THE NEED FOR POULTRY 25 
rood is in a small town of about 8000 inhabitants. I 
keep 12 pullets in a lean-to run, 28 feet by 9 feet. The roof is 
boarded, covered with felt, and on top galvanised iron. A well- 
sheltered roosting-place is at one end, and all is wired in to prevent 
sparrows stealing the food. The fowls have the lawn-mowings 
and spare greens from the garden. They have also the waste food 
from a family of four persons, and we use all the eggs. I keep the 
fowls two years, and then buy in fresh pullets. This has been con- 
tinued for eighteen years. The following is the result for the past 
two years :— 
de Se ide 
Nov. 1914—To 12 bought for . . : 2 2 30 O 
One old one left . ‘ : , : a Oo 2 6 
Food bought ‘i : ‘i : : - 10 5 90 
Balance . ‘ : , 3 3 # fo 5 6 
£2213 0 
be Sis 
One old one eaten ; ; F 3 fo O56 
One died . : . . . . sa 
11 killed and eaten at 2s. 6d. . 5 - - “F 3 .6 
3384 eggs at isd. each . 5 ; ; % 28T. 3> 20 
£22 13.01" 
It will be observed that my correspondent values the eggs at 
13d. each. Obviously he might have made it 23d. each without 
overstating the price of the new-laid egg, in which case his profits 
would have come out at about £18, but no doubt he is fully satisfied 
with the £10, 5s. 6d. as given in his financial statement. 
It seems to me that while the Board of Agriculture is desirous 
of every yard of land being put into cultivation, there are thousands 
of patriotic citizens who could give far greater assistance by keep- 
ing a few fowls in their gardens. The yield per acre from poultry 
kept intensively would be infinitely greater than any other food 
crop that one could name, and even if we can produce only one egg 
where none was produced before, we are fulfilling a public duty. 
