THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Evening Star, Issue 14636, 4 August 1911, Page 6

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

'lO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I have been shown an article which appeared in your paper last week Invaded ■New Zealand Fowls,’ in which yon quote v.'hat a breeder lias informed yon. I presume the breeder you refer to is a poultry fancier, and I always understood that a fancier was a man who went in for keeping poultry as a hobby, and not to make money. But this is by the way. This fancier you interviewed goes on to criticise the Government for not helping or encouraging a hobby. Thu fancier first blames the Government, for encouraging the keeping of laying strains of poultry, and then goes on to say that Few Zealand does not produce enough eggs for her own market, etc;. Comment is unnecessary. ■He further condemns tho Government for not encouraging table breeds or winter layers. Now, this is another of his statements, which is incorrect, for the best heavy strains in the Dominion .at the present time have all come from the Government’s poultry farms. For instance, at the last New Zealand utility laying competition at Christchurch my pen of White Rocks won the prize for the. best all-round pen in the comiietition. laying 1,206 eggs in the 11 months the competition lasted, and scoring 10 points out of a possible 20 as show specimens (tho judging being done by two well-known Christ - church fanciers), and 20 points out of a possible 30 as table specimens, as well as laying the bast average weight of eggs in tho competition. The birds were bred from a pen I purchased front tho Burnham Government Poultry Farm. The Black Orpingtons, which are doing so well in the present competition, are a. pen which were purchased direct, from the .same hunt. For further argument I cannot do better than refer you to the excellent exhibition of poultry that the Agricultural Department is exhibiting at the present Otago Winter Show. —I am, etc., P. M. Baumueh. August 4.