As market stock, the eggs of the Indian Runner have opened' 

 up possibilities never before ahead of us, at least, as far as we 

 could know. They not only furnish the large sized product that 

 everybody likes to buy, but, under favorable conditions, they can 

 be produced more cheaply than the smaller hens' eggs. 7 do not^ 

 by any means, wish to tempt every one to take up ducks. There 

 are some points about handling all ducks, especially in confine- 

 ment, that do not commend themselves to the average person. 

 Among these are the filth of their yards, and the work of dressing 

 the carcasses that must, eventually, go to market. The first of 

 these can be overcome by proper management, on the right kin.l 

 of location. Ducks can be kept, and do thoroughly well in con- 

 finement, but this makes more work for the handler, as a matter 

 of course, as it does with all fowls. 



We have had Indian Runner ducks, raised wholly in confine- 

 ment, begin to shell out the eggs while still just less than four 

 and one-half months old. This was without any conscious effort 

 to push them. It is not common to them to lay quite so early as 

 this. But they do lay earlier than hens, comparatively speaking; 

 ihey do lay more persistently ; they do lay better in the autumn; 

 they do make a higher record, on the average. When we add 

 these items to the fact that they lay an egg exactly one-half larger 

 than the standard of size for hens' eggs, and that those of the best 

 English type have long been bred to lay white, translucent eggs, 

 it is easy to see that their value as producers of market eggs is 

 abnormally high, as compared with anything yet known. 



The eventual value of the green egg type turns entirely on 

 the question as to whether or not a green egg will sell in the 

 market. Possibly some one will have business acumen and push 

 sufficient to popularize the green egg just as some localities have 

 popularized the brown egg of the Asiatics. This is not saying 

 that they will not sell now ; I hold that a perfectly good food pro- 

 duct in as good general demand as eggs, should always sell, if 



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