SHORTAGE OF EGGS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 127, 22 February 1941, Page 10

SHORTAGE OF EGGS

Accentuated By Military Needs SUGGESTIONS TO HOUSEWIVES Problems of egg marketing were referred to yesterday by tlie Minister of Agriculture. Mr. Burclti.v. He said it was to be imped that housewives would bear in mind the fad that al present unusual quantities ot eggs were required for the armed force.-, including naval vessels, and. therefore, refrain from forcing up prices still further by an insistent demand for the usual household supplies. By a change iu the direction of eating more meat, and more New Zealand fruit, people could assist the Dominion considerably in adjusting itself to war-time circumstances.” “At present,' 1 said Mr. Barclay, “there appears to lie a shortage of eggs, but: having regard to the seasonal conditions, the supply situation is in no way abnormal. Tlie total quantity of egg'- available now arc very much the same as was available last year, or in any previous year in the corresponding period. At the time production is falling off and prices have necessarily to advance. Moreover, under war-time conditions the civilian’s need for eggs is not tlie only demand to be provided for, as there is a more urgent demand for supplies to the armed forces. “Poultry-farmers report that production is now falling off among the older birds, and that the younger pullets have not yet taken up the running. The public must, therefore, be resigned to the fact that as the season advances eggs become less plentiful, and that the recent increases in prices have been unavoidable, following normal seasonal trends. There is, however, something the public cun do to ease the position. If the housewife will be satisfied with a smaller supply of eggs and substitute meat for eggs, then the adjustment will be helpful to the Dominion's war effort.”