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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7864, 28 July 1911, Page 2

POULTRY ON THE FARM SYSTEMATIC WORKING PAYS. INTERESTING HOBBY FOR GIRLS. (By F. C. Brown in tho ''Agricultural Journal."! Poultry-keeping can bo easily made a profitable side lino to tho farmer, who. computed with thu commercial poultrykeeper, lias many advantages. He him comparatively low-priced land, has cheap grain and oiral (or is in the way of purchasing it at a reduced cost), has abundant green iced, and should bo able to secure a meat-supply at a low rate. Probably ho has also a sou or a daughter to carry out tho feeding, and the only attention to the poultry demanded of him is the heavier work of cleaning out, die houses and any coustructiou-wnrk required. ft may bo mentioned by tho way that encouragement to the farmer's daughter to take up poultry by giving Iter an opportunity of conducting it oa ujeto-date, and consequently pleasure aide, lines is one of the most valuable movements to the country I can imagine, for it would prove ono ot the most effective solutions of the vexed problem of keeping tho womenfolk on tho farmstopping that regrettable tendency of farmers’ daughters drifting to the cities and engaging in shop and factory work,' :,oo often in an unhealthy and undesirable. environment. Not. only _would the farm girl have a good living in poultry, but she would bo able to develop into vigorous ami wholesome womanhood, independent and happy, while the good training her poultry experience would afford would make her a most desirable helpmate to the man on the land. . A PROBLEM SOLVED. I happened on a farmer tho other day who remarked, "I have solved the problem : I have interested my girls in poultry, and they are now determined to stay at home instead of rushing off to look for work in the towns.” Ho then explained that he had a good flock of purebrods, and ho had told each of hia two girls to pick six birds from the hock, to keei) them in houses and runs he had provided, and to test their laying-capa-city against the birds in the egg-laying competition. Of course ihe girte were given all the profit from tho little experiment. So interesting has the work' proved that both girls are now ready to attend to tho whole of tho poultry should the father ho busy with any other work., The fact that they arc earning money' {or themselves and arc actually handling it has determined those farm girls to take up poultry-keeping as their means ■of livelihood. ! MANAGEMENT. To come back to the details of management of poultry on tho farm: Tho first thing necessary is to provide proper. S carters for tho stock, to get. away from ie ordinary procedure of allowing the birds to roost anywhere and to lay their eggs in hedges all over the farm. Decent,, well-ventilated, draught-proof, mid sanitary buildings aro imperative. A simple, open-front house, with tho front to the. sun and out of the track of the prevail-, ing winds, is all that is necessary, and if eggs are to be produced in winter, when they aro most profitable, tho house should bo of such'a depth that ample sera telling-floor accommodation is provided. A good range for fowls is certainly a profitable arrangement, but if winter eggs aro tho objective the birds must be comfortable in tho cold weather, and this can only be insured by keeping tho birds confined in dry quarters at such a time. In fine weather it will bo to their advantage to allow them a freo range during the latter half of tho day, when they will have an opportunity of picking up much of their living around stacks and the stables. By only allowing the birds out in tho hfternoon tho eggs will be laid in the house, mid can thus b? gathered clean and fresh. MARKETING. At the present time the farmer’s eggs are invariably a doubtful article, and consequently do not command a satisfactory price; but if, like tho cream or milk 'delivered every day to tho skim-ming-station or factory the farmer marketed his eggs frequently and in firstclass condition they would command the highest ruling rates. At the present tiiuo I know of a commercial poultryman who is receiving Is .id a dozen for his preserved eggs, simply because ho puts them into water-glass tho day they are laid, and if they aro at all dirty washes them before doing so. A baker who is paying this price secured a lino from another source at Is 2d, but as he got 120 unsatisfactory eggs in tho first batch he handled ho concluded Is id was a cheap rate for the guaranteed line, every egg of which could be depended upon. With tho former he had to break each egg into a receptacle before using it, whereas with tho latter ha. could breaks tho eggs direct into any mixture ho was preparing. PUREBREDS v. NONDESCRIPT.

Having decided on proper accommodation. tho next point to bo considered is tho stock. This should bo pure if possible. If tho importance of the purebred will appeal to anyone (and it fs easier to secure purebreds in poultry than in any other class of domestic stock) it should appeal to the farmer. Apart from tho hotter return which may bo expected from tho purebred animals —provided, of course, they are of the right type—there is tho question of their attractiveness, a factor which should appeal to any intelligent farmer, who, if he is to succo-d at his calling will naturally have a lovo for animals, and is of special significance if the younger folk are to be interested in the poultry operations on tho farm. A common mistake made is to think that all that is necessary is to buv a few purebred cockerels and grade up the nondescript dork. Such a course seldom or never prows satisfnetery. The birds should be purebred on both s;d-s. The better plan is to purchase a pen of a laying strain of a good breed, say, While Rooks or Black Orpingtons, from one of the Government poultry stations, and build u,u a flock from these. Such breeds lav well in tho winter, when eggs aro worth most money, mid they are npt such n. trouble on the farm as the lighter breeds, which, if allowed any liberty, aro a trouble when the garden is a consideration. The cockerels of such breeds are also a saleable commodity. Then adopting only tho self-coloured breeds (black or white) makes the work of developing a utility flock a much easier matter than whom " parti-coloured, especially the manufactured, breeds aro kept. Tho fanner will appreciate the. fact that constitutional po'ini.s'.aro ono of tho first tilings to look to in securing foundation blood.

Ono of the great woafcenpssi's in farm poultry-keeping at the present time is that too many hints are kept till they have long passed their stage of hseful-