RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



not locate. We finally traced it to the post-holes, which we 

 found nearly full of young ducklings, not much the. worse for 

 the adventure. When we look back at the difficulties with 

 which we had to contend, and the losses we sustained in con- 

 sequence, I often wonder that we were not discouraged. It 

 was blunder after blunder, repeated always with the same re- 

 sults. We had very little idea of the systematic care and 

 regular food required to insure against loss and enable the 

 young birds to attain a weight in a few weeks which we sup- 

 posed required almost as many months. We still had the im 

 pression that water was essential to the welfare of the birds, 

 both old and young, and that eggs would not be fertile unless 

 copulation took place in the water. So we built a tank for use 

 -during the dry season of the year (which held about a hogs- 

 head), and cemented it thoroughly. 



This tank we laboriously filled with water for the birds 

 to sport in, but it did not work, as it soon became so offensive 

 that we were obliged to renew it at least every three days, so 

 that we soon became tired of it, and once more allowed the 

 ducks the liberty of the swamp. We never obtained more than 

 half of the number of eggs that we got later on from our 

 Pekins. About this time the Aylesbury duck came under our 

 notice, and we procured a number of them at once, as they 

 came highly recommended, but they did not meet our expec- 

 tations. They were a very pretty bird to look at, and their 

 feathers were more valuable, but there the advantage ended, 

 for the strain we obtained was a trifle smaller than the mon- 

 grels we had been breeding, — rather more delicate to rear, and, 

 worse than all, we found it almost impossible to pick them. 

 In all our experience before or since we have never seen any- 

 thing .to equal those birds. The tenacity of those feathers was 

 exasperating. Every one was bound to retain its complement 

 of flesh. Of course the birds were so disfigured that the most 

 of them were retained for family use. It was no use to think 

 of scalding them, — that would not only seriously injure the 

 feathers, but would completely spoil the birds for Boston 

 market, as scalded birds are rejected at once and classed with 

 cheap Western fowl. 



While going the rounds of Boston market one pleasant 

 June day, shortly after our experience with the Aylesburys, 

 we noticed some fine young birds nicely dressed, that had evi- 

 dently snow-white plumage. As this was before the advent 

 of iced poultry, we supposed the birds had come from the 

 regions of the far South, and our curiosity was excited. We 

 interviewed the dealer and were surprised to learn that the 

 birds were grown to the north of us, and that they were the 



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