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FEEDING YOUNG DUCKLINGS. 
GEN. W. U. NOBLE, BRIDGEPORT, CT. 
Some one says, in a recent Bubal, that young 
ducks should be fed on curds. Pray tell, can 
nobody raise the quacking pets but those who 
keep cows, or arc clo.-.<> by some great dairy? 
Why do so many writer i about, the homestead 
and the farm, put out jii-i. tuoh orude ideas? 
Why, in face of death from the solid pack of In- 
dian-meal in tho stomach of duck or liorso, not. 
sa$' that both should be fed on cards ? There 
would bo just as much sense in putting the 
horse on that regimen as tho ducklings. Now, 
when you get at the trouble with lino-ground, 
raw Indian-meal, it comes to every animal fed 
on it pure and simple. It not always, but often, 
packs in the stomach into a bard fermenting 
mass that kills, anless you loosen itB solidity, or 
in some way rid the inner animal of its load. 
Much of it, taken alouo, just wet up or quite 
dry, is a pretty sure kill, for duck, hog, or horse, 
The reason is that its swelling, moisture-absorb¬ 
ing mass does not get softened by the tluids 
which the glands and stomach secrete, and the 
stomachic movement works on a solid ball. 
Warmed by the animal heat and its own fermen¬ 
tation, it cements into a mass that torments and 
kills. 
There is another reason that comes home 
closer to the duck. Broad bills were not made, 
as a rule, to furnish their inside food machinery 
with dry grist. Tho duck and all aquatic birds 
by nature feed on soft, and pretty much ou aui- 
nial food of the softest kind. Now, boiled lu- 
dun-moal mukh-Uke, soft, and well cooked, never 
hurt u duck. Grub in tho style of spoon victuals, 
whether of corn or linin' cooked or raw, never 
yet killed one. 
A 3 a rule, a duck likes soft food, and loves 
dearly to muss it over, and search through it for 
dainty bits with his bill. They should, there¬ 
fore, be fed iu a pan, or a little trough, in which 
they can fish around and glory in nabbing some 
morsel about the fit of their gullet. How 
quickly their bill goes up, and the goody goes 
down. Then back goes the greedy spoon-bill for 
another search. 
Now. I do not think pure, fiue corn-meal, how¬ 
ever mixed, uncooked, is best for young ducks. 
But if given raw, aud mixed with fiuid, so that 
when stirred up and tonz'ed over with their 
bills it’s about as thick as gruel, I will pay Well 
for all the duokB it kills, even if they don't have 
curds. But if you feed them corn-meal raw, by 
all means have it merely cracked. 1 think all 
who raiso fowls largely should have a small iron 
hand-mill, made to regulate the fineness of tho 
meal. It will take but a few moments to grind 
all needed for the juveniles. 
Now, whou anybody has a tale to tell through 
the Bubai. about this or that, let him remem¬ 
ber that it is looked to for instiuotmu. Nobody 
has any business to put forth a rule of work iu 
auy line, til 1 ne knows the wholo whereof ho 
apes ks. 
The regimen of young turkies aud chickens 
should follow pretty much the same caution as to 
fine Indian-meal, Nobody ever knew the youug 
turkey to die much, which a half-wild mother 
bred up iu the woods. She has got some sense 
about their food, aud does’nt find much fiue-rim 
Indian-meal to cram them with. Turkeys like 
curds, too, aud orves mixed therewith aud with 
any nroal. But they wont die, if you give soft, 
oookod Indiau-meal alone; nor will cracked 
Indian-corn kill them, though when quite 
young, fine meal and potatoes mixed will suit 
well. 
All fowls like variety iufood. Sr, bread, dry, 
or soaked to be soft and pulpy; or bread and 
meal and cracked corn together ; or potatoes 
mashed up with all or either, find ready market 
on their feeding ground. Above all, every fowl 
loves moat, raw or cooked—raw bust. When 
you live near a city or large towu, it’s easy to 
get the butchers’ raw bone-scrap. Mash this up 
with a heavy stone sledge, on a sawed-off block 
of hard wood, and chop up the mashed mass 
fiuo with a hatchet. This is tho cheapest food 
out, if you except scraps. Poultry relish fine- 
pounded raw bone better. It’s egg food and shell 
material for laying fowls. It. may bo given quite 
largely with plenty of other food, though scraps 
are above all available for those distant from 
large marts, aud can be reached by all. Chop 
or pound them fine and soak ; or soak them aud 
then chop fiue; or chop and pound fiue and 
feed dry. Either way will do, as they like the 
change. 
