RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



large numbers. These birds, as their name indicates, origi- 

 nated in China. They are large, beautiful birds, of a proud, 

 erect carriage, with pure white plumage outside. The inside 

 feathers are slightly cream colored. The neck is long and 

 gracefully curved; the head long and finely shaped,' with a 

 full bright eye. The legs and beak are of a very dark orange, 

 and form a fine contrast to the pure white feathers. The 

 minimum weight of our birds when matured was about four- 

 teen pounds per pair, while the very heaviest would tip the 

 scales at twenty-two pounds. My first experience with ducks 

 commenced more than fifty years ago. We used the common 

 puddle ducks and grew them for the city market. The ducks 

 were very small and so were the profits. They were fed but 

 little and allowed full range, consequently the home ties were 

 not strong. 



Those ducks followed the little brook in the pasture 

 through swamps and marshes for half a mile in either direc- 

 tion, wholly regardless of farm limits. If we expected any 

 eggs from those ducks they should have been safely housed 

 at night. This task devolved upon the boys. Now our 

 paternal head, though a kind and indulgent parent (unfortu- 

 nately for us), had the impression that boys were made to 

 work, and work we did. Now, what boy of ten or twelve 

 years had not rather chase ducks through the mud in the 

 swamp that to wield the hoe among the weeds in the corn 

 field? It was our recreation, our chief solace and delight 

 those long, hot summer days — the anticipation of that duck 

 hunt in the evening. I think my extraordinary love for the 

 duck hailed from this date. Later on we used a cross between 

 a Rouen and Cayuga. This cross made a much larger and 

 better market bird. The flesh was better flavored. They pro- 

 duced more eggs and began earlier in the spring, consequently 

 prices and profits slightly improved. 



These birds did not stray far, but were as fond of mud' 

 and water as their little predecessors. It was a pleasing and 

 comical sight to see three or four hundred of these ducklings 

 of all ages, when first let out in the morning, run down the 

 hill in their eager haste to reach the swamp, a part of them 

 right side up, then rolling over and over on their broadsides; 

 others still reversing themselves end for end down the steep 

 incline, apparently a matter of supreme indifference how, so 

 long as they reached the mud first. 



These ducklings always returned at night with their 

 numbers more or lesr. depleted, as they were the legitimate 

 prey of skunks, minks, weasels and mud turtles; and if we 

 reached the summer's end with sixty per cent, of the ori^i- 



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