N.Z. POULTRY FARMERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 164, 1 April 1918, Page 8

N.Z. POULTRY FARMERS

: "r : . ANNUAL CONFERENCE ASIATIC EGGS AND PRICE OF v BRAN: :■ There was a representative attendance 0f delegates at the eighth annual coufer- , slice of the New Zealand Poultry Association, which opened in the. Beehive ..Chambers, Couitenay Place, on Saturday ;ihorning. •■'ln opening the conference the president, Mr. E. Gallichan, welcomed the ■ delegates and apologised.- for the absence of the Mayor' (Mr. J. 'P. iuke), who had ■ been called out of tho city. ; la his annual, report, tho sscretarytreasurer, Mr. J. B. Merrett, stated that- • in common with all commercial unriler- . .takings the poidtry industry had had to stfrmount many difficulties occasioned by the war. .Poultrymen had much for which to be grateful, and though at - times the difficulties had been keenly felt ' ] the industry 'showed' signs of progress. , - The New ' Zealand Poultry Association ' : was now holding its eighth conference. ;At its inception it represented a few ' poultrymen gathered from different parts of the Dominion; while to-day it represented tho interests of over EflOO poultrykeepers. During the year several societies had- applied for affiliation. ;'Much ■ remained to be done. In many districts "there were no'circles or associations, and poultry producers remained unorganised. The a'ctivo and associate membership ..showed a good ; increase.;. The secretary .recorded a very, healthy state of finance, the cash balance'being The Government had given considerable attention to remits, especially in • the matter of fixing' the price of fc-wl •wheat. The association couiid not sufficiently appreciate the Government's action in this matter. J.t had meant the saving of thousands of pounds to pcultiymen.. Farmers and merchants had been kept in check, and exorbitant prices; i could not. be imposed, upon the .poultry 'producers of this country, as was (lone in 1914. Much attention had been given by the association to the question of imported eggs. Very strenuous appeals had been made that no eggs in pulp fr.rm should be' imported this country. It was hoped similar action would bo taken as was done in Australia last August, when eggs in any shape or form were barred.from coming into that coun- . -try. Strong representation was made by . . : bakers that, the New-Zealand supply of eggs was insufficient. The coming -winter . would prove if such was the case, ;is owing to the lack, of shipping very few : eggs could be imported. The Board of Trade, to whom tho matter was jelegat- .' I ed, while sympathetic to the associa- ■ , -tion's requests, evidently considered it the wiser plan to test the sufficiency of the local supply before' recommending that the importation of liquid or frozen eggs should be abolished. Adverting to returned soldiers, the re- ■ port went on to 6tate that it was to be regretted that practically nothing had . been done to give the returned soldier an opportunity to enjoy the free and open life that poultry-keeping offered. 'Jn Australia three settlements had been established, and poultry-keeping had been \ "taken., up .v.ery .-enthusiastically. The ' association- could scaroely consider the ■ coming conference to have achieved its desired object unless something practical was done to give an opportunity to our returned men. to take up poultry-keeping. - As regards'fixing the; prices of eggs, an effort was made during the year,to &6a maximum -and- minimum .price through- ' ; out the Dominion, the maximum price to be 2s. 6d. and the minimum Is.-3d.-It ■was found that .the different districts varied so much in ,their supply and'deV mand that without thorough organisation in the five centres the'fixation of prices could not be. satisfactorily, achieved. The price ruling each week during the year had been equitablo and few complaints Jiave been heard. In the matter of food supplies, though ; the Government had done much to assure a supply of wheat at a reasonable price .for the coming • year, some effort > : should be made to conservo the wheat ) supply. Maize, oats, lucerne, and clover chaff should be used in greater quantities. It. was- obvious that tho present price of wheat could not. hold tor another season,' and the supply should be made to last >as long, "as possible. The '-■war had claimed.'several of the society's leading poultrymen; from whose ranks hadibeen contributed a large number to ■ 1 "the Army, and they.had upheld the hon-our'-of the-country.: .' I Following V on'-.the; adoption of the an- > ' nual leport;' a'''general--'discussion ensued "on-the question -of the v supplj; and price 1 of:!bran and^ on the .matter, Mr;* Bpddington said that ,the . Government. ;had fixed- the price at «£5 <18s. 3d. per ton, iyet., when a northern 1 jioultryman: wrote to the Board of -Trade out .'that he bad been charged riiiplOs. -perYton -the board had replied ' ' that lio action could bo taken. According to Mr. Holmes, if such were the case, an example should be made. The: regulations,had.been gazetted and should be adhered to. Another speaker said that a ' grain dealer had informed him that he cculd let him have only : on&: sack, and that at' a>ton. 'Later,he had found that the sam9,firin;had' on hand, a huge supply of - . branJand- ppUard;^~-'i'C :: - ■Vlt,"was "emphasised:.'.by. Mr. Scott that »it 'had -been announced-in sin- Auckland paper that anyone selling-bran at over * .85' ; 125. and pollard -at -J69 2s. Cd. were liable to', prosecution. ~ It was useless complaining to the 'Board of Trade. ; Poultrymen could not secure supplies in Auckland, and thousands of fowls hod to be dent to the auction to be slaughtered on account of the shortage of feed. The millers were exploiting the poultrymen and keeping back, iarge supplies. Eggs

