164 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



to be hatched all times of the year for an egg- 

 farm. Even the very early ones, which lay from 

 August till October or November and then 

 moult, are useful in filling up the supply, and 

 are often best killed directly moult comes on. 

 March and April birds will fill the winter pack- 

 ages ; and some late ones are often useful in the 

 summer. 



Modern results (first obtained in America) 

 from the free use of clover and cut fresh 

 bone have done much not only to revolu- 

 tionise, but to systematise, the egg-farming of 

 the present day. The free advice always 

 available to poultry-keepers in the columns of 

 the better-class poultry papers has also worked 

 wonders in the direction of the proper feedmg 

 of fowls for ^%'g production. 



We have made special endeavours to ascer- 

 tain what effect cold storage or freezing is 

 having upon the trade in dead poultry and eggs. 

 Storage of dead poultry has so far 

 Cold had some effect in steadying the 



Storage. market, as birds are often now- 



placed in the cellars to hold over a 

 day or two, instead of being absolutely sacrificed 

 on days of too free supply. But it has to be 

 remembered that with this the price goes down : 

 once gone into storage, a bird has to be sold for 

 6d. or even is. less than if it was fresh. As 

 most people know, animal food that has been 

 frozen will not "keep" well, once it is brought 

 out and thawed : it has passed from first-class 

 to a lower grade, and has to be sold quickly 

 and as such. In regard to eggs the risks are 

 considerable, as mentioned a little further on ; 

 and they too must be soon used when once 

 brought out. Eggs moreover require more 

 careful adjustment of the temperature, for if 

 too cold they burst or break the shells ; they 

 have to be kept at only about one degree below 

 freezing-point. Lastly, we believe they can be 

 detected by testing. A gentleman who markets 

 many eggs, and was therefore 

 Testing personally interested, told us that 



Storage Eggs a frozen egg could be known by 

 completely filling the shell, without 

 apparently any air-bubble at the end, and that, 

 when boiled, the air thus diffused in freezing 

 localised round the yolk, which it clearly sepa- 

 rated from the white. We tried in vain to procure 

 a few cold storage eggs for further testing this, 

 there being none obtainable: but we took ad- 

 vantage of a mild frost to freeze some fair shop 

 eggs, possessing quite a large air-bubble. The 

 first assertion was perfectly true: the air-biibble 

 had totally vanished, va-ak\x\g the egg apparently 

 "better" than new-laid. Of the second state- 

 ment there remained more doubt, the frost 



having cracked the majority of the shells ; in all 

 cases, however, the definite air-bubble did not 

 return, the air generally separating the white 

 from the membrane over the greater part of the 

 egg. It is satisfactory thus to find that cold 

 storage eggs, however good they may be, cannot 

 be permanently passed off as fresh. 



The figures relative to the imports of 

 poultry into England during the }-cars 1907-9 

 are as follows : — 



Totals /903.S47 ^934.579 ;f920,e99 



This trade does not at present very seriously 

 threaten the British industry, as regards gocid 

 quality. The cheap Russian fowls will be 

 mentioned presently ; of the better poultry, a 

 large proportion consists of turkeys from 

 France and Italy, many Italian turkeys being 

 credited as from France and Belgium, for the 

 December market. Poultry and turkeys from 

 Canada have made a great advance of late, but 

 can only compete as cold storage goods. 



Ireland exports considerable quantities of 

 both eggs and poultry to England, and this 

 fact is obviously connected with the predomin- 

 ance in the country of small oc- 

 Ireland. cupations, the vast majority of 



holdings being under 30 acres. The 

 statistics show, however, that too small holdings 

 are not favourable to either production or 

 prosperity. Between the years 1841 and 185 1 

 a great change passed over Ireland, holdings 

 under live acres decreasing from 310,436 to 

 88,083, and those between 5 and 15 acres 

 from 252,799 to 191,854, while those above 15 

 acres had correspondingly increased. Taking 

 therefore 1851 as our starting-point, we find 

 that in that year the number of poultry in 

 Ireland was returned as 7,470,694. By 1889 

 the number had increased to 14,856,517, and 

 in 1899 the number returned was 18,233,520, 

 an increase of nearly 25 per cent. 



Such figures must signify a steadily growing 

 and, upon the whole, prosperous industry ; and 

 there is ample evidence that there has been 

 very great improvement in many parts of Ire- 

 land, both as regards quality of the produce 

 and prices realised. Writing in 1886, we had 

 to report with regret that much good that had 

 been previously done by poultry shows, and 

 the distribution of better stock by owners of 



