TO THE EDITOR OP "THE PRESS."

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13108, 6 May 1908, Page 7

TO THE EDITOR OP "THE PRESS."

Sir, —You say that my β-tutejnent seems '•inexplicable.' , and you would like some evidence. What better evidence do you require .titan, that which is furnished by the c&s-lijying eorujiotitions in this country and in Australia? That is wiiat they are for—to improve, the qualities of poultry. What about tlie world's record of 206 egas per hen for the season lately put" up at Gal ton, Queensland, by Mr A. H. Padniairs peji, -which is six oveT 2-50 ejras a year per Jion, the totai being lotii? 'then, take Mrs A. K. Kinnor's total, 1531; and another cf I\lr Padman's. 1528. Hero we have three ecores cf over 1500—a clear profit of 20s, per "hen at market values. B;;t, you e-ay, bow can I get such fowls as those, or any tiling liko them ? There are two ways of doing that. If you are in a liur'ry to get out of the editorial chair and into the t>uro air and sunshine., and want to p;art producing oggs at a profit, you can buy a ranil pen which "someone else has bred up to the- neceeeary point., say ono of the best pons from a competition. They are just right for breeding, as they will be in their second year. Mak* sure ' that tlio eockorel you mate them witli is from a good strain. 1 will gladly give you a hint as to feeding them. And you can keep them up to tho mark* by "constantly discarding tthe unfit.-"' Those four words should lie printed in italics, as they express tho fuiid'amental principle in the business. It Jsn't -Socialism, I admix; but it's tho way-to get eggs. Tie other way of tJie twt> I mentiojietl is to do as Tdid y-epond three or four years in breeding, feeding ahd weeding, bringing about tho "survival of tho fittest" by removing the unfit. Then you will have reached the point of possessing pullets that h-ive "been carefully bred from the best layers for several generations. They will be good in the egglaying . test so well-known to utility breeders. They will also have a kindly ey©., shapely head and body—the latter well developed— and a lively disposition They are veritable egg-machines, waiting to convert the raw material into eggs. And by judicious forcing with suitable food, etc., they will lay fourteen dozen eggs per hen, and more, in the season. And that is only medium laying. You can average Is 2d a dozen, because when tho price gets bolow Is you can preserve them, as pr<eserved eggs, if good, and sold at the right time, always clear Is (I generally get ls_2d). Adding Is for night droppings (3s per tiacft) you havo 17s 4d; deduct Sβ 4d for food—l can do it on less, as* I us© little and sometimes no grain—and you have 12s clear profit per pullet. The hen that you have left will pay for rearing the chick up to tho time of laying and other expenses which need not be great, for if you build expensive houses and runs, and general equipment, and saddle tho birds _ with the interest, upkeep, etc., that is your affair. What! Sir, poultry farming a poor way of making money? Well, yes, and most decidedly no. It all depends, you see.—Yours, etc., J. C. WABY.