POULTRY. 177 



until they are at least four or five weeks old. Young clucks, 

 unlike chickens, feather very slowly, and the only feathers 

 that appear early are those of the tail. These should be 

 clipped with a pair of scissors, as they become wet and 

 draggled whenever there is any dew on the grass. These 

 are useful precautions to take when the young are hatched 

 under hens. With ducks as mothers, in favorable situations, 

 it will be as well perhaps to leave them to their maternal 

 instincts. We have always observed that ducks having free 

 access to running water or a swamp, after the first few weeks, 

 grow more rapidly and make larger birds. 



Muskrats are very fond of young ducks, and therefore these 

 should be guarded against. 



Ducks when well fed are very prolific layers. They have 

 been known to lay ninety days in succession without intermis- 

 sion. Of the domestic ducks the Eouen has the most game 

 flavor, the meat being the darkest. The White Aylesbury, 

 though brought by high feeding in some instances to as great 

 a weight as eighteen pounds, and a great favorite in the Lon- 

 don market, we have found very deficient to keep a standard 

 weight, as compared with the Rouen and black Cayuga. 

 Their pure white plumage, pinkish white bills, and beauty 

 of form make them great favorites where they are known, 

 and no more beautiful contrast of color need be wished for 

 than a sheet of water stocked with these and the Rouen and 

 black Cayuga. 



Geese. — The Bremen geese of David B. Evans and Theo- 

 dore G. Lincoln were especially fine. There is no breed 

 which more completely approaches perfection, whether we 

 consider the snow-white hue of their plumage, or their great 

 size. The Indian Mountain geese exhibited by the same gen- 

 tlemen were also noble specimens. 



The goose is the closest grazer of all living creatures, not 

 excepting sheep, and it might be a cheap method of pro- 

 curing fine turf for a lawn to have a flock of these birds pas- 

 tured upon it for a year or two. The finest turf we almost 

 ever saw is to be found along the roadsides of the island of 

 Rhode Island, near Newport, where flocks of geese are con- 

 tinually grazing. 



Gai^linaceous Fowl. — (^Plymouth JRocJcs.) — This breed is 



23 



