276 FARMING FOR LADIES, [chap, xm, 



found less savoury. Cobbett, indeed, who 

 fed them in a pen, in the same manner as 

 his geese, says that — " his ducks are, in con- 

 sequence of this, a great deal more fine and 

 delicate than any others ;" but that " deli- 

 cacy," which is prized in the white-meated 

 poultry, is not so much wanted in the dark 

 flesh of ducks and geese — which are usually 

 roasted — as that savouriness of flavour which 

 gives a relish to the palate, and which is much 

 lessened by over-nicety of feeding. In this 

 we must, however, admit, that if the duck be 

 boiled with onion-sauce (which is a common 

 dish in Ireland), the whiteness of the flesh is 

 then rather an improvement than an objection. 

 Some over-delicate folks object to the ducks 

 being fed upon the slugs and garbage which 

 they fish up from the mire : but those fasti- 

 dious persons should recollect, that what- 

 ever goes into the stomach is converted into 

 wholesome flesh ; and, so greedy are the 

 ducks, that, were they not allowed to seek 

 for a maintenance, they would, when full 

 grown, consume so much corn before being 

 ready for the table, as to be rendered far 

 from profitable. They should not, however. 



