POULTRY OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND. By Terror.

Otago Witness, Issue 2516, 4 June 1902, Page 49

POULTRY O TAGO AND SOUTHLAND. By Terror.

WIN! ON. llr W. S. Amlri'Wi. of Winton, ha-- Mime good L:vng-.hau-. silver Wyaudotti-. und Minorcas, and for a young fancier pioinises well. Be lips a LaiiL'->u.«u cmk (bied by .Mr Doubb, of Imercargill). vvinnei of a second at Clin-suhui-eh, and v Minorca cockerel of Mi Irvine's tivin Both of thoso birds are light m the eye. and u'lfoitunatcly the san.e cliaraLttiri-.no runs through nio^t of the ytiuug stock One young Minorca cnrker.-l is- :i very uprightly bud. (lean lobed and wiU combed, and would look well in ,he bott of company. Some of tho Lnnj^han pullet- are of excellent quality, find do credit to the strain tbf»y represent -Dcnb'.p's — and. well mated to a sire fiom the same yards, san be relied upon to throw stock that the pre-.-ent owner will take pride in. The nett biro, however, must be dark-eyed. The b.ime remaiks apply to the Mincrcas. Bettpr accommodation fo» birdr than that provided by young Mr Andrews would be hard to find. BALFOUR. Mr R M-Oracken Station master). Balfour, is another new enthusiast in the fancy, and is one whe will have to be reckoned with on the show benches of the near future. For a start he lia« white Leghorns from Hunt, of Oamaru: Minorcas from Irvine and Spro«en. of Dunedin ; and Lang-t-hans 'if Rogen's strain. Notwithstanding that the site of tin. peng i* an unusually expo=»d one — open at every point to the "gentle" zephyrs of the Waimea Plains — all the bird, looked healthy and itrong at the time of my visit : consequently I judg« that the =train. selected have been af particularly good constitution. It seemed strange to me to find bird so situated laying right through the winter, but it was yet another lesson showing the results if judicious selection, good housing, and regular attendance. Kgg<s from such «toek could not, I fancy, fail to give a good percentage, and young cockeiels thus bred would be comfortable

anywhere. Mr M'Craeken's Minorcas. of Mr Irvine's strain, with the exception of two hens, were bred from eggs procured from Bunneman, of Melbourne, in 1900, from imported stock. fhe two hens were bred from birds obtained from Diamond Creek, and are full sisters to the winner of the second prize at the Dunedin 1900 show. Better stock to breed from it would be hard to find. Some of the pullets of Mr Sprosen's strain are extremely shapely birds, of good size and all-round good points. A cockerel of the Irvine pen is of tip-top quality, his only noticeable fault being a light eye. With regard to the Langshans, I fancy the pullets, if not too long on the lay, would take some beating at the next Gore show. Mr M'Cracken has four separate pens and runs, but exceptiticr during the worst of the winter, his fowls have practically free range. They get plenty A grass, and have free access to any quantity of fine river gravel — the finest sort of grit for fowls. Whilst at this fancier's I enjoyed a drive over the Waimea Plain towards Wendonside behind the identical mare which (Mr Lilico then holding the reins) sped me over the Dipton Plains last year. This mare is a fast trotter, but fly as we did, a little halfbred Insb terrier, also the property of Mr M'Cracken, kept us easy company, notwithstanding that he made a few hundred deviations in pursuit of rabbits. Next week 1 shall report upon pens I saw at Waikaia.