POULTRY NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 44, 19 February 1903, Page 4

POULTRY NOTES.

[By Wyandotte ] Items of interest will be thankfully received from poultry-raisera. Please address to " Wyandotte," News office.]

Well kept fowls are always profitable. Feed your fowls as you will, they will do no good if vermin is counted amongst your live stock | Success with poultry depends upon I very much the same principles that go to make success in other businesses. | It costs no more to feed and rear a I thoroughbred than a mongrel, indeed, often less : why not go for the standard : bred, then, even if only for she sake of j uniformity. , | A man does not need a hundred acres of I ground to make a living from poultry ; a ' few acres are all he requires.

Grit and Green Bone are as necessary to laying hens as daylight, if good results are wanted.

Pure drinking water is another most important item, and it should be kept in the shade, as sun warmed water promotes bjwel troubles.

Fowls, like men, thrive on food in which there is the element of variety.

_ Where poultry is penned up don't forget the green food. It is good for the pocket as well as the hen. Dr. Sanborn says: In recent years we have been handling poultry ailments from the wrong eud Too many times we have sought a remedy for a disease when we should have learned the cause that produced the condition, so as to avoid it in future. For every inch of space given in poultry journals to prevention, one hundred have been devoted to remedies and cures. This is wrong. There is more satisfaction and profit in keeping healthy poultry than in curing sick birds. The Levin Co operative Poultry Company, Limited, is well under way. The object of the company is to conduct the business of dealing in every branch of tlie industry, from breeding to marketing, iuciudiug the growing of suitable food stuffs and the sale of poultry appliances and food. Ihe purchase of poultry and eggs for export is to be a main feature of the Association's business. 'the idea of the promoters is to purchase a suitable farm in the neighbourhood of Levin and establish the company-on a sound footing. The proposed capit d is £IOOO, to be raised in a thousand shares of X'l each, half-a crown on application, half-a-crown on allotment. THE BEST WHITEWASH. A good rocipe for whitewash is often demanded, and we have much pleasure in placing before our readers that adopted by the United Sates Government. The information is obtained from the Reliable Poultry Journal, which says, in answer to a correspondent:—" The Government recipe for whitewash (which is used on lighthouses and other Government build~ ings where whitewash is required) is said to be the best formula there is. It is made as follows: Put two pailfuls of boiling water in a barrel and add one half bushel of well - burned, fresh quicklime ; put in quickly one peck of common salt dissolved in hot water, and cover the barrel tightly to keep in the steam while the lime is slacking. When the violent bubbling is over, stir until well mixed together, and if necessary, add more boiling water, so as to ha7e the mass like thick cream. Strain through a sieve or coarse cloth. Make a thin starch of three pounds of rice flour and one pound of strong glue, having first soaked the alue in cold water, a- d to the latter mixture add two pounds of whiting. Add this to the lime wash and also sufficient hot water to dilute to the proper consistency. Keep hot while applying. It will require about six quarts of the ! mixture to 100 square feet of surface, and it may be made any color desired. A LAYING ROOSTER. The question as to whether a rooster is capable of laying eggs has at last been settled. A prominent railway official here (says the Junee Southern Cross), who keeps a miniature poultry farm, has a wonderful bird in the shape of a rooster i which surpasses even the fabled deeds of ; the goose which laid the golden eggs. I The rooster suddenly became prominent in the poultry world by deviating from its us'ial sober habits by laying hardshelled eggp. That this is true and not 1 fable has been proved by several well--1 known goutlemon around here who have ■ examined and watched the bird. It is - kept penned up by itself, and to date it i has laid some ten or a dozen eggs. The j owner was naturally excited over this unusual phenomenon, and one day stayed at home, and if report be true had his meals in the yard so that he would bs better able to watch the bird. On this occision the rooster laid an egg. Ir appearance the eggs are much the sams as the ordinary hen egg, and wher cooked no difference can be detected To prove that there is no deception, ex perts who have examined the bird stati that they felt the egg' in its inside Many reasons have been advanced fo 8 this unusual freak of nature, andthemos . feasible one is that this peculiar talent i: probably inherited on the maternal side That mystery, however, is still unsolved The query arises, if the eggs were hatchei '• under a hen, which would be the mothe |e of the chickens ?—Australian Hen. d TABLE POULTRY. 18 The production of table poultry has nc -, reached the point of perfection in Ne' :s Zealand that obtains in America. 11l ' tendency in the colonies is in the directio

more of egg production, and the surplus c stock and played-out layers constitute _ more ofcen than otherwise the table birds. Go into any hotel and the diner can judge '• for himself. The poultry put before hini ■ •d is invariably tough and tasteless. This, d of course, will go on until the production )t of table birds becomes more of a specialty. , e Further, the present demand for poultry . j would be a mere circumstance to what ' would happen if the right kind of birds j were forthcoming. What is wanted is 16 the education of breelers to the fact that •e general purpose fowls pay no better than o general purpose cows. The dairyman to if be succossful must breed for tests—the poultryuian must incubate for birds that will put on the maximum of flesh in the minimum of time. There can be no question that as a basis for table poultry the Dorking stands almost alone, i' the nearest being perhaps the now :s fashionable Buff Orpingtons, who, it jfc must ba remembered, owe much of their good name to the Dorking. Pure bred Dorkings, however, cannot be strongly recommended except for certain classes rs of trade, as they do not show that 3r plumpness which is desirable. But for iy crossing purposes this breed should i., always have a prominent place. The best are, in the order named, Dorking and Indian Game, Dorking and Buff Orpington, aud Plymouth Roch and Dorking. It should also bo borne in & mind that where yellow blood is introj duceJ it should always be on the male a- side.

AFTER THE ROYAL VISK. After exciting times the health of children requires very special looking after. That 'the child is father to the man,' physically ' as well a<: mentally, is one of those truths ; that can never be coo often insisted upon, ; and the thoughtful parent will be careful j above all to see that her child has the proper i nourishment to establish its constitution, ' A good constitution is a rock on which alone success and strength can be built. Ataong the various foods that science comtceads in these days for this purpose, nona holds a higher place than Ne aye's Food fob In- j fasts and Invalids. According to the best medical testimony, and, what is perhaps better still, the grateful testimony of thousands of bap y mothers, this food contains all the naturral elements of strength, and while it is pleasant to the taste and eagerly taken by children, it may also be used by persons of all ages with decided benefit. It is a bone-buiiding, health-Bus taining product that cannot be too warmly "ecommended and we gladly add our words of praise to that of the numerous medical journals and experts that have recommended it. Neave's Food should have a prominent place in the dietary of every house where there are children or invalids.—Advt.