THE WORLD’S EGGS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 October 1938, Page 6

THE WORLD’S EGGS

BRITAIN THE DUMPING GROUND. Poultrykeepers in the British Isles are greatly concerned in respect to the enormous rises in import figures which indicate the British Isles as the dumping ground for the world’s surplus eggs. According to the “Poultry World,” the remarkable volume of imports of eggs, both in shell and in liquid form, during the first six months of this year is most alarming, representing as it does an equivalent of 2,012,311,200 eggs, or.the production of nearly 2,000,000 head of stock. It certainly seems as if the rest of the world is sending eggs to England. The Home journal referred to above says:—“The increase of eggs in shell is one of over one and three-quarter long hundreds for the first six months of 1938, as compared with 1937, but when we compare the first six months of 1934 with the present we find the increase is 4,489,458 long hundreds. Again based on laying trials production over the six months this number is equivalent to the output of 5,387,350 birds, or .shown in another way, it is the production of 10.775 farms each carrying 500 head of laying stock. When we examine the import figures of liquid eggs and egg products we find that these, at 412,038 cwt, are equal to approximately 453,000,000 shell eggs, the output of some 500,000 birds during the period, and equal to 1,000 farms with 500 head of laying stock each.” One puzzling thing about this dumping is that the poultry population of most countries is decreasing. In England and Wales alone there are some nine millions fewer fowls of all ages than were reported the previous year, and from Canada, the United States Germany, Holland, and other countries there is considerable decrease.