372 



THE IMPORT TRADE IN EGGS. 



[March 1837. 



imported into the country many years ago, and in. Central 

 Russia a special race of small fowls is met with called pavlovsk 

 celebrated for the beauty of their plumage and for their laying 

 qualities. In the provinces of Kharkhov, Poltava, and Tcher- 

 nigov there is a popular variety of big hens,, known as the 

 oushanlci, with tufts of feathers on their heads, which droop 

 down each side over the ears. These birds are good layers 

 and rear large broods. Another variety which is largely kept 

 in the Moscow governments are the so-called orlovsk fowls; 

 these resemble the Malay hens in build. 



Improved methods of breeding and feeding poultry are, it 

 appears, little known in Russia, and artificial hatching with 

 incubators is practised only on a limited scale. Eggs intended 

 for export are packed in the familiar long wooden boxes divided 

 into two sections, each box containing 12 great hundreds, or 

 1.440 eggs, placed in layers separated by straw. For the past 

 few years foreign dealers have appointed purchasing agents in 

 many of the governments south of Moscow, by whom the eggs 

 are collected and sorted prior to export. Since 1886 a trade 

 has sprung up in the yolks and whites of eggs, of which 24,000 

 cwts. were exported in 1894, and 33,000 cwts. in 1895. The 

 bulk of these products is sent to Germany and Spain, though 

 Great Britain is also debited with consignments amounting, on 

 the average, to over a thousand cwts. yearly. 



In Austria-Hungary the production of eggs for exportation 

 has been a growing industry for the past quarter of a century. 

 Prior to 1870 the trade had assumed appreciable proportions, 

 but eggs were not separately distinguished in the Austro- 

 Hungarian returns until 1873, when 138 millions were returned 

 as exported. The development in recent years has been remark- 

 able. In 1891 the exports of eggs, ostensibly Austro -Hungarian 

 produce, amounted to 805 millions, and in 1895 they had risen 

 to 1,319 millions. It is to be noted, however, that in the latter 

 year no less than 581 million eggs, chiefly of Russian origin, 

 were imported into Austria-Hungary, apparently for consump- 

 tion in that country. About 75 per cent, of the exports are 

 consigned to Germany, whence large quantities ultimately find 

 their way to Great Britain. There is also a considerable transit 

 trade in eggs from Russia. The bulk of the Austro-Hungarian 

 eggs are produced in South Hungary, Galicia, and Croatia. 



For a number of years France was the principal contributor 

 to our supply of foreign eggs, but the competition of the other 

 countries referred to above has gradually ousted her from this 

 position, though the consignments from French ports are still 

 of considerable dimensions, and they realise, as a rule, the best 

 price in the import market. The production of poultry and eggs 

 is largely carried on in Normandy and Brittany, where nearly 

 every peasant and farmer keeps fowls. In these provinces pure- 

 bred Houdans, Crevecoeurs, and La Fleche fowls are met with, 

 but the popular barn-door fowl is a fine large black mongrel, 

 showing traces of the three breeds mentioned, and in some cases 



