1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
695 
cannot draw him out of debt. It is the extra amount 
of food beyond what the system requires, that makes 
the butter. Breed the cows carefully, feed them 
well, and use them conscientiously. Do not let them 
be afraid of you. Let your hired man understand 
that the cows are yours, that they are your friends, 
and that if he abuse them, he abuses you. Milk as 
quickly as possible, heed these rules, and I really be¬ 
lieve that you will find dairying not only a profit, but 
a pleasure. j. A. titus. 
Cayuga County, N. Y. 
MAKING A DOLLAR DUCK. 
A PEEK-INTO THE I’EKIN BUSINESS. 
[EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. I 
( Concluded .) 
Care of the Young Ducks. 
From the incubators, the ducklings are transferred 
to the brooder house, to the pens nearest the heaters. 
This is a long building divided into compartments, 
and heated by the common system of hot-water pipes. 
It was originally built with an alley along one side, 
between the brooder and the outside. But Mr. Trus- 
low has added a few feet to the side next the alley, 
moved the alley to the top of the steam pipes, 
and with little added expense, has doubled the 
capacity of the building. He doesn’t like the over¬ 
head alley, however, as the ducks are more or less 
frightened by any one walking over them. His idea 
would be a house with a central alley, and hot-water 
pipes passing along the outside of the building. Here 
the ducklings are brooded, and passed along as they 
grow, and others are brought in. Yards outside are 
provided for them when the weather permits them to 
go outside. As they grow older, 
they go to other houses or sheds 
with larger outside runs, and 
finally as their feathers grow, 
they are transferred to the ponds 
below, shown on the first page 
of last week’s issue, here to re¬ 
main until ready for market. 
A section of the watering de¬ 
vice, and the outside of a small 
section of the brooder house, are 
shown at Fig. 219. The water is 
forced up from the springs be¬ 
low by a hydraulic ram, as pre¬ 
viously mentioned, into a tank, 
from which it is piped into all 
the yards. The supply is turned 
on or off by means of a stop¬ 
cock inside the house. But there 
is also a pet-cock at each yard, 
as shown, and by opening these 
in the yards where water is 
needed, and adjusting the pet- 
cock to the number of ducks, the 
inside cock waters them just 
right. Flat troughs so arranged 
that the ducks may drink from 
them, but cannot get into them, 
are used. Trees and grape vines are planted in these 
yards, as much for shade as for the fruit. A lot of 
geese penned here last fall for fattening, girdled a lot 
of the vines, killing many of them to the ground. 
They have sent up new shoots, however, which have 
made a most vigorous growth. 
Some Notes on Feeding. 
Of greatest importance is the feeding, and upon 
this, intelligently and systematically done, rests 
largely the reputation of this farm for the quality of 
its product. The exact methods of feeding cannot 
be given here, and if the rations fed could be given, 
might not produce the same results in other hands. 
They are the results of years of painstaking care, and 
of repeated and long-continued experiment. They are 
varied according to the weather, the season, the con¬ 
dition of the stock, the effect of the feed, etc. The 
proportions of the different feeds used are also varied 
largely according to the age of the stock. A certain 
ration that gives excellent results to-day, may be all 
wrong to-morrow, hence must be changed. Here are 
the elements that make up the different combina¬ 
tions : Corn meal, corn and oats ground together, 
bran, No. 2 flour, wheat, oats, corn, stale bread and 
crackers, linseed meal, beef scrap and green bone, 
green corn, oats, rye, clover and celery chopped very 
fine, grit and charcoal. The ration for young stock 
is much the same as for old, except the whole grain. 
This is all mixed together, put in the steam box with 
steam pipes running all though the bottom, and 
steamed for two hours. All feed is fed perfectly 
sweet; any that has soured is thrown away. The No. 
