t34 Profitable Poultry Keeping. 



or the latter will be found to suffer in consequence, as ducks 

 thrive in dirt, and hens do not, so that, if there is not 

 sufficient room to permit of their being widely separated, 

 then hens or ducks should be selected, for which the place and 

 soil is most suitable, and for the produce of which there is most 

 demand in the district. As an instance of what is done in 

 this way, we may state that the Aylesbury district, England, 

 is great for ducks, and it is said that upwards of $100,000 

 per annum is paid to the cottagers around the town of 

 Aylesbury for ducklings, which are chiefly reared for the 

 London market. 



Same time ago a description appeared in the Field, of 

 London, of a duck farm near to Dunstable, in Bedfordshire, 

 which has been found a profitable investment by its owners. 

 A large house was built about a couple of years ago to 

 keep and fatten the young birds in; and the object 1 of 

 the owners is to get the ducklings ready for market as 

 rapidly as possible, for which purpose they are fed on boiled 

 rice ; to this meat is added for the older ones, during the 

 two or three weeks previous to their being killed, and 

 some hundreds are sent to market every week in the season. 

 Since the above description appeared, a lady, who writes 

 under the name of " Henwife," has given, in the Live Stock 

 Journal, the results of her own work in this direction. She 

 says : — " I«n the spring of 1881 I obtained from my own 

 stock of Aylesburys, and from purchases of eggs, upwards of 

 500 ducklings. Of these I lost from rats, heavy rains, and 

 an incursion of cattle, about thirty-five. The twenty birds 

 which I set aside as breeding stock were hatched in March 

 and April. Having set eggs in December, 1880, I had 

 ducklings fit for the table in Februrary, which I sold at 16s. 

 to 18s. per couple. I had a constant supply of Ducklings 

 until August, 1881. On November 10th my reserve breed- 

 ing stock began to lay, being then about seven months old, 



