ig2o.] Poultry Keeping in Fruit Plantations. 351 



season, but some of the ground has not been dug for two seasons, 

 and there is not a weed visible on it. The birds' constant 

 scratching keeps a tilth of fine soil on the surface, which doubt- 

 less is beneficial in keeping the moisture in the ground. Mr. 

 Hall does not believe in deep digging, because it prevents the 

 fine feeding roots of the trees from working their way close 

 up to the surface of the ground where they can make full use 

 of the manure from the poultry ; he therefore only digs suffi- 

 ciently deeply to enable the hoe to work afterwards. He also 

 prefers a shallow tilth, because the caterpillars that fall from 

 the fruit trees are then unable to bury themselves deeply in 

 the soil, and are quickly consumed by the poultry. In years 

 when there have been bad attacks of winter moth caterpillars 

 among the nut bushes, he has made a practice of walking 

 through the plantation and shaking each bush. The poultry 

 follow and consume each caterpillar as it falls to the ground ! 

 Only young chickens are allowed to run amoung the goose- 

 berry bushes, the hens being confined in coops ; but hens if 

 properly fed will not attack gooseberries (nor currants) until 

 they begin to colour, and do a great amount of good by picking 

 off the scale insects that are frequently so numerous on the 

 stems of gooseberry bushes. Poultry are invaluable in dealing 

 with the raspberry and loganberry beetle, but they will not 

 attack the hairy sawfly caterpillars that often do so much 

 damage to gooseberry bushes ; only cuckoos will deal with these. 

 The hens do not roost in the apple and plum trees, and do very 

 little harm among the nut bushes, provided that the birds are 

 not too closely penned. Mr. Hall allows his nut bushes to 

 grow rather taller than his neighbours' bushes, but succeeds 

 in growing quite as large a crop of nuts. ^lany of the nuts 

 are not gathered until they fall to the ground, and the birds 

 do not usually attack them, but once the birds have tasted 

 the nuts it is impossible to prevent them from continuing to 

 consume them. Windfall apples will, of course, be attacked 

 by the birds ; this is unavoidable, but they help in feeding 

 the poultry and reducing the food bill, although it is not desir- 

 able that poultry should be allowed to gorge themselves sud- 

 denly with windfall apples. The position of the runs is not 

 moved from year to year, but they are large, and the poultry are 

 occasionally removed, in order that the ground ma\ have a rest. 



In an article in the issue of the Fruit, Floucr and ]'egetable 

 Trades Journal for 13th October, 1917, Professor F.\'. Theobald, 

 F.E.S.. Agricultural Entomologist at the South-Eastern 

 Agricultural College, Wye, expressed his opinion that the em- 



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