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.
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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
