146 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



eight or ten ducks, but others limit the number to from four 

 to six. 



Ducks are not so easily persuaded to lay in nests prepared 

 for them, but prefer to choose a place out-of-doors to deposit 

 their eggs. If the nest selected be tolerably secure, it is better 

 to allow them to sit there than to attempt their removal. 

 Thirteen eggs are a full allowance for a duck, and these should 

 be as fresh as possible. The period of incubation varies con- 

 siderably, but twenty-eight days is perhaps about the average 

 time. The treatment of the young brood should be similar to 

 that recommended for goslings. Boiled potatoes and hominy, 

 or coarse corn meal, make excellent food for them. It is better 

 to give them no uncooked food for several weeks after they are 

 hatched. 



To fatten ducks you must give them a plenty of good gram 

 (corn and oats are to be preferred), and riot allow them access 

 to too much garbage. All fish and flesh, and especially putrid 

 animal matter, of which they are fond, must be excluded from 

 their diet, or the flavor of their flesh will be destroyed. 



VI. PEEPAEATION OF POULTRY FOE MAEKET. 



Messrs. Drew & French, extensive dealers in farm and 

 market-garden produce, fruits, eggs, poultry, etc., 85 Barclay 

 Street, New York, in answer to various inquiries addressed to 

 them, carefully prepared and published, some time ago, the fol- 

 lowing directions, which should be as carefully followed by all 

 who send poultry to the city markets and wish to get the 

 highest price for it : 



"First Give no food for twenty-four hours previous to 

 killing. Food in the crop is liable to sour, and always injures 

 the sale. Purchasers object to paying for undigested food. 



" Second ' Sticking' in the neck with a penknife is the best 

 mode of killing. If the head is cut off, the skin recedes, and 

 the neck bone looks repulsive. 



" Third Most of the poultry coming to this market is badly 

 * scalded' or ' wet picked.' * Dry picked' is preferred, and sells 



