464 



Duck Raising. 



[NOV., 



as yet is not appreciated by farmers generall}\ Upon this 

 question scientific observation is needed, but those who keep 

 large numbers of ducks bear testimony to the remarkable im- 

 provement in the herbage of pastures upon which the ducks have 

 been thickly kept for one season, and their practical experience 

 leads to the conclusion that the manurial effect is felt for 

 three or four years. In some instances the number of birds kept 

 is so large that the grass appears to be entirely eaten off, and 

 the earth is quite bare ; the grass, however, springs up luxuri- 

 antly the following year, the manure apparently favouring the 

 finer grasses. Hence ducks may have an economic value in the 

 improvement of pastures, apart from any profit which they may 

 yield. Upon farms where fresh ground can be used for the ducks 

 annually they may take the place of larger stock, and avoid the 

 necessity of using artificial fertilisers. 



Btiying eggs for hatching. — Upon some of the establishments 

 in America where duck raising on a large scale is followed it is 

 customary to keep large flocks of adult birds for breeding, up to 

 as many as 500. These are divided into flocks of about fifty, of 

 which ten or fifteen are drakes. The drakes are by no means 

 quarrelsome, but appear to live peaceably with each other. The 

 capital expenditure for houses is therefore much less than with 

 any other class of poultry. In the Oudenarde district of Belgium, 

 where duck raising is a very important industry, the breeders 

 are usually small farmers, who do not keep large flocks, but allow 

 their birds to run together. In Britain a different system pre- 

 vails from that met with in either of the countries named, in that,, 

 as a rule, the duck raisers do not keep the breeding stock, but 

 purchase eggs for hatching from farmers and others. Such, a 

 division of labour has many advantages. In America land is 

 cheaper and more plentiful, whilst in Belgium the open lands 

 afford an opportunity for dispersion of the birds which would 

 not be available with us. Probably, however, the .chief reason 

 why duck raisers buy their eggs is that originally they were 

 mainly small occupiers who could not attempt to keep both 

 breeding stock and youngsters, on account of the amount of 

 space required for the former. It was, therefore, found more 

 profitable to leave the work of breeding to others, to purchase 

 the eggs, and to confine attention to the work from the time 



