260 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Mtfcb 27, 188S. 



I'ROFITAhLE DUCK-BREEDING 

 I vENioiiE to offer a few words upon llie rearing and man- 

 agement of Dncks — those general favourites in the farmyard 

 and of the cottager. Tlio IHick in particular is the country 

 boQsewife's bird. Its hardiness renders it independent of that 

 care which other fowls require, and it is one of the very best 

 Ecrap-savcalls or scavengers. Potatoes and vegetables of all 

 kinds well cooked, with n little sharps or pollard, constitute 

 good food for the Duck, which swallows whatever you give to 

 it in the shape of food, not refusing young frogs, toads, and 

 garbage of all kinds, and that with a relish which is truly 

 pleasiug to witness. My favourites for years have been the 

 Ajlesbuiy and the Rouen; but <1 tiring the last two years I 

 have bred from a cross between the White Call Duck and the 

 Aylesbury drake. The birds so prcpduced are not quite so 

 large as the Aylesbury, but they arc much the hardier of the 

 two, lay more eggs, and aro better sitters and foragers. At 

 6ve months old I have had them weighing from 5 to 5i lbs. 

 The produce from six Ducks the last two years was — Eggs, 9,S2 ; 

 young Ducks hatched, 281. In IWA : — Eggs laid, 200; eggs 

 used for sitting, 137 ; yoimg Ducks hatched, 131. In 186.5 :— 

 Eggs laid, ()72 ; eggs used for sitting, 202 ; young Ducks 

 hatched, 14G ; and the maiket value by August was for all lit 

 for sale, 5». per pair. The eggs, when I have any for sale, are 

 3». Gd. for fifteen. Your readers will no doubt remark the 

 great difference in the number of eggs in 1864 and 1865. In 

 1864 the Ducks had their own way, and laid where they liked ; 

 but in 180.5 they were deprived of their usual laying-places, 

 in a way beyond my ability to remedy. 



Profitable Duck-breeding depends a good deal upon the situ- 

 ation and convenience of a farmyard. That at this place is in 

 every way excellent for Ducks, being close to a fine pond of 

 water fed by springs from the hills in rear of the farm build- 

 ings, and there is a small paddock also. The land, pond of 

 water, and paddock, are altogether about an acre in extent, 

 and fenced in on all sides. The soil is a sln.ng, heavy, wet. 

 brown loam, near a close and adhesive calcareous clay ; the 

 formation oolite, and presenting great varieties of soil in the 

 neighbourhood ; and the aspect, south and east. The poultry- 

 house is built of bricks, and the roof is of red tiles. 



About the middle of March we commence sitting hens upon 

 the Ducks' eggs, to have ducklings for green peas in .Tune. If 

 three or four hens wish to sit within a day or so, about eleven 

 eggs to one hen are sufficient ; if a good old sitter and mother, 

 thirteen are allowed. By the time these eggs are hatched we 

 manage, if possible, to have six or eight more hens sitting 

 upon Ducks' eggs. Should four hens bring out thirty or forty 

 ducklings, two hens take charge of and nurse them. I have 

 had five hens hatch fifty-two Ducks, have put them to two 

 excellent mothers, and have not lost one while they had charge 

 of them in the coops. As soon as the ducklings are what we 

 term nest-ripe —sprightly, strong, and hungry, they are put 

 under coops with the mothers out of doors, and between the 

 coops is placed a feeder for the ducklings to feed under. One 

 of an oblong form is best. Mine, for Ducks, is about 8 feet 

 long by 4 feet wide, and is made of dry elm boards 1} inch 

 thick. Its depth is 8 inches by 4, and in it are cut pigeon- 

 holes — viz.. one at each end and one in each side, to allow of 

 the Ducks going in and out to feed. The top is covered with 

 galvanised wire netting, with one-inch meshes, to prevent 

 small birds, .fcc, devouring the food. AVe commence feeding 

 with chicken rice boiled in skimmed milk for the first six weeks, 

 both for chickens, Ducks, and Turkeys. — J. D. 



young queens were bred it would probably be in the old hive, 

 and the result would be the issue of one or more swarms is 

 the ordinary way. 



The bee you enclosed looks rather dark for a Lignrian, bnt 

 the point cannot be decided without an actual examination of 

 the stock itself. No reliable opinion can be formed merely 

 from the inspection of dead bees.] 



REMOVING STOCK.S. 



I'REVENTING SWARMING. 



I AM absent from home during the day, and find it impossible 

 to take runaway swarms, and am a little nervous at changing 

 bars from one hive to another for the purpose of multiplying 

 swarms. Do you think if I were to make a small, long passage 

 from one bar-hive to another that the bees would enter the 

 empty hive, fill it with comb, guide-comb being previously 

 attached, and breed a new queen therein ? I should close the 

 entrance to the empty hive until I thought it pretty full, then 

 open the entrance at front, and close the connecting passage, so 

 as to leave them to their own resources. — Smo ketows. 



