754 



Education in Poultry Keeping. 



[Nov., 



societies, itinerant instructors, and the poultry press has done 

 much to promote interchange of ideas and experience. There 

 is still, however, a wide field foi- the dissemination of know- 

 ledge. How few farmers, for example, have ever seriously 

 studied the lessons to be drawn from the numerous laying trials 

 conducted for many years past in this and in other countries ! 

 How many poultry keepers still use and erect poultry houses 

 of uneconomic types and pursue methods of breeding, feeding, 

 and general management which, in the light of up-to-date 

 knowledge, are known to be inefficient! 



These are some of the causes which compelled Great Britain 

 last year to pay approximately £35,000,000 to other countries 

 for eggs and poultry, though we know there are, in this country, 

 large quantities of w^aste food from households, and natural 

 poultry foods on wide areas of land, which could be profitably 

 converted into poultry products if poultry were more generally 

 kept, and kept on efficient methods. 



It may be true that we have in this country breeders of 

 poultry whose skill is not excelled in any other part of the 

 world, but it is equally true that the methods practised by many 

 of our poultry keepers leave much to be desired. There are 

 also many beginners every year, probably more this year than 

 ever before, and the continued and extended dissemination of 

 technical knowledge is essential to successful progress. 



Poultry Clubs and Societies. — For many years the poultry 

 clubs and societies have been doing valuable work in this direc- 

 tion, but their activities have been limited to some extent by 

 the funds at their disposal. Much of their w^ork, however, is 

 of a voluntary nature, and the industry owes a debt of gratitude 

 to the men and women who have given so freely of their time 

 and energy to this work. 



State Assistance. — State-aided poultry instruction has also 

 been provided for many years in this country, partly in direct 

 form, but mainly through local authorities and educational 

 institutions. The majority of the county councils in England 

 and Wales now employ whole or part-time poultry instructors 

 of either sex, the expenditure involved being met usually from 

 a joint fund m.ade up as to one-third from the local rates and 

 as to two-thirds by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture. 



In a number of counties the instructor acts as both dairy 

 and poultry instructor, though this combination of duties is 

 not desirable, since pressure of seasonal work in both is to a 

 large extent simultaneous, and one or both branches are liable 



