Live Stock, 



[July, 1910. 



the manager can be persuaded to dis- 

 pose of them, so that after getting a 

 generous supply of eggs of each breed 

 and successfully hatching several hun- 

 dred young ones in the Cyphers incu- 

 bators, for which he is the agent for 

 the Far East, he disposes of the parent 

 birds to local aspirants for fame at 

 the coming Agri-Horticultural Show. 

 Among the hundreds of young chickens 

 the farm has running gaily about in the 

 three brooders or foster mothers now 

 in operation, are quite a variety of 

 fancy fowls, including Wyandottes and 

 white and black Orpingtons. Of laying 

 hens and cockerels, all very fine speci- 

 mens of their kind, the farm has 

 Houdans, white Leghorns and black 

 Minoreas. These birds are very young 

 yet and vigorous, despite their recent 

 transplanting to a tropical climate from 

 a cold English winter. The greatest 

 care is taken with their food, which 

 includes no less than twenty different 

 ingredients, The farm has in operation 

 special machines for grinding grain, 

 bones and shells with which the fowls 

 are constantly supplied. They have 

 separate commodious runs for each 

 variety, the ground in which has been 

 planted to oats, that they may be sure 

 of having ample green food. The feed- 

 ing pens and nest boxes are of the most 

 modern type, and a record is kept of 

 the layer of each egg secured, this being 

 done by means of a trap door which 

 falls as soon as the hen enters the nest, 

 detaining her there till she is released. 

 Each hen bears a metal number tag on 

 the leg, so that it is possible to tell 

 exactly how many eggs she has laid in 

 any given time. One of the most notice- 

 able features in regard to this new 

 industry is the immense size of the eggs, 

 their equals never having been seen 

 in the local markets, One presented to 

 the Straits Times representative was 

 seven inches in circumference the long 

 way and five and three quarters inches 

 the short, and weighed a trifle over 

 two and a half ounces, The largest egg 

 yet weighed from any of the birds tipped 

 the scales at exactly three ounces, but 

 eggs weighing two and a half ounces 

 are common. The manager expects to 

 be able to supply the local market with 

 six thousand eggs a day, after nine 

 months. 



It is not alone eggs and fowls, which 

 this enterprising firm has the intention 

 of supplying the Singapore market with, 

 for a shipment of the best brown English 

 rabbits for food is already on the way, 

 and the pond on the premises is to be 

 utilised for water-fowls of various kinds, 

 while prize pigs of different varieties 



and a large herd of dairy cattle are 

 also on the programme for the f uture- 

 These things will mean almost a revo, 

 lution in food supplies for the European 

 population of Singapore, so that the ex- 

 periment, which the successful exper- 

 ience of the manager elsewhere guaran- 

 tees will be more than an experiment, 

 will be anxiously watched by local 

 epicures. 



IS THE INDIAN SILK INDUSTRY 

 DOOMED ? 



(Prom the Pioneer, April 7tb, 1910.) 



Indian commercial development has 

 already been checked by the researches 

 of the chemist, and, in discoveries of this 

 sort, one never knows what a single day 

 may bring forth, for investigation is 

 proceeding in all directions and, more or 

 less, in all countries. Take the case of 

 indigo as an example. A few years ago 

 it was one of the most important in- 

 dustries in Bengal; the demand for it 

 was world-wide and ever-increasing, and 

 it had the apparance of being a monopoly 

 that could not be lightly disturbed. To- 

 day, thanks to the advent of the 

 synthetic article, it is the merest shadow 

 of its former self, and it continues to 

 lose favour rapidly. It is true that a 

 claim was put forth the other day to 

 the effect that a way has been discovered 

 to manufacture natural indigo at a price 

 below which the artificial dye cannot be 

 placed on the market. If this be so, and 

 if trouble is taken to standardise the 

 quality of the output of the indigo 

 factories, as is done with synthetic 

 indigo, so that the dyer may rely with 

 some confidence on the quantity of 

 useful dye he may expect from a given 

 weight of indigo, then this industry may 

 even yet revive as quickly as it declined, 

 and the rich indigo lands of Behar may 

 once again come into full bearing and the 

 factories diffuse growing ripples of pros- 

 perity through the country round them 

 as in days gone by. But that time is not 

 yet, For the moment the indigo industry 

 is badly crippled. Is it the turn of the 

 Indian silk industry next ? 



As at present constituted, the Indian 

 silk industry is a very important one- 

 more important, in some respects, than 

 the indigo industry was even in its 

 palmiest days ; for should it suffer a set- 

 back it would probably react on a far 

 larger class of people. There is an enor- 

 mous demand for raw or manufactured 

 silk amongst practically all races of 

 mankind, and the result is that prices 

 are maintained at such a high level that 

 it is even now only the fairly well-to-do 

 who can afford silk raiment. High prices 

 are paid for certain grades of silk, and, 



