EGG-LAVING COMPETITION AT NELSON.

Colonist, Volume XLIX, Issue 11966, 20 June 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

EGG-LAVING COMPETITION AT NELSON.

AT "SUN NY HOLM" POULTRY FARM. A meetia? of tho Committee of the Nelson Poultry Association was held on Saturday * cvaning, to consider matters in connection with a proposed egg-laying competition at Nelson next year. Mr C. D. Beatgon, proprietor" of the "Sunnybolm" Poultry Farm, Stoke, recently wrote to the Assocaiiion offering to conduct a competition nt his farm under the auspices of the Association, and at a previous meeting of tue Committee it wag resolved to meet Mr Beatson and confer with him ag to tho lines on which the competition was to be run. Mr Beatson met the Committee on Saturday evening, and the whole matter was gone thoroughly into, and it was unanimously decided that the Association conduct the competition in t terms of tbe offer received from Mr Beatson. Tue competition will he on line? different from those so far run in the Colony and in Australia, and the object sought to be achieved at the Nelson competition will make it a test that will bo watched with wide-spread interest. In the first "place, the will be commnced jnuch earlier than those in this Colony have been previously been commenced, and all birds will have to be in ttieirp9n3 by March 16, 1908, and the competition will atart on April Ist. The idea is to test the adriaableness of raising early pullets that will lay well in April and May, when eggs are at their highest price. A second test will be the keeping of fowia in open sheds without grass runs. it is also proposed to give a pract:.cal demonstration in the erection of a cheap serviceable house. It is also intended to give the Hogan system of selecting layers a thorough trial. Every bird sent to the competition will be tested under the Hogan system, and a careful record will be kept to show how far the test is borne out by actual results. This test of the Hogan jgystem should prove one of the most interesting features of the competition, and extending, ss it will, over 300 birds, should be of very great value. No bird forwarded will be rejected because it does not test out well, and intending competitors' attention is particularly called to this. Mr Beatson has offered to erceb on his property at Stoke the houses necessary to accommodate 50 pens of six birds each, to supply all utensils and feed for the eggs produced. The Poultry Association is to receiv9 the entry money, draw up conditions for the competition, and pay out prizes. The Association regard this as an excellent offor, atid it was only the desire to learn a few more details that prevented an acceptance of it at ; the first mesling of the Committee. It was recogiisjd that Mr Beatson was thoroughly qualified to run the competition, he having been engaged in poultry-farming for some years, and being thoroughly up-to-date in his methods. Under the terms of his offer, too, he receives as his reward only the rggs laid. All birds sent to ; the competitior must be pure-bred, and must further be not less than six or more than twelve months' old at the time of the commencement of the competition. Probable competitors are to be communicated with at once. It is notified that applications for pens must be made by December 31at next, and that preference will he given to those first sending in applications. The entry fee has been fixed at 30a a pen, which is lower than the fee charged at other competitions in the Colony. Those who intend to coinpete^ should send in their names (which must ba accompanied by 13s, half the entry fee) without delay to the Secretary, MrW. H. Simpson, from whom further particulars may be obtained. The object of making an early announcement with regard to the competition is to give breeders an opportunity of getting out early chickß in readiness for the contest.