Page:EB1922 - Volume 32.djvu/152

134 Portuguese, fled across the Rovuma into German territory. In 1915 there was a widespread revolt in the Zambezi valley and farther S., which was not fully suppressed till the end of 1917.

The paramount economic interests of Great Britain in the southern part of the province, including the delta of the Zambezi, were recognized in the Anglo-German draft agreement prepared in 1913-4, but not signed owing to the outbreak of the World War. By that agreement the part of the province N. of the Liconga (Licungo) river (which reaches the sea over 100 m. N. of the Zambezi delta) was to be in the economic sphere of Germany (see AFRICA: History). The larger part of this northern area was governed, under a charter, by the Nyasa Company. That company, for lack of funds, had done little to develop its terri- tory. In 1914 German capitalists succeeded, through a neutral intermediary, in obtaining control of the Nyasa Co. and by the aid of a German directorate they sought to acquire political control, and advance the scheme for the creation of a German Mittel-Afrika. The World War put an end to this design.

Early in 1917 German raiding parties entered Portuguese territory and in Nov. of that year Gen. von Lettow Vorbeck, to escape capture crossed into the province from German East Africa, carrying on the war there for nearly a year (see GERMAN EAST AFRICA). Von Lettow helped to prove the natural resources of the regions he traversed, while aerial reconnaissances by the British gave material for mapping.

See A Manual of Portuguese East Africa and Portuguese Nyasa- land, both British Admiralty publications (1920); Mozambique, a handbook issued by the British Foreign Office (1918-9) aN with bibliographies; The South and East African Year Book and Guide, ed. by A. S. and G. G. Brown (London yearly) ; the Anuario Colonial and Rivista Colonial, both Lisbon publications. (F. R. C.) POTIOREK, OSKAR (1853- ), Austro-Hungarian general of artillery, was born at Blieburg, Carinthia, in 1853. He graduated from the Engineers' Academy as lieutenant in 1871. His career was chiefly spent on the General Staff, of which he was one of the most distinguished representatives. He held there the important post of Chief of the Section of Operations, later that of Deputy to the Chief of the General Staff, Count Beck. After Beck's retirement he was in command of the III. Corps, in 1911 Army Inspector and Governor (Landeschef) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As such, he was officially responsible for counte- nancing the fateful visit of the heir to the throne to Serajevo, out of which the World War ensued. In the offensive taken by Austria against Serbia in the winter of 1914, which eventually broke down after great initial success, his judgment was also found wanting. POULTRY (see 22.213). During 1900-20 there were many changes and developments in the poultry industry, as carried on in Great Britain. New breeds were evolved or imported, while some of the older breeds have diminished in popularity and, except for small numbers kept by persistent breeders, have almost died out. Far more striking, however, has been the rapid evolution of the present-day utih'ty breeds, the extension of public " laying trials " and the development of extensive commercial egg farms and breeding farms, accompanied by new mass methods of hatching, rearing, feeding and housing. The agriculturist has shown slowly increasing interest in poultry-keeping as a business branch of farm operations, and there has been a notable expansion of poultry-keeping by residents in urban and suburban areas. The view so strongly held for many years by the majority of people who thought about the matter at all that poultry-keep- ing was not a practicable commercial proposition except as a small side-line, and in circumstances where waste food for the birds was available at little or no cost, has been very much modi- fied, for the reason that poultry-keepers, who have derived the main portion of their livelihood over a period of years from one or more branches of the industry, have so obviously increased in numbers. In addition numerous authentic instances of profit- able results obtained from poultry-keeping as a subsidiary occupation have been made public. Hence in recent years increasing numbers of people have turned their attention to poultry-keeping, and in several instances the capital involved in well-known poultry farms amounts to several thousands of pounds. So far successful British poultry farming comprises one or more of the following branches: Breeding laying strains of poultry; the production of exhibition stock; the sale of day-old chicks, eggs for hatching and stock birds; the production of eggs and poultry for consumption. The production of table poultry is in practically every case a subsidiary branch, and was particularly so during the war owing to the scarcity of feeding-stuffs.

