146 Domestic ANIMALS. 
eight or ten ducks, but others limit the number to from four 
to six. 
Ducks are not so easily persuaded to lay in nests prepared 
for them, but prefer to choose a place out-of-doors to deposit 
their eggs, If the nest selected be tolerably secure, it is better 
to allow them to sit there than to attempt their removal. 
Thirteen eggs are a full allowance for a duck, and these should 
be as fresh as possible. The period of incubation varies con- 
siderably, but twenty-eight days is perhaps about the average 
time. The treatment of the young brood should be similar to 
that recommended for goslings. Boiled potatoes and hominy, 
or coarse corn meal, make excellent food for them. It is better 
to give them no uncooked food for several weeks after they are 
hatched. 
To fatten ducks you must give them a plenty of good grain 
(corn and oats are to be preferred), and not allow them access 
to too much garbage. All fish and flesh, and especially putrid 
animal matter, of which they are fond, must-be excluded from 
their diet, or the flavor of their flesh will be destroyed. 
VI—PREPARATION OF POULTRY FOR MARKET. 
Messrs. Drew & French, extensive dealers in farm and 
market-garden produce, fruits, eggs, poultry, ete., 85 Barclay 
Street, New York, in answer to various inquiries addressed to 
them, carefully prepared and published, some time ago, the fol- 
lowing directions, which should be as carefully followed by all 
who send poultry to the city markets and wish to get the 
highest price for it: 
“ Pirst—-Give no food for twenty-four hours previous to 
killing. Food in the crop is liable to sour, and always injures 
tlie sale. Purchasers object to paying for undigested food. 
« Second —‘Sticking’ in the neck with a penknife is the best 
mode of killing. If the head is cut off, the skin recedes, and 
the neck bone looks repulsive. 
“ Third—Most of the poultry coming to this market is badly 
‘scalded’ or ‘ wet picked,’ ‘Dry picked’ is preferred, and sells 
