342 



Irish Poultry Industry. 



and plant ; the latter would consist of incubators, cramming- 

 machinery, a small grinding mill for home-grown corn, 

 bone-crushers, etc. It would also stock a quantity of the 

 necessary packing cases, packing materials, and feeding 

 stuffs. A pony and cart for collecting fowls and eggs would 

 also be required. Stock-birds and sittings of eggs would, in 

 the first instance, be supplied to the members of the society, 

 both at the centre and at the auxiliaries, so as to secure new 

 blood. These birds and eggs would be furnished at as near 

 cost price as possible to members. ^ 



Around the centre would be grouped auxiliaries,*' or 

 small associations of poultry keepers, say one in each parish, 

 for a radius of from four to six miles distant. These 

 "auxiliaries'' would act as feeders to the central society by 

 supplying " store " [i.e,^ lean) fowls for fattening, and eggs. 

 These latter might be either collected by the society's cart 

 or sent in jointly by the members. In both cases the scheme 

 provides that they should be delivered or collected three 

 times a week to ensure freshness. *' Store " poultry would 

 be collected at the " auxiliaries " on a certain day in each 

 week at convenient places, the members bringing them in. 

 They would then be classified and all immature birds rejected 

 by the manager of the society. 



Both poultry and eggs would be paid for at the time of 

 collection or delivery, each member receiving a docket stating 

 the number and description of fowls or eggs bought, with the 

 price paid, which would at first, at all events, be regulated 

 by the local markets. The price would invariably be deter- 

 mined by the quality of the poultry and eggs purchased. 

 Both poultry and eggs would, as far as possible, be bought 

 by weight. 



Every poultry society would provide instruction gratis to 

 any of its members -^male or female — desiring it. Local 

 persons would be employed, as far as possible, for killing and 

 plucking poultry and for making packing cases for poultry 

 and eggs. It is recommended that these packing cases should 

 be non-returnable, that wood-wool should be used in prefer- 

 ence to straw for packing cases, and that eggs sold by the 

 societies should be dated, as in Denmark, and marked in 



