AMONGST THE POULTRY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17907, 24 July 1926, Page 21 (Supplement)

AMONGST THE POULTRY.

NEWS AND NOTES BY 44 BAR RED ROCK.”

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. T.S—I should say your birds either have rheumatism or liver trouble. This is constitutional disorder. Keep in dry quarters and away from draughts. Don’t feed too heavily. Give one tablespoonful olive oil, and add to the drinking water one-third of a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda. Feed mostly on mash which

consists mostly of green feed. Cut out all animal food.

NOTES. Poultrymen will regret to hear that Mr W. A. Gee is confined to his home again through sickness. All wish him a speedy recovery! The writer received a letter this week from Mr Willoughby Knight, England. He states that he will be returning to New Zealand in August. Mr Novice, of Quinn’s Road. Shirley, advertises in this column sittings and chicks of White Leghorns for sale. Mr 11. A. Dawber, of Marshland, also advertises sittings for sale of ducks and White Leghorns. “Barred Rock’’ will be pleased to quote for advertisements in the poultry column. Now the time to advertise and let people know what you have to sell. Mr D. O’Hern advertises White Wyandotte cockerels for sale in this issue. They arc brothers to his leading pullet at Papanui. The Christchurch Poultry Club met on Monday night. Mr G. E. Jeffreys presiding. The Grey mouth. Lyttelton and Temuka Clubs wrote making applications for plant for their respective shows. The requests were granted. The Canterbury Bantam Club will meet on Monday night in the Poultry Club rooms. After the business is over a lecture will be given by Mr J. 11. B. Chegwin on the mating and breeding of Buff Pekin Bantams. The club in- , vites anyone interested to be present. The Greymouth and Temuka poultry shows will be held on Friday and today. Both clubs have received large entries and the shows promise to be the best yet held by them. The United Pigeon Fanciers’ Club will meet on Wednesday night, July 28. in the Poultry Club rooms. Mr C. P. Bradford left for Wellington on Tuesday night to attend the Wellington Poultry Club’s annual show. Mr Bradford took with him a large entry of fowls and pigeons on behalf of himself and his brother, Mr G. 11. Bradford.

Mr W. J. Chambers, the well-known White Leghorn specialist, has added two more varieties to his yards, namely, Utility Black Minorcas and Indian Runner ducks. T am pleased this breeder has decided to try his hand at something new, and I expect to see him get to a similar position with them as he has done with the White Leghorns.

Mr J. Tindall, th popular judge, has again taken on the breeding of Rhode Island Reds, and has some pens mated up. I expect to see something good come out of this breeder’s yards next show season. There is quite a boom in this handsome fowl, and next year should see record entries at our Jubilee Show. Mr W. J. Martyn, of Rangiora, was successful in winning the Utility Brown Leghorn championship at the Lyttelton Fanciers’ Club show last week. Mr Martyn has been a long time in the Brown Leghorn fancy, and is always well represented at the leading shows, principal!}- in male birds, and it was pleasing to see him win the championship with a cockerel. Mr T. F. Walklin has been very successful during the present show season with a team of Black Orpington cockerels, winning first and second at Christchurch, first at Ashburton, first at Rangiora and first, second and third at Lyttelton, besides specials and cups. These birds are a very even lot, good type and feather, and shown in good condition Mr Walklin is to be congratulated on producing such a fine team. There was a fine entry of Black Min-

orcas in the open section at Lyttelton, especially in the pullet section. Mr Ben Johnson is to be congratulated on winning the cup and special with a fine specimen. This is Mr Johnson’s first season in this part of the fancy. It is a great achievement to produce a bird of this description the first season of showing. The writer visited the Lyttelton Fanciers’ Cup show last week and found everything well arranged. The staging and lighting were a great improvement on former shows. Mr T. F. Walklin, the secretary, and his committee deserve great credit for the manner in which the fixture was carried out. Mrs E. R. Davidson, the secretary of the Rhode Island Red Club, was successful in winning two championships at Lyttelton last week, winning the open class Andalusian and the. open class Rhode Island Red with a beautiful Red hen (Downy Girl). This hen was shown in great condition and well earned the high honour. I understand .this bird is the offspring of a previous champion that won the honours four 11 The Junior Flying Club will hold a homing pigeon show next Wednesday night in the Poultry Club rooms. Fanciers and those interested are. invited to be preseht. This chib is deserving of every encouragement, as it is composed entirely of boys under the age of eighteen years, supervised by Mr May. of St Martins, .who was a successful fancier in England. It is hoped the senior club’s members will roll up and help to make the show a success. _____ THE VALUE OF LUCERNE.

