Poultry Notes.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5257, 13 May 1895, Page 4

Poultry Notes.

The Hawkesbury (New Sou'h Wales) Agricultural College has Bent a trial shipment of poultry to London to test the market and the best method of packing so aa to economise spuce. Ib may be assumed that the question of the suitableness of the poultry for export will not be lost eight of. When, ib may well be asked, will a similar shipment be sent from New Zealand ?

In selecting stock for the purpose of breeding table fowls care should be taken that the breasts are long, deep end quite straight. Mr W. Cook, in the course of a contribution to Poultry, eaya that if two or three-year-old hens are bred from, they will produce much bigger birds than pullets, and the chickens will be healthy and grow quickly. If pure birds are required for the table the best plan is to have entire fresh blood; then the chickens will grow much bigger. There are a great many more people going in for the Indian game-Dorking cross, as they are considered the beet fowl for the table. Mr Cook's experience is, if eight Indian game hens and a'Houdan cock, and eight Dorkmg_ hena and an Indian game cock, are put ia two separate pens and treated in just the Bamo way, the pullets from the Uoudan Indian Game will lay a larger number of e?gß, aid the coukerela will be ready fo* the table at an earlier age than the Indian Game Dorking, though he does not say they will giow quite bo heavy as the latter if kept for seven or eight mouths. Mr Cook considers the Houdan Game one of the moat profitable crosses to keep if fcho owner ia going in for supplying the London markets early in the epring, and with Indian Game Dorking the'best to go in for, if a person wishes to keep two different penß. They both plump well when asparagus chickens are re juired, and grow quickly and feather well i|a the cold weather. The Houdau-Brahma, HoudanPly mouth Eock and Houdan-Orpington are good crosses, and Although some poultry keepers may smile at the idea of mating thete birds for table purposes, they answer very well in the early spring. 'Anything crossed with the Brahma or [Plymouth Eock always plumpß up well in the fattening pens, and the Surrey fatfeners are always pleased to get any bird crpeaed with cither of these breedp. ;