5 GEORGE V. .SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 A. 1915 



CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM, OTTAWA. 



REPORT OF THE DOMINION POULTRY HUSBANDMAN, F. C. ELFORD. 

 FEATURES INFLUENCING THE POULTRY INDUSTRY. 



The past year has had at least two features that have aifected the poultry industry 

 and that may be of interest here, the one refers to conditions influencing the general 

 price of eggs, and the other the importation of Chinese eggs into Canada. 



Owing to the mild winter and coruparatively early spring of 1912-13 throughout 

 Canada, hens laid well, which resulted in a good supply of new laid eggs on the market 

 early in the season. The same conditions prevailed in the Western States and, as a 

 result, eggs in Chicago were very low and a considerable quantity of the southern 

 eggs were imported into Canada. These, along with our own supply, brought the 

 prices lower in February than they had been for several years. 



The spring, though early, was cold and long drawn out, and the early summer, 

 especially around Ottawa, dry; as a consequence the young stock did not mature 

 as well as usual, and the pullets were not developed as they should have been when 

 entering winter quarters in the fall of 1913. 



The extremely heavy laying in the mild winter and spring of 1913, followed by the 

 somewhat backward growth of the pullets during the summer and fall, left the laying- 

 stock in comparatively poor condition for winter, and of course the scarcity of new-laid 

 eggs last winter and the accompanying high prices were a natural consequence, and 

 an " egg famine " was frequently predicted. 



Prices for strictly new-laid eggs in Ottawa were in some cases 75 cents and 80 

 cents per dozen, while in Montreal $1 was reported in special cases. The stores in 

 Ottawa were charging 60 cents, though prices for eggs from the Experimental Farm 

 were not higher than 50 cents, as this was thought high enough even for strictly new- 

 laids. This condition was quite general throughout Canada, and though prices may 

 not go to such a height for some time again, yet strictly new-laid eggs in the season 

 of scarcity will always demand a high figure, as every year there are more people who 

 will have them no matter what they cost. 



The surplus new-laid eggs at the Farms and Stations are sold for eating pur- 

 poses, and the prices obtained, though they may not be the actual prevailing local 

 prices, indicate the relative prices for strictly new-laid eggs throughout the Domiir'nu. 

 The following table shows the average prices obtained, by provinces, for the three 

 winter months of December, January, and February, and also the average price for 

 the three months: — 



955 



