No. 1. 



WUd Duchs Tamed — Beavers. — Gum Arabic. 



25 



From the Prairie Farmer. 

 Wild Ducks Tamed— Beavers. 



It is a fact not generally known, that it 

 requires three generations of coraipiilsory do- 

 mestication to eradicate the wild habits of 

 the duck. Many years ago, in England, a 

 friend of mine took a fancy to domesticate 

 wild ducks. He first had some very young 

 wild ducklings caught and placed with a 

 brood of tame ducks in a pond of water. 

 The young savages all dived out of sight, 

 and- completely separated themselves from 

 the brood of tame ducks of their own age. 

 Some died ; others occasionally swam with 

 the young tame ones; but on the approach 

 of any person, they concealed themselves 

 closely in the little tussacks of grass and 

 reeds at the edge of the pond. As they 

 grew strong enough they fluttered away 

 and were all lost. He next procured eggs 

 of the wild fowl and set them under a do- 

 mestic duck with an equal number of her 

 own. The young ducks from the wild eggs 

 were as wild as the young ones that were 

 caught, and most of them on attaining suffi- 

 cient size fled ofl" to their wild kindred and 

 were seen no more. 



In the course of many experiments of this 

 kind, he succeeded in making pe^s of one or 

 two birds. They were not domesticated in 

 the regular way of tame poultry, but were 

 pets about the house — would I'eed out of 

 hand, and like almost all pitied animals, 

 were nuisances about the house. But the 

 annoyance was endured on account of the 

 great advance in domestication that was 

 supposed to have been made. Their eggs 

 were carefully preserved and hatched under 

 a tame duck. The offspring proved as wild 

 as the young ducks hatched from the egg? 

 taken from the wild duck in its original 

 state. On attaining growth they all went 

 off. This he thought conclusive evidence 

 that wild ducks could not be tamed. 



A person to whom he related these cir- 

 cumstances procured wild ducks' eggs, and 

 proceeded with his experiments in tlie fol- 

 lowing manner : The u ild ducijs and tame 

 ducks were hatched together, as in the 

 former case. They were all put to school 

 immediately. The duck house and small 

 pond adjacent were well fenced in, so that 

 no young duck could possibly creep out. 

 The edge of the pond was kept free from 

 much grass and reeds, so that there was but 

 small chance for them to hide. They were 

 shut up every night, and fed at regular in- 

 tervals. As the young ducks increased in 

 size they were pinioned in some way that 

 prevented their flying. The result of this 



experiment was, that in the third genera- 

 tion the ducks became wholly dependent on 

 man for their support — had lost their wild 

 propensities, and were completely domesti- 

 cated. Although they no longer flew to the 

 woods, their habits were not completely 

 those of the tame ducks. They were more 

 active and watchful, and would frequently 

 dive on the approach of a stranger. Neither 

 had their domestication been sufficiently 

 long continued to change the order and 

 colour of their plumage. 



Beavers. — May not the beaver be domes- 

 ticated with a fair prospect of profit? This 

 peaceful animal, from the ruthless war made 

 upon it by man, is fast disappearing, and the 

 whole race is in danger of becoming extinct. 

 The skin of a beaver, when fat and in sea- 

 son, is worth more than the skin of a sheep 

 with the wool on. Alpacas are being im- 

 ported from South America. Surely, to 

 save from destruction our native beaver, 

 and to cultivate his already valuable quali- 

 ties, would be as laudable and patriotic an 

 act as to import new animals from foreign 

 countries. 



Whoever undertakes it, let him be patient 

 and persevering. Remember the case of 

 the wild ducks. 



St. Maries, Jasper Co., 111., April, 184G. 



Gum Arabic. — In Morocco, about the 

 middle of November, that is, after the rainy 

 season, which begins early in July, a gummy 

 juice exudes spontaneously from the trunk 

 and principal branches of the acacia tree. 

 In about fifteen days it thickens in the fur- 

 row, down which it runs, either in a vermi- 

 cular or worm shape, or moie commonly as- 

 suming the form of round and oval tears, 

 about the size of a pigeon's egg, of different 

 colours, as they belong to the white or red 

 gum tree. About the middle of December, 

 the Moors encamp on the borders of the 

 forest, and the harvest lasts six weeks. The 

 gum is packed in very large sacks of tanned 

 leather, and brought on the backs of bullocks 

 and camels to certain ports, where it is sold 

 to the French and English merchants. The 

 gum is highly nutritious. During the whole 

 time of the harvest, of the journey, and of 

 the fair, the Moors of the desert live almost 

 entirely upon it; and experience has proved 

 that six ounces of gum is sufficient for the 

 support of a man during twenty-four hours. 

 — N. Y. Mechanic. 



The white of an egs is said to be a spe- 

 cific for fish-bones sticking in the throat. It 

 is to be swallowed raw. 



