FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 427 



next spring thought we would raise by the dozen. "Counting our ducks 

 before they were hatched." We saved every duck egg and set. But to our 

 surprise so many of the eggs were not fertile and those that were were such 

 weak little ducks we had to help them out of the shell. Some of them grew 

 real well, while the growth of some of the others seemed to go into their 

 beaks, they being the size of a full grown duck while the body would not 

 have weighed a pound. All this trouble came from the weakly parent 

 ducks. Ducks are easily raised when in a healthy condition, but if they are 

 weak little ducks when hatched they never outgrow and always remain 

 small. Then we have to look out for the white clover fields. As every one 

 knows the honey bees claims all the white clover and they are not willing to 

 be bothered in their busy season of honey making. As the little ducks are 

 found of all kinds of insects they are soon to be seen chasing the bees at a 

 rapid pace, catching one if they can. But just as sure as one catches a bee 

 it is sure to die. I have seen ducks die in ten minutes after it catches the 

 bee, its "deadly enemy." It seems as though the sting of the bee causes 

 the throat to swell shut in a very short time, the little duck sits down, 

 stretches its little head out and dies. Old ducks either learns to let the bees 

 alone or their throats become so toughened that the sting of the bees does 

 not hurt them. 



TURKEYS. 



STANDARD VARIETIES AND MANAGEMENT. 



T. F. McGrew, New York City, in Farmers^ Bulletin No. 200, United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



PRESENT CONDITION OF THE INDUSTRY. 



Recent improvement. — The growing of turkeys seems to have improved 

 within the past few years as a result of a determined effort on the part of 

 producers of what is termed standard-bred, or exhibition, stock to demon- 

 strate that it is more profitable to use pure-bred breeding stock than the 

 smaller and less vigorous stock of days gone by. Their efforts to introduce 

 throughout the country the several standard varieties of turkeys has greatly 

 benefited the turkey-growing industry of this country. This effort has sup- 

 plied rich, new, vigorous blood throughout the whole country, adding 

 strength and vigor to innumerable flocks, and thereby, to some extent, 

 building up the stock that had become deteriorated through the carelessness 

 and inattention of the producers themselves. 