ADDRESS BY MR M’PHERSON. Mr A. M’Pherson, formerly Lucerne Expert of the Department of Agriculture, delivered an address at the monthly educational meeting of the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club last Tuesday night. Mr 11. Williams occupied the chair, and a fair attendance of members was present. Mr M’Pherson, in introducing the subject dealt at some length on the origin of lucerne. He stated that farmers did not realise the value of lucerne on a farm. The speaker made reference to one man he knew in Australia who was making £ISOO a year off sixty acres , of lucerne. He was quite satisfied that it could be made to pay half the feed cost for the poultry-farmer. lie stressed the point that lucerne must not be manured Or treated with fertilisers in any way,, as this made the roots keep to the surface instead of going further into the ground, so as to suck moisture. The only thing lucerne wanted was to be cut at the right time, and to be limed only. Some people thought that lucerne only lasted for about seven years, but that was only when it had been treated with manures, and through cutting at the wrong time. Lucerne treated with lime only would last two hundred years. Lucerne would grow on any land. The best time for sowing was about October, but it depended on the season. It did not Mo well on wet land. He believed in putting lucerne in rows of about 14 inches apart, keeping the ground open between rows, but not harrowing the lucerne, as this damaged the plant, and it would eventually die. Several poultry farmers present stated that they were using lucerne, and found it a valuable food for fowls. In fact they stated that it reduced the cost of mash feeding to nearly one half. On the motion of Mr Dick a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the speaker for his valuable address. SHOW COMMENTS. To the Editor. Sir, —In his. letter in last Saturday’s issue, commenting upon your contributor's comments on the judging at the Ashburton show, your correspondent. “ Puzzled,” mentioned that he did not propose to criticise the whole review, but to deal with just one breed. I ; will do likewise. At Rangiora I had an American Barred Cockerel pointed out to me, as the winner in a class of four at Ashburton. This bird secured the Amos Cup, Davis Memorial Cup, and specials at Ashburton; but at Rangiora in a class of seven, it was one of the three unplaced birds. This bird was knock-kneed and had crooked toes, besides being groggy on his feet, but I must admit he was a well grown bird and well marked. Now who was right in the placing, Mr Dacre at Ashburton, or Mr Tindall at Rangiora?—l am, etc., NOT PUZZLED. PREPOTENCY. We have been asked to explain what is meant by prepotency and, what is more difficult, what makes for prepotency? Can we breed for it? asks a correspondent, “or is it just breeders’ luck”? The subject is an interesting one, and. as it may lead to an interesting discussion we will do our best to answer the question and hope that so„me of our readers may be tempted to supplement what we have to say, or, better still, indicate where wc may have gone astray. We have two definitions of the word: (1) An individual capable of impressing in a marked degree, the desirable characters of his or her race and family upon the progeny. <2) Greater, capacity on the part of one of the parents as compared with the other to transmit his or her characteristics to their offspring. If one of these definitions is correct it would hardly seem possible the other could be so; the second does not appear to convey what is meant by prepotency. The characteristics of the one parent may be dominant to those of the other, but we want to distinguish between what is merely dominant and what is prepotent. Tf, for example, w’e mate a pen of birds we may find that with individuals the characteristics of the male will prevail ,in the progeny, but with others of hifs mates the reverse will be the case. He then can scarcely be said to be “prepotent.” His ability to transmit his characteristics depends rather on his mates than on himself. The first definition is much more to our liking. It indicates the outstanding individual, depending not on the weak points in his mates but upon his own strong ones and the one who possesses certain characteristics in such a marked degree that whatever his mates his influence upon the progeny" in infinitely greater than theirs, and the influence of such an individual may be traced through several generations, whereas if we accept the second definition. we shall see this cannot be so. If we accept this definition of prepotency (and we can find no better) we come to the second question, “What makes for prepotency. We must realise first that the individual possesses all the characters of his race in a greater or lesser decree. Secondly, the effect of continuous seleo tion for a specific character or characters. , u . We sna’-' then say that selective breeding ‘‘makes for prepotency” because selection must be Dased on the characters most strongly developed in the individual. Such a bird is prepotent because all other racial characteristics are subordinated to those which are so powerfully developed in him. He has developed in him in an unusual degree, the dominant characters of his race and so he is able to impress these

