DUCK. 59 



the confinement of their mother, ujnder a coop is better than too 

 much liberty. All kinds of sopped food, buckwheat flour, Indian 

 or barley meal and water mixed thin, worms, &c., suit them. 



When ducklings have been hatched under a common hen, or 

 a tni'key hen and have at last been allowed to go into the water, 

 it is necessary, to prevent accidents, to take care that such duck- 

 lings come regularly home every evening; but precautions must 

 be taken before they are permitted to mingle with the old ducks 

 lest the latter ill-treat and kill them, though ducks are by no 

 means so pugnacious and jealous of new-comers as common fowls 

 uniformly are. 



VARIETIES. 



KouEN Dttoes. — ^The flesh is abundant and of good flavor; good 

 specimens will dress from five to seven x>ound8 each. 



Atx-bsbttbt Ducks. — These are considered the most valuable 

 of the English breeds and is well thought of in this country. 

 They are good layers, but do not weigh quite as much as the 

 Bouen breed. ' 



Catuqa. Duces — ^These are the finest of the American breeds, 

 fhey are also the largest and most valuable of the duck family. 

 They weigh generally firom eight to ten pounds, are good layers, 

 and easily raised. 



The other varieties are the Mandarin; Carolina; Muscov^; Call 

 Duck; Black East India. 



The duck is peculiarly the poor man's bird (its hardihood ren- 

 ders it so entirely independant of that care which fowls perpet- 

 ually require) ; and indeed of all those classes of persons in humble 

 life, who have sloppy oflfal of some sort left from their meals, 

 and who do not keep a pig to consume it. Ducks are the best 

 save-waste for them; even the refuse of potatoes, or any other 

 vegetables will satisfy a duck, which thankfully accepts, and 

 with a degree of good virtue which it is pleasant to contemplate. 



