G60 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



^ Pottltry 



KXPECTATIONS. 



Do not expect too much of a 

 good thing. We all read of loo 

 per cent, hatches, but thev do not 

 always or even often come off. It 

 will save a heap of disappointment 

 with travelled eggs, if we consider 

 7r> per cent, as an extra good re- 

 sult and 60 per cent, as quite satis- 

 factory. Work out your own 

 average for last season before you 

 begin to bless (with variations) 

 the seller of a setting from which 

 you have just hatched eight chicks. 

 There are a lot of unreasonable 

 people in the world, but the buver 

 of eggs for hatching often takes 

 a prominent position in the crowd. 



vSORTING OUT. 



It is surprising what a number 

 of useless birds are still kept in 

 manv suburban poultry vards. A 

 rigid sorting out in such cases 

 would certainlv make the poultry 

 balance sheet look more rosy. THs- 

 cussing this subject a corres- 

 pondent to an English paper 

 writes— Breed is of less importance 

 than the individual. In selecting 

 the individuals that are to compose 

 the fl'ock there are often a few s])eci- 

 mens that are not wanted. Old 

 birds are not profitable. Don't keep 

 an old hen simjilv because she has 

 some peculiarity you like. Senti- 

 ment is all right in its place but 

 in the poultrv yard it doesn't al- 

 ways pay. The second season as 

 a rule is long enough for the best 

 hen to live. Don't have immature 

 pullets in the dock. Have them 

 well developed before cold, weather 

 comes. Have no criijples or de- 

 formed birds ; none that are of 

 have been sick. If you want to 

 breed true to the breed cull out 

 all that are off in color and shape. 

 Cull out the lazy birds. Have no 

 loafers. Like begets like. Have no 

 male that is not vigorous and full 

 of life. Have the flock made up 

 of individuals that are a .good repre- 

 .sentation of the breed, a fair si/.e 

 rather than over or under. Have 

 them well matured and from a 

 good healthy parent stock." Very 

 good advice and well worth acting 

 on — to-day. 



KEEP A FEW FOWLS. 



Considering the price of eggs 

 during the past three or four years 

 the fact that there does not ap- 

 pear to be any probability of there 

 being any marked decrese in the 



Notes # 



cost of this very essential kitchen 

 requirement, it woidd not seem, to 

 be necessary to urge every subur- 

 ban householder to keep few birds 

 to at least supply that very neces- 

 .sarv adjunct of the breajfast table 

 — the new laid egg. The average 

 commercial egg may be good 

 enough for ordinary cooking pur- 

 poses, but for boiling shop eggs 

 do not come within coo-ee of the 

 home grown article. Looked at 

 from any point of view the keep- 

 ing of a few fowls is a good pro- 

 ])osition. In the average home the 

 waste of the kitchen and garden 

 will easil)' supply half the food ne- 

 cessary to keep from six to eighteen 

 fowls. This means that the bought 

 food will average certainly under 

 per head. Allowing that they 

 lay twelve dozen eggs each and it 

 is by no means an unduly liberal 

 estimate, and we get anvthing 

 from 72 to 2i'6 doz. prime eggs at 

 a cash cost of 3d. per doz. as 

 against four to five times that 

 amount, which is the average price 

 of a much inferior article, taking 

 the year right through. A few 

 pounds is not a fortime but most 

 people consider them worth sav- 

 ing. 



PROVIDING THE CORPSE. 



In cono^ratulating Mr. Lawrie 

 last month on his valuable assist- 

 ance in the preliminary work in 

 the proposed resusitation of the 

 " all round " breeds and the form- 

 ation for this purpo.se of an 

 association at present imnamed. 

 —How would " Societv for the 

 Propagation of the Popularity of 

 the Plack Orningtons and Kindred 

 Proken Breeds and the Financial 

 Betterm'ent of Breeders thereof" do? 

 A little complicated and a trifle 

 lengthy may be, but not more 

 complicated or longer than the job 

 it stands for — we expressed the 

 opinion that he had had a lot to 

 do with providing the corpse. A 

 correspondent, commenting on the 

 club and seeking further informa- 

 tion, appears to differ either from 

 OUT opinion or mode of expressing 

 it, for he writes : — Though vou 

 may he correct in the opinion that 

 the exclusion of the other breeds 

 from the scone of the poultry 

 work at Roseworthv (if it is a 

 fact) has been preiudicial to their 

 advancement, it is only fair to 

 Mr. T/awrie to remember that he is 

 privately a keen admirer of the 

 general utility and table breeds, of 

 which he was at one time a 



breeder." Our correspondent is no 

 doubt correct, but with Mr. 

 Lawrie's personal predilictions in 

 the matter of poultry, we have, of 

 course, no concern nor has anyone 

 else. They are doubtless wholly 

 correct and entirely admirable.' 

 Our correspondent would, we 

 think, have been on more solid 

 ground had he pointed out the fact, 

 which certainly is a "fact, that Mr. 

 Lawrie, in his official capacity, 

 has, in his writings and lectures, 

 been a consistent advocate of the 

 value of the all round breeds. No 

 breeder of the dual purpose bird 

 can with any show of justice, deny 

 that the Poultry Expert has given 

 him and the breeds he favours a 

 fair and square deal in this mat. 

 ter. From, our point of view the 

 Poultry Department has enough 

 sins of omission on its shoulders 

 without lugg-ing in any of which 

 it has certainh- not been guilty. 



THE ,ROOT OF TiHE TROUBLE. 



We certainly think that the drop- 

 ing of the " any other " breeds 

 from the Roseworthy list (if it is 

 a fact) has, as our correspondent 

 says, " been prejudicial to their 

 advancement." In the public eve 

 they have been sort of " weighed in 

 the balance and found wanting." 

 We also think that the liberality 

 to say the least of it, with which 

 the " standard of the breed " has 

 been interfered in the matter of 

 admission to the Roseworthy com- 

 petition pens, has been a. contri- 

 butary cause in providing the 

 aforesaid corpse. For both of 

 these factors in the present com- 

 parative unpopularity of the breeds 

 the Poultrv Expert is at all events 

 nominally responsible. The real 

 root of the trouble, however, lies 

 in the breeds them .selves, and we 

 are .nuite ready to admit that the 

 " passing " of the dual purpose 

 bird is, as far as commercial poul- 

 try keeping (the only sort of poul- 

 try with which the Poultry Expert 

 is ofiiciallv interested), is concerned, 

 is not a wholly undesirable event. 

 As a suburban utility and as an 

 exhibition fowl, the heavy breeds 

 will always command a large 

 amount of well-deserved support. 

 As money makers on any comm.er- 

 cial scale, and as long as prices 

 are as they are, they will remain 

 dead. 



PAR AFIELD. 



There has been some talk 

 amongst breeders as to conditions 

 at Parafield. This talk, or such of 

 it as we have heard, has not been 