But above all, about youug ducks, remember 
that soft food is their delight. It rejoices their 
souls to muddle it around after it is iu a thick 
soup-like liquid. “ It’s th6ir nature to.” Boiled 
potatoes are the one thiug that leaveneth the 
lump to their hearts’ content. They live by the 
sifting aud search which they give to the mud- 
hole and the pool, and the soft, food they there 
find. So give them soft food—meal and bread 
soaked in a little milk or the water in whioh 
meats have boon boiled, and tho sundries of the 
swill-tub, Plain stale bread, meal ami water 
mixed with boiled potatoes, will in either state 
meet with welcome. 
Another whim about young ducks is, that they 
must not be allowed a bath till Borne weeks old. 
This is a mistake. It is indeed best, till thoy get 
strength and the growth of some weeks, not to 
let them wander around loose after it, or to 
tramp with tin. ir mother-duck or old hen, through 
the wet grass. But in the little pen, to which at 
first they should be confined, a sunken shallow 
pan or basin, or any reservoir out of which they 
can readily climb, will be their delight. 
Now my lmud is iu, let me say that the c.uu- 
sel 60 o'tern given about variety of for 
poii'ti y J Lie.!. uly indorse. But that variety can 
be had out of different states of the same gruin. 
As a rule, the full kernel best sui ,s their taste, 
and will do well enough when they have good 
range iu which they can pick the coveted varie¬ 
ty, in bugs and grass, and little seeds of weeds, 
and worms. But the practice of one of our best 
poultry markets, shows that ludiancorn, whole or 
cracked, orfinemeal scalded into mush, or cracked 
corn boiled into a.homiuy, or the fine meal mere¬ 
ly wet up with water and swollen, will, each on 
different days or meals, furnish a variety to fat¬ 
ten and dolight. 
.-- 
CHICKENS AND EGGS. 
The poultry business, although there is of it 
only a little here and little there over tho whole 
country, yot when all couuted together, is of im¬ 
mense extont. Probably no people, as a nation, 
consume more poultry aud eggs than Americans, 
Indeed, the quantity of eggs and fowls consumed 
iu our large cities is euormous, amounting every 
year to millions of dollars in value. Tue trade 
in poultry and their product is in fact one of our 
largest internal oommercial interests. I w ill not 
here trouble with figures or census returns, for 
one would then be lost in tho vastness of the 
the burtinorts which seems almost imsrc-dibly 
large, but which, nevertheless, is a matter of 
indubitable reality. 
Besides the large numbers of poultry raised 
for markets, what would au American country 
home bo without its chickens ! As soon as the 
farmer’s or laborer's children are old enough to 
know a obieken whou they see it, so soon does 
their interest begin with regard to their prating, 
cackling puts, aud they soon want to be busy 
with the little chicks—feeding or protecting 
them; nor do they think it anything liborious, 
but take delight iu driving away the dog or cat, 
currying them scraps from tho table, and other¬ 
wise making themselves useful. The labor por- 
foriiVid in families by young people in this way, 
if a\ added together, would, like the value of 
the stock, prove to be immense. If not done by 
these, much of it would not be done at all, as 
men are generally employed at harder work on 
the farm. Much, indeed, of the great amouut 
of poultry is a clear accumulation of wealth by 
the farmers’ wives and children. 
Nothing on a farm brings more pleasure than 
the poultry when well cared for. Too many 
look upon poultry-raising as a lottery ; they say 
it's all in luck. No, it is management; even the 
dreaded gapes haB no more terrors for those who 
can extract the vile worm that causes such dis¬ 
tressing annoyance; aud it is easily done, when 
one has once soeu the operation performed. 
