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463 



It must be borne in mind that Mr. Hanson laid out bis farm 

 in 1911 and others have benefited by his experience, and were 

 he starting again he would no doubt carry out these modifica- 

 tions himself, though the general system would remain the 

 same. 



A Successful Modern Egg Farm. — At Woodmancott, some 

 8 miles from Basingstoke, there is one of the most modern 

 and best equipped commercial egg farms, which is an example 

 of what can be done in modern egg farming. It is owned by 

 Mr. A. F. C. Holdaway, who in 1914 was assisting his father 

 in running a bakery and grocery business in two villages: he 

 was not satisfied with the prospects, and after having an inter- 

 view with Mr. Hanson decided to start an egg farm. At first he 

 rented 7 acres of land on which he built a Hanson type laying 

 house and retained a laying stock of 600 birds. At the same 

 time he continued his other business. The farm was gradually 

 enlarged until 1919, when the grocery business was disposed 

 of. By this time Mr. Holdaway had built up a plant and stock 

 of 2,500 laying birds, and in addition had obtained the freehold 

 of 21 acres. He was then joined by his father and two 

 brothers, and at one time also had the assistance of a brother- 

 in-law, who undertook a great deal of the work of constructing 

 the plant, but who has since left the farm. In addition to 

 Mr. Holdaway, his father and two brothers, one poultryman 

 and one lad are regularly employed on the farm and one addi- 

 tional casual helper is usually taken on during the busy season 

 in the spring and early summer so that six workers are regularly 

 employed to run the farm. 



The plant now consists of four large laying houses. The 

 first one to be constructed was 270 ft. long by 9 ft. wide, but 

 the remaining three are of an improved design, being 110 ft. 

 long by 14 ft. wide, 8 ft. high in front and 5 ft. high at the 

 back. The interior is divided into 10 bays by partitions extend- 

 ing 7 ft. out from the back of the house. Each of these three 

 new houses accommodates 500 birds, and is placed in the centre 

 of 1^ acres of land which is divided into two runs, the un- 

 occupied portion nearest the house being ploughed up and sown 

 with kale or other forage plants, the remainder being permanent 

 pasture. 



A large brooder house has been installed, having a capacity 

 for 3,750 chickens and is heated on the hot-water pipe system. 

 The first portion of the brooder house to be constructed was on 

 Mr. Hnnson's design but further extensions were built with 



