NEW ZEALAND EXHIBITION

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13336, 16 November 1906, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND EXHIBITION

MANAGEMENT QUESTION.

THE TROUBLE ENDED.

STATEMENT BY MR. HALL-JONES.

[BY 'TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.]

Christchubch, Thursday. Mr. Hall-Jones met the Exhibition Commissioners and the chairmen of the various Exhibition committees to-day for the purpose of discussing the position of affairs in regard to management. The meeting was of an informal character. Several." of the chairmen spoke in regard to difficulties that have arisen in the past, and the Minister explained the intentions of the Government. Later on Mr. Hall-Jones entertained those present at luncheon in the Ministerial apartments in the Exhibition. The general feeling among the Commissioners and chairmen, as a result of the meeting, seemed to be that the friction that has occurred in the past was not likely to be repeated in the future. The proposed direct control by Mr. Hall-Jones, with the Commissioners as an advisory body, and Mr. Munro as chief executive officer, is regarded as entirely satisfactory.

Speaking to a reporter the Minister said that lie believed that the difficulties of the past would not recur. He would probably be in Christchurch during the greater part of the Exhibition period, and .would exercise a direct supervision over management matters, consulting with the Commissioners when points of importance arose. There would be left no room for doubt as to who was head in regard to the control of the Exhibition, and there should be no hindrance in the way of carrying on the great undertaking in a manner worthy of its highly-successful initiation. The committees will continue in office, and will do their best to assist the Minister in carrying on the Exhibition. The episode may now be considered closed. The Minister indicated that several minor matters would receive early attention. Amongst these will be the provision of seats in convenient positions to be used by visitors without charge. Arrangements will also be made to allow visitor's to enter at the gate opposite the tramway stopping place every day, instead of in wet weather only, as at present. This will render it unnecessary for tramway passengers to walk along the terrace to the main gate. At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Exhibition, to-night, general satisfaction was expressed at the changes made in regard to management. Members stated that they expected matters to work smoothly for the future.

THE ATTENDANCE. [BY TELEGRAPH.PRESS ASSOCIATION,] CußisTCHuncir, Thursday. The attendance at the Exhibition keeps up well since the close of the carnival. Although heavy rain fell yesterday, evening, close upon 10,000 visited the show. '1 lie- .second week closed yesterday, giving a- total of 212.625 visitors, or an avera;,*"" ~ of 17.718 per day. Heavy bookings of passengers are reported from Dun'edin and Wellington by the special week-end trips which are being initiated.

THE POULTRY DIVISION.

INTERVIEW WITH THE EXPERT.

SOME INTERESTING HINTS.

[by telegraph.— bvrs reporters.]

CHitiSTCjruRCH, Thursday.

The exhibit of the poultry division of the Agricultural Department is in the agricultural bay, and although limited as to space is very thorough, and contains a great variety of machinery and articles of -much interest to the raiser of poultry whether for the market or for show. A number of incubators of various -.makes are on view. There are brooders, mi.is, and force feeders, model fowlhoiises, legrings and tags, egg carriers of i..e most approved style, trap nests, and all sorts and conditions of poultry raising appliances and foods. The only working part of the exhibit so far is a brooder in which there are a large number of chickens. The majority of these were put in when five days old on the opening day of the Exhibition,, and a further batch from the Burnnam Station were put in today. The lot, which have had a fortnight's experience of Exhibition life, have done splendidly. Mr. F. Brown, the assistant poultry expert of the Department, is in charge of the exhibit, and I took the opportunity to-day to have a chat with him on the subject generally; It was only a matter of a day or two now, said Mr. Brown, when the incubators would be in use. Several of the most popular machines would be in action, and the public would be able to see the process day by day. In the successful use of the incubator, continued the expert, the evenness of temperature was a most important factor. A careful watch must also be kept on the air cell in the egg, so that it was got down to the point where the egg usually pips on the nineteenth day. If the air cell was not clown sufficiently the chick would be drowned, and if too far down the chick would be cramped, and either die or be a weakling. Moisture should only be introduced with very great care. The incubators in the exhibit, it was explained, were all lent by various agents, and he was going to give them all a trial.

Questioned on the subject of breeders, which for the uninitiated it may be explained are the heated houses or boxes into which the chicks are transferred from the incubator, Mr. Brown said that here again temperature was the greatest factor to success. The Department's system was to start at 90 degrees and according to the weather to britiT it down gradually to about 75 degrees at the end of three weeks. A sure sign that the heating was below what it should be was the crowding of the chickens together. It was better to slightly over heat than under heat, "for the reason that, if the birds found the heat uncomfortable they could always spread out to the sides and get away from the main volume. Fifty per cent, of the mortality amongst artificially raised chickens was caused by chill, and even if it did not die a bird was never the same after having caught a chill when a chicken. Liberty in the open air from the brooder should only be .given by degrees, and his system was to start with a few feet, and gradually extend. This was necessary in order that the young chick when first exneriencing cold could readilv find its way back again to the warmth of the brooder. After from six to seven weeks the heat was cut off from the brooder altogether. With regard to the Department's system of feeding, Mr. Brown said that their stem, and the one being adopted in the exhibit, was to give dry oatmeal for the first three davs, and after that to add a little broken wheat moistened with raw egg. He favoured dry grain to some extent as a feed, and a good amount of boiled meat. The object of the latter was not so inucn for food purposes as for the exercise it gave the youngsters in picking it up and running about with it. ; A handful of millet seed in the chaff which formed the litter in the brooder run was also of great service in the same direction. At first the chicks were fed every two hours, and when they were ten days' old every three hours was sufficient, th* intervals being gradually increased until only two or three meals a day were given. The topic of feeding naturally called up the subject of bowel troubles in fowls, a constant source of worry to many poultry raisers, and Mr.-Brown was very emphatic in his belief in green food, and also water, forming part of chickens' diet from the very start as a preventive. Should, however, bowel troubles come on in hens then the remedy that, the Department found most efficacious was to mix powdered charcoal with the ordinary food. In a climate like that of New Zealand there is no need z in ;

