TO THE POULTREKEEPER.

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3917, 12 March 1929, Page 4

TO THE POULTREKEEPER.

(To the Editor). •Sir,—We are informed by Government officials that a great mass of egg-pulp, double the usual quantity, has accumulated during the past season. This surplus over ordinary requirements, enough to last till 1930, will hang like the “Sword of Damocles,” etc., threatening future prospects for paying prices. It is also well-known that the bulk of this pulp has been bought up by one firin, enabling them to have a complete dictatorship over the future egg market. Much of this pulp has .been bought up round about lOd per lb., equivalent to eggs at 1/3 per dozen, when they should have realised 2/- per dozen to pay the producer. It may be asked: How did the egg speculator succeed* in buying so mulch .below cost of production? There is more than one reason. The most ‘.weighty is the disorganised state, nationally speaking, of the poultrykeepers themselves. In their present state of “(beautiful individualism,” which means chaos, by comparison 'with the co-operative dairy industry, they scatter their egg supply broadcast, instead of concentrating disposal through one channel, and under their own control. “Each a law unto himself,” and all suffer accordingly. Another reason can be summed up in a sentence, which may sound a bit harsb. “In a world of blind men the oneeyed man is king.” The king, that is the speculator, chooses the season of maximum production to operate’. At this time there is a tendency to over-supply, and with a little concerted planning he can bring about a blockage or glut. Prices drop. Having brought about a buyer’s paradise, and being now master of the situation, buying is done at prices below cost of production. The next move is to watch thd strategical tijme at which to unload the stuff back on to the market, at a hundred per cent, profit. The result of the whole transaction is that the poultfykeeper gets the unpaid feed bills, and the trader, the profits. These profits ho doubt include the city consumer’s share of the “ransom.” Mind, the poultrykeeper has mot finished with this super-quantity) of egg-pulp. Its influence is felt on the market, prejudicially affecting his future sales. That is where we stand to-day. It is the/ fate and penalty of scattered units, in an age of group activity.

These conditions show that nowadays the free, disorganised, or imperfectly organised producer, is only a pawn in .the commercial galme. Certainly he is a great philanthropist; but his power, his determining influence, economically or industrially, is about equal to that of a bantam day-old chicken hardly more. I have no grudge against the qgg- speculator. He takes the line of least resistance. The producer is more to blame, if anything. Nature abhors a vacuum, and he ffils the commercial vacuum. He has to till that position which .producers so far have shown themselves unwilling or incapable of filling. Representing a survival of a past age, lie has filled his post somewhat a la “Dick Turpin” —a method fast getting out of harmony with the modern sense of justice. W.e may leave it to the road-roller “Evolution” to settle the matter. In a book by Edward Bellamy one reads that a man, who finding himself in the mire up to liis chin, instead of making some efforts to extricate himself, merely asked for a bottle of smelling salts. That is philosophy canned to the limit. That solution should not be for poultrymen, who must make a special effort to extricate themselves. The way to do so is iby combination, by clubbing their product, their .energy, and their intelligence. Singly, we shall remain a powerless rabble. We. will tap our source of power when we start to combine. We now place our egg-amunition into l speculative hands, then we wonder why we receive a “black-eye.” Have we any sense of humour? Wje need organised power to put a punch behind our political demands. It is urgently necessary to overhaul and to modernise the basis of the industry. We require a National Egg Board, Registration; parity of cost of! (feed for both islands; central egg-grading and testing stations; co-operative marketing, and buying; surplus egg-pulping; and measures for safeguarding the health and pockets of the general public. Have a pull together. ORGANISE! There is no alternative.—l am, etc., H. BEGER, The “Village Egg Earn,” Weraroa, 4th March, 1929.