78 DUCK DOLLARS 
men will not pay what ducklings are worth if they find they can impose 
on the breeder, or keep him in ignorance of the market. 
As a rule, most of the poultry markets in the United States and 
Canada do not know yet what a good duck is. There is a splendid open- 
ing everywhere for breeders with the right birds. Get into your nearest 
market, capture your share of it and get the good prices which your 
ducklings will bring. 
What is known among epicures as a canvasback duck is a wild duck 
from the breeding grounds of Chesapeake Bay. They live largely on the 
wild celery which grows there. They weigh eight pound’ to the pair. 
They are much prized by many diners on account of their peculiar flavor 
due to the wild celery, and are worth about $5 a pair in the markets. 
Most of the dealers know only the common or puddle duck, weigh- 
ing three or four pounds when full grown. At three months they weigh 
only between three and four pounds. The eggs are small and greenish 
in color. The Pekin eggs are large and white. It takes the whole sum- 
mer for the puddle duck to mature. Compared to our Pekin ducklings 
they look like a sparrow alongside of a chicken. 
It is not uncommon to see in the markets small, thin, bruised, half- 
fattened, half-picked ducks. Many of them have bloody bills and their 
feet are dirty with caked manure and mud. Avoid sending to market 
anything in that class. Open a box of our ducklings and you see first 
the brown paper, a good introduction to the contents, 
Serine then the contents themselves, clean of bill and feet, white 
Mckee € and plump, something good which whets the appetite 
and makes one long for possession. Ducklings properly 
marketed give the buyer a good impression. 
The red-head duck (wild) is thought to be good eating in some 
sections, Maine for example. A friend of ours killed a red-head down 
in Maine which weighed four pounds. Three trout were found in her 
gullet. She was roasted with all skill at command, but tasted oily and 
fishy, and was a disappointment. 
If you actually go into the Boston and New York markets in the 
spring and try to buy ducklings, thirty to thirty-five cents a pound is 
what you have to pay. Some reporters for the newspapers, when they 
set out to write a market article, announce themselves as reporters, and 
ask the dealers what prices they will put into the papers. The dealers 
Shelter Roof for Ducks on the Range 