Mr. Brown's opinion, for very close housing. ■ Plenty of ventilation is a' benefit, in fact the cheaper the house is thejjetter. If, he said, people gave more ventilation in their fowjhouses they would not have so many diseased birds. It used to be held that each hundred birds required an acre of land, but that theory had received its quietus from the recent egg competitions at Blenheim. At the first competition there were 600 birds for a whole year on a little over an acre of land, and they had now been another seven months on the same area, and they were all doing remarkably well, and in the matter of results were beating the records of the previous year's results. Mr. Brown holds that not breed, but strain is the all important thing to watch. The particular breed counts" for little, because in the competitions the same breed mav be first and also last.

In breeding care should be taken to select only the best of the stock, and that was the point of interest in the trap nests shown in the exhibit. With these the bird by entering automatically closed the door, and could not get out until released. When that was being done the number on the leg ring was taken and the date recorded. In this wav it was possible to keep an exact record of the eggs of every fowl over any period, and the selection for breeding purposes made accordingly. On the Government stations tins year eegs had only been put down from hens that had laid the best, and those that had not come up to expectations had gone to the market. The exhibit is attracting a good deal of attention, and in a few days, when more of the machines are at work, will be a place of still more interest. It is also intended by Mr. Brown to give practical demonstrations of the working of the force feeding machine, the purpose of which is to top off birds for the market. THE NELSON DISPLAY. [BY TELEGRAPH. PRESS ASSOCIATION.] ChBISTCHUECH, Thursday. The pride of Nelson in its sunny climate is shown at the Exhibition by a banneret, emblazoned with a gilt sun, and a sunshine record of eight hours 15 minutes pen day for 1904, and seven hours 53 minutes for 1905. All the staple products of the district are displayed to advantage. There is an exhibit of coal, surrounded by a gold trophy, as a testimony to the mineral, resources of the locality. Then there are a number of geological specimens, as well as polished wood and other ornamental exhibits. The court contains several bales of hops, with the contents ingeniously shown. The (lour industry is represented, ana a pile of bottled goods testifies to the possibilities of the province in respect to fruitgrowing.

HAWKE'S BAY COURT. Amongst the provincial" courts in the Exhibition that of Hawkc'.s Bay is one of the largest and most tasteful. There is a very fine nurseryman's exhibit. The pot exhibits comprise native plants of all descriptions, divided into three sections, and covering a large area. There are a couple of showcases of Maori work, in the shape of native . mats of feathers and flax. The wine and fruit section contains the choicest products of Frimley, Meanee. Greenmeadows, and Te Mat a. Photographs show the different stages in the process of treating the grape from the vine to the cellar. There are also exhibits of hops and beer, Maori figures and carvings, grain samples, butter boxes, tallow, canned meats, wool fleeces, and other similar branches of industry in the province. ■ i WEST COAST COURT. An exceptionally fine display is that made in the West Coast court, where gold, timber, and coal loom largely. At the entrance stands a gold arch representing the £26,000,000 of auriferous metal officially known to have been taken from the sands, gravel, and quartz of the coast. This dees not embrace the total output, as ill the early days many of the prospectors removed their gold in bulk. The court-is divided into two sections, one devoted to the Counties of Buller and Inangahua, and uie other to Grey and Westland. On the Bailor and Inangahua side the mineral display comes first. There are masses of quartz from the Beef ton mines and bins, showing the various auriferous sands, gravels, and cements, and a pillar of golden bricks represents the £1.00.000 worth of gold obtained from .the Keep it Dark mine at Reeftoii. The undeveloped mineral resources of that region are represented by samples of copper ore, alum, shale, mica, tin ore, and silver quart?',, as well as a fine display of granite. There is an excellent display of timbers, including red, white, yellow, and black pine, black arid red birch, totara, and rata. Coal is represented by samples from 16 seams in various parts of the district. The Westport Coalbroe-kdale Company exhibit "a-full-sized model of the working face of a coal seam, with all the appliances for the interior working of a mine. The Grey and Westland side shows samples of auriferous gravel, conglomerates, sands, and cements, with types of the different minerals produced by the two counties. These include rock crystals, silver ore, antimony, soap-stone, copper, platinum, hematite, iron ore, coarse' graphite, greenstone, slates, and lithographic limestone. The specimen of platinum ore found at Arahura was the only known specimen oil the coast until Dr. Bell's recent geological survey was instrumental in discovering other deposits. There is a small display of petroleum, representing the operations of the two companies engaged in boring near Lake Brnnner. Samples of coal are shown from the State mine, as well as from mines of private companies. TTiere is also a display of cordials and ales, goldsaving machines, canned whitebait, and furniture. The scenic beauties of the district are depicted in high-class paintings and photographs, and the tourist resorts are brought before the visiter by a display of stags' heads, stuffed fish, and birds. JOTTINGS. A large number of pictures were sold yesterday and to-day. Word has been received that Mr. Bruce, Mayor of Adelaide, is about to visit the , Exhibition. Mr. Race, the, Canadian Commissioner, having returned from South Canterbury, expresses surprise at the splendid character of the country. The Government frozen produce exhibit is still incomplete, but three, large windows have been rilled with various kinds of frozen produce. :*