THE BREEDS 83 



down insects and worms in the fields, and in making them 

 over into a marketable form. 



This is particularly true at the time of grasshopper out- 

 breaks and the like. In 1911, Mr. Coffin, of Scott City, 

 Kansas, had the second crop of 160 acres of alfalfa badly 

 damaged by grasshoppers. After the damaged crop was 

 removed, he turned 100 turkeys into the field. Thereafter 

 there was very little damage done and but few grasshoppers 

 found in the field the last week in August. 



"In 1912, Mr. Maune, of McCue, Kansas, raised 140 

 turkeys whose range included 135 acres of alfalfa, 35 of which 

 was left for a seed crop. The seed crop on other fields in 

 that vicinity where no tiu-keys ranged was entirely destroyed, 

 but this 35 acres set a heavy crop of seed."> 



DUCKS. 



Ducks are the meat birds of poultry. They are hardy, 

 easy to handle, with the exception of picking, and make 

 the quickest gain in flesh from time of hatching of any kind 

 of domestic poultry excepting possibly geese. A duck, to 

 be profitable, should weigh five pounds at the end of ten 

 weeks. It will take a chicken of the American varieties 

 twice as long to attain that weight. 



Most of the domestic breeds of ducks are Asiatic in origin, 

 though Europe and America have each made contributions. 

 The Pekin, which is easily the most important meat producer 

 among the ducks, came originally from China. It was first 

 imported into England in 1872, and reached the United States 

 in January, 1874. The Aylesbury originated with a pair of 

 wild white ducks, captured in England. The Rouen is 

 descended from domesticated wild Mallards in France and 

 takes its name from the city of Rouen. The Muscovy 

 originated in South America where it is still found in the 

 wild state. "The Cayuga derives its name from Cayuga 

 County, New York, where it was probably developed about 

 1850."^ It resembles the Pekin in shape, but is somewhat 



' Unpublished data, Kansas Experiment Station. 

 2 Lee, U. S. Bulletin 697. 



