POULTRY NOTES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10584, 15 March 1912, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES

(By Utilitarian.)

DENMARK

A report to Land oa "Tlio Penury Industry in Denmark and Sweden'' contains a Jot oi' useful and interesting matter. The author is Mr Edward Brown, a well known authority at Home on poultry questions, and through the medium of these columns I propose to cull a few of the best parts for further dissemination. It was not till IMG! "that the luitional awakening came resultant with the war with Prussia, calling the attention of the Scandinavians to the fact that it was well to develop their economic resources, and Denmark hemp essentially a country of small holdings led to many 'of the people turning to poultry for an increased livelihood. There are very few per-: sons there who devote their sole attention to the business, the ihulk of the eggs coming from iUe mixed farms, and 1 am sure what the Danes can do amongst the fanning community can be done here. White Leghorns, aro the principal birds kept, though tliere are still, in parts, to ho seen the original Land-] hen, a fairly useful sort. Appeuran-1 ces indicate that high water mark j has been reached as regards exports I from Denmark, while in Sweden the exports never have been worth noting, and, moreover, there is every likelihood of the latter country considerably increasing, hor consumption in the very near future owing to in-! creased industrial pursuits. | In Denmark there are some twen-| ty-five ibreeding centres, 'while in Sweden they are considerably less. Size of eggs has been the first eon-' sideration with the Danes, so much so that they are becoming over large to suit the requirements of the market, while the laying qualities in numbers of their birds do not come up to ours, though that is probably due to the excessive rigour of the climate. The following is the ration ' on one of the most -"ccessful Danish] farms:— In the morning two parts Indian meal, four parts ground oats, four parts bran, to which is added a little bone meal and meat, the whole j being .mixed, with skim milk. Dur-! ing the day swedes and chopped hi- ' cerne arc put in the pens, and in' the evening anixed grain is given • consisting of two parts Indian corn, ' one part wheat, and four parts oats and barlev. -., i

'Owing to rats being a great pest! in both Sweden and Denmark, brick or concrete floors j)ro extensively used' j iu the fowl-houses. j A' .goniertliat unusual method,'! though not altcgether new, is the practice of -tying the leg of the hen,'l when with chickens, iby a cord to the coop, which gives her a certain amount of exercise, and enables her to seratcli for the .progeny.' The runs are stated to be unusually small, and tins is made still: worse owing to tliem being very closely planted with fruit trees, so that only a minimum amount of sunshine can get to them. As regards Danish egg co-operative societies, much of their success is due to the absolute loyalty of the members, who realise their interests are bound up therein. The (Danish Farmers' Co-operative Egg Expert Association was founded in 1894, and has connected with it about'soo local societies, numbering some -10,000 'members. In addition, there are many egg societies connected iwifli the butter factories, bringing the total well over SOO societies, and . the membership to some 70,000. \ W'hen more of the large estates sur- | rounding GYlasterton and other centres are cut up, we may expect the above, and I know of no more forcible argument to put before the Government than a synopsis of Scandi-' navia's splendid success with small holdings, countries where poverty is unknown. ! A comparison of railway freights j with this Dominion are not without I interest and significance. In Denmark, for a distance of seventy miles ' (say between here and Wellington), the-'charge is, per goods train, 7s ml, for a ton of eggs, while we would be charged the extortionate rate of over thirty shillings, and if carried by the truck load in the former country the rate would ;be not more than 6s for .1.00 miles. In grading the eggs, no mechanical device is used, it is all done by the j eye, and they arc sorted into four , sizes. . So quickly and accurately is the Avork done that several trays cf 120 each only take a few minutes, and seldom vary even as-much as one ounce per tray. The crates adopted by the Danes are made to hold 1410 eggs, and cost Is 6d to 2s each. Those most commonly used in this country hold only 210, and cost from 0s to 10s each! A great deal of attention is given over there to preserving, and Mr Brown saw some thirty millions of eggs in preservation tanks, some of the firms putting down as many as 2,301,000, 26 per cent, of the year's operations, which must have had a very steadying effect on prices in the flush of the lfryiug season.