114 THREE AJRES AND LIBERTY 



hatched in May, and in December they began laying. All 

 during the winter they laid never less than four and some- 

 times six eggs a day, and kept this up until spring. 



They were fed on wheat and corn and plenty of meat 

 scraps and green food. They were kept in what was prac- 

 tically a glass house, receiving the benefit of the sun during 

 the day, and were protected from the winds. The effect 

 was to bring as near as possible the condition of the warm 

 months; these paid very well. 



Ducks are less frequently raised than chickens and often 

 realize good returns. 



The popular fallacy that ducks require a stream or pond 

 is gradually passing away. There was a time when nearly 

 all ducks were raised in this way, feeding on fish as the prin- 

 cipal diet, but experience has proved that ducks raised with- 

 out a stream or pond tend to put on flesh instead of feathers, 

 and they have not the oily, fishy flavor of those raised on 

 the water. Nearly all of the successful duck raisers now 

 use this method. 



This is bringing the duck more into prominence as an 

 article of food; as James Rankin says in "Duck Culture," 

 "People do not care to eat fish and flesh combined. They 

 would rather eat them separate." 



The white pekins are the popular birds, because they are 

 larger, have white meat, and are splendid layers. They 

 lay from 100 to 165 eggs in a season and are the easiest to 

 raise. They can do entirely without water; and Rankin 

 tells of selling a flock to a wealthy man, who afterwards 

 wrote asking him to take them back, because he had bought 

 them for an artificial lake in front of his house, so that his 

 wife and children could watch them disporting in the water. 

 He complained that they would not go into the water unless 