2 flour is to make the feed stick together, and enough 
is used to make the mixture of the desired consist¬ 
ency. Stale bread, crackers, etc., are used as they 
can be- procured to advantage. Green corn and other 
green crops are run through a fodder cutter that has 
been provided with a special wheel which cuts them 
much shorter than the ordinary cutter. These green 
feeds are used to give bulk. Celery is fed, especially 
toward the last of the duck’s life, to give flavor to 
the flesh. It does not impart the distinctive celery 
flavor, but a peculiarly agreeable one. Mr. Truslow 
is talking of trying Crimson clover. The grit and 
charcoal are aids to digestion, and are conducive to 
good health. Sometimes a little salt is added. 
More than a ton of feed is used daily. I asked Mr. 
Truslow whether he considered it profitable to steam 
the feed. 
“ Well,” he said, “ it saves about $1 per day on each 
1,000 ducks. The steaming is all done with waste 
steam from the boilers.” 
An 8-horse power engine runs the green-bone cutter, 
feed cutter, etc. As stated before, a special wheel 
was attached to the feed cutter, and this enables him 
to cut the corn and other green feeds, very short. 
This sort of feed is very cheap, and serves the pur- 
pose admirably of filling up the ducks. Charcoal is 
broken up by means of a heavy iron grate set in a 
frame, through the bars of which the charcoal is 
forced by a heavy maul. Formerly a regular bone mill 
was used, but as the knives dulled very easily on the 
stones and grit in the coal, this device was arranged. 
A similar one is used for breaking up the ice for 
packing the ducks, only that the bars of the grate are 
farther apart. The grit used has generally been the 
Mica Crystal grit, but he is now trying Orr’s grit, which 
is claimed to contain more lime. The grit was for¬ 
merly kept in boxes in the yards, but is now mixed 
with the feed. 
When the ducklings begin to feather well, they are 
transferred to the ponds in the lower yards. Some¬ 
times some of them stay in the water too long and 
get chilled and drowned if they are not watched 
and helped out. If they are raised to 10 weeks on 
land, they do not take to the water readily, seeming to 
be afraid of the, to them, new element. But at five 
weeks old they will always take to the water. 
From these young ducks, the strongest and most 
vigorous are saved for breeders. The others are 
killed before they begin to grow their second crop of 
feathers, usually when about 10 weeks old. They 
generally average about five pounds in weight at that 
age. Mr. Truslow has had a duck that weighed 
dressed at 10 weeks old, 7% pounds, but prefers a 
lighter weight. He does not desire so large a duck as 
the Long Island breeders, considering the vigor of 
the birds rather than their size. The local trade 
does not require so large a duck, and he says that he 
has one customer who doesn’t want anything weigh¬ 
ing over four pounds. 
When the ducks are to be killed, the feed car is 
brought into requisition; a large covered rack is placed 
on it, it is run over the ponds, men with rubber boots 
wade in and drive the ducks out, when they are 
cornered with a light portable gate and sorted for 
killing, and transported to the picking house before 
mentioned. Here they are hit over the head with 
a club, stuck in the mouth, and picked dry by men 
who, by long practice, become very expert. Mr. Trus¬ 
low says that he has had a man pick 100 in a day, 
but the average is 90 each. After picking, the 
ducks are shaved with very sharp knives. After 
which they are thoroughly cooled in ice water, and 
then packed in cracked ice and shipped to New 
York, Philadelphia and other markets by express. 
The market promising best at the time of shipment, 
is selected, Killing and picking always begin Mon¬ 
day morning, and are kept up until all considered fit 
are killed Last year, over 40 tons of ducks were 
marketed, and still more will be sold this year. Prices 
received are uniformly good, averaging higher than 
those received for the Long Island ducks. Many of 
them bring $1 each. 
The feathers are carefully saved. Over the incu¬ 
bator room is a loft, and here they are spread. After 
drying a short time, they are thoroughly beaten with 
long, slender switches, which makes them very light 
and fluffy. They are always sold at good prices, and 
while those from each duck weigh but little, the 
average being about 100 pounds of feathers from 1,000 
ducks, in the aggregate they form a considerable item. 
