586 



Accommodation for Pea-pickers. [oct., 



The number of hens belonging to the different breeds was 

 small, about 60 per cent, of the total number of hens being of 

 mixed breeds. The difference, however, between the best 

 and worst flocks of the same breed suggests that the breed is 

 not of so much importance as the strain or the individuality 

 of the birds, though allowance must be made for other factors, 

 such as differences in the age of the birds, methods of housing 

 and feeding, &c. 



Whatever may be the cause in individual cases, it is cer- 

 tainly a very striking fact that such great variations should 

 occur, and when the existence of such low yields is known, it 

 should not be difficult to raise the standard to something 

 nearer the average. 



Complete returns for each lot of hens from which the 

 returns were obtained are given in the Journal of the Irish 

 Department of Agriculture, April, 1909; and later returns, 

 giving results for the six winter months, October, 1908, to 

 March 1909, are given in the issue of the Journal for July, 

 1909. The average yield was 42 eggs in the six months, the 

 highest figure being 87 and the lowest 14. 



The question of the conditions under which casual labour 

 is employed in agricultural districts for such purposes as hop, 

 fruit, and pea picking has recently 

 Accommodation for been investigated on behalf of the 

 Pea-pickers. Local Government Board by Dr. Regi- 



nald Farrar, one of their medical in- 

 spectors, and his first report, dealing chiefly with hop-pick- 

 ing, was referred to in this Journal (May, 1907, p. 109). A 

 second report has now been issued on the lodging and accom- 

 modation of pea-pickers. 



The total area on which peas were grown in Great Britain 

 in 1907 was 166,136 acres, but by far the greater part of the 

 peas grown are reaped, threshed, and harvested in the same 

 way as corn crops, only a small proportion being picked 

 "green" by hand. Until recently no exact record has been 

 kept of the proportion of peas picked green, but the Board 

 of Agriculture have recently made some inquiries into this 



