1920.] Poultry Keeping ix Fruit Plantations. 353 



The cost of attendance has not been included, because it is 

 difficult to estimate how much should be charged under this 

 head. Mr. Hall and his son work the whole of the holding them- 

 selves, so that only a portion of their time can be charged 

 to the poultry. They keep a cow, and also a pony for 

 taking the fruit, eggs, poultry and other produce to market, 

 and for" working the holding. They used also to keep pigs, but 

 they abandoned such live stock because they found that the pigs 

 attracted rats, which caused very serious losses to the poultry. 

 They also look after the whole of the fruit themselves, and pick 

 the crop. Taking the year right through, Mr. Hall estimates 

 that the attention given to the fowls amounts to about four 

 hours per day by one person. In the winter season two hours 

 a day is sufficient, but in the spring and summer the attention 

 required is considerable. There are 13 poultry houses, 

 and each house has to be cleaned out about once every three 

 weeks. To clean out all the houses and to feed the fowls is a 

 full day's work for one man. Up to 1917 £40 per annum was 

 estimated to be a reasonable sum to allow for the cost of labour, 

 but now that the minimum agricultural wage in Kent is 43s. 

 for a 48-hour week a charge of up to £100 per annum might 

 on present working be allowed. 



Mr. Hall took up poultry keeping on a commercial scale for 

 the first time in 191 1 as the result of attending a course of 

 lectures given by the County Council Instructor in Poultry 

 Keeping, and he ascribes his success very largely to the instruc- 

 tion and advice he has received from time to time from the same 

 source. He has been a Station Holder under the Ministry of 

 Agriculture's Egg Distribution Schem.e* since its inception 

 four years ago. No expensive poultry houses or appliances 

 are kept, nearly all the houses and runs being home-made. 

 A lOO-egg incubator has been used on one or two occasions in 

 the past two seasons, but with that exception all the eggs have 

 been hatched out under hens. The breeds of fowl kept are 

 White Wyandottes, Buff Orpingtons and White Leghorns. 

 They are general utility fowls, and at no time have any fancy 

 prices been realised. 



A few details of Mr. Hall's balance sheet during the last five 

 years may be of interest. In addition to the head of poultry 

 that are considered in this article, Mr. Hall's son has also kept 

 about 100 head of Rhode Island Reds on the holding separately,. 



* Notes on this Scheme have appeared intliis Journal, ApriJ, 1916, p. 72, 

 October. 1916, pp. 685 and 702. December, 1918. p. 1106, and March, 1920, 

 p. 1227. 



