NEW ZEALAND POULTRY ASSOCIATION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3048, 9 April 1917, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND POULTRY ASSOCIATION

mm CONFERENCE ASIATIC EGG PULP -- LOCAL" roULIRYMEN'S ' - ~ ~ GRIEVANCE, ■* Iho seventh annual conference o the hew Zealand Poultry Associate woe opened m the Masonic Hal] oi Saturday. Tlio president, Mr. H. M Boddington, occupied the cliair Then was a, good attendance ot delegate , from the vanous centres. The Major, Mr. J P Luke, v,el corned lie delegates to Wellington Secretary's Report. Tho becretary reported 'that th< funds of the association had boon rtel supported in the past year, and then n-as £27 17s 3d. in hand to begin th< new yoar with The import of Asiatic oggs into New Zealand was thus referred to —"The great work done dur ing tho jear has been the strong fighi • put up against the Asiatic eggs. Were it not for the enthubiasm and timi devoted to this woik the poultry in dustry in Now Zealand would have been seriously threatened. Much iemains to bo dono before Tto can feel secure against tho encroachments ol the Chinese product Eggs have come in from Australia in. pulp form, and ■small quantities ha\e come iu in the shell. Those importations have, honevor, been small, and have not affected us The American eggs haic also come ill'freely, but havo sened meieIj to supplement our own supplj " president's Address. , The retiring piesident, in opening his addrebs, cxpiossod ,i hope- that after the A\ar the poultry industry vould become more frtmlj established in Now Zealand, particularly among tho settlers of small holdings. Ho was pleased at the selection, of Wellington as the venuo of the conference, and hoped that futuro conferences ■nould also bo held in the city During the past jesr the Goieminent had again aroused the poultrymen's resentment by their oxtuoidinary action and concurrence in ihe 'touting of tho » Pure Foods Act BAeis and confectioneis had been peinutted to infringe Regulation No 30 of the Act, 'ii Inch distinctly prohibited tho use of __ such an article is "Asiatic egg pulp " 'Iho executive hid made oii- ,. dcavour to persuade the Go\<unment « to carry out tho prousions of tho Act, >' but their pfioits had not been success- ■* ful As there weio scteral TCimts " dealing with the matter, the conference J would have ample- opportunity for expressing ite opinion. Tho Chrisfcchurch poultrTineii desened tho thanks /., of all other Dominion poultrymen for tho persistent manner in which they 1 had stmen for the enforcement of tho - law

"'i, "Last year," continued the speaker, "jjj'"l, mentioned, that. South Africa was 3™ a king great headway in the poultry :;; industrj, and from an exporting point ■'.jipf view'would prove a formidable rival .-•'irtb' the rest of the Dominions. ■ South .•■/!'Africa imports used to . be something;|;like £70,000 a year. During the past ■$ three years the imports of efes into tho

Union had been as follows:—1913, £77,560; 1914, £59,314; 1915, £19,233! Tho drop revealed iij 1915 was not all. With the reduced import, an export trado had been commenced, and was steadily increasing: In 1913 South Africa exported £8500 worth:of eijes; in 1914, £11,200; and in 1915, £20,800 worth.- Comparing tip year 1915 with 1913, South Africa* was iu a better position .by something like £70,000. "Thepoultrykeeper's lot during the past year has, on the whole, been fairly satisfactory. With judicious manageinont and the knowledge that the prices of feed will not rise any higher/than at present, the outlook is muck brighter than at this period Jast year. The Auckland Co-operative Egg Producers' Association have shoivii considerable enterprise by both pulping and exporting eggs, and similar efforts in otner centres should be worthy of emulation, as the two methods adopted by our j northern friends materially assist the producer in obtaining a fair Teturn for his labour. There aro a number of bakers, however,! who will only consider price, and as the Asiatic pulp has beou sold at Is. per lb. delivered to the baker's door, it undoubtedly has had a great run. In my opinion* there is no possible chance of restraint on the importation of pulp from Shanghai unless wo are prepared to quote at the sime price as the imported article is being sold at. Unfortunately, if we did this, the poultry farmers would undoubtedly lose money unless there was <i big drop in the price of fowl feed. "i'ive hundred dozen eggs were sent to the London market last season,' but so far wo have not received tho returns. The, eggs were preserved with ft dry preservative, ami not cool-stored at all." v . At the afternoon session of the conference, Mr. J. B. Mcrrgtt read an interesting papear on '\FJtiductioii and Marketing." ■'.■'■. In the evening a well-attended dinner was held in the hall. Tho toasts were: "The King"; "The .'New Zealand Poultry Industry," proposed by Mr. Finn and responded to by Messrs. Cbilds arid Holmes; "The Department of Agriculture," proposed by Mr. E. Gallichan, responded to by Mr. P. 'Brown; "Affiliated Societies," pro--1 posed by Mr. A. G. responded to by Messrs. Slcelton and Gibbons; and "The Ladies," proposed by Mr. C. Cussen. Songs ana recitations contributed to the success of the function.