THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1265, 21 October 1911, Page 15

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

(By Chantecler.)

The Poultry Conference. Judging from the preparations which aro being made for the I'oultry Conference to be held in Ohristchurcn 011 November 7, 8, and !), the gathering should be a great success. The couterence will be representative of all parts_ of the Dominion. A large number of North Island poultrymen purpose going. The _ programme which has just been published, provides for the discussion of educational and helpful subjects, while the social functions will tend to make the visitors at home. There are many important subjects that need to be discussed if tho industry is to flourish, and the conference should make itself heard. Every poultryman is entitled to attend the conference, and, for two shillings and sispence, he mav become a member of the association. The membership is rapidly increasing, and the association promises to presently become a very strong bodv. A copy of the programme may be ob- ' j: tained on application at The Dominion oliice. The Export Trade. While it is necessary that experiments should bo made in the export of eggs, the writer does not think that there is any great need of concern about the matter. Experiment shipments give us the information that is needed should # slump come in eggs, and export trade fce required, but, at present, the price of eggs is pavable and nothing to he alarmed at. The present-ruling price will hold for about three months in tho year. It would be better to devote energy to the improvement of eggs for the local market, get a prohibitive duty on imported eggs, and, in every wa3* possible, induce consumers to use eggs more freely. As to the matter of export in poultry, one can scarcely think that it would pay. Our supply of prime-quality birds is absurdly small, and, when they reach the London market, the price is not so good as here. Good young chickens are now worth fis. to 7s. per pair in the wholesale market. The demand is greater than tho supply, so that there is no immediate necessity to'seek an outside market when the possibilities ot our own are so great. A Growing Industry. The poultry industry is showing rapid growth. There are now (juite a number of poultrymen who are specialists at their work, and who thoroughly understand the many problems of poultry culture. The knowledge is becoming more wndely spread, so that we may look for more successes and fewer To the experienced poultry-keeping is a profitable business, but, to the uninitiated, it is only a questionable road. The industry has grown in America to be the second largest-its only rival for supremacy being King Corn. In England considerable , interest is being awakened, and the next few years will mark a wonderful growth in poultry-production. As a side line to the farmer it mav be made profitable, while, to the specialist, it opens up an excellent living. In New Zealand we hine splendid prospects for the industry, uur climate is goad, com is comparatively cheap, and eggs may be produced aud sold to the best advantage. _ . . Tho secretary of the Levin Circle informs us they are forming a poultrymen's library in connection with the circle. This in an excellent move, and goes to show the mutual benefits that may be derived from organisations of this kind. Tho circle has not, affiliated with the New Zealand Poultry Association as yet, but proposes doing so later, They are scarcely to be complimented in this, as tho great poultry questions of to-day effect tho Levin producers as much" as anyone in New Zealand. 'There are egg circles in Sweden, and they aro so up-to-date that through tho Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Loudon thev arc asking us for trado; and yet wo New Zcalanders expand our chests and think wo arc so up-to-date that we have scarcely made any movement towards organisation. The Feilding Circle is to bo congratulated on its success. It has issued a very fine balance-sheet. Evidently they are fortunato in having Secretary Simpson at tho books. The eggs have been marketed for ljd. per dozen, including freight and secretary's commission. . The circle has a fino committee. It has affiliated with tho N.Z.P.A., and has elected Messrs. Strctton and Barrow as delegates to the conference. Well done Fending! you make us feel as if some of our work has borne fruit. The Canterbury Egg Circle members have so far had their eggs sold at lid. per dozen. The charges for selling aro one penny per dozen. Some of the memr bera will mako an exhibit of their eggs i- at tho conference. Tho demonstration t i will bo interesting, and show how well ' tho members can market their eggs. •1 new circlo was hatched at Mastertoil, fullv fledged, on October 5, nearly twenty signifying their intention of becoming members. The. principal objective of tho new circle is to curtail exi penses, recognising that, quickly to in. : crease tho membership, this is an im- ; portant' feature. Believing in circles '• being a national affair and not merely i a local matter, the members passed a : resolution "that this circlo immediately i affiliate with the N.Z.P.A." The follow- ; ing were elected to tho committee; ' Messrs. 11. O'Leary (chairman), Miles ; (secretary), Hesp, Bircliall, Rutherfurd. J In the chairman, Mr. O'Leary, tho mem3aBS bers have a gentleman • who has been a moving spirit over sinco egg circles were I first initiated. Ho has devoted a very considerable amount of his time towards forwarding the industry, aud with a chairman of his calibro tho new circle is a foregone success. To emphasise the fact that ho wanted a certain tiling done at once, a poultryfarmer stated at an egg circlo meeting that ho hoped it would be done "immediately, straight-away, forthwith."

