RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



with a ranch capacity of nearly 20,000 yearly, I could not fill 

 my orders. 



Pond or Lake Not Necessary 



The reason is very plain. Formerly people supposed that 

 ducks could not be successfully grown without access to either 

 pond, stream or coast line. As a natural consequence, a large 

 share of the birds sold in the markets were grown on or near 

 the coasts, fed largely on fish, partially fattened, and were any- 

 thing but a tempting morsel. For years there have been large 

 establishments on the Long Island shores devoted to duck- 

 culture. Large seines and nets were used regularly to secure 

 the fish on which the young birds were fed and fattened. 

 These birds grew to a large size and attained a fine plumage, 

 but, as might be surmised, their flesh was coarse and fishy. 

 Occasionally a person was found who relished these birds, but 

 the majority of people preferred to eat their fish and flesh 

 separately. Now this is all changed. 



Duck-culture of today is quite a different thing from the 

 days of yore. Then, the young birds were confided to the 

 tender mercies of the old hen. Now, the business is all done 

 artificially. The artificially-grown, scrap-fed duckling of the 

 interior is a far different bird from his fishy-fed brother of the 

 coast. He has been educated to a complete indifference to 

 water except to satisfy his thirst. Taught to take on flesh and 

 fat instead of feathers, his body is widened out and rounded 

 off, and, when properly denuded of his feathers, is a thing of 

 beauty. 



Ducks In Great Demand for Food 



This sudden popularity of the duck in our markets, the 

 great demand for them on the tables of our epicures, together 

 with the immense profits realized from growing them, has 

 naturally created quite an interest among poultry-men; so 

 much so that I was constantly flooded with letters filled with 

 inquiries as to which was the best variety to raise, which were 

 the best layers, if they could be hatched in incubators, what 

 kind of buildings were necessary, the amount of profit realized, 

 ■ — in short, wishing me to give them the whole thing in detail, 

 which, were one willing, it would have ben completely out of 

 one's power to do. As there seems to be no work published 

 in the country to meet this case and answer these queries, — 

 in pure self-defense, and through earnest persuasion of many 

 friends, I shall, to the best of my ability, through this little 

 treatise, endeavor to answer them, together with many other 

 points which will naturally suggest themselves. 



I shall confine myself almost entirely to an exposition of 



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