POULTRY. CARD JUDGING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2298, 17 March 1898, Page 35

POULTRY. CARD JUDGING.

Dear Terror, — "Breeder's" letter of list week, notwithstanding its great length, is peculiar in two respects : it lacks a single additional argument in support of the writer's theory, and it is supposed to answer a letter which evidently has never been read. Apparently some practical joker has misled "Breeder" by quoting to him portions of my letter without mentioning the fact that the greater part of it was originally from the pen of an expert, written to an American paper, and subsequently copied into poultry journals throughout the world. That the piinter failed.to put in the quotation marks used by me is a small matter, seeing that my letter itself did not neglect to acknowledge the original source. Like Mr Myers, I now await " Breeder's " promised information about poultry-judging.— l am, etc,, Dunedin, March 14. Amateur.

Dear Terror, — Horry I have not "Breeder's" letter in front of me. As I have always stated, I am ; really pleased to have arguments adduced agaiost j my theoryi especially in the poultry and pigeon j sec ions; but "Breeder's" arguments are certainly in my favour. I am quite aware that several expert judges are against this system ; one especially whose opinion I highly prize, and who, j I think, is one of the best, if not the -I best, judges in New Zealand. Also, there ' II Mv Sewell, one of the great Crystal Palace : judges, against this form of judging ; still, j I submit that that might be but a prejudice, and . that these men, excellent judges though they are, ' have got so used to the old and primitive methods of picking out birds that without their knowing it they have become quite conservative in that matter.

We also know that all reforms have opposition from capable men, who in the end have had — as "Breeder" no doubt will in this instance— to acknowledge that those reforms were good. "Breeder " says (I quote from memory) that if he was selecting two or three birds to exhibit, " would he take a card and put down the points, the bird getting the most to be his representative at a show?" Would "Breeder" be astonished to know that that is the way that is followed by many old breeders and exhibitors ? Will he be surprised to learn that Mr Williams, one of the best and most successful exhibitors of pigeons in New Zealand, always judges by the card, putting dowu the poiuls of the various sections of the birds and exhibiting the one that receives the most points on the card? We all know with what success he has thus exhibited. He told me last week that his is the only way he can pick his birds. When I was a larger exhibitor in poultry than I am now I always picked my biuls with fair success after allowing points according to the standards laid down in "Wright's"; but now that we have a New Zealand standard, where it \« r- pfi-y f, i each amateur to gauge and allot point ii,i to" various section?, there is nothing th-t', U Jiilu Lander tiiein being judged by these y ' j-iz.