While the Pekin is an excellent breed for market 
purposes, the great trouble with it is that it is diffi¬ 
cult to get fresh blood. The breed is of Chinese ori¬ 
gin, and has been in this country about 25 years. 
Many of the different flocks are closely related. Mr. 
Truslow has just received a few breeders from impor 
tations.of 1895. He has tried a Muscovy drake upon 
Pekin ducks, but they refuse to breed. F. h. v. 
A BARN FOR A FRUIT FARM. 
WIIAT STORAGE BOOM IS NEEDED ? 
What kind of barn would you advise for a fruit farm, 26 acres 
in extent ? I would like to have room for implements, a packing 
house, and keep four to six head of stock. I intend to raise a 
good deal of my own feed, or, perhaps, all of it. r. t. l. 
Grimsby, Ont. 
A Satisfactory Barn for Ohio. 
It has taken me 20 years to find out what 1 want in 
the way of a barn, packing house, etc., so that it is a 
little difficult for me to say just what F. T. L. needs. 
I will, however, give the plans of my brother’s barn 
and my own, with comments 
thereon, and he may adopt as 
much of it as he likes for his 
own use. I first built a small 
barn to suit a 10-acre farm, and 
added to it afterwards. If build 
ing all at once, I would build 
for a 20-acre fruit farm, about 
35x45 feet, with posts about 20 
feet high with the lower floor 
divided as in No. 1, Fig. 220. 1 
have arranged for five box-stalls 
9x12; in one of these, two or 
three cows may be stabled. 1 
keep one horse loose, in each 
stall, but in case of an extra team 
or two in an emergency, two 
horses may be put in each stall, 
as I have a grain box in each end 
of the manger. I have a door 
opening from each stall into the 
driveway which also serves as 
a feedway. The harness room 
and grain room are across the 
driveway from the horses. The 
mangers are next to the driveway 
I would, if possible, have the 
driveway extend east and west, 
so that, by opening the doors at both ends, a good 
circulation of air may be obtained that will add 
much to the comfort of horses and men, and also 
cool off fruits that may be in the packinghouse or 
loaded on a wagon in driveway while awaiting trans¬ 
portation. I would have a tight floor over the first 
story, with an opening over the middle of the drive¬ 
way, large enough to take up hay. The entire upper 
story may be filled with feed for the stock, or a por¬ 
tion of it may be used as a storage room for crates, 
barrels, baskets, etc. 
If F. T. L. expects to grow roots or vegetables, or 
store his fruit for any length of time, he should have 
a cellar under a part of the barn at least. Then with 
another building for a shop and carriagehouse, he 
will have a complete outfit. My own barn has no 
cellar or packinghouse, as these needs are provided 
for in a separate building. No. 2, Fig. 220, shows the 
first floor; and No. 3, the second floor, while the loft 
is used to store lumber, etc. (Etc., includes a great 
deal). Under this, I have a cellar four feet under 
ground. The walls are of grout a foot thick (the bot¬ 
tom six inches), inside of which are 2x4 studding 
covered with building paper and matched ceiling. 
There are 12-inch joists over the cellar, with building 
paper on the under and upper sides. Two-inch pine 
plank are used for flooring, and the under side ceiled 
with inch flooring. Two trap doors in the floor allow 
fruit or vegetables to be let down from the driveway, 
and a double door in the northeast side of the cellar, 
permits a wagon to be backed down into the cellar to 
load or unload. A chimney extends from the bottom 
of the cellar for ventilation and also for smoke from 
the stoves in the shop. The cellar is divided into two 
parts, one an ordinary cellar under , the driveway, the 
other under the ice chamber, a cold-storage room. 
The ice is packed on a galvanized iron floor, which 
WHERE THE DUCKS PASS THEIR BABYHOOD. Fig. 219. 
