POULTRY CULTURE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 132, 27 July 1911, Page 5

POULTRY CULTURE.

LECTURE BY AN EXPERT. ) - ■ At the Borough Council chamber last night a lecture on poultry culture was delivered to members of the Stratford Egg Circle by Mr F. E. Gordon, of Waitara. In introducing the lecturer, Mr W. J. Brayshaw said* Mr Gordon was an enthusiast who had devoted the whole of his life to poultry. Ho had had in the United States and Canada and elsewhere. Mr Gordon was stationed at Waitara and would no doubt meet members fairly often. Mr Gordon said the Egg Circle movement was falling rather flat, but this should not be so. The people of Taranaki should be the last to fail to recognise the utility of the Circle, because they had the experience of their dairy industry which had been made the fine thing it was by co-oporation. This co-operation was supplied by the Circle. There was one difficulty in 3pi all Circles—that people with only a few birds did not think it necessary to bo members, which was an entirely erroneous notion. In Masterton the Circle had shown a net return of Is Oid. por dozen on members’ eggs, when the local price of eggs was lOd.

Twopence halfpenny did not seem a great deal, but when considered in rr connection with a big supply it became something considerable. The Egg Circle movement did not seem very,;- lively just now, but somebody had to make a start just as had had to bo done in regard to co-operative dairying. It was probable that Egg Cir6|es- might not survive under that name, but he was sure that the principle would continue. On January lst last he took over the management of, a’ place in Waitara and he had sold eggs in Stratford, getting the top Wellington price for them all. But i all the eggs sold bore his brand, which was a guarantee of quality, and this branding and guaranteeing would be done by tho Circle. The poultry business could he greatly increased if the public were educated to appreciate gbod quality whether in eggsj or birds. If a badly-reared bird was} computed with a well-reared one by having the meat and the bones weighed it would bo found that in each case there was the same amount of bone, while the iproperly-reared bird would have between three and four times the amount of meat. It was highly desirable that eggs should be gathered thtee times a day, as otherwise eggs were liable to go stale. The big thing for the Circle to him at was quality—-without quality combinatipu would do nothing. Some people regarded an Egg Circle as a combination designed merely to raise the price of eggS, but this was not so. In his opinion, eggs should never be sold below a shilling a dozen. Preserving eggs was not expensive. Ho advised his hearers, to try the following preservative;—Equal parts of white of egg and glycerine, and two ounces of powdered borax to every half pipt of this liquid, this to be rubbed over the' whole of the shell of the eggs. This mixture would keep eggs fresh for sii months,. so long as the whole of the shell was covered with tho mixture. Often one heard working men growlirig beCause of bad times; but if one went to their houses one would find spare yards which were used for nothing; whereas if poultry were reared on them the birds would pay the man’s rent for the year and also give him an annual holiday. There was a good deal of importance attached to the feeding of fowls. Tabic scraps were not altogether desirable, as they did not constitute a properly balanced ration. -It was necessary for a poul-

try farmer to sort his birds out so that he could give them a ration , which tvas exactly suited to their need?. Otherwise either the good or the indifferent birds would suffer in their output. As a matter of fact the whole of the poultry business was a series of small matters of detail. There was a general and erroneous opinion that grit was given to poultry to enable them to grind their food,, but the real use of grit was to supply and maintain the feathers. Shell grit was not needed to make shells ■ for eggs—hens could produce nearly all the shells required. He had made an experiment in the feeding of grit and had proved that it was used for making feathers. In Taranaki, fowls should be kept under cover. If people did not like this idea they should at least keep them under cover in the winter. It was. a great fallacy to say that big runs were necessary. He thought all the money spent on runs was entirely thrown away. He would guarantee to run six thousand birds on an acre of land. In big pens the majority of fowls did mot take exercise; while in the confined pens run by him (the Speaker) the birds had to take exercise or do without their food. Ho strongly advocated the use of dry masp, holding that wet mash took more labofir and did not give a corresponding increase in cash return. As to breeding, he did not think people startipg in a small way needed to buy incubators. They should not buy them until the birds had earned

them. For the man in a small way, a turkey could be made to carry out j 'the duties of an incubator. He had suffered, a great deal of opposition from sundry people, but this was merely because he advocated a poultry farmer himself making all the plant he required so long as he was in a sjnall way. It was highly desirable that before sittings of eggs were put down they should be tested, as there were always a lot which would never hatch. In Taranaki they had to contend with variable weather, which mad© 1 it trying in the matter of artificial incubation, but all should remember ' that though the temperature of eggs might be allowed to run down it should never be allowed to rise. Proceedings closed with a vote of thanks, to the lecturer. "ihi/ H i •. . .