A QUESTION OF COMPETITION 357 



Meanwhile changes had been proceeding in 

 other directions. The prosperity spoken of had 

 been due mainly to the high prices obtained for 

 Aylesbury ducks, which then had a monoply of 

 the market at a certain time of the year. But 

 the time came when the local producers en- 

 countered a competition which they were not 

 energetic enough to overcome. Seeing what 

 good prices Aylesbury ducks were realizing on 

 the market, the farmers of Norfolk, Suffolk, 

 Devon, and other counties improved their own 

 breeds by judicious crossings, and finally they 

 produced birds which are almost — though, 

 perhaps, not absolutely — equal to the Aylesbury 

 variety. From these other English counties, 

 therefore, large supplies are now coming on 

 the market, and still further consignments are 

 received from Russia, Hungary, Canada, the 

 United States, and even from Montevideo. 

 Instead of there being any longer a " season 51 

 for ducks, those birds can now be obtained by 

 the dealers from all quarters throughout the 

 year, and a pair of Aylesbury ducks which in 

 days gone by would have fetched 25s. could not 

 now be sold for more than from <>.v. to 8.v. 



In the opinion of one experienced wholesale 

 dealer, the fault of the Bucks producers lias been 



in continuing to devote their energies exclusively 