1 have a number of arguments to adduco— a' tnivuents that 1 have picked up through re-uiing some late American poultry journals — but will reserve them for some future time. But I trust that the committee of the Dunediu Fanciers' Club will be able to get some competent, unprejudiced person willing to undertake the duty of judging two or three classes at any rate in the manner I suggest, and I feel convinced that the extra interest, that will be added to these classes so judged will make the committee extend that kind of judging in time to come. I might remiud "Breeder" that be promised in a former letter to give some arguments against judging by the card ia the feather sections ; I really should like to hear 1 hem. — I am, etc , Duneain, March 15. S. S. Myers. AN INCUBATOR EXPERIENCE. Dear Tj-kh.or,~l notice you invite correspondence ftom poultry breeders, and as I am a large poultry breeder, and the winner of Mr Roborts's (A. bbotiford) special prize at last winter show held in Duneriin, I would like, in justice to him, to state how I got on with the incubator. It urrived in s-plendid order, thanks to careful packing, ana I started working it on the 17th August. I ran the machine at lOldeg, but, not beinu used to working it. it varied considerably, the result 1,-eing iliat I hail 50 per cent, of stillborn chicks, and what J hatched were very fickly. I then placed the machine in a large fquars zinc case, well ventilate 1 on top, and placed the caso in my sitting-house, with the result that I had, with the machine at lOScleg, 75 per ceut. cf chicks hatched. I then ran the machine at 105deg. and reduced the temperature to 10-Wes the last few days before hatching, and fuuuu that this way of working the machine gave the be-t jesults, as I got 9) per cent, of good stroog '.'hicks. I ran the machine like this till tne Ist tiauuary, and I may say that I had no trouble to regulate it, and in fact I consider it would be very hard indeed for a practical paultry mat» to dxr without an incubator. Kince January I have beeiv working this way with the machine. I always have sitting 5!) eggs under five hens ; and at the seventh day I te*t all eggs and replace the infertile ones and set 50 more ut-duv five 'hens, and continue t r > set every week at that rate. When the-etrg-s have been 18 daya set I remove them from the hec3, placing fresh eggs under', and place them in the incubator with toe temperature at 103deg, and when the chicks hatch J leave thsm in the drying box 30 hours, when I feed and remove to the foster mother. Then I thoroughly disinfect the hens from which I took the eggs, lvmove the old nest and make a new one iD the same pl''ce, put the epgs and hens back, and on the seventh day place the chicks under the hens and remove to a coop, putting eggs UDder fref-h hens. I find 1 can thus keep up a constaDt supply of chicks aad have no over-crowdingr, anil the chicks seem to do better and the hens are no trouble to take to the chicks, while they are freer from vermin during the most important time of their young lives in my opinion. 1 fLad that without the incubator to help me I would be at a great disadvantage in the i earing of poultry. I may say all my setting hens are of the Intiian-Dorking-Langshan, and Orpington cross, and are lifted off their nests and fed every morning at 7 o'clock regularly, being put back at half-past. I find they always want very cai'eful attention in the matter of grit, green food, onions, and plenty of good soaked grain— what I prefer. — I am, etc , Edwin Reilly, Willowbank Poultry Farm, Siudhulme. EARLY -LAYING CHICKENS. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — I have been very nmch interested in the cases of early-laying chickens quoted by your correspondents during the past few weeks. I have had an experience this season with Andalusians which will talc some beating. The only two pullets in a clutch hatched on August 14 — one a puiebred Andalusian and the other a cross between an Andalu-uan cockerel and a pure Dorking — eoinmeucfd laying at four and a-half months— namely, on December 31 and January 2 respectively. Ie is surprising to me that Andalusians are not in more general favour. They are unexcelled as steady layers even by the vaunted Minorcas, and are a fair table, bird, very hardy, and not easily s-poiled by over- f eeding. With such virtues surely the" fact that they are Very apt not to 'breed true to colour might be easily overlooked. I give my fowls house scraps mixed with pol.'ard in the morning and oat 3at night. — I aro, etc., Ducedin, March 11. Andalusian. FEEDING FOR EGGS. Feeding is an ordiuaiy matter, but how many consider what they are tiying to accomplish when feeding? There should always be some object in view, and feeding, if properly done, should conform to the lealisation of that which is sought. What do you feed to secure? Eggs ; and in so doing you must look into the egg. It ia seen filled with ricb, nutritious substances, and of a variety. Then the food most be adapted to the eggs. If the heu is kept warm an'j comfortable, the food required to provide the animal heat will be correspondingly lessened. Knowing that the food should not contain an excess of the carbonaceous or heat-pioducing elements, it is necessary to look to those substances that furnish the albumen. When Indian corn or maize is fed liberally few eggs are secured, the result being iv favour of flssh. A fat hen will not, as a rule, laj% and is as unprofitable as it is said a fat sow is for breeding. What hens mostly need is nitrogenous matter, for they can, if fed on grain at all, easily provide the yolk, lime, phosphoric acid, etc. ; but the large amount of albumen in an egg calls for more nitrogenous food than is usually allowed. Some improperly asciibe the failure to secure egjrs to lack of green fcod. Whilu some kind of bulky food in the shape of cooked potatoes, turnips, and other green btuff is almost as necessasy, the great desideratum is animal food, and if less grain be fed and meat, raw or cooked, substituted occasionally there will be more e°gs, Milk is also suitable, but meat is the best, and half a r,pund o f meat to a dozen hens two oi three times a week will increase the laying. Almost any kind of meat will do, whilst grain may be fed sparingly twice a day. Green stuff, scalded potato peels?, cabbage leaves, and various scraps ofttimes thrown into the rubbish box, with some animal food in the morning and grain at night, will be found to produce good results. Now that the winter is approaching and nine out of every ten people who keep fowls complain of the scarcity of eggs, it would be well if the above feeding was tiied. The result will surprise many. — About 600,000 people in Italy are eDgaged ia tearing silkworms.