Some Minor Rural Industries. 
293 
A mess of rice, barley-meal, toppings, and greaves boiled up 
together, with some chopped and boiled stinging-nettles added for 
blood-cooling purposes, usually constitutes the food upon which 
the ducklings are fattened. In large establishments the carcass 
of a horse or sheep cut up and boiled as required in a copper out 
of doors affords useful fattening food which may be given in 
place of, or as supplementary to, the greaves. The ducklings 
are fed three times a day — at 7.30 A.M., 12.30 r.M., and 
4.30 p.m. 
As to the proportion of birds produced from eggs set, at the 
beginning of the season it is about 8 out of 13, but the number 
increases as the season advances and the eggs can be more 
certainly relied upon as fertile. Of the birds hatched out, a 
rearer in a large way of business finds he markets about 85 per 
cent, as fat ducklings. Much depends, however, upon the 
attention given to the young birds immediately after they are 
hatched ; trouble and care bestowed at this time upon weak 
birds is oiten amply repaid. A painstaking rearer will pick out 
the delicate young birds and give them personal superinten- 
dence in the kitchen for a few days, till they are strong enough 
to be again placed with the more sturdy nestlings. 
The equipment of a “ duck farm ” is simple in the extreme. 
One or two low dry wooden sheds, each with a “ run ” in front, 
are sufficient. The classification of the ducklings is determined 
by age. They are, accordingly, divided into “ flocks,” of one 
week old, two weeks old, and other ages. At a week old a flock 
of Aylesbury ducklings is an exceedingly pretty sight. Each 
bird is a little ball of yellow fluffy down, furnished with a bill of 
delicate heliotrope colour. The youngsters are very nimble and 
keep together as they run up and down or across their limited 
range, uttering continually the plaintive call which falls upon 
the ear almost like a plea for protection. As age advances, the 
feathers turn white, and the bills grow paler. Very commonly 
the run is littered with straw, upon which the little creatures 
will peacefully nestle on a drowsy sunny afternoon. As an ex- 
ample of economy in small things it may be noted that the 
straw is periodically gathered up, shaken out elsewhere to dry and 
sweeten, and then strewn again upon the run or under the shed. 
In one case where a large shed is used for the ducklings the 
straw is taken out daily and the mud floor swept, sprinkled with 
a weak solution of carbolic acid, and dusted with lime, before the 
straw is put back again. Great care has to be exercised in keeping 
the ducklings healthy, and cleanliness is necessarily a first con- 
sideration. In the spring of the present year a duck-rearer 
pear Tring lost 1,0QQ ducklings, and attributes their untimely 
