356 



FARMERS' REGISTER— ON RAISING DUCKS. 



an opinion that they never tasted bread, made of 

 itj so sweet and of such fine flavor. I liave never 

 known any corn equal to it, althouj^h it is well 

 known that we never had a season more ftvorable 

 to corn. The cattle appear to relisli the stalks as 

 well as those cut green — there is no loss in (liis 

 particular — but a gain, in respect to the under 

 stalks, often left exposed in the field after the corn 

 is gathered. 



There can scarcely be a doubt but what tlie corn 

 will ripen earlier and be heavier, by suffering the 

 tops to remain until the corn is fdlly ripe. It is 

 not fully ripe untd the inner part of the kernel be- 

 comes rather hard, or is " out of milk," as farmers 

 say. Then the corn may be lopped without inju- 

 ry. Nature does nothing in vain. It is idle to 

 say that the ear of corn derives no nourishment, 

 while green, from the top stalks. Every part of 

 the stalk, leaves and all, are necessary to tlie 

 growth and maturity of tiio ear, and the saccha- 

 rine juice gently oozes into the cob, and from the 

 cob into the kernel until fully ripe. It would be 

 as rational to contend, that the amputation of an 

 arm would not injure a man, as that the cutting 

 the green stalk would not tend to wither the green 

 ear of corn. I am aware, Mr. Editor, that this 

 doctrine stands opposed to the prejudices of far- 

 mers generally, yet I fully believe that fair experi- 

 ments will, not many years hence, induce them to 

 support it. 



Another practice among farmers deserves cen- 

 sure. They often pile up their corn in large heaps 

 in the barn in order to have what is called " husk- 

 ings." In this pile there are green materials, 

 green stalks, green ears, and foul matter, which, 

 after laying a short time, produce fermentation, 

 the whole heap becomes warm, and tainted vv'itli the 

 noxious gases or effluvia that penetrate every part 

 The corn is afterwards husked and often {)lacGd in 

 rooms not well ventilated. Tlie corn may be 

 sound and look finely — the bread palatable and 

 called good, very good. Eut tlie question whether 

 it might not have been rendered far better and 

 sweeter with proper management, seldom, per- 

 haps, enters the farmer's mind. 



One of your correspondents, an enlightened and 

 practical flirmer, informs me that he was fully 

 convinced, that corn would not ripen so soon by 

 topping it while green. This is also against the 

 general opinion, but not, therefore, incorrect. lie 

 also stated, that he topped a portion of a cornfield, 

 before the corn was out of the milk, in order to 

 feed his oxen, a practice very common; and that 

 when he gathered his corn, that portion so topped, 

 was inferior to his other corn in the same piece, 

 the soil being equal. 



win. CLAGGETT. 



Portsmouth, N. H. Feh. 13, 1833. 



A SUCCESSFUL METHOD OF RAISING DUPKS.* 



from f he Southern Agriculturist. 



Charleston, February 1833. 



Believing it to be the duty of every individual 

 to contribute for the benefit of society, any infor- 

 mation he may possess, however small, and on 

 subjects ever so humble ; and having for several 

 years past been in the habit of seeking recreation 



* This is the article referred to and reromniended hy 

 a correspondent, in No. 5, of J,he Farmers' ^■figister. 



during those hours which were not devoted to 

 severer studies and labors, in a variety of experi- 

 ments on subjects of natural history, I propose giv- 

 ing you the result of some experiments in raising 

 ducks, which were carried on during a number of 

 years, and which finally eventuated in complete 

 success. 



It is sometimes beneficial to examine the causes 

 of our failures, and it affords me pleasure at this 

 moment in retracing the steps by which, after 

 many disappointments, I gradually accomplished 

 the olijects to which my inquiries and experiments 

 were directed. As an account of the process by 

 which I arrived at tliese successful results may not 

 be uninteresting to those of your readers who de- 

 vote themselves to rural pursuits, and who pride 

 themselves on having a well-stocked poultry -yard, 

 I hope it may be no tax upon their time and pa- 

 tience, if I go somewhat into detail. 



During many years I was struck with the gene- 

 ral want of" success which attended the raising of 

 this species of poultry. Not one-sixth of the 

 young were ever raised — they appeared to be sub- 

 ject to iimumerable diseases. Those tliat escaped 

 were stunned in their growth and did not arrive 

 at full size till they were many months old. The 

 general complaint among farmers and planters was, 

 that this the most valuable of our poultry was a 

 puny bird, hard to raise and subject to many dis- 

 eases. They could raise fowls and even turkies, 

 but there was no certainty with regard to the 

 duck. 



Desirous of investigating the causes of a failure 

 in raising a bird which in its wild state is very 

 hardy — which, although exposed to all the vicissi- 

 tudes of the weather, raises large broods of young, 

 I procured several ducks, determined to pursue my 

 experiments in various ways till I should either be 

 successful or be satisfied that in a state of domesti- 

 cation, there existed obstacles to their successful 

 rearing which no foresight or care could prevent. 



At first I adopted the usual mode of giving them 

 access to as great a body of water as t could pro- 

 vide for them in the yard. I therefore Iiad an ar- 

 tificial pond made near their coops, to which they 

 could resort as often as they chose ; here they 

 amused themselves at all hours of tlie day, in dabr 

 bling around the edges of the pool, and in swim- 

 ing and diving in the water ; but they did not grow 

 — tliey were subject to cramps and fits, and one 

 after another died, until I began to think that wa^ 

 ter was not their proper element. I varied their 

 food — gave them rice-^flower, corn-grist, boile^l 

 potatoes, hominy, bran, and many kinds of vege- 

 table food, but with the same results — and of a 

 hundred young that were hatched, I scarcely raised 

 a dozen. I tli£n began to n)ix with their food va- 

 rious medicinal herbs, believing that this might 

 correct some deleterious properties pf their fop<|, 

 but it was to no avail. I next procured the difTer- 

 ent varieties of ducks for breed, thinking that per- 

 haps one kind might be better suited to the climate 

 and the confinements of the poultry-yard than aiior 

 ther; but I was soon convinced that my want of 

 success was not owing to my breed of ducks. Se^ 

 veral years passed away and left me pretty much 

 where I began, and I was almost ready to abandon 

 any further attempts at raising the duck. 



The thought at last occurred to me that in the 

 food with which we usually fed this species of poul- 

 try, we departed widely from nature, and that, a^ 



