RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 

 r 

 These men are so enthusiastic over these birds, they claini 

 that they will eventually revolutionize the egg business in the 

 whole country, for three reasons — first, that two ducks pro- 

 duce more eggs each season than three of the best hens ; sec- 

 ondj that the eggs being much larger, fully' equal in quality r 

 w^ll cpmmand a higher price than those of the hen and third,, 

 the ducks can be produced much cheaper by the grower and 

 of course at a greater profit to himself. 



. Th£re is a wonderful call for these birds and if it continues 

 they may sooner or later supercede the hen in the egg business. 

 There is "no question but what the demand for duck eggs 

 has rapidly increased during the past few years. Twenty-five 

 years ago the majority of the public did no consider the egg 

 of the duck fit for food.; The. most of the birds were gJ-own> 

 near the salt water, on the shore, often fed on fish and the eggs 

 naturally savored of a saline and fishy nature and was-a wholly 

 different thing from the egg produced Jiro'm a grain fed bird 

 of the interior. Personally, I prefer a duck egg on my own 

 table. The Indian Runner is a precocious bird and can b'e- 

 reckoned on as an egg producer at five months old. 



The Dusky or Common Black Duck 



This bird is a denizen of all our New England states. 

 It is easily domesticated but on account of the paucity and 

 small size of its eggs can never be a success. The bird is 

 small in size, though prized by many for the delicacy of its 

 flesh. It is in great demand by our sportsmen as a decoy 

 and as such, commands a good price. One of my neighbors 

 had been growing fifteen or twenty of these birds each sea- 

 son. They formed the habit of crossing the pond during the 

 night and inspecting my garden, making bad work, espe- 

 cially during strawberry time, getting more than their share 

 of the fruit. I naturally remonstrated with him and he finally 

 got rid of them. 



Wood Duck and Chinese Mandarin 



Our little Wood duck and the Chinese Mandarin have 

 been domesticated simply for pets on account of their beauty. 

 They are the most beautiful of all the duck family. Their 

 brilliant plumage is wonderful, closely rivalling the bird of 

 Paradise. They are easily domesticated but are very delicate- 

 and are about the size of the common Teal. 



In the constant efforts of the breeders to reduce the size, 

 they reduced the vitality also. This seems to. be the case 

 always, in reducing the size of the bird or animal the whole 

 system is debilitated. In increasing the size the case is re- 



[ 31 ] 



