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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May 1 



old ducks or drakes being kept away from 

 the ducklings; yet the new book has not a 

 word of caution in regard to the matter. 

 There is one thing I particularly commend 

 in regard to this book. It does not adver- 

 tise or even mention any thing the author 

 has for sale. It is published by C. S. Val- 

 lentine, Ridgewood, N. J. 



Later. — To-day is April 20, and I am 

 once more back at my Medina home, and I 

 want to say a little more in regard to the 

 above duck story. I notice that the poul- 

 try-journals, or at least many of them, say 

 that ducklings should not be allowed to go 

 into water before they are several weeks old, 

 or feathered out, or something of that sort. 

 Now, this duck book I have mentioned does 

 not say a word about it; and from what ex- 

 perience I have had in the past few weeks I 

 am inclined to think it is a notion or a 

 whim that "ducks" can not go into the 

 "water " all they please, at any age. I put 

 a hen with a brood of twenty ducklings 

 down by the waterfall I have mentioned, 

 and they were playing in the water and hav- 

 ing a big time, not only from daybreak till 

 dark, but long after dark, and by moon- 

 light; and they were put in there, some of 

 them, when less than a week old, and I 

 could not discover any harm it did them. 

 They had their bran mash right at the edge 

 of the water where they could help them- 

 selves, so they never got hungry. Now, 

 perhaps it is true that they might/aiten up 

 better without the water or so much water; 

 but I do not believe they would make any 

 better or stronger growth. After the big 

 drake I have mentioned showed his hostili- 

 ty toward his own children, I moved the 

 old ducks all away, and the twenty little 

 fellows went out into the creek, and went 

 up stream and down, but always came back 

 in perfect safety. The first day I let them 

 out they took their bearings much as bees 

 do. They went away a few feet from their 

 feeding-place, and came back again. After 

 a little rest they started on a still longer 

 "exploring" expedition; and before night 

 they had ventured several rods away, both 

 up and down, and across on the opposite 

 bank, where they could feed on the green 

 stuff. I do not believe there is any danger 

 of Indian Runner ducks running off — that 

 is, if they have perfect freedom to go and 

 come without being frightened or annoyed 

 by any of their natural enemies. 



Now, there is still another thing that this 

 duck book does not touch on. All my baby 

 ducks are sold at 20 cts. apiece as fast as 

 they are hatched, and orders are left ahead 

 for ducks not yet out of the shell. Though 

 all were hatched under hens, I had good 

 luck in hatchingsaid ducks just as I have 

 mentioned, and not a duck died or was lost 

 unless by accident. In fact, I should call 

 them the easiest fowls to raise that I ever 

 had any thing to do with — especially down 

 in sunny Florida. 



Now I am at a point where I want light. 

 I sold ducks at different ages, from one day 

 old to five or six weeks old, and every pur- 



chaser wanted instruction so as to know at 

 the earliest possible moment which were 

 drakes and which were ducks. Like the 

 demand for pullets among the common 

 fowls, everybody wanted ducks and not 

 drakes. At what age can the sex be distin- 

 guished, and how are they to be distin- 

 guished? Surely the Indian Runner book 

 ought to tell us something about it. My 

 good friend Philip Bolei, whom I have men- 

 tioned before, said there are two ways of 

 sorting out the drakes. First, the drakes 

 have a tail that curves over, like the tail of 

 a puppy-dog, for instance,. while the tail of 

 the duck sticks out straight. Secondly, the 

 drakes, even at an early age, have a shrill 

 voice, something like a hiss, compared with 

 the quack of the ducks. This is very plain- 

 ly perceptible with grown-up ducks; but I 

 have not had a chance yet to decide at what 

 age the voice changes. One more thing: 

 Both of my mature ducks have blue bills 

 while the two drakes have yellow bills. 

 This is probably accidental. As there is 

 just now a big craze in regard to Indian 

 Runner ducks, I am sure there are many of 

 our readers who can give me pointers. I 

 know they are great layers, because I have 

 one that has laid over one hundred eggs 

 without missing a day; and, better still, al- 

 most every one of the 100 eggs that I put 

 under a hen proved to be fertile. I think I 

 have seen the statement in some of the 

 poultry-journals that in many places duck- 

 lings, properly fatted, bring one dollar in 

 the market for roasts, when only six weeks 

 of age. I do know that they are of pretty 

 good size when six weeks old; but I do not 

 know how much they would be worth for 

 roasting. Now, at ten cents apiece for eggs 

 (and that is what I received for all I sold), 

 and twenty cents each for ducks a day old, 

 there is certainly money in the Indian Run- 

 ner ducks. When it comes to supplying 

 the market with eggs or ducks for food I do 

 not yet know what the price will be nor 

 what the profits will be. So far as the qual- 

 ity of the eggs is concerned, I could not tell 

 a scrambled duck egg from that of a hen's 

 egg. As to the quality of the meat, I have 

 never yet had the courage to kill one of my 

 Indian Runner ducks, so I can not answer 

 at present. 



There may be something in the whole 

 realm of animated nature that is handsom- 

 er and prettier than a day-old duck ; but if 

 so, I have not yet found it — no, not even a 

 "girl baby;"* and then their cute comical 

 ways with their red shoes and grotesque 

 yellow bills! After one brood was about a 

 week old they and the mother hen were 

 near some garden peas that were just peep- 

 ing out of the ground. One of the duck- 

 lings wandered over to a row of peas and 

 sampled a tender shoot. Another followed, 

 and soon all of the thirteen were at work at 

 them. I drove them back, hoping that 

 they would forget the peas. Not much! I 



* I am sure my feminine friends will excuse the 

 above pleasantry. 



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