THE DUCK. 
189 
have been assured, for example, that the people in 
some parts of Buckinghamshire derive considerable 
profit from their peculiar skill in breeding and rear- 
ing Ducks. They contrive to reverse the order of 
nature, and, by a restriction of food, or other means, 
prevent them from laying till October or November. 
Some weeks before the time they wish them to lay, 
they feed them with stimulating food ; and when 
the eggs are ready, they are put under a hen, who is 
obliged frequently to continue on the nest, till three 
successive broods have been hatched. When the 
young Ducks leave the shell, they are placed near 
a fire, and nursed with great care. By these means 
many Ducklings are sent at Christmas to London, 
where they meet with ready purchasers. 
Of all people in the world, the Chinese are said 
to be the most skilled in the management of poultry, 
particularly of Ducks, many people at Canton 
earning their livelihood merely by bringing them 
up ; some buy the eggs and trade with them, 
others hatch them in ovens, and others attend on 
the young ones. The following is their plan : — 
They lay an iron-plate on a brick hearth ; on this 
they place a box full of sand, half a foot high, in 
which the eggs are put in rows ; the box they cover 
with a sieve, over which they hang a mat. To heat 
them, they make use of a particular sort of wood, 
which burns slowly and uniformly ; at first, they 
give them but little warmth, increasing it gradu- 
ally, and it becomes a strong heat by the time the 
eggs are hatched. If the heat is increased too much, 
the young Ducks are hatched too soon, and in that 
case they generally die in three or four days. The 