characters on his progeny in a very marked degree. Our correspondent asks: “Is it breeders’ luck?” To a limited extent it may be so. The careless or unobservant breeder may fail to recognise it, but the clever breeder will seize his opportunity and will use such a bird to utmost advantage. Nevertheless, we must not be misunderstood. We are not suggesting that you can breed for prepotency, only that continuous selection for a specific character makes for it as far as that character is concerned. We are all perfectly aware that all the sons of a very highly fecund hen are not of equal value as breeders. They will have inherited the power t.o transmit the dam’s fecunditv in different degrees. The constitution Of the one may enable him to transmit it in the fullest degree while the constitution of his brother may inhibit it. Line bred birds are more prepotent than others, it is said. This is probably true as they have generations of selected individuals behind them and wc have there the concentration of the desired characters with little probabilitv of the introduction of other characters which would influence them. But where selection has been made for several generations on the _ same lines, there exists the possibility that the crossing of two strains would not exert any influence on this quality—prepoI£ we understand the problem aright, prepotency depends upon the degree m which the individual inherits the dominant characters of his race. We note that he inherits in a greater or lesser degree all the characters of his race. It is the degree in which he inherits certain characters which makes him prepotent, makes him able to impress these characters in an unusual degree on his progeny.

EGG-LAYING.

UTILITY POULTRY CLUB. The following Is the result for the fifteenth -*-ee)c, e n<le, l J uly Vi 5?. 15? twentv-second competition held foj- the Neic Zealand Utility Poultry Club at Papanui:— SINGLE KEN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP.

WOOLSTON POULTRY CLUB.

The following Is the result for the fourteenth week, ended July 17, of the Woolston Tanneries Utility Poultry Club’s single bird egg-laying competiLion ' Weight.

BRING ON TOUR CHICKS. a teaspoonful of Singer’s Egg Producer to every 12 chicks will bring them earlier to a healthy, robust maturity. Tt la a food-tonic rich in the properties essential for consisten egg-production, and for splendid general health. Gets them over the moult, in the shortest time. Get a large packet 2s. at any store, or write Geo. Bonnington. High Street, Christchurch. 17

Wkly Weight Gd. Tl. oz. dr. Miss M. White .... j> 10 11 So A. G. F. Ross 5 10 1 00 J. Kingsland 7 Silver Wyandottes— F. G. Herridge .... 6 9 12 3 61 THREE BIRD TESTS. Wkly Weight Tldr. Black Orpingtons— *4 R1 j. W. Thomson .... 7 13 3 R1 ant other VARIETY HEAVY BREEDS. W’kly Weight Gd. Tl. oz. dr. 10 01 Mitchell, W.R. 6 Cuthbertson and 10 Mitchell, W-R. 5 D. O'Hern. W.W. . . 6 ANY OTHER VARIETY LIGHT BREEDS. Wkly Weight Gd. Tl. dr. Tl. IT. Williams, B.M. . .. 5 11 1 II. W. Back, B.M. .. 3 5 White Leghorns — SO W. J. Richards .... 6 Rogers and Thomson 6 1_2 3 2 Miss M. White .... 6 13 12 6 85 R. W. Coombes .... 6 11 0 84 A. C. Goodlet 6 C. W. Tritt 6 G. and F. E. Biltclift 5 10 10 13 S3 83 J. W. Thomson .... o three bird aggregate. Black Orpingtons— 20S 1 70 Anv Other Variety Heat y Breeds. Cuthbertson and Mitchell, 161 Any Other Variety Light Breeds. if. W. Reck B AD . . ! 111 H. Williams, B.M. ... White Leghorns. G. and F. E. Biltcliff . 237 226 FLOCK TEAMS. (Six Birds.) W’kly Weight Gd. Tl. dr. WMte Leghorns— w. IS. _Ward • 32 r _ 0 431. 1 2 423 Cal der~ Bros 27 57 15 410 4_& 14 400 400 50 435 Philip Bailey .... 26 DUCKS. (Singles.) Indian Runners — , 1 s 1 4 n 3 101 R. W. Hawke 7 9 10 16 06 H. W. Bec|f ‘ Pekin? — j W. Thomson .... < 22 2 S5 THREE BIRD AGGREGATE. H. A. Dawber

oz dr TI. JT. Taylor 0 — 28 <;. Hall 6 31 11 f7 S. Roader 0 ~~ 32 <? Swanston .... 3 6 13 *5 4 (i. Black 6 lj* * 7 1 .1. Morrison .... 4 7 12 oP. Mauger 4 S .» -:» R. Smith 4 J o 24 A. M’Conchie « P. Mauser 4 911 43 «. Hall f> -J ®J O. Black •* ®, ® ■Ji G. Russell - o lo 3* H. Taylor « J® S. Loader •* 30 3 *2 R. Smith ® A . M’Conchie 4 « G. Hall 4 8 4 e B4 114 6 677