233 



Some were packed in watertight boxes. The birds were removed 

 from cold storage at the end of three, six, and nine months. Those 

 stored promptly after dry picking were all in good condition, the one 

 that had been stored for nine months being a little inferior in appear- 

 ance and smell to the other two. The birds kept for three and six 

 months could hardly be distinguished from a fresh bird. The chickens 

 that were delayed at a temperature of 8o° for twenty-four hours after 

 dressing, though they appeared to be in perfectly fresh condition when 

 stored, were in each case distinctly inferior when removed from storage 

 to the birds stored without delay. At the end of nine months there 

 was a decided loss of quality to such an extent that the birds, when 

 subjected after thawing to the delay and treatment of retailing, would 

 be in bad condition. 



The scalded birds suffered more through storing than those that were 

 dry-picked, and were inclined to vary more in their behaviour. One 

 that was delayed before freezing was, after nine months, uneatable. 



A number of the chickens were examined bacteriologically after 

 storing, and the results showed a very much greater number of bacteria 

 in those that were not frozen promptly, the number being increased 

 when the birds were drawn before being frozen. To keep poultry in 

 good condition, dry picking, dry chilling, and prompt storage are indi- 

 cated as the best methods. 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND CIRCULARS. 



The following notice was issued on May 13th : — The Board of Agri- 

 culture and Fisheries have received information that the summer stage 

 of American Gooseberry Mildew (Sphaerotheca 

 Mors uvae) was discovered in a Norfolk 

 Gooseberry Mildew garden on the I2th inst> A11 g00S eberry 



in Norfolk. growers are advised to examine their bushes 



carefully, and should any sign of disease be found, to spray their bushes 

 with a solution of liver of sulphur (one pound to thirty-two gallons of 

 water). A leaflet describing the disease, and giving directions for 

 dealing with it, can be obtained from the Secretary, Board of Agricul- 

 ture and Fisheries, Whitehall Place, London, S.W., gratis and post 

 free. Letters so addressed need not be stamped. 



The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, by virtue and in exercise 

 of the powers vested in them under the Destructive Insects and Pests 

 Acts, 1877 and 1907, do order, and it is hereby 

 ordered, as follows : — ■ 



Destructive Insects 

 and Pests Order Notification of Discovery of Insect or Pest. 



of 1910. (1) — (1) The occupier of any premises on 



which an insect or pest mentioned in the 

 Schedule to this Order exists, shall forthwith notify the fact, with 

 particulars of the time and place of discovery, to the officer appointed 

 by the Local Authority to receive such notices, or, if no such officer 

 has been appointed, to the Board ; and, where practicable, a specimen 

 1 of the insect or pest shall accompany the notice. 



