The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-11-28
FOWLS AND EGGS IN CHINA.

~ y" ~ HNo G00S IN SF1INHs
Possibly the daily consular and trade
reports from the department of COM
merce and labor may be dry reading al
times. AS rule, however, these bulie-
tins are worth perusal. Now and then
they are intensely interesting. Here
is one from W. r. Dorsey, vice-consul
general at Shanghai In it he replies
to Boston request for information as
to the domestic fowls of China. their
feeding. and the products Of the bust
ness. And from these replies the fol-
lowing data is collated:
Perhaps there is no country in the
world where there are so many domes-
tic fowls as In China, and yet there are
no poultry farms where chickens are
reared in quantities. Almost every fam
lily in the towns and villages, as well
as in the country, keeps j few hens.
Many OF the birds are of medium size,
laying small eggs, but some breeds. such
as the Huai fowls and the Lan5hans.
are large, and their eggs are almost If
not quite as large as those of the Brah-
mas or Plymouth Rocks. II is not I'M
common to find hens in the markets
weighing as much as eight pounds
each.
Chickens are Matched in crude incuba-
tors. When the chicks are a few days
old they are carried around in bas-
kets and sold for about twice the mar
ket price for eggs. When large enough
to forage for themselves they are al
lowed to roam over the fields to pick
up what feed then can find. At night
they are fed a little paddy or cooked
rice left from the meals.
Hens eggs are produced and sold in
large quantities at certain seasons
Many are exported annually to Japan
They are usually so cheap that few of
the Chinese are so poor as to be de-
prived of having some on their tables
on special occasions. A few years ago
the price throughout the year at the
open ports on the Yangtze river aver
aged to cash" each, or cents
Mexican currency equal at that time to
cents United States money! per doz-
en-. With the abolition of the old cop
per cash and the substitution of 10
cash pieces" (or cents) for the same
the price Of everything has advanced.
Eggs are now sold at II to 16 cents
Mexican currency per dozen, equivalent
at the present rate of exchange to To
2-3 cents United States money. The
flavor of Chinese eggs does not differ
materially from that of eggs in the
United States
Ducks are reared in immense numbers.
particularly in the low-lying districts
around HankOw. There are many per-
sons who have what may be appropri-
ately called duck ranches. The eggs are
Matched artificially and the ducklings
are so fed and handled as to become ex-
tremely tame. They are driven to their
feeding grounds in the marshes and
herded like flocks of sheep-one man
looking after several hundred. At night
they are driven back to Enclosures.
There are literally millions of ducks
in the district around Hankow, and
they produce enormous quantities of
eggs throughout the entire year. They
are inexpensive to keep, because they
find most of their food on their feed
ing grounds. When they are brought
home at night they are fed a little salt
fish, and this imparts to the eggs a pc
culiar flavor which is much priced by
the Chinese.
Factories for preparing albumen and
egg yOlks for export were established
at WUhu in 1897 and later at Chin
kiang and Hankow. Those at the first
two named places have been abandoned
because the supply of eggs was limited
and irregular. The only factories now
in operation are located at HankoW
and they are seven in number. Most
of them are owned and operated by
Germans. One belongs to a Chinese and
one to a Frenchman. These factories
each use $4,000 to 100000 duck eggs a
day. These are preferred to hens eggs
because they are bigger and the supply
is regular and unlimited throughout the
entire year. Hens eggs are only procur.-
able in quantities in March, April and
May The Hankow market would, per
haps, supply during these months 100, 600
hen eggs per day. to the factories. Duck
eggs are used at the factories from Oc-
tober to June, the remaining months
of the year being so hot that the eggs
spoil too quickly for them to be pre-
pared.