A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



LIBRARV 



New vfvk 



v,c^ 



LN. 



Vol. VTI. No. 1(34. 



BARBADOS, AUGUST 8, 1908. 



Price Id. 



Poultry Kcepiiii^ in the 

 West Indies. 



OULTRY kcejiing is an industry carried on 

 by agricidtiirists in uU parts of the world, 

 Cv? t^,:g3l(i£g and one which should possess good possibi- 

 lities of profit in rural districts in the tropics, where, 

 ^ since it is not always possible to obtain a daily supply 

 ■^ of fresh meat, the poultry yard has to be relied upon 



to supply a considerable proportion of the aninjul food 

 required by all classes of the comnuuiity. 



The profitable nature of poultry raising depends 

 very much upon the amount of care and attention 

 which the birds receive, and for this reason the most 

 satisfactory results are usually obtained by agri- 

 culturists on a small scale, who possess or rent no 

 more than a few acres of land, and carry out themselves 

 all the details of work connected with the manage- 

 ment of their holding. Thus it is seen that the poultry 

 industry is most pi'ominent in those countries where 

 small holders predominate, i.e., in France, Denmark, 

 Italy, and latterly in Ireland. 



Fouls are kept very generally by people of all 

 classes in the West Indies, although it cannot be said 

 that much S3'stematic attontion is given to their 

 breeding and management. A tiock frequently 

 consists of mongrel birds, of inferior utilitarian charac- 

 ter, which are allowed to stray where they will, and 

 pick up food where they can. Hens are often kept 

 after they have reached an age when they are no longer 

 profitable layers, and nothing is done to prevent 

 rej)i:'ate(l in-breeding. 



Bearing these facts in mind, the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agricidture has in the past made considerable 

 efforts to improve local breeds of poultzy. To this (md 

 in many of the West Indian Islands birds of improved 

 breed have been imported and eggs from them 

 distributed. With the object of providing further 

 assistance to poultry- raisers, a pamphlet (No. 23) 

 entitled ' Notes on Poultry in the West Indies,' was ia 

 1903 issued by the J^epartment. This pamphlet, which 

 was prepared by Mr. John Barclay of Jamaica, who has 

 had considerable personal experience in connexion with 



