HOME PROGRESS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7264, 21 October 1910, Page 2

HOME PROGRESS

AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW.

4 member of the Scottish Agricultural ■ Commission now visiting the ■Commonwealth in the interests of fcmpire colon- ■ isation is a. noted British poultry expert Mr Prain. From being a foremost breeder, exhibitor, and of fancy poultry, with 7COU prizes to bis credit, Mr'Praiii has made a special study ot utilitv poultry. , Mr Prain travelled tlirou"h Canada, with a similar coroinission. He was also a member of the commission appointed two years ago to inquire into and report upon the poultry industry in Scotland, and make sug-1 gestions for its improvement. ""The commission suggested," said Mr Prain to a representative of the Sydney "Dailv Telegraph" the other day, "thatj the district boards should take the mat- j tc'r of poultry improvement up and establish centres for the distribution of purebred settings. This recommendation was acted upon, and I waß entrusted with the management ajid carrying out of. the .scheme. So far fifteen of these distributing centres have been established in. the congested areas of Scotland, though we only got to work in thespring of this year. "Before I left I had an opportunity of examining the register, and there is every promise of the most successful results following on the scheme. I first went round and selected a suitable small farmer in each district w"ho had some experience in keeping fowls. Each of these was supplied with a colony poultry-bouse and a small flock of purebred birds. The breeds chosen were ■ White Orpingtons aud Rhode Island Reds for the colder and more exposed situa- ■ tions, and Black Leghorns- where the climate was less intensely cold. The purchasers of the eggs have to pay the

manager Gd per setting for these purebroil eggs, or they can give a totting of ordinary eggs in exchange, while the Congested District Hoard gives a bonus of is for each dozen eggs given out by the manager of the distributing station. The commercial value of eggs in these districts in the hutching season is about 7d per dozen. "it seems probable," 31 r Praia went on, "'that thi scheme will be considerably extended in the near future, as the demand for the settings has been very much in excess of the supply, so that tho experiment has been amply justified. "Speaking broadly, our fanners all over Scotland are taking a much more intelligent interest in poultry-keeping than tiiey have ever done, before. This to some extent is due to tho increased educational facilities for the study of this branch of agriculture, but it is also duo bo tho decline in prices for other agricultural produce which began twenty years ago. it is a notable fact, too, that the merits of purebreds over the ordinary barndoor mongrel arc much more generally recognised." In talking over Australian methods, Mr Prain for one thing expressed surprise that the day-old chicken business had not caught on hero to any extent.

"It has grown to bo an enormous business in Great .Britain," ho said, "and it is almost incredible the output of some of the large farmers in this way. It has become the usual practice with groat numbers of fanners, as welt as other poultry keepers, to savo themselves the trouble of hatching, by buying day-old chickens every year."