The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1911. THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 16 August 1911, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1911. THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

Levin', in particular, has been developing the poultry industry (luring the last eighteen months, hnt every district in Horowhenua. Coun- • ty is participating in tlie advance. Oban, Otaki, Pnraparauinu, Shannon and Tokomaru all have substantial poultry farms established in their midst, and the satisfactory financial results that have been achieved from them are certain to induce others to make a venture into tins industry. With a 'beneficent climate such as this county possesses, aided by the inexhaustible and easily-reached, market of Wellington, it is practically impossible for any industrious and properlytrained practical man in these, parts to fail in this business. Yet between mere success and big profits tlu-'ie is >a gulf -but it is a gulf that may be bridged. Tt seems to us that the time has come for a. furt'!:'?r advance to be made by our poultry keepers: that some furt!.»r means to S( e.re greater success should lie tried out, and finally adopted if prove. 1 good. For instan'e, there are more .avenues to success in the poultry business than the mere production of markelablo eggs. Some people express themselves positive that the "combination 'bird" (which lays a. reasonable number of eggs and also makes a good table fowl), is not a profitable sort for a poultryman who has to make his livine; solely from his fowls: but as a result of our personal investigations acd practical experiments, we are inclined to chalk iige that generally held belief, though We have no desire, to force our opinion upon more experienced and wiser men. We -give it for what it may bo worth. What we "do" s-ggest is that it would be well if a- Hility l\;.;iltrymen's .Society we:,;, i'oi nu::l to meet at regular times and discuss theories and pra'.-ti'.'cs, so that some cow it'.e facts could bo ascertained: fac's based upon experiei'-es and oxpc iments had and made, and tried ad retried, in onr own climate n:"l I county. The great trouble in regard to poultry ''Tacts" is that the majority of them are founded npaa the experiences of people who live amongst the snows of America's inland States or in England's almost equally chilly shires. Here in Horowhenua County we. have as fine a climate for poultry as there is in any part of the woidd; yet \vc are "scratching along" in the sold ruts when favoured by an incomparable climate we might be striking along a better road. The difficulty in getting .such a society started as the one we have suggested lies .'n the fact that no immediate financial 'benefit will bo conferred upon members by the society. Yet bonefits "must" follow from such an institution. Any .aggregation of ordinary men contains lu'ore wisdom and better concrete judgment than the single head of the greatest genius could hold. If a Horowhenua County Poultry Association can be formed, and be endowed with sufficient life and enthusiasm to keep it vigorous after the charm of novelty has departed from it. tho gain fo the individual meirbeii\s and to the -district will be material and great. To come down from generalities to specific instances, we may indicate here, as one branch of possible usefulness for suoh a society, the conduct of a Purebred Hen competition, with a view to elucidating what would bo the best type of fowl for tin's county. There are many, we .are aware, who .regard this question as being indisputably settled already; as being the one cardinally-established basis of poultry raising; and in our editorial car wo hearken to a clamorous chorus of "White Leghorn! White Leghorn !!" On that point, howover, wo aro heretical, and in an early issue we will give what wg regard as good reasons for our dissociation from tho general viw.