SENDING THEM HOME.

(By T. H. Rutherford.) Thai the hour is at hand to oonsidor seriously the best moons of exporting our surplus eggs the thought of many besides the writer. Let mo point out a few absolute facts and ligures. Wo know, we poultry men, that ■ last winter, just passed, tho prico of eggs did not keep up high for anything liko so long as in former years, it certainly readied- over two shillings, but for a very short period. On the other hand, here we arc up against this incontrovertible proposition that; the summer price this season is no be tier Hi.'in tho last few years. Some may say that that shows we are 1 producing'mure e-gs in winler than formerly; nnito so, ami apparently we arc not producing any less in summer which is, of course, not likely. Therefore we are rapidly becoming over-produced in eggs. .Mark me, it is not. thai, I am looking for a high winter prico (f have touched on this on previous occasions), hut I, and many others, are looking for more in Die Slimmer. Next summer, unless exporting is taken up on a well organised system such as through the medium of circles and perhaps a few spirited individual poultry I armors, wo may ccrtainly look to a further fall in tho New Zealand market.*. Many ask what aro wo going lo realise if eggs are sent Home. It is safe to My in the vicinity of ono shilling per dozen, with tho very probable prospect of prices rising. This is what the "Illustrated Poultry Record" says, in the September issue: "The total decrease is 191,81-1,000 eggs (about 13,325 tons), and yet the money paid was .C5C5,571 greater." There figures refer to the differences in quantities and values in 1901 -and 11)10 of imported eggs. Surely

pnoufjli to roako nil who road realise that the hour is at hand to export' .Again, soino will say what aro other countries doing in the waller. ]Jc of good cheer, pessimisms, other countries or© rapidly consuming their own eggs and. with Iho exception of Ireland, the Netherlands ana Tiu&sia, their cxporls are also rapidly falling, at any rate as far as Luglanu is conccrncd. . ... i Some years ago the cow in this country was'not the "golden calf" of worship she is now, but systematise*! co-operation has entirely altered matters for the better. Dairy'land has risen in value enormously, likewise the butler god, tno cow will «oon be worth nearly her weight jn gold; wages, too, for milkers aro higher, and these co-operatiyc butter and cheese factories have been the nivalis of riving a vast' amount of work, botu skilled and otherwise, besides the large number of hands that are being employed in some cases the year through, in the management of the various factories. This, all this, I forsee, will be repealed when the exporting of eggs is properly established. Again will the pessimist cry out, "we'll never have the value in eggs as the dairy farmers, \vliy not. I as-k; this is a young country, a land especially suited tor small farms, and poultry farming' up to a certain number , of birds can Be, and is being successi fully carried on by women as well as men. But oven if the values of exported eggs do not reach the high figtrres of tiio dairy industry, they must' ere long, have a very considerable influence on the wellbeing of the community. Another million or two per annum is not in tho light of the growth of our industry of late years, at all . an unlikely figure to receive for our hen fruit, put on tho English market, and th-en there will bo room for more and more expansive poultry farming in this Dominion; but as it is now, some view with alarm the large numbers who are continually swelling our ranks. Export, and let 'em all come. Again I seem to hear the pessimists cry, how if England does really becomo decadent as some prophesy? Germany is ready, and, I firmly believe the "Lnited Stales will soon also begin opening her voracious jaws for the product of tho dclectable egg factory. I More eggs produced hero mean inoro i cockerels, and if thev are principally Leghorns there will doubtless be a little difficulty in selling them at a profit, locally; but here again England will come to the rescue. She is continually calling out for more and more table poultry. Thwo is, of course, the other alternative, destroy the males a* soon as possible. It is said that in India the natives ,in some parts do not hestitato to drown their female offspring at birth, with such abhorrence do they regard them; and we may need to destroy our hens spring instead. Some maintain there is no need to agitate for export', that the matter will regulate its?lf; some, on finding the business is being overdone, will throw up tho sponge and thus rase the miarket for those who can and do slick to their guns This is a poor policv. It' means that those who fall out wi'll have, perhaps on . the wane of life, to seek some other occu- • pation, failing which they become a furs ther burden on tho Stale. [ Exporting means not only greater ben- : efits to the poultrymen, but a gain t*> J the whole community, and therefore it [ is up to tho Government to assist us in . every way to carry out our wishes.