COUNTRY LIFE
MOST country people have felt satiric on the subject of imported eggs —much bragged about—and the starving of home-bred poultry ; but the worst of the matter has hardly been expressed. My county's farms
took particular pride in keeping up the best poultry strains during the war in order to distribute the virtue after the war ; and they were
very successful in this, only to be defeated in the peace. When asking for my usual supply of pullets—which have always kept my household in plentiful supply—I received the following lament : " You will no doubt know that the Ministry has discontinued allocation of foodstuffs hitherto issued to breeders to enable them to breed pullets for sale to domestic poultry-keepers. In addition, fgeding-stuffs available to breeders for the rearing of their own replacement stock have been cut, and it is extremely doubtful if they will be able to rear pullets for domestic poultry-keepers during 1947. As matters are at the moment, we very reluctantly have to refuse orders." This means that the stock itself will suffer ; and it will take not one year but many years to restore the former quality. The Government's policy in this regard destroys the very core of future as well as present productive capacity.
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