1801.] 
AMERICAN AGRICU1 .TURXgT. 
A TRIO OP ROUEN DUCKS .—Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
Domestic Ducks. 
There is a prevalent belief among farmers 
that ducks are not profitable poultry. This 
arises naturally from several causes. The hab- 
its of indolence which some possess — -the ten- 
dency not to hunt their food, but to depend up- 
on being fed and the scraps which they pick 
up about the house — lead farmers to con- 
trast them unfavorably with the wandering tur- 
kies, which find their living and rear their young 
often in the woods, depending only in winter 
upon the farmer for their food ; and scarcely less 
favorably with dunghill fowls, which during the 
summer months require but little food except 
what they hunt for about the farm. The ducks, 
besides, though some kinds are excellent layers, 
are heedless birds, exposing themselves, their 
eggs and young to crows, rats, turtles, and oth- 
er vermin, dropping their eggs about, shifting 
their place of laying if disturbed, inconstant 
as sitters, and chilling their young by taking 
them too soon, and too often to the water. Still 
all these objections may be obviated, in a meas- 
ure, and ducks really pay very well both in flesh 
and eggs for the amount of food they consume. 
The duck is an omnivorous animal — eating 
almost every thing vegetable and animal that 
comes in its way. Insects of all kinds, worms, 
polliwogs, fish, shellfish (dead or alive,) meat, 
even that which is partly decomposed, and 
many green vegetables, grass, seeds, grain, etc. 
Withal, its appetite is voracious, hence it grows 
rapidly and fattens easily. The common tame 
duck is supposed to have descended from the 
wild Mallard duck, Anas boshas, common to this 
country and Europe. It breeds freely with this 
species, and also with several other species of 
wild duck; in some cases the progeny is capable 
of reproduction of its kind, in others mule-birds 
or "mongrels" result. The fact that a very differ- 
ent class of birds is produced where the Mal- 
lards are crossed with other species and where 
the common duck is so crossed, with other 
points of difference, throws some doubt on the 
assertion that the Mallard is the parent of our 
common ducks. Besides, efforts to domesticate 
the Mallard have not been successful as a gener- 
al thing. We have, however, many wild ducks 
capable of perfect domestication, and the exper- 
iment ought to be well tried with all, for thus 
our stock of domestic poultry may be essentially 
increased and improved. 
The engraving represents a trio of "Rouen" 
ducks, of great beauty. This breed is the most 
highly esteemed of all domestic ducks, by many 
duck breeders. Its habits are quiet, and so it 
does not wander about and get lost, as ducks 
often do. It attains a great weight, and is un- 
surpassed as a layer. An English writer reports 
that he has frequently known a pair of young 
drakes 9 or 10 weeks old to weigh 12 lbs. Sun- 
dry writers report very remarkable laying per- 
formances of the Rouen ducks. One laid an 
egg a day for 85 days : three ducks from Febru- 
ary to July laid 334 eggs, besides a few soft 
ones and five double eggs. One of these laid 
every morning for 92 days. The young ducks 
often lay in autumn a good clutch of eggs, and it 
not unfrequently occurs that a duck which is a 
first-rate layer will manifest no tendency to sit. 
This variety of ducks has in common with 
many other kinds, great beauty of plumage, 
which varies somewhat in different individuals. 
The drakes are heavier than the ducks, but the 
difference is slight in comparison with the 
disparity between the sexes in most varieties. 
The beautiful green heads and necks of the 
drakes, iridescent with purple and copper hues, 
set off with a clean white collar and claret col- 
ored vest, give them a distinguished air which 
the various colors and distinct markings of the 
back and wings does not detract from. The fe- 
males are brown, each feather being marked 
with black which gives them a speckled look. 
The only variety which really rivals the Ro- 
nen as a useful and economical bird is the Ayles- 
bury. These, a purely white English variety, are 
beautiful birds and highly esteemed in the 
markets of Great Britain, as also in the United 
Slates, where they are known. They are good ' 
layers and nurses, not noisy, good feeders, and 
by some, decidedly preferred to the Rouen. 
The eggs are white, sometimes inclining to blue, 
while those of the Rouen duck are blue with 
thick, strong shells; of the two the Rouen has 
the reputation of being most hardy. Wheie 
ducks are raised for breeders, it is a practice, 
(founded perhaps on prejudice) to set ducks 
upon their own eggs; but if the young are 
wanted for market simply, the eggs are put un- 
der hens. Hens will hatch a clutch of cluck's 
eggs some two days quicker than ducks will, 
but it is thought that the young have not so 
good constitutions. Young ducks raised for 
market often get injured by being allowed to go 
freely to the water. They grow faster and 
stronger if they only have enough to drink, 
at least for several weeks. 
■ i «»- — 
Prairie Sheep Husbandry. 
It has become a very interesting and import- 
ant question to this country how to increase our 
supply of home wools. Several parts of this 
question, for it is readily sub-divided into sever- 
al minor ones, settle themselves naturally and 
well. The mutton sheep of heavy carcasses, 
and of middling or coarse (combing) wool, are 
bred to advantage where they can have care, 
protection in winter, and nearness to market 
The product of the fine wool sheep possessing 
great value in small bulk and weight, is more 
easily transported great distances. Hence the 
more the blood of the hardy Merinos is blended 
with the flocks at a distance from the great mut- 
ton markets the better. The culture of sheep 
and production of wool at the far West, and in 
the States of Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Iowa, etc., is conducted with very considerable 
profit and invites the attention of practical, 
hardworking, careful men, and clever farmers, 
as a quick way of gaining a competence, if not 
ultimately considerable wealth. This is well 
shown by a writer in the N. W. Christian Ad- 
vocate, who says : 
" He who embarks extensively in sheep hus- 
bandry in the older Stales must buy a large 
amount of comparatively high-priced land, clear 
up the forest, fence his land carefully, sow pas- 
tures aud meadows, build barns for winter stor- 