[It is very unlikely that bees would take possession of a 

 second hive far detached from the parent stock, and with such 

 restricted communication. Even if they were to do so they 

 would not raise a young queen therein, as you suppose, but 

 would remain one family under the original sovereign. If 



I HAVE had a new bee-house made, and wish to move the 

 hives I now have into it from their stands. How am I to lift 

 the hives off as I conclude they would adhere to the wood ? 

 and will not the bees come out at the bottom ? Would it be 

 safe to move them now, or better to wait till they swarm in 

 the summer ? The distance to the new house from their pre- 

 sent abode is about 20 yards.— A. F. S. 



[You will find no difficulty in merely removing your stocks, 

 if, after previously loosening the hives from their floor-boards 

 (we imagine these latter to be fixtures, or they should accom- 

 ])any the hives), one day you lift them quietly, and towards 

 the evening of the next, convey them to their new position. 

 So many bees will, however, return to their old place from 

 such a short distance as 20 yards, that we should advise the 

 old stocks being left where they are, appropriating the new 

 bee-house to the reception of swarms.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Spanish Pcllet (Percy Crow).— Nearly three weeks having clapflcd 

 you may now conclndo that her proffeny would be pure. You will Bce 

 fioiuc notes on the manatrcment of Docks in our present Number. In 

 " The Poultry-keeper's Manual," published at our office, are coloured and 

 other drawings of various kindn, as well aa directions (or managing them. 



Paisley Show (Fair Plait).— All tl^at you say may he quite true, bnt 

 so great a lenp^th of time having elapsed, and as we have declined to 

 insert defensive statements, we must not revive the complaints. 



Incubator {J. T.). — The temperature is 10^ too low, It ought to range 

 from 100 to 105^. 



Testing Egos (E. A. P.).— They may be put into water not hotter than 

 100 with perfect safety. 



UNFEUTiiE Eggs— Incubator {Captai ti).~ After cffffs have been under 

 the hen for a week, those which are unfertile may be detected. A descrip- 

 tion and drawing of the mode of detection are in the " Poultry-keeper'a- 

 Manuol,'' published at our office, price 7". 6d. As the incubator yon 

 mention failed, but we do not think it can have been properly managed, 

 trj- Biindley's. His direction is St. Alkmund's, Derby. 



Food for Zebra Parroquets (J. Worthin/tton). — Chopped egg, bmised 

 hemp sopped with crumb of bread, and started rape, are good food for 

 Zebra Parroquets. 



Brahma Pootras (Idem). — The origin of the Brahmas is n vexed qucs- 

 tion. The general opinion is that the Dark is the true bird. If they were 

 the result of a cross between a Dorking and the Light thoy would throw 

 clean legs, five claws, and all the different shades that come in Dorking 

 breeding. The best and largest breeders of the Pencilled variety can 

 prove they never breed a faulty bird cither as regards clean legs, five 

 claws. Light or Dorking birds. All crosses will throw back at times, it is 

 an ine%itable result. — B. 



Food for CIoslings {Tdi^m). — Meal mixed in water, and put in a vessel 

 that has a growing sod of grass at the bottom, is the best food for Goslings. 



Crcshep Oats and Barley (/;. C. if.).— They are merely crushed flat, 

 the outer skin being thus broken facilitates digestion. In the best con- 

 ducted stables there is a machine for the purpose. It is formed of two 

 cylinders, with just sjMice enough to have the grain crushed as it passes 

 between them. Horses supplied with oats so crushed are kept in as good 

 condition with one feed less daily as horses fed with oats uncrushed. 



Distinguishing a Cock from a Hen Pigeon {Inquifitive).— The cock 

 is bolder, more prone to fight, coos louder, is thicker about the base of 

 the beak and neck. In playing he turns round and round, which the hen 

 rarely does. The hen when cooed to twinkles her eyes, seeuis to swallow, 

 raises the ehouhlers of her wings, and curtseys to the rock. Two cocks, 

 also two hens, will occasionally pair, and go ihrough all the actions of a 

 pair as far as possible ; hut two cocks will also coo after other Pigeons. 

 Two bens will lay four eggs. Lastly, in billing, the hen puts her bill in 

 the cock's. Thus, two cocks will both open their mouths : two hens will 

 both try to put their beaks in that of the other. Perhaps your corre- 

 spondent may tell by these signs what sex his Fantails arc. I do not 

 know of better food than old tares and small beans; a little buckwheat 

 barley, or canary seed for a change. — B. P. Brent. 



POULTRY MARKET.— March 20. 



The tendency of prices is still to rise quite as mnch as they generally 

 do at this time of year. 



