POULTRY NOTES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10711, 5 November 1912, Page 3

POULTRY NOTES.

(By "Utilitarian.")

Here ;uul there '-will bo some lament i ing that, various causes, they Itavi.- Leon unable to raise as m;:::y . h:..■!<:<:, s a.; origi'iahy de.iireu, or u. at, .iki unusual percentage hivo iur:ivAl 'Hr, cockerels, it is oa the iate sick, to remedy matters, though .most. Lroeder.s wiil generally reduce the j>nce of their teiL-Migs hi November, t.\;:. it will be iVu;.;ul tui j advantage,u> obtain if possible t::;y-o,d i chicks, thereby saving three weeks i waiting. ' These, of eours-.e, cannot be depended on to lay much before next June, for we have found that, as a rule, the later in the season, the chickens are hatched the older they are before commencing to lay, thus missing from two to three months'of pomgaratively high prices. However, there is one slight compensation for hatching late, and that is, the percentage of fertility is often greater. On the, other hand, unless the. late chickens are run on entirely fresh ground to which, the earlier ones had, they will . develop© very) slowly, therefore, it is advisable to | provide an entirely fresh piece of pasture, Vermin, too, tends to bo a stumbling Mock to late chickens, this being much more in evidence in the, hot weather, and the late breeder will ■ have to be on extra guard. | In the last issue of the Govern- | ment's Agricultural Jounnl is a cap- j ital article detailing results of some J careful experiments made, in incubation, at lluakura farm. ft may appear,, to some, that we are somewhat inconsistent in advocating poultrykcepers to endeavour to raise I pullets with the object of getting winter eggs when prices are high, know- ! ing that we also advocate, not high i prices hut uniformity in this respect. | The position is that we do obtain something approaching uniformity it ; is imperative to obtain the highest ' prices when available, otherwise with ] the corresponding low prices it is dif- j ficult to create a profit on the year's transactions in eggs. I Again, another new member has heen added to the ranks of the' Utility Circle, while another who was under the impression that he could do better by seceding, <-:oon found out his error and returned, post haste, to the fold. | Owing to pressure of other business a Utility Circle Committeeman lias I had to resign, and Mr Penrose, lias ' . been asked to fill his place. The latter gentleman ha,s taken an excep- '. tionally keen interest in the Circle's i welfare for some considerable period 'and it is only fitting that he should have been invited to fill the vacancy. j The trial shipment of eggs to Vancouver under Government supervision must have resulted in stimulating the hopes oT the experimenters to a high pitch, and the result, eighteenpence per dozen, is a solid answer to the lethargic and conservative portion of the poultry community. True, it was only a, small lot, 240 doxeu, but as has been shown elsewhere on a. previous occasion, a larger consignment stnnds an infinitely better chance of obtaining better prices. The possibilities, and probabilities, that a regular export trade opens up are immense far reaching. One cannot help feel- ■ ing that if poultrymen were more students of economic matters, they would soon agree and see for themselves the benefits of further co-opera-tion. A regular export trade in eggs i will mean, in the near future, a very I material increase in the, production ! of the article, those with already large ' planes will be encouraged to enlarge ! further, while newcomers will join the , ranks, and beginners, already, will lnve a .substantial incentive to contin:ue the wc-k begun. Amongst the vari ious trades which, will bone/it by the ' above will he the saw-millers, iron- ; mongers, carpenters, tinsmiths, and plumbers, egg-crate makers, and carters. The Railway Department, too, will need to be on the alert to provide j waggons for the conveyance of eggs ' and stamp makers will soon have a largo turnover. As for the grain-grow- ! cr, the foregoing will increase the dcI mand for all sorts of grain and its j component parts prepared by the mill- . ers. Gardeners, too, who have a belief ' in the virtues of poultry manure will the more; easier obtain this valuvble property, which in turn will increase their output. The writer feels„ not unjustifiably proiid, that he has so often publicly and privately advocated export nnd recognises the honour of belonging to the N. Z. Poultry Association, so largely responsible for the experiment.