of these are kept specially for egg production, and the latter largely for its table qualities. In ducks the Aylesbury stands easily at the head, as its rapid growth is greatly appreciated, fitting in with our special trade. Of geese the Embden and the Toulouse are about equal in favour, and in turkeys the Bronze American is most widely distributed.

It is unquestionable that exhibitions have exerted a very great influence in awakening interest in the Poultry Industry, more especially in respect to the improvement of breeds. Of these a very great number are held annually, between two and three thousand. Within recent years a great cleavage has arisen between what is known as " fancy" breeders, that is, exhibitors, and such as are concernend mainly with the utility side, by which is meant the meeting of market demands for food supplies. At one time farmers and others looked to the exhibitors to provide them with stock birds. That is no longer the case. Breeding for exhibition has become largely professional. The extremes to which abnormal and non-economic points have been carried, have ruined several breeds in so far as their profitable qualities are concerned. Even our agricultural shows have contributed to the same result. There has, consequently, arisen a large class of specialist breeders who do not exhibit, and who regard the egg or flesh qualities as the main object. The sale of breeding fowls, eggs for hatching, and day-old chicks has grown enormously of late years.

With regard to handling and sale of produce, the conditions in Great Britain differ materially from those met with in some other countries wherein production is much greater than consumption. In Britain the reverse is the case. Our exports of poultry and eggs are nominal, except for breeding stock, whilst our imports (inclusive of Irish supplies) are in value nearly £13 000 000 per annum.

Co-operation in respect to the marketing of eggs and poultry has not advanced so rapidly in England and Wales as in Ireland and Denmark, or more recently in some parts of Scotland. Nearly fifty local societies are engaged in this business, so that the country is as yet very incompletely organised on co-operative lines. Such societies have difficulties to meet with not found elsewhere to the same extent, mainly owing to the fact already mentioned that over large areas of England and Wales the consuming population exceeds greatly the number of possible producers. I know of no county in either country which is able to meet its own requirements in these directions all the year round, as a consequence of which immediate demand is often very great. Outlets are at hand, and prices obtainable from householders or retail traders are high, so that the need for co-operative marketing is not felt, nor is the margin good enough to make such combination profitable. The effect, however, of the work done by the National Poultry Organisation Society during the last fourteen years has been remarkable, equally in the direction of increased production, of improved standards of quality, and better methods of marketing. Traders have

been compelled to adapt their systems to modern conditions, and to pay higher prices to producers, otherwise by co-operative effort they would lose their business. In this way has been secured a great and lasting advance in quality of home produce, more especially in respect to eggs, which at one time, as is still the case in many districts, occupied much too long a time in reaching the consumer, with a consequent heavy loss in value. The society in question has issued a large number of leaflets, and has also published reports on the Poultry Industry in America, Denmark and Sweden, Belgium, and Germany, which have had a wide circulation. In this manner knowledge of what is being done and the methods adopted elsewhere has been disseminated. An estimate has been made that the annual value of the eggs and poultry now produced in the United Kingdom is about £9 000 000 and greater by £6 000 000 sterling than was the case 20 years ago.

Sheep Breeding in Hungary

by

DR. BÉLA Kovácsy,

Director of the Royal Establishment for Wool Classification at Budapest.

Until quite recently, the next most important branch of agriculture in Hungary to cereal growing was sheep breeding. Already in the twelfth century, there were in Upper Hungary flourishing dairy sheepfarms and the mountaineers had also turned their attention to improving the wool of their flocks, even before the Merino breed had spread throughout Europe. The sheep-breeding industry continued to increase, and in the seventeenth century George Szelepcsényi, Cardinal of Esztergom, and the Archduke Eugène interested themselves in the improvemert of wool, although, until the eighteenth century, only one indigenous breed was known in Hungary, the Racka breed (Ovis strepsicerus) and one hardy breed (Ovis aries).

From 1773, when the Spanish Merinos were introduced into Hungary, only small farmers continued breeding Racka sheep, average ard large farmers taking to Merinos exclusively. From this time, the Merino spread rapidly, and so great an impetus was given to sheep breeding that even the Hungarian magnates turned their attention to this industry. It was only later, on the abolition of statute labour, when the domains began to turn their pastures into arable land, that the number of sheep decreased. The pastures decreased from 18 487 500 acres in 1869 to 16 354 500 in 1885 and 16 070 000 in 1895. Further, the importation of overseas wool, especially of the Australian product (which was imported into Germany for the first time in 1850 by English merchants, the amount imported into Europe in 1869 being 1 500 tons) caused a great change in our sheep farms.

In the last quarter of the past century, owing to the low price of

wool, breeding sheep for mutton became more general, and large importations of mutton-producing breeds from England were made. These animals were seldom used to produce pure-bred offspring, but were crossed, the crosses often making flocks of excellent quality.

In the interests of the dairy sheep farms, and especially with a view to the improvement of the Hungarian Racka breed, Friesian sheep were imported in 1884; these animals stand the climate of Hungary well and trasmit their weight and milking qualities to the cross-breds.