It is not possible to form any reliable estimate of the value of the poultry-stock-breeding industry in the United Kingdom, as no com- plete figures are available. Every experienced observer knows, how- ever, that the increase in the demand for and supply of eggs for hatch- ing, day-old chicks, and pure-bred stock birds, has been very con- siderable during the past few years. Nor can any reliable estimate be made of the growth of table poultry and egg production, since there are insufficient data upon which to base an estimate. It is possible, however, to make a rough estimate of the total annual value of table poultry and egg production.

In 1908, in connexion with the Census of Production Act of 1906, the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries published a poultry census for Great Britain showing that the number of poultry kept by occupiers of agricultural holdings exceeding one ac. in extent was 36,728,000. In its report, however, the Board draws special atten- tion to the limitation of the scope of the returns to holdings exceeding one ac., and points out " that poultry are very largely kept by cot- tagers and persons who do not come within the definition of agricul- tural holdings, while a further very large poultry population would no doubt be enumerated if the returns were extended to the towns."

In addition to obtaining this census, each occupier was asked to state the number of home-bred poultry of each description sold during the preceding twelve months, and special schedules were issued to all occupiers returning not less than 50 fowls or 10 ducks, geese or turkeys, asking for the number of males and females, respectively, hatched before 1908, the number of eggs produced, sold for con- sumption, or sold or used for hatching, and the number of young and adult birds sold. As a result the report states that there were 15^ million adult hens on farms in Great Britain in 1908, that the aver- age annual egg yield per hen was 72, and that the total value of the output of eggs and poultry was calculated to be about 5,000,000. The report, however, emphasizes the fact that this sum " takes no ac- count of poultry kept by cottagers, residents in towns and others not within the scope of the Agricultural Returns. The aggregate produc- tion thus excluded must be very large, though again it may be as- sumed that the greater part of it is consumed by the poultry-keepers themselves."

Since 1908 no poultry census figures for Great Britain are avail- able, but interesting deductions may be made regarding British production by examining the returns published for the years 1008 and 1918 by the Irish Department of Agriculture regarding the Irish poultry industry. The Irish returns refer to all agricultural holdings including labourers' cottages built under rural housing Schemes and are thus more comprehensive than those for Great Britain, though like the British returns they apparently take no account of town poultry-keepers. The number of such poultry-keepers in Ireland, however, would be insignificant as compared with the number in Great Britain. The total number of poultry in Ireland in 1908 is given as 24,031,095. The report estimates the average annual egg yield of Irish hens as loo, and calculates the total value of Irish poultry production in 1908 at 5,290,000. Of this amount 3,526,000 was stated to represent the value of the exports, 1,764,000 the value of the home consumption.

In 1918 the Irish returns give the total number of poultry in Ireland as 24,424,230, and state that the value of the exports of eggs and poultry was 18,352,578. No figures are given regarding the value of the home consumption, but in view of the value given in this connexion in 1908 it may be fairly assumed that 4,000,000 represents a reasonable estimate. Thus a total production value of 22,352,578 is arrived at for the Irish poultry industry in 1918. Now it is difficult to believe that the average yield of hens in Great Britain is less than that of their sisters in Ireland, and it is certain that the average price realized by British producers for their eggs and poultry have been greater than those obtained by Irish producers. Hence, if the incomplete British census for 1908 be taken, and even if it be assumed that there was no increase in the numbers in British poultry between 1908 and 1918, the total value of the produce from the 36,728,000 poultry in Great Britain would amount to approximately 33,000,000 for 1918, if calculated on the same unit production value as the Irish figures. But unit production value is almost certainly higher in Britain, if only on account of higher prices, and the total of 33,000,000 takes no account of the value of the produce of the large numbers of poultry kept in Great Britain by dwellers in urban and suburban districts. What this value may be can only be estimated, but it is practically certain to be well over 4,000,000 annually. A final estimate of 37,000,000 is thus arrived at as the value of British egg and poultry production in 1918, and if to this figure be added the corresponding one for Ireland a total of roughly 60,000,000 is obtained for the United Kingdom.