570 



THh. GARDEN AND FIELD. 



M»y, 1914 



cannot afford to pay big prices 

 for eggs to grow into table chick- 

 ens. 3/- for eggs from a pen of 

 any big framed hens running with 

 a Game or Faverolle male is a 

 fair thing. If you grow the chicks 

 well they will pay big interest on 

 Biddy's effort. 



A GREAT OPPORTUNITY. 



With the price of beef on the up 

 grade, that of vegetables follow- 

 ing suit, the uncertain prospects 

 of the lambing, the continued ob- 

 jection of fish to being caught and 

 the co)-ness of .Jupiter rluvius 

 generally, the outlook for a 

 hungry public is rather gloomy. 

 It is, how-ever, an ill wind which 

 telescopes '.everybody's umbrella. 

 This particular one seems to be the 

 poultryman's opportunity. Any 

 fear of the disposal of the large 

 increase to the poultry stock of 

 the State due to the record hatch- 

 ings of the last two years, which 

 was perhaps foreshadowed in the 

 slightly lower price of eggs last 

 year, is dispelled. Not only so 

 but top prices for many months 

 to come appear to be practically 

 assured. The poultryman un- 

 doubtedl}- has the pull against his 

 fellow caterers for the public 

 hunger. It takes years to produce 

 beef and fruit, months to pro- 

 duce lamb and vegetables, all 

 eternity, apparently, to produce 

 a reasonably adequate supply of 

 fish, but the poultry man can start 

 off his banking credit with the 

 8-weeks' duckling. This is the 

 time when the often much abused 

 autumn hatched cockerel, comes in 

 for a reasonable share of recogni- 

 tion. Few people, we imagine, 

 are in/clined to quarrel with him 

 just at present, and on the out- 

 look of prices for the next few 

 months it is probal^le that many 

 more will develop a quite unusual 

 appreciation for hiin and his sister. 



There appears to be little doubt 

 that for the commercial man, 

 practically continuous hatching 

 throughout the year will tend to 

 become more and more the general 

 practice. There are, of course, dif- 

 ficulties to be overcome, diiTiculties 

 which, under some conditions per- 

 haps, are likely to prove insuper- 

 ablcj but we believe that every 

 man with money in the business 

 should look into the possibilities 

 presented. Competitions have led 

 to the belief that the spring 

 months are the only hatching 

 months. They are undoubtedly Hip 

 best, l)ut there are others. The 

 man who has capital invested in 

 hatching plant does not want it 

 idle at any time, certainly he does 



not want it idle when meat prices 

 are likely to be as they are for 

 some months to come. Poultry- 

 men should take the present op- 

 portunity of getting the poultry 

 idea well home, as economical lor 

 the public purse and desirable for 

 the public stomach. Vou can t 

 hit the dear publijc in any softer 

 place. 



KING GEORGE AND THE COM- 

 PETITIONS. 



When the present I^ing, as Prince 

 of Wales, returned to England 

 after his visit to the Common- 

 wealth some years ago, about the 

 first thing he said, addressing mer- 

 chants, manufacturers, and pro- 

 ducers generally, was, "\\a<ve up," 

 and he added, " You've been top 

 dog so long that you've got swell- 

 ed heads, you think you're Blon- 

 din, you've got in a rut, you're un- 

 progressive and unscientiiic, you're 

 letting your rivals get ahead and 

 generally going down in the world. 

 Get a m'ove on. Forget your grand- 

 mothers. Don't be content with 

 what is. Search for what is bet- 

 ter. I/earu from others. Shilt 

 yourselves. Get busy or bust." 

 The above is of course a somewhat 

 free translation, but it fairly re- 

 presents His Majesty's advice. It 

 occurs to us that something of ttu 

 same sort applies to South Aus- 

 tralian poultry people. We have 

 all been told so often that South 

 Australia leads the way, that Eu- 

 rope, Asia, and Africa, not for- 

 getting Patagonia and the United 

 States, look to us for lig-ht and 

 leading, that we have come to 

 believe it and be content to bask 

 in this official glory. 



Five years ago the position of 

 South Australia was excellent, s i. 

 is just as excellent to-day, really, 

 thoug-h like that of the Britishers 

 the King spoke to, its excellence is 

 being somewhat overshadowed by 

 its rivals. Excellent but unpro- 

 gressive about sums it up. We 

 had 1,500 pen birds in the State 

 more than live years ago. Ought 

 there not to be more of them 

 about to-'day, instead of less on 

 public performances locally. Looks 

 like being! in a rut. Victoria 

 bought some of those 1,500 i)en 

 birds and there seem to be quite a 

 lot about now, let alone the 1,650 

 leaders. That's climate you say ; 

 right, let's leave it at that. Is it 

 not, however, time to look the 

 position in the face and ask our- 

 selves if South Australian breeders 

 are making progress, are we los- 

 ing ground or are we just marking 

 time. It is better to l)e sure of 



these things either one way or the 

 other than to merely drift. Medi- 

 cine is sometimes necessary, if 

 nasty, but often stimulating and 

 helpful. It would be dilhcult for 

 any impartial observer of competi- 

 tion events to declare that we are 

 making progress. It would cer- 

 tainly be unfair to say that w^e are 

 losing ground except by compari- 

 son with other States. Are we 

 marking time prepara/tory to a 

 step forward or for one in the 

 other direction, or is the station- 

 ary position of the past five years 

 to become chronic. We do not of 

 course forget that Messrs. Pad- 

 man, Moritz, and Bertle.smeir have 

 put up some excellent scores this 

 year in Inters-tate competitions, we 

 also remember that Mr. Padman, 

 with occasional help from others, 

 was doing precisely the same thing 

 some 3'ears ago with precisely the 

 same quality birds, but put aside 

 everything but the Roseworthy 

 test for the last five years of its 

 existence. Some management, same 

 housing, same yards, same cli- 

 mate. Look at the figures. It's 

 medicine, perhaps, but taken in 

 conjunction with a modified dose 

 of the King's advice, it may be 

 very helpful. 



THE HEN AND THE SAUCE- 

 PAN. 



The connection will, of course,, be 

 obvious to the most casual reader. 

 In whate\er written work on the 

 keeping of poultry you may take 

 up, you will find some reference 

 to warm food as one of the things 

 which count for m.uch in the pro- 

 duction of winter eggs. The hen 

 does the job, but the saucepan as 

 the medium of a warm, tasty, 

 meaty mash certainly aids and 

 abets her in the good work. Just 

 try the advice. It is one which 

 we must confess that we hare not 

 followed of late, but we know it 

 to be good of old experience. 

 Warm mash will not get many 

 eggs out of a poor hen, but it will 

 at least extract the last one she 

 has secreted about her person, and 

 with good hens, it will help to 

 keep you pretty busy in gathering 

 up the spoils. A warm mash of 

 any sort is good, but the follow- 

 ing ])rescription for the ordinary 

 home poultrj? yard is simple, and 

 your birds will find the result easy 

 to take. Required — Three kero- 

 sene buckets with stout handles, 

 one long handle spoon, one mincer 

 (desirable but not essential). Me- 

 thod — Have all scra])S collected 

 during the day, dry in one bucket, 

 moist in the other. Bar tea leaves, 

 corks and kerosene wicks. When 

 you get home, put the whole col- 