would have been much cheaper this sea-

eon if proper supervision had been ex- / .erpised by: tho Board of Trade. Eggs .would-become etill dearer. * Several other speakers held that a solution of tho'problem would, only be Teached by the lifting of the.prohibition of tho "importation of bran and ppllard from Australia, Unless this was bronght about ..a great shortage of poultry food was predicted. '■■.'• : . ' - In supporting fliis view, Mr. P. Picot ■ took opportunity to deny the contention that Wellington merchants were holding back large supplies of bran and. pollard. If a search wero made of the merchants' premises very iittlo bran and pollard would bo found. After further discussion, a Masterton delegate brought under the notice of the conference a receipted amount, showing that he had paid £$ 10s. for bran, whereas the price fixed by the regulations was £5 18s. 3d. This ho had forwarded to the Board of Trade, only to receive- tho reply that it (the board) could take no action. The conference. decided lo again forward the account io the Board of Trade., The afternoon proceedings were opened by the president, (Mr. U. Gallichan), who delivered his ;.nnual address. In the course of this lie recorded that early in 1 the year, as a result of remarks made at last cdnferenco regarding the Board of Agriculture, an early opportunity -was afforded him of attending a meeting of the board, and laying before its members matters of general interest to the poultry industry. Later, the whole of the' mem- ; bers of the executive met the board, and laid before them the requests the association had made to the Government, and to elicit their support (o the association's demands. Nothing had yet been heard from the board in the matter, and the prev sident confessed his disappointment that the executive was unable to place before the conference the board's views or its recommendations. In July last much good was accomplished at a conference between the executive and Dr. Beakes and Mr. Pope, of tho Agricultural Department, and tho officer* of the Poultry Division of tho Department. The understanding arrived at and the confidence Established between the executive and the Department must have most beneficial results. The question of the 'Asiatic egg importation was submitted to the Minister of Agricnlture, In reply, the

Minister had intimated his readiness to recommend that tho importation should coase after September ]ast t but on tho matter reaching Cabinet the Government conveniently shuffled the question and submitted it to the Board of Irade for inquiry. Evidence, was taken by them in Christchurcli, Ihinedin, Auckland, and Wellington. Much evidence was taken, but no evidence had yet reached the association. ■ However, certain recommendations were made by him (the president), and if recommended by the board to the Government they would, he felt sure, meet with the approval of tlio association. The incoming executive should not loso sight of this very important business, imd tndeavour to induce the Government to follow the example of other countries and prohibit further importation. With regard to other matters submitted to the Minister the president,noted that the request for a resident expert at Auckland had been satisfactorily dealt with; that the proposed adoption of tho stamping of cool-etbred and preserved eggs had not been favourably entertained; the appointment of a commercial agent bad not so far mot wit.li i;ny favour; a favourable reply had been received relative to the ..establishment of a Government experir mental larm near < Chrietchurch, but the president understood the. project was hung up on account of thp high cost of material; regarding the representations made urging tlie settlement of returned soldiers on the land as poultry farmers it was the president's firm* conviction that if any real settlement was to be effected a very different system would require to be adopted. The association was anxious that, any rethrned soldier who desired to tako up the industry should bo successfully and favourably settled, but the present luothodVinade that almost impossible. There a'ppeared to be too many cooks and too much talk, and no really practical and business-like handling of this very important matter. Last year he (the president) had estimated that to provide for New Zealand's requirements about 26 million dozen eggs were required, whereas only something like 10 or 12 million dozen wtre being produced at the time. The executive made a special appeal for an increased production, and' he >vas pleased to report that many poultry-keepers had put forth magnificent efforts, with most satisfactory and encouraging results to themselves.) Mr. Gallieluin repeated his advice, to spare no effort to increase the production of eggs rnd poultry, as it was a sound business proposition. The food question was of perpetual interest to poultry-keepers, and the exploitation that had taken place during the last year or two should not bo permitted to continue. It had come to his knowledge that licensed buyers in some districts had mopped up second-grade wheat as prime milling wheat, and unloaded it later at exorbitant prices to poultrymen, and be sincerely hoped that the practice would be In conclusion, the president made reference to the sterling services rendered by tho honorary secretary, Mr. J. B. Merrett. The report was adopted after some discussion, in tKe course of which the Board of' Trade came in for considerable criticism for its failure to adequately support the association.