LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2391, 22 February 1915, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

ECCS AND COST OF PRODUCTION,

Sir,—The subjnct of eggs has evidently led to a little discussion through tho medium of your valuable paper, and as a poultryman I am keenly interested. !

It is not a paying proposition keej> ing fowls for utility purposes (viz., egg. production) at tlio present time. Fowl wheat is practically unobtainable in Koildirifj and tho fowl feed that is of' fering is of a poor quality. The following arc the current prices ruling: Fowl wheat, 7s. f)d. per bushel; shelled oats, ss. j barley (with whiskers on it as long as Father Christmas), 6s. 6d. Place alongsido that the current market value, Is. i4d. per dozen, for eggs, and ask yourself where does tho producer como in? He does not ortme in at all. There is practically no difference in tho price of eggs aB compared with the corresponding period of last year and. fowl feed is 50 to 70 per cent, dearer, and it is timo the poultryman passed it on •to the consiimer. J. would suggest, to overcome the difficulty, that a deputation from the poultry industry interview the Prime Minister on tho matter, with a view to reducing the price of feed; otherwise the poultryman will have to shut down.—l am, etc.,

UTILITY. - Fending, Fobruary 19, 1915. ECCS ACAIN. Sir,—l beg leave to again trespaEfl on your valued space on the subject of eggs. Mr. Godber has turned- a general remark re selfishness to a personal one, and also points out that "these necessaries ought not to be the prices that now obtain." Just so, what he says is a truism; but poultry-keepers have to deal with things as they are, not as they might be. If the wholesale consumers of eggs will treat the producers rightly there would not ba a shortage; but,' Sir, owing to the effort to purchase eggs at non-payable prices, there will be the question of export to be considered when eggs are low, so as to save the situation. Mr. Godber,.in common With other large consumers, can make an equitable arrangement with the poultryman, and both will get a reasonable profit. "Live and let live", is my motto, and if the city man will act on that line a mutual understanding can, I have no doubt, be arrived at. Mr. Godber'a last remark about money in eggs is all right, so far as it goes, but whether it is poultry, bee-farming, or any other business or occupation, all depends on numbers. A man with less than 50 fowls_ cannot, perhaps, live on them, but if he has 500 and the necessary knowledge, there is a comfortable living to be made. This latter question requires considerable space to elaborate, and just now the time is not at my disposal, nor-is it necessary for my point.—l am, eto., MARK MAXTON. Greytown,, February 19, 1915.