i8 



Poultry and Eggs. 



[APRIL, 



of the imports of these two commodities by Great Britain 

 during 191 9 was, therefore, approximately £35,000,000. 



The extensive import trade indicated by these figures 

 should cause British farmers, small holders, allotment holders 

 and even city dwellers to consider the prospects of developing 

 the present home production of eggs and poultry, which is 

 much below what is possible. In 1908, the latest year for 

 w T hich figures are available, the number of adult hens in 

 Great Britain on holdings of one acre and upwards was nearly 

 17J millions. There were, of course, in addition, considerable 

 numbers kept by occupiers of less than one acre of land and 

 by town residents. 



An acre of pasture land will carry in addition to the ordinary 

 farm stock — horses, cattle or sheep — at present grazed upon 

 it, at least three laying hens, which will not interfere with 

 the grazing of the other stock but will actually increase the 

 growth of herbage. If suitable portable houses are used for 

 the hens, and if they are removed to the corn stubbles in 

 autumn and left there while cultivation is carried on until 

 just before the seed for the succeeding crop is sown, the birds 

 will find from 25 to 50 per cent, of the food they require in 

 the form of grubs, worms, w T aste grain, etc. In addition, 

 their manure will improve the soil and the birds will help 

 to remove injurious grubs from the land. 



Under semi-intensive conditions, i.e. where large laying 

 houses are used providing 3 to 4 sq. ft. of floor space for each 

 bird, from 200 to 400 hens may be kept on an acre of land, 

 provided the land is properly cultivated, cropped and kept 

 in sweet condition. The crops grown are usually forage crops, 

 such as thousand headed kale, which provide necessary green 

 food for the hens, and sometimes the runs are planted with 

 bush fruit or standard fruit trees. 



The town dweller also has opportunities for poultry keeping, 

 and he possesses two special advantages : (1) eggs produced 

 in the backyard can be distributed more easily, and involve 

 little or nothing in transit charges ; and (2) the householder's 

 food scraps are put to an economic use, and reduce considerably 

 the cost of feeding the hens. In a properly-constructed 

 intensive house providing about 4 sq. ft. of floor space for each 

 bird, country- reared pullets can be maintained under a proper 

 system of feeding and management in healthy productiveness 

 for at least a year, even though the birds may have no outside 

 run whatever. Any town dweller with a small back garden 

 can thus maintain a few laying hens in order to produce new- 



