PRESENT EXTENT OF THE INDUSTRY 



duck farms. These farms usually secure drakes for 

 breeding from sources outside their own flocks each 

 year but the usual practice is to exchange drakes 

 with some other commercial grower. While very 

 good birds are to be found on these duck farms 

 there is no greater opportunity to engage in any sys- 

 tematic breeding, the selection of the breeding stock 

 being of rather a hurried nature during certain sea- 

 sons of the year when the ducks are being marketed. 

 Moreover, the long continued custom of exchanging 

 drakes with the neighboring farmers has in most 

 cases led to the blood being so largely confined with- 

 in one circle that no great percentage of new blood 

 is obtained by these exchanges. Of course, the op- 

 portunity along breeding lines for this purpose is 

 limited to the Pekin duck as this is the breed which 

 is kept upon all the large commercial duck farms 

 in the United States. 



Prices for Breeding Stock. Duck breeders who 

 make a specialty of selling breeding stock or eggs 

 for hatching find a steady and quite a wide demand 

 for their stock. The eggs are usually sold in sittings 

 of 11 and bring a price of from $3 to $5 per sitting 

 depending on the quality of the stock. The prices 

 received for the birds themselves depend of course 

 upon their quality and may run anywhere from 

 about $5 to $25 per bird. 



Ducks for Ornamental Purposes. On estates or in 

 parks where natural or artificial ponds are included 

 in the grounds, waterfowl are often kept for oma- 



