RAISING DUCKS, 219 
at the watering-places when prices are highest. The 
impression that a pond or brook is necessary to raise the 
ducklings is errcneous. They need no more water than 
chickens until they are three months old, and are better 
off without any pond to swim in. We have raised fifty 
in a season in a quarter-acre yard, and found them no 
more troublesome than chickens. ‘The best mothers are 
hens, and we prefer the Asiatic fowls, either Cochins or 
Brahmas. A hen of these breeds will cover nine or ten 
eggs. We have found an old barrel with a board at the 
end to fasten the bird upon her nest, as good as a more 
expensive coop. They are let off regularly at noon 
every day, when they have a half hour’s range, green 
food, grain and water. The young ducks are fed with 
some fresh animal food and coarse Indian meal scalded ; 
this, varied with chopped cabbage, turnips, worms, and 
liver, is the staple food until they are three months old. 
They do much better on soft food than on grain. 
The paradise of ducks is a location on a tide-water 
stream or cove, where there is a constant succession of 
sea-food with every tide. If furnished with a little 
house or pen upon the shore, and a variety of grain, 
they will come home regularly every night and lead an 
orderly life. The eggs are usually laid at night, or early 
in the morning, and very few of them need be lost. Of 
the four varieties, Rouen, Aylesbury, Cayuga, and 
Pekin, we give the preference to the last for size, early 
maturity, abundance of eggs, hardiness, and domestic 
habits. ; 
A plan of a convenient house is shown by the accom- 
panying engraving. For fifty to one hundred ducks it 
should be thirty feet long, twelve feet wide, and from 
four feet high at the front to six or eight feet in the 
rear. Entrance doors are made in the front, which 
should have a few small windows. At the rear are the 
nests; these are boxes open at the front. Behind each 
