1920.] 



Education in Poultry Keeping. 



755 



to suffer. The financial economy derived from such an arrange- 

 ment is, therefore, of doubtful value, especially in view of 

 the urgent need of building up the British poultry industry 

 before foreign competitors produce again exportable surplusses 

 to the same extent as in pre-war days. 



At the present time there are 57 whole or part-time itinerant 

 poultry instructors employed in England and Wales. In a 

 few counties it has been found necessary to appoint assistant 

 poultry instructors, as, for example, in Yorkshire, where there 

 is an increasing demand for instruction from industrial areas. 

 There are, however, eight counties which employ no poultry 

 instructor, i.e., Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely, 

 Huntingdon, Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Somersetshire, and Soke 

 of Peterborough. 



Owing to the extension of poultry keeping in industrial 

 areas and the increasing demand for instruction manifested in 

 some of the county boroughs, the Hull County Borough 

 Council have informed the Ministry that they desire to set up a 

 scheme for the provision of instruction in poultry keeping which 

 would include the provision of an egg-distributing centre, and 

 have inquired whether a grant could be made as in the case of 

 county education authorities. This is the first case of a county 

 borough desiring to inaugurate a scheme apart from the county 

 scheme. Owing to the size of the population and the large 

 number of allotments, the borough council consider there is 

 sufficient work for a whole-time poultry instructor. 



In addition to provision made for itinerant instruction by 

 county councils, poultry instructors are also employed by some 

 20 or more agricultural colleges, farm institutes, and farm 

 schools, - most of which receive grants from the Ministry for 

 their general agricultural work, including instruction in poultry 

 keeping. In several instances these institutional instructors 

 also do a certain amount of itinerant work in the adjoining 

 counties. 



Importance of Co-ordination and Co-operation. — It is desir- 

 able that in future these various educational activities should 

 be more closely co-ordinated and organised on more efficient 

 lines, and that there should be more effective co-operation 

 between local authorities and the local poultry societies and 

 clubs. This co-operation ought not to be difficult of achieve- 

 ment if the societies would show active interest in the work of 

 their county councils and educational institutions, and would 

 endeavour to obtain representation on the committee of the 



