aud rains — they dive to the bottom of pools and 

 streams, and Hve in the water : yet they always 

 keep dry — an oleagenous substance is spread 

 over their feathers, from vv'liich the water glides 

 oft' instantaneously and leaves the bird dry du- 

 ring all weathers. Not so with the young of the 

 domesticated duck. Owing, either to the con- 

 finement of numbers in a small space, where 

 their dovvn becomes ruffled and displaced, or to 

 their not being able to procure that kind of food 

 which in the wild .state is favorable to the secre- 

 tion of that pecuhar oil which is found contained 

 in the glands of birds, aud which serves to lu- 

 bricate their feathers and protect them from the 

 wet, the down of the young tame duck soon be- 

 comes thoroughly wet, and when this is once 

 tlie case, it is .subject to various diseases and is 

 difficult to raise. To accommodate the young 

 duck to that artificial state into which it had been 

 thrown by domestication, I found it necessary to 

 adopt some mode by which during the first few^ 

 weeks of its life, (the only time in which it re- 

 quires much care), it might be preserved from 

 the effects of that element, which in its native 

 state is almo.st its only residence, and furni.shes 

 the means of its subsistence. A little reflection 

 enabled me to guard against the inconvenience 

 and dangers which result from this state of do- 

 mestication. I had ni}" coops built pretty large 

 dnd tightly shingled, so as to be impervious to 

 water. The young ducks were not let out in 

 the morning dews till the sunTiad dried the 

 grass, and the ves.sels in v\"hich their water was 

 placed were railed over, so that they could drink 

 by inserting their bills between the.se little rail- 

 ings, but were prevented from getting into the 

 water. After following these simple directions 

 with regard to food and shelter, I found that by 

 a little attention of a servant, I could supply my 

 table with ducks the whole year round — that I 

 seldom lost one in twenty, and they were free 

 from all diseases. 1 raised from one hundred to 

 three hundred ducks per year, and no^v found 

 that they were the easiest of all poultry to raise. 

 I communicated the result of my experiment to 

 my friends. Those of them who had the di.spo- 

 Bition, the patience and indu.stry, followed my 

 directions, and in every instance met with the 

 same success. I have their assurance, that they 

 can now raise ducks in any numbers, and .some 

 of them have for the last two or three yeai's sup- 

 plied ovir mai'kets with from three to five hun- 

 dred ducks of the largest size and finest flavor. 



After having earned my readers tln-ough this 

 perliaps to them tedious detail of experiments 

 which cost mo much time and attention, but for 

 which I was more than repaid by the .success- 

 ful result, I shall now proceed to give, under 

 different heads, such simple directions as will en- 

 able our planters aud farmers to supply their ta- 

 bles with this kind of poultry, v\ hich might be 

 an object to those who are in the habit of sup- 

 plying our markets. 



1. The species and varieties of ducks best, 

 adapted to the purpose of breeding. — The only 

 two species of ducks that are raised in this coun- 

 try arc what are commonly called the English 

 duck and the Mu.scovy duck. The Engli.sh duck 

 is a descendant of the wild duck that visits us 

 every winter in snch numbers, called the mal- 

 lard (Anas boschas) \s found also in Europe, 

 aud isreeds in England, although not the larg- 

 est, it is certainly among the finest flavored 

 ducks in the world. The flavor of the famous 

 canvass-back duck (Anas Vallisncria) that is 

 found 80 numerously in the Chesapeake, and 

 •:i'269) 39 



more recently in the Santce, and at the mouth 

 of the Savannah river, is no doubt superior to it, 

 hut it is supposed that this is owing to the pe- 

 culiar kind of root on which that feeds, believed 

 to be the Vailiscncria Americana— and that 

 were it fed on common food its flavor would not 

 be superior. 



The English duck, which is so common in our 

 yard.s, has from its long domestication, run into 

 a number of varieties, which differ so much from 

 each other as to appear like ditRrent species; 

 they are of different sizes — of a variety of col- 

 ors, and some are tufted. The variety to m Inch 

 I have usually given the preference, goes by 

 the common name of tiie Madagascar duck, is 

 distinguished by its being of the large.st size — 

 having a pretty long neck and almost invariably 

 a Hght streak above the eye.s. and usually a 

 small streak extending from' the lower part of 

 the upper mandible to below the e\-c. 



The Muscovy duck (Anas Mos'chata ) is an- 

 other duck more recently introduced, but which 

 is now very common, and is well deserving a 

 place in our poulti-y -yard.s. It was formerly, by 

 most writers, considered as coming from the 

 Eastern Continent, but is now well ascertained 

 to be a native of South America. This duck, in 

 our (Southern climate i.s, perha])s, more hardy 

 than the other — sets more steady on its eggs, 

 and lays in the spring and fall. A mongrel 

 breed between this species and the English duck 

 is easily produced, and has become very com- 

 mon; but these, though they are good layers, 

 are unable to propagate their species. 



There are other species of ducks, which the 

 curious in these matters have partially suc- 

 ceeded in domesticating. I once saw a -fine 

 flock of the Gad wall ducks, (Anas strepcraj, 

 which an individual, in the upper part of the 

 State of New-York, had .succeeded in raising 

 from ducks ^vhich he had captured, aud which 

 bred freely in his yard, and made no attempts 

 at flying away. Our beautiful Summer duck 

 (Ana^i sponsaj breeds freely in .some parts of 

 France and in the Zoological (iardeu in Eng- 

 land. B ut it is very probable that the two spe- 

 cies mentioned are as well adapted to our pur- 

 poses as any other, and that, for many yeai's they 

 will be the only ones which will be generally 

 kept in our pouluy-yards. One drake will an- 

 swer for five or si.x ducks. Where mongrei.s 

 are to be bred, place in a separate yard, one 

 MuscovT,' drake to four English ducks. 



•2. 1'ltc best 7nodc of procuring an abundance 

 of Eggs. — When ducks are rai.sed in the conn- 

 try and have access to rice-fields, ditches, ponds, 

 an<l the borders of rivers, they find food best 

 suited to them and generally lay early and frei;- 

 ly. But where they are necessarily kept in 

 yards, and do not possess the above advantages, 

 It will be necessary to adapt their tood to their 

 situation. A mixture of any kind of animal food 

 with their rice-flour, corn meal or grist, givca 

 them regularly and plentifully three times a day, 

 will enable you to procure a great abundance of 

 eggs; where this is neglected, your English 

 ducks will lay but sparingly. I have ob.st-rvod 

 that anir>ial food is not so necessary to the Mus- 

 covy duck, but that tliey will lay pretty freely on 

 being fed on grain alone. 



3. Setting and hatching the Ecgs. — The 

 English duck, although a good layer, is very 

 careless about hatching its eggs until late in the 

 season. I have invariably us«^d the common hen 

 for that purpose ; and wlum the young ducks 

 are removed as soon as they are dry, iheir foster 



