DUCK DOLLARS 79 
naturally talk low prices so as not to frighten off the buying public from 
their stalls. Other reporters go on an imaginary shopping tour, asking 
the dealers, without disclosing their identity, just what they will take for 
this and that, and in such a way they get the true market prices. It all 
depends on the reporter who does it. 
Some dealers in New York wish ducklings alive, others killed; some 
dry-picked, others scalded and picked. The best way to ship our duck- 
lings is dry-picked, and if you ship them that way even to dealers who 
say they are now getting ducklings scalded, they will be better pleased. 
They talk and write as they do, in some cases, because they have had no 
experience with dry-picked ducklings. You must inform the dealer 
what you can do, get his instructions and make recommendations to 
him as well as listen to his recommendations. 
Question Box 
Q.—You say that when you are picking the ducklings, after sticking, 
you hold the head between your knees. I don’t see how you can get the 
feathers off if you do that. I have tried it and the bird flops around and 
Ihave difficulty in getting the feathers off. A.—Please read the remarks 
on picking again. We do not write there what you say we do. We tell 
you to hold the head of the bird between one knee and the feather box. 
This leaves the body in your lap, where you can turn it around to suit 
yourself as you pick it. You hold the head tightly against the box and 
this prevents the bird from flopping around and soiling its feathers and 
body with blood. Sit in a chair while you pick. 
Q.—My ducklings have a yellow tinge to their flesh when I ship 
them. What is there in the food which causes this? A.—This is caused 
by allowing the ducklings to lie on green grass before you kill them. 
You must take them off the grass range one week or so before 
you kill them, and put them on to dirt. The yellow color seems to go 
through the feathers to the skin. 
Q.—My flock appear restless at times during the night and do not 
always go to bed and sleep. This worries me a good deal. Do you 
think they are sick? A.—They do not act like most animals when night 
comes. It is perfectly natural for them to be restless at times and move 
about more or less. During the day they like to sit motionless at times 
with heads under the wing. 
Q.—My marketman says to scald the ducklings before taking off the 
feathers. Now, why can’t I put the whole bird right down all over into 
my wash-boiler? You say to hold the bird by head and feet and scald 
only the body. A.—Do not scald the bill and feet because if you do you 
will discolor them. You also will take the feathers off the head. This 
you must not do. The feathers are left on the head. 
Q.—I am going to grow celery and feed it to my ducklings and get 
a higher price for the birds. Why don’t you do it? A.—That is a fool- 
ish idea. It is true that wild ducks which feed on wild celery bring bet- 
ter prices because of the improved flavor, but if you raise celery in a 
garden, you can get ten times more money for it as it grows than in the 
