quality can be used for a great variety of purposes. Aβ a top-dressing for bulbs, herbaceous plants or shrubs, it has no equal, and as a portion of potting soils it is almost essential. The best leaves for leaf mould are eaid to be those of the Oak and Beech. Lucky, however, is the man who can get pure Oak or Beech leaf mould around Auckland. Almost any vegetable refuse can be made into leaf mould. The chief point to observe is to keep as much diseased material out of the heap, although, speaking in a broad sense, it is impossible to keep it all out. Collect the leaves into an odd corner as they fall from the trees, stack, carefully treading them down firmly. A good plan is to lay some old piecei of fairly heavy timber on top. This will compress the mass so that very few leaves will blow about if carefully 'stacked. Some people advise the addition of quicklime, but quicklime must destroy or release a certain portion of the plant food contained, and, in consequence, more or less impoverish the leaf mould, and, so far as being an insect or disease destroyer in such a iplace, it is of little consequence. When the heap is a fair size, or the bulk of tfie autumn leaves, etc., have been stacked, cover the heap with a layer of turf sods, grass side downwards, or failing that, ordinary soil. In about six months the heap should be ready for use, and to use it, cut it down the face with.a sharp spade instead of digging it off the top in layers. If anothe? heap is started as soon as the one is ready for use a continuous supply can be kept up. Keep the etaoks away from roots of- pine trees or any We trees if possible, .as the roots will m»t to the leaf mould an* rob it of eO aw ol £« flasl fee* j ■ " g ™

POTTING LIUtTMS. Liliums are quite hardy, but a-4.-----to many of the varieties being *Z 8 sive the bulbs, are often grownb, vS£" Not only that, but the LMums d 0 wS in pots, and the results are very satisfactory. When potting Liliunis Z* fairly large pots, that is, in aJg* with the Auratum, Speciosum and

similar tall varieties, put one bulb into' a six or seven-inch, or two bulbs into a ten or twelve-inch pot. Clean pots should be - used, and the drainage carefully placed. Put a little soil on top of this, and then the lily bulb. Use only enough soil to not quite cover the bulb, leaving the tip just showing through. The soil should be sufficiently moist so that no water igj required till the bulb commences to grow. Place the pots in a cold frame or in the greenhouse, and let them start into growth naturally. The empty space left in the pot is later on filled' by topdressings of rich soil, and nothing is better for this purpose than cow dung, dried and powdered.