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Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20089, 19 November 1930, Page 6

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Fanciers and the man/ oilier friends j of Mr K. Law. of T.vttcllon, will condole -with him in the death of his wife on Thursday last. Tho Pekin or Cochin Baotam is exactly l' ke Coohiu fowl except in sii'.e. Whereflß the bigger sort has almost beoomo extinct, the buntani is largely i<opt,, especially in Cliristchurch. As the name indicates, tho breed is of Chinese origin, and was first landed in in ISOO. Tho colours are white, cuckoo, golden partridge, black, buff and blue. The Pekin Bantam i.> si>n)et imr.s confused with the Booted Bantam, at. one time strong in Oamaru. Indeed, I have :l coloured picture of the White Booted Bantam, which was published for a Cochin in an .English paper devoted to poultry. Yet there is a very marked difference between the two breeds, n difference that a fancier should detect at a glance. Ixist Monday the writer met Mr Fred Dacre, the veteran breeder and judge. It iB about 50 years since I first met Mr Dacre, and he still keeps a few birds. For over 40 years Mr Dacre judged in many parts of Now Zealand, often all varieties and whole shows, but his sight has failed during the past few years, and ho has in consequence to take a less active part in shows. Mr Dacre is a life member of the Christchurch Poultry Club, having shown first with that club in 188". Keep all birds out of a very hot. sun. They do better if kept cool in hot weather, especially old birds. Ducklings on the young side arc very subject to sunstroke. When this happens it is a good plan to first place the bird's head under a tap. See that no drinking water that has been in a hot sun has been used, and these remarks will also apply to mash which is left over and become putrid. Carcases of animals left about constitute a very great danger. Canadian Breeds. At the World's Poultry Congress, held at Ottawa in 1027. there was on exhibition a new breed of Canadian origin called the Chantecler. 7hp originator was a Trappist monk named Brother M. Wilfrid, Professor of Poultry Husbandry at one of the Canadian Agricultural Institutes. The new bird is white in colour with a large body and a small flat strawberry comb, and the breeds used in the production were White varieties of Indian Game, Leghorn, Wyandotte, Rock and Rhode Island White. Quite recently another Dew Canadian breed of tho same stamp called tho Alberta is reported in the latest papers from Canada. This timo the colour is golden partridge, but T have not heard how and by whom the second Canadian breed was produced. Hokitika Show. To-day the annual meeting of the South Island Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Association will be- held in Hokitika, and it will be the first time tho ruling body of the fancy in this Island has met" on the Coast. The journey over is interesting, but not so interesting as when the writer went over first to pla-v football, and later to make the awards at the Hokitika and Grevmouth Poultry Shows. That was away back in the 'nineties, and good all-round shows they were. On one occasion a Hokitika show was held in three different halls. When in one hall some of the game fanciers took out their birds and fought

tiicm, while in another hall, where the pigeons were penned, there was a string band and many of both sexes in evening dreas. Onjy a "few are left who were present at that dance and that show, hut. they do not forget. May the fanciers in council assembled in Hokitika to-day have as pleasant memories! Poultry at tbe Show. The resuscitation of a section for poultry and its success at the late A. and P. Metropolitan Show leads one to hope that next year there will bo a much better and more representative display of our domestic feathered stock. It is safe to predict that the collection and its attractions at the recent show will provoke both the Bantam and Pigeon fanciers to ask for classes. But while such classes would without doubt add to the interest and attractions of our great agricultural event, t would suggest that farmers can help themselves as well as the fancy if tliey would support classes for fowls more suitable to the conditions of the farm than to the backyard. Ducks come under that heading, and three good breeds were on exhibition at the show, but there were no Turkeys, geese or guinea fowls, and a few of them at future fixtures depends on farmers. The Game fowl was the beat represented at the show, which is easy to understand, for, though it is a favourite of fanciers, it is most suitable for the farm because of its hardiness and the fine sitting and rearing qualities of the females. The farm, or a big range, is also the place to get a Game fowl most fit for exhibiting. The Game fowl crossed with the softer fleshed varieties and larger sorts always produce fine layers and grand table fowls. The classes at the show for birds that had made really good scores in laying tests did not draw much of an entry. This was not because such birds are few, but because their eggs are too valuable to their owners for the layers to be away from home several days, a thing that

also puts birds off laying. The splendid condition of the birds as a whole, aDd the Leghorns and Light Sussex in particular, is ample evidence that there are plenty of birds in first-rate feather in November. Further evidence may be found if one cares to visit a few poultry yards and pigeon lofts. A Gigantic Poultry Farm. While in Britain recently Mr 13. ITadlengton, the Government Poultry Expert for New South Wales, tells in "Poultry" of many poultry farms he visited. Of one of them he says:— "In Scotland there is a farm run by the 'Buttercup' Dairy Company to supply their 250 branch shops, which for numbers of birds and elaborate equipment outshines anything in Britain and' probably in the world. It would take pages adequately to convey an idea of its dimensions and equipment. I will, therefore, confine myself to a few brief facts. The area occupied is about 100 acres, and it is covered with a mass of buildings. The stock is set down at 150,000 birds and the »farm is managed and worked by girls mostly drawn from the shops. There is 7i miles of tarred roads through the farm for access to the pens. Last season nine 16,000-egg 'Buckeye' incubator.s were installed, and also roomheated battery brooders, having a