alone. I have done this because it was convenient and not be- 

 cause I thought it best, yet my birds do well in open weather. 



"This ought to be a good thing for average farmers to know. 

 I have only some seventy ducks, young and old (not counting 

 drakes). I could not raise what I wished on account of the great 

 demand for eggs." Mr. Henry is a general farmer, without help, 

 and handles his ducks so that they may be as little trouble as pos- 

 sible, consistent with thrift and profit. He handles the pencilel 

 birds, and refused more egg orders than he filled in 1911, if I re- 

 member correctly the words of a previous letter. 



Of one young farmer, the beloved T. B. Terry wrote public- 

 ly : "I know him to be straight and true, a pusher, too." Speak- 

 ing of the young man's selling $1000 worth of eggs during a year, 

 shipping under lock and key, Mr. Terry added, "And our friend 

 cannot begin to supply the demand," referred to the incredible 

 price received, and went on to tell of his putting in Indian Run- 

 ners (the penciled kind, as I chance to know). The first season, 

 he hatched 89 ducklings from 120 eggs, by machine, and raised all 

 but three. "All this was the result of extreme care, of course," 

 adds Mr. Terry. The name of the young man is C. K. Vander- 

 bilt. I visited his place in 1911, saw his fine large flock of Pen- 

 ciled Runners, his commission receipts, etc. I do not think he 

 has had any exceptional opportunity, except what clever business 

 forecasting and systematic work may give. Mr. Vanderbilt sent 

 two dozen of his eggs from the Penciled Runners to the publish- 

 ers of "Poultry Success." After testing these, they reported: 

 "In eating the Indian Runner Duck eggs one cannot find any dif- 

 ference in flavor from hens' eggs. The duck eggs do not have 

 that strong flavor and taste, like the Pekin eggs do. The yolk is 

 fine-grained and smoother; the albumen is firmer in texture than 

 hens' eggs, and it really takes an expert to tell the difference when 

 eating them." 



Mr. Vanderbilt says: "In all my experience with poultry 



63 



