A NEW POULTRY MARKET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 108, 25 May 1901, Page 4

A NEW POULTRY MARKET.

SOUTH AFRICA. C SOMB POINTS FOR FARMERS. t < -—— pi There is (says the N.Z. Times) at p present a market for good fowls in 01 South Africa, and a well-known Wellington firm of merchants is taking prompt steps to reap the advantage thereof for itself and its clients. The Government Poultry Department has 1 received' orders to supply an un-l limited number of good-conditioned, J e plump-bodied, dressed fowls, and / eliickens for shipment to Cape Colony at an early "ate. Eight at the outset of this new departure the department has unfortunately been beset with the oh) New Zealand trouble—that of rush- J in« on to the market an article unfitted £ for it. The (lax industry was crippled bv'such semi-criminality and thebntter market of Britain was only saved to . the colony by rigorous action on the part of the Government graders, \jovv' . a new avenue of export is threatened i .with annihilation almost at its incepti>m by attempt to foist upon consumers ill-conditioned, badly-bred fowls ..with decided angularities of contour and of antiquated birth. Shipments of 160 ; head of poultry have besn received in> Wellington since last Saturday, and of J this number the Government expert (Mr Blowers) has bad to reject nearly two-thirds, owing to lack of condition. In the case of a big consignment from Motueka, the inherent defect of inbreeding was responsible for the inability of the poultry to put on condition and bulk—like Mark Twain's dog, they had in them nearly every breecT , in the universe. The matter of proper food and the quantity thereof is one that might with .advantage be studied by poultry raisers. A good fattening ■ diet is pollard and bran mixed with warm milk, but not made too thin. A sufficiency only be given the fowls at one time ; the habit of allowing them to scratch food about and subsequently devour it in partly a decomposed state is greatly prejudicial to their health. But the point of all points which should be borne steadily in mind by poultry raisers is the absolute necessity, that exists for securing well-bred strains. A " barn-door" eats just as much food as a blue-blooded fowl, but whereas the latter fattens as readily as an alderman, the " barndoor " remains as thin and ravenous as a Socialist. For the table the cross required is such as that between an Indian Game and a Dorking—it need not necessarily be the breeds here specified, but should be a mixture that would produce like characteristics: length of body and plumpness of breast. Good blood in poultry means good gains, but the man who seek* fortune by raising in-bred fowls chases) the fickle goddess handicapped with a j welter weight. j