POULTRY IN WESTERN CANADA 



The British market is bound to require enormous quantities of eggs this year, and 

 Canadian eggs should be the ones to meet this demand. 



Thus far the West has produced little more than sufficient to supply its own needs. 

 Before the West can look forward to competing in the larger markets, we must improve 

 the quality of the poultry products. Improvement can be effected, first, by keeping 

 a better class of poultry on the farms, thereby improving the egg and meat producing 

 qualities. Second, by proper care and management of the farm flocks and by better 

 methods of handling and marketing the outpout. This is what we are seeking to 

 accomplish by educational methods. — M. C. Herner, Poultry Department, Manitoba 

 Agricultural College. 



B.C. LAYING CONTEST 



J. R. Terry, Director of Poultry W T ork for the British Columbia Department 

 of Agriculture, gives the following summary of results obtained in the fourth International 

 Egg-laying contest for the year ending October 22, 1915: 



Duration of contest (months) 12 



Number of pens 40 



Number of birds 240 



Number of eggs laid 39,757 



Value of eggs laid $1,076.75 



Cost of feeding •. 527.38 



Profit over cost of feeding 549 . 37 



Average price of eggs per dozen 32. 5 



Average cost to produce dozen e^gs 15.9 



Average number of eggs laid per pen 993 . 9 



Average number of eggs laid per bird 165.6 



Average cost of food per pen (six birds) 13.18.4 



Average cost of food per bird 2.19 



Profit over cost of feed per pen 13 . 73 



Profit over cost of feed per bird 2 . 28 



Eggs laid by winning pen (class one) 1,341 



Average per bird winning pen (class one) ~ . . . . 223 . 5 



Eggs laid by winning pen (class two) 1,342 



Average per bird winning pen (class two) " 223 . 6 



Shortage of Eggs 



Commenting upon the egg shortage, the London, England, Standard of the 

 17th of November says: — 



"There is a great shortage of eggs, and whatever may be the popular opinion, there 

 has been no increase in home production since the war, despite the fact that our imports 

 of eggs are for the first ten months of this year less by 75,000 tons than those received 

 in the same period of the year before the war. Many people may be keeping poultry 

 who did not do so before the war, but, on the other hand the high price of food stuffs has 

 led to poultry keepers in a large way of business reducing their stocks. 



"The hospital demand is another important factor in the situation. I should place 

 the eggs required for the hospitals in the London districts alone at about 250,000 a 

 week, and this demand, which is, of course, not peculiar to London, naturally leads to 

 the diversion of supplies from the ordinary public." 



131 