Finally, from 1890 on, the first Rambouillet sheep were introduced in order to still further increase the weight and improve the wool of the native breed. The Rambouillet sheep were increasingly bred; while later, the early maturing Soissonnais and Chatillonais Merinos were acclimatized for the same purpose.

The most characteristic representative of the Hungarian breeds is the Racka from the Great Plain (Alföld); this animal still exists in its primitive state on the «Puszta » of Hortobágy, and is also found in the counties of Arad, Békés and Csongrád. The Racka of the plains is a large animal; height at withers 32 to 34 inches in males, 28 to 30 inches in ewes; length of body 34 to 36 inches in males, 32 to 34 inches in ewes. The height at the withers is thus remarkbly large in comparison with the body-length. The live-weight of rams is 130 to 135 lbs., of ewes 100 to 110 lbs. The horns of both rams and ewes are long; they bend somewhat forwards and are twisted. At the conjunction of the face and skull, between the frontal bone and the nose, occurs a characteristic depression. The woolly tail reaches the hocks.

The wool, which is 8 to 12 inches long, is composed of thick staple and down; it is used in the manufacture of thick cloths and blankets; in making felt it is necessary to mix it with finer wools. This breed has to a large extent been superseded on the great Alföld by Merinos; but where the liver-fluke decimates Merino flocks, the Racka sheep flourish, as they are not so susceptible to the attacks of this parasite, and avoid damp places. Besides the Racka of the plains, there is also the mountain race; this is commonest in Transylvania and Upper Hungary; its characteristics have, however, been modified by numerous crosses. It is a weakly, small arimal, except in the mountain districts of the counties of Krasso-Szörény and Torontál. In Transylvania also, in certain districts where it bears traces of crossing with Lincolns, this sheep attains a larger size.

The sheep are put to the tup at a year and a half. Lambing takes place usually in February, and the lambs are either sold soon, or else kept till the middle of May, when the sheep are first milked; milking generally continues till the end of September. The variations in the number of sheep in Hungary have been as follows.

As is scen, the number was least in 1905, after which it once more increased. The number of sheep per 1 000 inhabitants was 1051 in 1870 726 in 1880, and 418 in 1911.

The decrease in sheep is recorded especially in the districts where Merinos were preponderant, i.e. in the Great Plain (Alföld), and on the right bank of the Danube.

In 1880 the total still included 67 per cent. of Merinos; in 1911 this percentage sank to 29, and while the Merinos decreased by 38 per cent., the number of sheep kept for milk and mutton rose from 3.2 to 4 millions; this shows that breeders consider milking ewes, and secondarily mutton sheep, as more paying than Merinos, whose chief value lies in their wool.

These figures are further explained by the fact that the breeding of milch sheep is chiefly in the hands of small owners in mountain districts, where even now, sheep find abundant pasturage, while Merino breeding was continued on the large estates in the plain (Alföld) and in the districts on the right bank of the Danube, where owing to the rapid increase of intensive cultivation, the animals were gradually deprived of their pastures.

In Hungary, Racka or Merino flocks graze in the open almost throughout the year, except during the coldest winter months; and even then, if there is not much snow, they pass several hours daily at grass. Sheep breeding is thus based in the first instance on pasturage, partly on pastures unsuitable for other animals, and partly on the temporary pastures of farms where intensive cultivation is practised.

Wool and lambs are the chief sources of revenue of the Merino sheep farms. Shearing is done once a year, in June, the sheep being sometimes washed previously. On farms which devote their attention to lambs, lambing is very early, in Decemher or January, so as to profit by the very high prices made by early lambs. The practice is, however, costly because better feeding is necessary. Sheep farms which depend on the sale of breeding animals, or the fattening of wethers, fix the lambing time for the end of February or beginning of March. The large sheep farms are occupied also with the sale of breeding animals, either by notice of sale, or at auctions, but especially at a Show organized every spring at Budapest by the National Hungarian Farmers' Association. From 1000 to 1500 breeding sheep are sold, of which the price varies as follows:

As a rule the only food given in winter is straw with a little hay; only on first class farms a little grain is given. The wethers are generally put up to fatten at 18 months; besides straw, hay and beet pulp, they get 1 3/4 to 24 lbs. of maize meal per head.

According to the census taken on February 28, 1911, the total number of sheep in Hungary, without lambs, amour.ted to 6 677 680 head. Fixing the net return at 2s Id per head, the total returns from sheep come to about £700 000. The net return, of the Merinos especially, could not be put higher than 2s id per head, and is in fact often less. The following figures give the receipts and expenses of a flock of 4200 fire-woolled sheep in 1910:

The net return is thus £396 14s 2d, or Is 10 3/4d per head. But taking into consideration that the cost of upkeep of dairy-sheep farms has decreased of late years, while the price of cheese has risen considerably, the return of these sheep-farms can be put at a slightly higher figure: 25 II per head.