424 POULTRY FARMING 



The tariff on imports restricting movement of poultry produce from Canada to the 

 natural market in the States for a time prevented the development of poultry culture 

 in Canada. It was well advanced in Ontario but backward in other parts of the 

 Dominion. Efforts to build up an export trade with England had the unexpected 

 result of stimulating home consumption to such an extent that, although production 

 greatly increased, the surplus which could be profitably exported dwindled to exceed- 

 ingly small proportions. 



In England and Scotland the question of future supplies of poultry produce has 

 become important, because it has long seemed plain that without some concerted 

 effort for a general increase of production on farms the falling off in imports would 

 not be offset by increased production at home. Within the last year the figures for 

 the census of poultry on the farms of Great Britain, taken in June 1908, have been 

 published. These show a total of 36,728,000 head of poultry of all kinds, divided as 

 follows: fowls, 32,356,000; ducks, 2,963,000; geese, 712,000; turkeys, 697,000. " Stat- 

 istician," writing in the Illustrated Poultry Record, August 1912, observes that the 

 number of fowls is almost precisely one to the acre of cultivated land in Great Britain, 

 and that an average of three fowls per acre might be kept without the displacement of 

 any other crop. 



In Germany the consumption of poultry and eggs is increasing much faster than 

 the home production. The increased demands of Central and Western Europe have 

 especially stimulated production in Russia, and it seems apparent that that country 

 will soon occupy a position in poultry production in Europe like that of the agricultural 

 regions of the West in America. 



The figures for the number and values of poultry in the United States as obtained 

 in the census of 1910 were also issued during 1912. Those showing egg production 

 have not yet appeared. According to this census the number of fowls of all kinds has 

 increased from 250,624,038 in 1900 to 295,880,190 in 1910, an increase of 18.5%; and 

 the values have increased from $85,807,818 to $154,663,220, an increase of 80.2%. 

 The increase in population in this period was 21%. It would appear that the poultry 

 population had not increased as fast as the human population, but as the rules of 

 enumeration of poultry in 1900 and 1910 were not the same, close comparison is not 

 possible. The conditions under which the enumerations of poultry have been made 

 are not favourable to accuracy, and as no account is taken of the poultry not on farms 

 it is apparent that a great deal of poultry is not enumerated. In Buffalo, N. Y., a 

 canvass made by a local poultry association discovered that there were over 5,000 per- 

 sons keeping poultry within the bounds of this city of 423,000 population. The ratio 

 for all cities and towns would undoubtedly be found higher than this. 



With progress general and the total of supplies well maintained, the years 1911 

 and 1912 have been poor years in poultry production both in Europe and America. 

 The increased numbers of those giving special attention to poultry account for the 

 fact that there has not been a reduction of products over wide areas. Climatic con- 

 ditions are commonly considered the fundamental cause of the poorer winter egg 

 yields and bad hatches in the spring. Unseasonable and extremely changeable weather 

 affects egg production unfavourably and impairs the vitality of the breeding stock. 

 Lessened yield was in part made up by higher prices for market products, but these 

 seasons were very discouraging to novices. In America the year 1912 is likely to be 

 memorable as a year of hard times for breeders of exhibition poultry, manufacturers 

 of and dealers in poultrymen's supplies, and poultry journals. There was some depres- 

 sion in Europe, but it was most severe in America where all lines dependent upon ad- 

 vertising have been greatly overdone. The close of the year gave many indications 

 of improvement, but it is the consensus of opinion that healthy conditions will not be 

 fully re-established until the elimination of weak concerns and the natural increase of 

 business bring about a more even balance of supply and demand in these lines. 



Education. The most important factor in poultry culture at the present time is 

 the educational movement. This includes not only the work of instruction at colleges 



