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AMONG the lately-issued pamphlets of the Board of Agriculture (any of which may be obtained free of charge on application to the Board's Secretary at Whitehall), not the least timely or valuable is that on Winter Egg Production." Although it is not so easy a task in winter as it is in spring or summer to get hens to lay eggs, it is nevertheless a thing worth attempting, for in winter eggs are much dearer than at other times, and in order to work up a sound business the producer ought to be able to supply his customers' wants all the year round. The rules to be observed are simple, and some of them obvious: The hens kept must be of a productive strain, and bred, if possible, from several generations of good winter layers. The pullets to be kept must be hatched neither too early nor too late. The hens must not be over two years old, and must be kept in such a way as to ensure comfort. The food must contain a lot of the elements necessary for the formation of eggs, the repair of tissue, and the production of heat. During the season when eggs are cheap let the hens hatch two or three broods of chickens. As to the best breeds for winter laying, the heavy sitting varieties are commonly better than the small, non-sitting ones. Although the latter may often produce more eggs in the course of the year, they are not the best winter layers. As a rule Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Faverolles, and Langshans, when kept under favourable conditions, can be relied on for a regular supply of winter eggs. It is a pity that poultry breeders in this country give so little care to the strain they select, for strain is just as im- portant as breed. In a few years American egg- farmers have built up strains to lay 200 or even 250 eggs in the year. Individual records are kept by the use of "trap-nests" to test. the laying powers of large flocks of hens. Drones are then rejected and producers are bred together in order to secure producers. The laws of inheritance hold as truly with birds as with cattle, horses, or shoop. Pullets must be raised every year to replace part of the old stock, and these should be reared so as to lay at the opening of the winter. Different breeds begin to lay at different ages, from five to seven or eight months old. Pullets of many breeds if hatched in January or February begin to lay in June or July, and moult in October, and are thus spoilt for winter laying. On the other hand, if ohickens are hatched too late, or belong to a slowly-maturing breed, they will not lay in win- ter. From six to eighteen months is the most pro- ductive age. Very good poultry men keep their hens until they are two and a half years old, al- though some authorities say that they should be got rid of at the age of a year and a half, and re- placed by six-months-old pullets. One can hardly 4mtiirate the importance of housing hens well, or of shelter in winter, but they should not be shut up closely in ill-ventilated houses. There should be a good winter roosting house in a sheltered situation, and without any crevices to admit rain, ^dampness or cold draughts. It should be well lighted and ventilated, and ten cubic feet should be allowed to each bird. The hens should have a large open shed to wander about in during the day, instead of being allowed to mope or stand on one leg without exercise. The floor of this shed should be well littered with chaff, mill dust, loft sweepings, and the like, with some ungroimd corn buried in it. As to food, it must not be sup- posed that corn alone, or the meal made from it, will suffice. It is not sufficiently nitrogenous. Corn is all very well, but only when used in com- bination with milk, ground bone, clover, and "vegetables. The following method of feeding has been found to give the best results: In the morn- ing, about nine o'clock, the fowls are fed with a few handfuls of cracked Indian corn scattered in the scratching shed. About eleven o'clock they are given a full feed of mash—as much -as they will eat from troughs in half an hour. The mash is made thus: 301bs. of finely cut clover hay is steamed and mixed with 201bs. of barley-meal, 20 lbs. of Indian meal, 201bs. of bran, lOlbs. of cut green bone, and sufficient skim milk to form the whole into a stiff mash. This -is mixed a few hours before it is required for use, and is fed warm at the time mentioned. At mid-day a small quantity of wheat is thrown in the litter of the scratching shed—not enough to make a meal, but sufficient to keep the birds busily employed until evening, when they are fed with whole grain about an hour before roosting time. It is advis- able to use a variety of grains, not mixed to- gether, but a different one each evening.

COMPLIMENTARY DINNER TO MR.…

aOSPEL TEMPERANCE MEEETING…

I WHAT HOPE IS -THERE?

DISTRICT INTELLIGENCE.I ;…

I PtMB>R0KE8HlR £ .

I ABERYSTWYTH. 10

THE HUNTING SEASON.

I EAST WILLIAMSONS

IHAVERFORDWEST.I

I MAENCLOCHOB.u-I

SAUNDERSFOOT. I

IFOR CARMARTHEN READERS AND…

IWESTERN WARD.

tLAMPETER.'-

I PEMBBOKE.

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,HUNTING APPOINTMENTS.

Family Notices

PENFFORDD.I

I CARDIGANSHIRE.

I CARMARTHEN MUNICIPAL ELECTION…

MUNICIPAL ELECTION.

LLANDOVERY.

TENBY.

I HAVERFORDWEST.

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