July, li)13 



THE (iARDEN AND FIELD. 



660 



better try dipping them in kero- 

 sene ciunlsiou. Iveioseuc i quart, 

 water 20 ciiiarts, soap % lb., oil % 

 pint. Make a thorough emulsion 

 L)y dissolving ihe soap in a small 

 quantity oi boiling water, add the 

 oil and kerosene and pour into the 

 bulk of the water, which should be 

 as warm as you and the fowls 

 can conveniently stand. Then keep 

 pumping tile mixture into itseli 

 lor ten minutes. Dip the birds in 

 this. See that the liquid, pene- 

 trates to the skin. Une imnute 

 lor bird should be suillcient. See 

 that all parts except the head are 

 covered and rub a little into this. 

 Squeeze all the moisture out. They 

 \v"iil do their own drying. Uo the 

 job as early in the mornrng, as the 

 sun has taKen the chill oft the day. 

 iveep the birds on the move i£ they 

 should happen to want to camp in 

 the shade, v^hoose a siumy, day. 

 Give -the birds a couple of hot 

 meals and hope ior the best., \ou 

 will of course Keep the birds in an 

 absolutely clean place between the 

 time of the operation and moving 

 them to your new home. We shomu 

 do it two or three days before the 

 moving. Keep the liquid, warm 

 and tfioroughly emulsitied. The 

 proportions quoted are a, guide 

 only, 3'ou may hnd it necessary to 

 vary a little. Bear in m nd that 

 what you want to do is to coat 

 each ticK with a thin film oi kero- 

 sene and oil. The principle des- 

 tructive agency is tnc ciioKing of 

 the breathing tubes. 



♦ • 



Correspondence. 



WANTED— A FAIR CHANCK. 



To the Editor. 



Dear Sir. — I am glad to see that 

 a club has been formed to encour- 

 age breeders of the heavy breeds. 

 As j-pu see by my address 1 am 

 too far away to help in the good 

 worK. but i may perhaps be ai-- 

 lowed to suggest the importance of 

 maintaining the standard of the 

 breeds. It should be remembered 

 that the Orpington, W'j-andotte and 

 Plymouth K.ock were bred to occu- 

 py a definite place. Thiere were not 

 intended for and never in my 

 opinion, will, become equal to the 

 best of the egg breeds on the one 

 hand or the best of the table 

 breeds on the other. I venture to 

 hope that breeders will recognise the 

 truth of this. I would advise 

 my brother breeders of that grand 

 fowl, the Black Orpington, to de- 

 pend on its proved merits and not 

 to attempt to force it into another 



class. I think a mistake has been 

 made in the past by breeders in 

 sending birds to the competitions 

 which but i>oorly represented the 

 breed the>' were supposed to be. 

 1 speak more particularly of the 

 Black Orpingtons which I know 

 best. I visited Roscworthy on one 

 occasion and have heard others ex- 

 press the oi)inion, I then formed, 

 vi/.., that the breed was being 

 ruined by breeders too short-sighted 

 and eager for present profit to 

 look ahead, to see that to breed 

 heavy breeds out ot type , and class 

 was to kill people's interest in 

 them. I remen-.'ber. Sir, that on 

 one occasion your paper donated 

 priz/es for standard points. I hope 

 to see the newly-formed club take 

 thisi matter up and try to arrange 

 for some recognition of standard 

 merit even apart from the number 

 of eggs laid. I think your Poul- 

 try Expert should be asked to fix 

 a weight limit under which no 

 birds should be eligible. I am told 

 that in the earlier competitions, 

 and now, there is laxity in read- 

 ing of the rule about breed qualifi- 

 cations. I think that more 

 stringency in this respect would be 

 a step in the right direction. I can 

 quite understand that he would in 

 the earlier competitions at least, 

 not wish to discourage breeders 

 by rejecting their birds, but it is 

 different now. I hope that the club 

 will support the Expert in the 

 course I have suggested, and also 

 indiyiduallv send up worthy repre- 

 sentatives of their breeds. Trust- 

 ing that I have not occupied too 

 much of your space, and that some 

 more able pen will take the matter 

 up, I am, etc., 



Breeder of Black Orpingtons. 

 Horsham, Vic. 



We thank BOBO for his letter 

 and sympathize with his preference 

 for the heavy weight black. We 

 fear, however, that as long as 

 eggs are i/- per dozen and poultry 

 meat 6d. a lb., the public call will 

 continue to be for the bird which 

 lays the most eggs, irrespective of 

 other considerations. Commercial 

 poultry keeping is not a matter of 

 sentiment, and both breeder and 

 buyer see more profit in an extra 

 2 dozen eggs than in 2 lb. extra 

 meat. BOBO is in error in one 

 point. The Poultry Expert had 

 nothing to do with the first three 

 competitions. If we recollect 

 aright the appointment was not 

 made till after the}' were com- 

 pleted and he did not, we believe, 

 take sole charge until the fourth or 

 fifth, consequently of course he 

 had nothing to do with " ad- 

 mitting non-representative birds to 



the earlier competitions." In this 

 matter he inherited what was po.s- 

 sibly a bad practice, and possibly 

 continued it. Of course there are 

 quite a lot of people who ask, 

 what is the good of type, size and 

 feather, and even the greatest 

 stickler for standard points might 

 be hard put to it to demonstrate 

 their actual practical value in the 

 South Australian poultry world. 

 If breeders of Black Orpingtons find 

 that their best layers are to be 

 found amongst their active tight 

 feathered, comparatively small 

 birds, it is of course natural that 

 they should send such birds to re- 

 present them. Why shouldn't they? 

 They certainly know theirl own 

 business best and as they pay the 

 piper there is a good deal of jus- 

 tice in thinking that they, ought to 

 be allowed to caU the tune. — Ed.) 



♦ 



Rearing Turkeys, 



The following information was 

 given us by a friend a few years ago, 

 writes a correspondent to a Vic- 

 torian paper. The lady's birds 

 were a cross of the Amiercan 

 bronze. She has always had good 

 luck in rearing turkeys. She fed 

 the young birds on bran and pol- 

 lard, mixed with clover and other 

 green stuff, cut with a chaffcutter. 

 The old birds got the same. It 

 was mixed the night before, soft 

 and damp. The chicks were kept 

 under cover in wet weather. They 

 were not fed heavily. There was 

 also a splendid grass run for them, 

 a garden with fruit trees, and 

 plenty of shed accommodation. To 

 rear turkeys successfully they must 

 be bred from' sound and ma- 

 tured stock (two-year-old birds at 

 least). They do not want to be 

 pampered or kept too much con- 

 fined. They should also sleep in 

 the open-air. 



♦ 



In keeping fowls for profit it 

 should never be forgotten that the 

 stock must be young. It is im- 

 possible to expect success unless 

 this point is remembered and act- 

 ed upon. 



WANTED TO SELL 



INCUBATOBS AND BROODERS, 

 Simplex, « warded first price (silver 

 medal) Adelaide Exhibition, 1910. 

 Agent tor Cort's Patent Cooler-safe, 

 a boon in summer. Send for price 

 list.— D. LANYON, Manufacturer, 46 

 North Terrace, Kemt Town. 6-12. 



