1920.] Education in Poultry Keeping. 757 



Public lectures usually constitute the preliminary stages 

 of itinerant instruction, and though the actual teaching value 

 of these lectures is necessarily somewhat circumscribed, they 

 serve to arouse interest, and have been the means of creating 

 large numbers of new poultry keepers, and assisting many 

 others. Visits by the instructor, if properly carried out, pro- 

 bably constitute the most effective method of conveying 

 information to those who are the producers at the moment 

 and who do not, for various reasons, attend lectures or classes, 

 nor, to any extent, read poultry papers. 



When the itinerant instructor has gained the confidence 

 and respect of these people, he can be of help to them in 

 many ways. He is able to advise them on the spot in Si 

 manner suitable to their particular circumstances and aims. 

 He can give help not only in purely technical matters — and 

 in a young industry, where improved methods are frequently 

 being evolved, it is important that knowledge of these should 

 be spread as quickly and widely as possible — but he can 

 often give valuable advice as to marketing produce and pur- 

 chasing feeding stuffs, appliances, &c. It is astonishing how 

 often poultry keepers buy their requirements in the dearest 

 markets and sell their produce in the cheapest. 



Itinerant lectures and visits are still the basis of instruction 

 in most counties, but in order to meet the increasing demand 

 for more systematic instruction a few counties have com- 

 menced peripatetic classes for younger people who can only 

 leave their homes or employment for a few hours daily. These 

 classes, which are held for short periods of three or four 

 weeks at various centres, provide not only theoretical teaching, 

 but also practical instruction in artificial and natural methods 

 of hatching and rearing; testing, grading and packing poultry 

 produce; killing, plucking and trussing poultry; construction 

 of simple appliances, &c. The courses are usually held daily 

 at hours suitable to the seasonal w^ork of the district, and at 

 the end of the course the equipment is moved to a fresh 

 centre, so that the instruction is conveyed, in time, over the 

 whole county. Thus, in Shropshire, for the year ended 

 31st March last, the poultry instructress, in addition to her 

 other duties, conducted six four-week courses at various 

 centres, at which an average of eight pupils attended right 

 through. It is obvious that if those pupils, as is probable,, 

 put into practice at home the information gained at the classes, 

 they will not only benefit themselves, but they will also^ 



