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It is interesting in comparison to note that, according to an answer given by Sir R. Sanders for the Minister of Agriculture in the House of Commons on Feb. 24 1921, the estimated value of the total wheat crop of the United Kingdom in 1920 was 31,000,000. Also in a re- cent Report on the Trade in Imports and Exports at the Irish ports it was stated that the value of the Irish eggs, poultry and feathers exported was in one year greater by about 13,000,000 than the store cattle trade and nearly equal in value to the export in fat cattle.

There is a further important aspect of the effect of the demand for table eggs and poultry in the United Kingdom in the national fin- ances, viz. the large sums paid annually to foreign countries for sup- plies to supplement the insufficient home production. Tables I and 2 show the annual quantities and values of these imports for the years 1913, 1919 and 1920:

the increasing appreciation shown by poultry-keepers of the com- mercial importance of high egg yield, and the consequent demand for stock, specially selected and bred for this quality. A great stimulus was given to this development by the introduction of public laying competitions, the object of which was to test the egg- producing capacities of various breeders' birds and also to gain information regarding the relative fecundity of existing strains and breeds. The introduction of these laying competitions in England was due to the enterprise shown by the Northern Utility Poultry Society of Burley, Lancashire, and the Utility Poultry Club (now the National Utility Poultry Society), and at first

TABLE i. -Imports of Eggs, in Shell, into the United Kingdom.

From

191

3

19

9

1C

20

Quantity

Value

Quantity

Value

Quantity

Value

Gt. Hundreds

Gt. Hundreds

Gt. Hundreds

1 1,453,277

{A 7/1C 22Q

Nil

Nil

f. _-.

Denmark.

4,264,943

Xjttt tOt^^y 2,296,843

1,638,067

2,776,116

3,939437

7,032,357

Germany.

513,740

2I5,8l6

Nil

Nil

6,960

11,112

Netherlands

977,350

490,717

620

1,180

48,474

73,748

France

702,281

326,102

6,584

7,065

15,160

24,836

Italy.

845,789

420,914

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

United States.

5,869

2,894

1,408,606

2,205,092

331,185

553,211

Egypt

1,096,539

356,627

758,728

930,674

566,498

597,208

Canada Austria-Hungary

1,950 883,651

957 375,943

1,476,962 Nil

2,230,422 Nil

807,281 7,984

1,478,933 14,457

Sweden

Belgium

Portugal.

Spain.

Rumania. Turkey, Asiatic

834-561

358,560

354,828

462,777

1,338,104

1,778,814

Morocco

China

Other British Possessions

Other Foreign Countries.

Total

21,579,950

9,590,602

5,644,395

8,613,326

7,070,266

11,579,096

TABLE 2. Comparative Imports of Poultry in Cwt.

From

1913

1919

1920

Cwt.

1 1 Q QAJ.

Cwt. g

Cwt. 66

-21 T7C

? 08 1.

26 674.

Nil

U. S. A.. .

o 872

Other Countries

46,430

43,6i7

S6,oi8

Total quantities

278,465

147,567

94,464

Total values

954,540

i,527,992

817,872

The figures in Tables I and 2 show that in 1920, as compared with 1913, the total value of imported eggs and poultry had increased from 10,545,142 to 12,396,968, whilst the total quantity had decreased in the case of eggs from 21,579,950 great hundreds to 7,070,266 great hundreds: and in the case of dead poultry from 278,465 cwt. to 94,464 cwt. Thus, reckoning that the eggs averaged 14 Ib. per 120, the imports in 1920 were less by 90,685 tons than in 1913, whilst the imports of dead poultry were less by 9,200 tons. It appears, therefore, that thetotal annual value of the eggs and poultry consumed in the United Kingdom had in 1920 reached the following approximate huge sum:

British production 37,000,000

Irish 22,352,578

Imported 12,396,968

Total 71-749,546

From the foregoing it would seem that the opportunities for increasing the production of eggs and poultry in the United Kingdom were in 1921 greater than ever. Russia, the largest supplier in pre- war days, had practically ceased her exports, whilst Italy and the countries formerly included in Austria-Hungary would probably take some years to recover their former exporting capabilities. M uch must depend, however, upon the capacity of the British people to adopt efficient methods of cheaper production. There is little doubt that the majority of British consumers would prefer to eat fresh British eggs and poultry rather than those of foreign origin, preserved or otherwise, provided the price of the home article is not too high. It is largely a matter of cost of production and methods of marketing.

One of the most interesting developments in poultry-keeping of recent years has been the growth of stock poultry farms whose main object is the production of pure-bred poultry of heavy lay- ing capacity. This development was no doubt primarily due to

competitions were conducted over four winter months, commenc- ing in October. Thus the productive capacity of the birds was tested at the time of the year when eggs are most difficult to ob- tain, and competing breeders were compelled to hatch their birds early if they wished them to obtain a good place in the trials.

The introduction of these competitions marks an important epoch in the history of the poultry industry, as attention was thereby focussed upon the great variation in fecundity of various strains and breeds, whilst the commercial importance of high egg yield was forcibly demonstrated. For the first few years trap-nests were not used, records of the egg yield of each pen of four birds being taken. In 1902, however, trap-nests were introduced and the individual records were taken. In 1912-13 the competitions were extended to twelve-month periods, and a grant in aid of this work was given to the Utility Poultry Society in conjunction with the Harper Adams Agricultural College, Newport, Salop, by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. It was no doubt realized by the Board that the educational value of these competitions was very great. Not only was information obtained regarding the relative productivity of different birds, " strains," and breeds, but also regarding size and colour of egg, comparative seasonal production, period of brooding, cost of food per bird and net cost of egg production, value of different systems of housing, feeding, and general management. In fact it is open to question if the full educational value of laying competitions or trials had in 1921 been fully exploited.

The National Utility Society continued to organize trials annually, and after 1916-17 these were carried out for the Society by the Great Eastern Railway Co. at Bentley, Ipswich. This Company in conjunction with the Utility Duck Club also arranged in 1921 a laying trial for ducks. The trap-nesting arrangement for these birds is very ingenious as the ducks are enticed into the nests by regularly placing the food in small pens in front of the nests, but inside the