THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14465, 6 March 1909, Page 7

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

CHAT WITH Mil D. D. HYDE. , Mr D. D. Hyde, tlie New Zealand Covernnicnl's chief poultry expert, was in Duncdin yesterday, and in conversation willi a Times leportcr communicated some interesting fncis relative to the poultry industry of the Dominion. " .So far as the poult.ry busino-s is concerned," said Mr Ilydc, "Matters seem to bj very slack liero as compakd with (lie N'oitli Island, where it is making very good headway. In Olago poultry is very scarce. Curiously cnoiiirh the prices lieing ohtaincil In Lb'-' north for eggs and poultry are higher than in the south. As an instance, for an order received In Auckland a iiltta whilo ago for young poultry, the conditions being that, it should lie graded and prepared at tho Government export depot, the prico obtained was Is per lb (f.0.1i.). As to tlie scarcity here, one fncror in 1 lio case ie that farmers, generally speaking, have douo so well thc.se hist fewyears tlml they have not paid the attention to poultry-raising t-liat it really merits. Naturally, when llicy get pushed a Jitlle they loot; round for some other source of revenue, and turn their attention to poultry-raising, but. as lias been clearly pointed out to farmers, if they expect to get the best results they must have a. special knowledge of tlie question. There was a tiiuo when every farmer considered that he knew all that, there was lo know about poultry-raising, but, like everything else, it requires careful study, and is practical! v a science. The egg-laying competitions" which have been carried on in the north have stimulated the industry greatly there, . farmers realising more fully than they do down here what cam actually b« achieved in iioultryruJWig. There has been an entire absence of these egg-laying competitions iin Otago.. " In order U> bring aliout improved laying strains, tho system of trapping hens is'adopted throughout, the depots. A number of hens of each breed is selected and penned oil', and their egg-laying proportion are thus ascertained. Thaw heirs which do not give something over 100 eggs in the first six months nro now discarded, while a few years ago this would lx> considered a very fair return for 12 months. ]!, would lw almost impracticable for private individuals to adopt this system owing to tlse close attention required, but the (lovernmenl, with its poultry stations, fills tho bill, and farmers and poultrykeepers are thus enabled to improve tiieir stock out of recognition after seeing the good strains from the depots;" "Wo dsiim," said Mr Hyde, "to have raised the output from a given number of fowls during iho last three years by over 50 per cent., and, as I pointed out in my last annual report, if the farmers, throughout the Dominion had increased their tlocks in the name ratio it would have represented over a .million, sterling to the country."

THE DEPOTS. The seasons just experienced at the various Government stations have been «, record not only in regard to the hatching that, lias taken place, but. also for tho number of settings that have boon cent out. That applies to the whole of New /.calami. It is quite patent that poultry breeders are becoming fully alive to the good work that is being done by tho department in the producing of excellent laying strain:!. As bearm.;: out the quality of the laying strains kept by the department, a poultry farmer, writing' to the iiiauagor of tlie (iovcrnnicnt station at lluakura, slated that the best birds of sonic vliito Ijßjrhorns procured from tho department had laid 154, and as high as 220, t'S(!H f<<r tho nine months from April 1 to Diecmber 31, and were still going strong. Six of the same lot if birds, the writer added, could give tho leaders in the Cambridge egg-laying competition 112 eggs to tho 31st December. Many other letters in a similar strain had been received. In so far as the Milton station is concerned, orders wero coming hi very freely for young stock for the coming season's breeding, ami there is considerable demand for ducks- of the various breeds that are kept on the farm, also for pheasants, which are wanted moro particularly by the Acclimatisation Society. Tho surplus eggs form the laying stock that aro not utilised for breeding purposes aro disposed of locally, and thi? fact of these coming from the Government depot is a guarantee of their freshness, for they bring in the market threepence per dozen more than the other eggs that are marketed. The idea, of stamping the cgg-i with the name of tho person who studs thorn on tho uurket. Mr Hyde strongly recommends farmors to adopt. If this practice were followed, fanners would make- sure that their eggs were fresh, and they would soon find roady favour with the buying public, and a better price would be obtained accordingly.

KXl'OltT INDUSTRY. The export of ixjultry liaa been quite out of tho (piotjtion during the past year owinir to tki hiffli prices which havo been obUiiiiing lociilly. Eurtber, as a result, of birds from four to five montlis old being saut ou to the market, tliero has been created a. gi eater local demand for poultry. There w actually now a trreiit deaf moro 0011fiimieil in the Dominion for a given population 'than was the case a few years ago. Auckland, Wellington, and Cliristchurch ma.ikeis « particularly active, and for really good birds as much as from 5s to 7» per pair is bning olitainod. As a matter d fnot" the supply cannot satisfy the demand. Mr Hyde has had it said to him by many pcopto that they luivo never eaten poultry before to eompa-re with what thoy have been getting during the past year or two. There is inviotically nothing {joimr out of the Dominion, save what is canned by the <x«an-gohif; vessels for their own consumption. Now a good many thoueaud birds are se«t away in tliis direction ejich year, wlrilc a few years ago they ha<l to be purchased in I/)ndon.