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THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.
A Matter of Life or Death.
TO THE HI>1TOIl OIP TOE AG11
Sir — £5,000,000 a year ! Xs tliia revenue
worth conaerviug? In the eyes of the
l'ederal Govcrmuenfc, judging by its apathy
towards primary industries, whdat perhaps
excepted, but particularly towards the
poultry induHtry, it would appear not. The
value of the poultry industry to Australia
is now £5,000,000 a year, and with an ex
port -trade already satisfactorily established
and , a. world-call for all poultry products,
thrf industry has enormous possibilities
were it to receive rcaronahlc consideration,
wluch, dnring the post two years, it has
indisputably been 'denied. That it has not
been totally destroyed is certainly not the
fault of the Australian 'Wheat Board, see
,mg the unfair prices for wheat with which
(the industry is inflicted. With the almost
jecord wheat crop .of 1920-21 tho poultry
industry looked forward this year to rca-
sonabloj prices in respect of wheat, bran
aid pollard. But .owing to the liigh Goyern-
raont guarantee to farmers for wheat for
.ogal consumption, wheat is obtainable onlv
at prohibitive rates, whilst bran and poi-
lard are in such short supply as to be prac
tically unobtainable at any price. Now
tlicso commodities are indispensable .essen
tials in '£gg production, and the inability
to pbtain inem means a tremendous money
loss to the poultry . forming community.
Even at tbe present tins is quite bad
enough, but if allowed to eontiune to tlie
cmnirea-reanng season rt wiu -bo very sere
onjf indeed. If tho Government wishes to
see thia industry survive it must act
promptly towards ensuring the industry a
certain supply of wheat and its offals. Fail
ing tins, industrial retrogression will cer-
'tainly set in; tlie country will lose its re j
venue, tho ranks of the unemployed wil
be increased, and production, the hope
for redeemer of bonds and debentures, will
in our industry at any rate play a poor
part in tbo working, out of tho general
financial problem. Again one of the chief
objects of immigration is to stimulate pri-
Iiuiiiy industries, but what is the use of a
further influx of workers if we caunqt find
employment for 1 1 lore we already have ?
lhei Minister of Agrienlture, Mr. Oman,
recently advised tliat m -the absence of
Offol ; other available substitutes be used.
This at present we are forced to do, but
it rendeiu the industry quite unprofitable,
my experience being that by using ground
oats ri-vdcnd of offal only about one-third
of the \eggs are produced. Speaking, on
behalf c\f the poultry eoinmniiity I would
urge thet Government to compare its atti
tude touvrds our industry with that of
America, -.where under judicious and sym
pathetic hytislation it 1ms been encouraged
into one \if the most valunblc national
assets and v channel of occupation for a
lurge jiart \of its population. -Shrewd
Americans found Uiat it was much more
profitable to \;nd the products of'tlie'soil
to European \ lnai'lcets m a more concen
trated form, spell as poultry and egjii. This
circumstance ,n pplies with greater force
still to Austra\a, seeing that thn freight
rates, owiug to'\ cnonnous distance, are so
much greater from. Australia to Europe
itlmii from America. Under similar sym
pathetic trcntmci\t to that appertaining in
America tho industry undoubtedly would
develop here qnitp as rapidly, nnd apart
from the nations aspect would prove a
boon to tlie small nnnu,- especially our re
turned soldiers wishing to embark in a sirn-
nle rural occuDationv— Yours. Ac..
' \W. N. RUDDOCK.
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