DUCK DOLLARS 65 
place where it ought not to be, because there it looks slovenly, and spoils 
the appearance of the birds. 
This string sinks into the flesh and is almost out of sight and hardly 
shows when the flesh is soft and wet, 
When the operator starts to tie up the duckling, it is lying on the 
board, breast up. He grasps the head in his right hand, swings it 
around to the right and puts it between the wing and that side of the 
body. The duckling after tying is put into one of the refrigerator tanks. 
Each tank is a convenient size, about six or eight feet 
long, three or four feet wide and three :o four feet deep. The 
These refrigerating tanks are made of common Yankee ee aa 
‘an 
Pine, or they can be made of cypress, or any wood suit- 
able to hold water. If you give these tanks a good coating of paint 
inside you will find that they will wash out much quicker and better, 
and will not become slimy like an unpainted tank. Water is first put 
into the tank to about one-half the depth, then the ducklings are put in. 
As a rule the birds float in the water. Once in a while a carcass will 
be found which will sink. As more and more ducks are put in, they 
press down those already in the tank. The ice of course floats on top 
of the water. The duck is allowed to stay in the tank of ice-water until 
shipping time, which is generally from twelve to twenty hours later. 
The object of the ice-water is to plump the flesh and condition it. The 
water also adds slightly to the weight of the duck. 
The ducklings should be plumped in the ice-water ‘‘Plump 
over night and shipped the following day as the trains —Them’”’ over 
run. Night 
The ducklings are shipped to market by express (not freight), either 
in boxes or barrels. We use boxes in shipping by 
express to the Boston market and get the empties back What {9 
free. We used barrels when we shipped to the New Ship in 
York market, because then the shipments were handled by two express 
companies, and we could not get back the empty boxes at a cheap rate. 
The shipping box we use is a substantial affair. A light, fragile box 
would not answer. The box holds twenty-four ducklings. Sometimes 
twenty-six will go in. 
The inside measurements of the shipping box are twenty-four inches 
long, fifteen inches wide, fourteen inches deep. It is built of one-inch 
pine. Better and lighter wood can be found in various sections of the 
United States. The cover of the box is not on hinges, but is bolted on 
with two bolts, one at each end of the cover in the middle. These boxes 
are used over and over again until they are worn out. They last for four 
or five years. The common or merchandise rate is charged by the inter- 
state express companies for taking the killed ducklings in these boxes to 
market. For the ordinary express-train journey of six 
or seven hours or less, no ice is used. If the breeder 
is shipping long distances, ice should be packed in the 
box along with the birds. There is practically no limit 
to distance which killed ducklings can be shipped, as the 
markets are located in America, if the shipper packs correctly. 
No Ice 
Necessary 
for Short 
Journeys 
