82 DUCK DOLLARS 
any sensible man could have predicted. The consumers, the men and 
women who ate the ducklings, complained, and would not order them so 
often at hotels and restaurants. The hotel and restaurant managers soon 
changed their requests to “Give us the big ducklings again.” The 
breeders went back to the early methods. They found building up size 
not so easy as pulling down. Qualities cherished and perpetuated by 
years of study and skill had gone. To-day the flocks of these breeders 
are not yet back to a big-sized duckling, but feel the effects of the period 
of stunting. It is safe in poultry breeding to work for the biggest and 
juciest. Anybody in any occupation who trades in an inferior article, 
hoping to make a bigger profit by selling it at the price of something 
better, is not playing fair to himself or to anybody. 
Q.—I live on the seacoast. Is there anything in the air that would 
be prejudicial to the duck industry? A.—Snow does not last long on 
seacoast land, and this is a point in favor of the coast, because the duck- 
lings will get out on the ground earlier in the spring, enjoy more exer- 
cise and do better. There is nothing in salt air or sea breezes unfavor- 
able to ducks. 
Q.—I see you have plenty of windows in your houses. How many 
are advisable? 4.—Put in windows freely. Light and sun are good for 
ducklings. When warm weather comes the windows are raised or taken 
out altogether so as to give plenty of free air. 
Q.—My ducks like to play in the muddy and swampy land. Will it 
hurt them? A.—No, it will do them good. You can’t keep them out of 
the muck. They will run for it. 
Q.—How shall I get my ducks to lay? A.—Feed them as we tell 
under ‘‘Care of Breeding Stock.” It is all a matter of food. They 
cannot lay unless they are nourished. If you starve them they will not 
do much for you. 
Q.—My ducklings do not seem very bright. They walked into a hole 
in the field and fell in and could not get out. Some were lamed and 
injured before I got them out. A.—Ducklings are more or less stupid 
and must not be given a chance to fall into holes, or to run against sharp 
obstructions. 
Q.—I have read in poultry books that ground over which fowls run 
becomes tainted and unhealthful in time if something is not done to 
purify it. Is this true of a duck farm? A.—Yes, and that is the reason 
crops of green stuff, like rye, are grown, to sweeten the soil. They do 
it, too, unfailingly. 
Q.—In dressing my first duck for the table, I tried to find the crop, 
to see if there was any food in it, but could not find it. 4—A hen has a 
crop, but a duck has not. The food passage in a duck runs from the 
mouth to the gizzard. 
Q.—I have an incubator for hens’ eggs. Can I use it for ducks’ eggs? 
A.—Yes. Of course, the ducks’ eggs being larger, you cannot put in 
so many. 
Q.—Why is an incubator house built like a cellar? A.—Because it 
will not be freezing cold there in the winter, and in summer it will be 
twelve to eighteen degrees cooler than outdoors (making it a good place 
to keep eggs then). To build an incubator cellar, dig only three feet 
