Ontario poultrymen than to start with a new variety. Even before the bred-to-lay 

 bird was produced, Barred Rocks were fairly satisfactory. However, ultimately it is 

 the strain, not the breed, that counts. 



Last year we distributed 16,000 eggs, principally through the schools. There will 

 be so many roosters raised that the effect will be felt all over the Province. It is the 

 male that controls the egg-laying characteristics. Mate a rooster from an egg-laying 

 strain to a hen that scarcely lays a dozen a year, and the pullets of the first generation 

 produced will be good layers. Therefore, if we can distribute roosters through the 

 country every spring the improvement in Ontario's egg production will be very 

 marked. 



How do we propose to do this? The average District Representative takes 100 

 dozen eggs to distribute through the schools in his county. These eggs are hatched by 

 the children, who raise the chicks, show the best at the rural fairs, sell the surplus roosters 

 and generally get the whole community interested. 



We are establishing breeding stations, where it is possible, in every school section. 

 To accomplish this we get a farmer who is interested in chickens, clean out his old stock, 

 and supply him with eggs. We never let him use his own males, but supply him from 

 the college. We give him three and a half cents apiece for all the eggs he can produce 

 during the first month of the breeding season. The farmer gets a good price for his 

 hatching eggs, besides having the advantage of high-laying hens. The best cockerels 

 are usually bought by us, sorted out, and the choicest ones used. 



In this manner we shall be able to produce an enormous number of hatchable 

 eggs each year to supply the whole Province with birds bred for utility, pullets to lay 

 eggs, and cockerels to make a dinner. 



QUEBEC'S OPPORTUNITY IN POULTRY RAISING 



M. A. JULL, Poultry Department, Macdonald College, Que. 



Eggs and dressed poultry are in constant and increasing demand by the consuming 

 public of Quebec. This is partly due to improvement in the quality of the products 

 marketed, which is largely responsible for an increased popularity of eggs. They 

 are received with greater favour and are enjoyed with more relish than heretofore, and of 

 course there is no substitute for such a unique commodity as eggs. An annual increase 

 in the population of the Province and an increase in consumption per capita are 

 responsible for the increased demand. Increased production has not nearly kept 

 pace with the increased demand, with the result that Quebec is importing eggs and 

 poultry in large quantities. The farmers of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Ontario are 

 supplying the. people of Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke and other cities with many of 

 their eggs. The farmers of Quebec thus lose a good share of the profits in their own 

 market. 



The farm flock has to supply the market requirements of the people in towns and 

 cities, as well as the farmer's own needs. The cost of living in farm homes would be 

 reduced if more eggs and poultry were used on the table, since these products are 

 produced more cheaply than other farm products. The number of poultry kept on the 

 average farm is surprisingly small, indeed, some farms are not producing enough eggs 

 and poultry for their own use. 



To furnish the demand for eggs and poultry due to the increase of city dwellers, 

 the Province imported quantities of eggs as shown hereunder: — 



1913—812,201 doz. at 19c. per doz., value $156,740. 



1914—1,103,118 doz. at 25c. per doz., value $280,429. 



The value of exports of eggs and poultry from Quebec in 1914 amounted to $396 

 for eggs, $6,113 for live poultry, and $17,112 for dressed poultry, a total of $23,621. 



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