THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



199 



horse, each of them extremely bad in some 

 points, and each remarkably good in others. 

 The strong and fast points were united in the 

 progeny, although without beauty — the colt 

 inheriting the vicious disposition of the dam. 

 This happy arrangement of the best points is 

 not at all certain; therefore, the judicious 

 breeder will commence with an animal for sire 

 or dam, with as few imperfections as possible, 

 and his success will be certain, in proportion 

 as his parents are perfect." 



i • 



From the New England Cultivator. 

 DUCKS— SELECTION, MANAGEMENT, DISEASES. 



Those birds who best represent what has 

 been heretofore said on color, form and weight, 

 of course will be those which the judicious 

 breeder would choose for the purpose of in- 

 creasing his stock. 



One drake and three ducks are as many as 

 can be judiciously kept in one yard: for a 

 larger proportion of females, or the presence 

 of tw® or more males in the same run will tend 

 to the production of unfertile eggs. 



Take care not to breed in and in to too great 

 an extent. Like all other animal productions 

 ducks are improved in stamina by the occa- 

 sional introduction of new blood. Never keep 

 a drake more than two years. 



If possible have your ducklings hatched by 

 ducks, and not by hens; for the habits of the 

 hen are such as to beget an indisposition on 

 the part of the young brood to follow those 

 habits natural to their kind — more particularly 

 in the matter of sitting. Besides ducks reared 

 by hens seldom fail to annoy them afterwards, 

 and forget their own places and functions. 



Be always careful to allow your ducks free 

 access to deep water, so that they can swim in 

 it; for, to such place they naturally resort for 

 the purpose of having that intercourse the re- 

 sult of which is production. This provision 

 of a depth of water is a necessary condition of 

 fertility in eggs, and should not be neglected. 



Ducks should be always penned towards 

 sundown, receive their food apart, and kept 

 within the enclosure until after the usual time 

 of depositing their eggs, which is generally 

 early in the morning. Many of them lay late 

 at nights. Ducks should be kept separate from 

 other fowls. 



The best feed for ducks, under common cir- 

 cumstances, is steamed roots — such as carrots, 

 turnips or mangel wurtzel, mixed with bran, or 

 corn meal. Where there is no grass handy the 

 refuse of the kitchen garden should be given 

 them regularly. But, where there is a good 

 walk, they will very generally pick up sufficient 



animal food, slugs and worms, and vegetable 

 sustenance as will meet their natural wants. I 

 think that, unless every thing is favorable to 

 the proper management of ducks it would be 

 as well to dispense with them as stock. 



I have alluded to the comparative merits of 

 the kinds mentioned as layers. It is best to 

 allow the sitting duck to make choice of the 

 situation of her own nest, and leave her undis- 

 turbed in its possession if it is a safe position 

 she has chosen. It is seldom that they will sit 

 well if removed ; or if she does, she will sit on 

 the bare nest. Secret places, under knots of 

 shrubbery, underbrush, or in the hollow of an 

 old tree are the most attractive situations for 

 her. Here she will form her nest, composed 

 of grass and leaves, and of her own down, and. 

 will lay her eggs, which she will carefully cover, 

 when she leaves her incubation to attend to the 

 wants of nature or appetite. Twelve eggs are 

 a sufficient number for a duck to hatch. Some 

 incline to sit on fewer; and this disposition 

 should, if possible, be noted, and the requisite 

 number furnished from the more freshly laid 

 stock of eggs in the yard. There can be little 

 difficulty in detecting the sitting duck who has 

 stolen her nest; for, when she leaves it at any 

 time, her voice denotes her vocation, while the 

 disordered state of her feathers helps to tell 

 the tale of her secret arrangements. She can 

 thus be traced to her hiding place. Care should 

 be taken to supply her with food, at her choice; 

 and during the latter period of incubation, it 

 has often been found necessary to supply her 

 at the nest — so attached does she become to 

 her duty. The duck hatches in from 28 to 30 

 days ; but the period varies sometimes in ac- 

 cordance with the prevailing temperature. 



The duckling seldom demands assistance in 

 emerging from its shell ; but it is necessary that 

 the mother and the young brood should be pre- 

 vented from the free use of water for a week 

 or so after incubation has taken place. A shal- 

 low vessel filled with water should be occasion- 

 ally furnished them wherein to dip their bills, 

 but not deep enough for them to flounder and 

 wash in. The water ought to be soft. Hard 

 spring water is bad. 



Boiled corn meal is the best food which can 

 be given them during the period of their con- 

 finement — administered cold. Chopped lettuce, 

 or other green food should be mixed with their 

 meals. Some use bread crumbs, but corn por- 

 ridge is equally as good. It would be well to 

 allow the ducklings to feed outside the coop 

 where the mother is confined. She seldom re- 

 gards the wants of her young until she has 

 gorged herself, and perhaps hurt some of her 

 brood in her haste to cram her own crop. 



