THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 139, 14 June 1913, Page 2

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY

.. ~<t*~ GOOD PROSPECTS

• EFFECT OF PURE FOOD ACT

Speaking to a Christchurch reporter, Mr J. B. Merrett, a poultry expert, dealt at length with the probable effects on the' poultry industries of the new regulations under the Pure Foods and Drugs Act, which will prohibit the use of imported dried albumen and yolks of eggs for making pastry. Custard powder and baking powder also will have to> bo labelled so that the housewives may know there was none of the nutritive elements of the eggs contained in them. These measures, said Mr Merrett,would mean an increased demand for eggs, and it was to the farmers that the oonsurnors would look for supplies. Canterbury could oasily double its productions if (extffa. cMckens were hatched and raised, and better attention given to poultry. No fewer than 2,000,000 extra eggs would be required next year, and farmers should seek to meet the demand or else there would be an agitation to have the Act repealed. The great demand for eggs in summer for confectioners' preserving purposes would lead to an increase of flocks whose eggs would be available

in winter and so better supply the ; public at a reasonable price. Unless , the supply was maintained in the j summer the business of the pastry- £ cooks land tjonfoctionars would be paralysed. The price of eggs is almost prohibitive this winter, continued Mr. Mer- « rett, while table poultry promises to \ be short in supply. The sudden cold ? weather in April put hens off the lay, earlier this year, and consequently eggs have been scarce. We have been accustomed to have eggs at 2s a dozen for a week or two in the year, but this year they have remained at 2a \ for several weeks. The high prices for j eggs and table poultry are a call to j the farmers and their wives to give poultry raising more attention, and to make it a profitable adjunct to farm- j ing. ' The Pure Food and Drugs Act, said ' Mr Merrett, would also have a. decided : effect on the export trade. The i larger supply of eggs in the summer j resulting in a, larger number of pro- I ducers would mean that in a few years i there would be a. surplus which would j be shipped to Vancouver and San j Francisco, arriving there _ when eggs j were commanding high prices. The | confectioners and pastry-cooks, it j would be found, preferred eggs to any powders, and though there might be a | little opposition from men in a small j business with insufficient capital to j lay in large stocks of eggs, the general j effect would be beneficial. He urged j farmers to take greater care in raising j poultry and in marketing the produc- j tions. The higher prices that would j doubtless be obtained in summer would j encourage farmers to go in for poultry j raising to a greater extent than for- j merly. At present the fairmers were | producing the lighter breeds of hens, j which were not so productive in the j winter months, and when the ■regula- ] tions were in force it would be better \ to go in for heavier birds. j