Where heUB have a good run, they cost but lilllo 
to keep doling the summer, and supply many a 
good morsel. This is so oiten done, that it is 
sometimes forgotten or taken as a matter of 
course ; but let the eggs and chickens used for 
onu year in a country home, be taken into account, 
and one is astonished at ibe quantity. Iu sum¬ 
mer, when the farmor’s wife is too busy to cook 
fresh, tough moat, she flics to the egg-batket 
and quickly makeB up a good meal with fresh- 
laid eggs, but often forgets the quantity used iu 
this way. The number of chickens us.d in some 
tamihes duriug a year, is quite largo. Onr 
chicken pot-pio is now considered a national 
dish, and truly it deserves to be so. Either 
broiled, roasted, or served up in any other way. 
chickens aro toothsome and handy, until the 
one-year-old fowl makes a good stew or pot-pie 
Some prefer a fowl of mat age to a youug 
chicken, as the flesh is firmer on the bones and 
is of a rich, full flavor. OTton, too, the farm is 
situated far from a market, *&ud then a chicken 
comes very handy to a meat-hungry hard-w or ked 
family. Iu harvesting or busy times, when both 
horses aud men are too tired to go far to mar¬ 
ket. what is more agreeable than a nicely-cooked 
chicken! Henby Hales 
Dairn ^usbauDru. 
HOW TO MAKE THE DAIRY PROFITABLE. 
E, W. STEWART. 
The present outlook for dairy products is con¬ 
sidered, by the great body of dairymen, as dis¬ 
couraging, and no doubt causes many to desire 
a change for some other specialty. This un¬ 
easiness is often exhibited by some dairymen 
when dairy products are more remunerative than 
now. They aro wont to change from cows to 
sheep, from sheep to beef cattle, then back to 
the dairy again, remaining in one branch only- 
long enough to incur the expense and not to have 
reached the legitimate profits. 
There is not any specialty in agriculture which 
can he tested properly in two or three years. 
Experience is a large factor in success in any 
bra ieh of business. One dairyman will make 
more clear profit out of his herd with butter at 
20 ccute thau another with butter at 30 cents. 
The increase of his product per cow from 
selecin.ri aud his management in feeding, will 
add to his neighbor's result more than the 33 % 
per cent. The one will milk his herd, year after 
year, without learning anything of the individ¬ 
ual character of his cows. He does not know 
which ones pay or which run him in debt. He 
is or.o of those who think a oow is a cow, and 
that ail cows average about alike. 
A wise dairyman knows that oaoh of his cows 
has a character of her owu, aud that that char¬ 
acter determines her value m the dairy. He 
kuows that, when dairy products rale strong in 
the market., it requires a product of 3 000 pounds 
of milk to pay expenses. If a cow does not ex¬ 
ceed that, she pays him no prod' and often runs 
him in debt even fur a portion oi her food, when 
the milk is sent to the cheese factory. If the 
milk is used for butter m king, be then knows 
that 20 lbs. of milk from some cows will make 
more butter thau 30 lbs. trom others, and thus 
it is a question of quality as much as quantity. 
One cow giv=s mi k yielding very rich, yellow, 
aromatic cream, another colorless and flavorless 
cream. The latter animal is seldom worth keep¬ 
ing, even though yielding a large quantity of 
milk. 
Again, a cow is often given a hotter character 
than Bho deserves because sho yields a large 
mess of milk for a short time at the flash, 
whilst her yield through the suatou is lass than 
that of another cow tha'. gives only two-thirds 
as much p*: day at the best, hut holds out her 
milk two months longer. The value of a cow de¬ 
pends upon hit gross proceeds per year, and not 
upon her yield of milk for two or three months. 
All these facts must be deter mined by a test of 
each cow ou her own merics. 
Every dairyman should fix a standard, below 
which no oow should be retained in the perma¬ 
nent herd. This standard should not require 
the highest prodneli r *n, hut rather such average 
yield as may easily bo reached with good food 
anil care. This standard will then bo the yield 
of the lowest cow in tho herd, whim the average 
will be considerably hi .her. No dairyman, who 
has studied the quotum of profit and loss in 
his ousiness, will fix a standard below 1.000 
pounis of milk per year, for this is the minimum 
yield on which a profit may be made. But he 
will often l e able to reach 6,000 pounds or more, 
and, with reasonable care in tUe selection, his 
average will reach 5,000 pouuds per cow for the 
herd. And if hatter bo made, the yield should 
be 200 lbs. per on , with a herd of common 
stuck. Yielding tits average, and if they have 
been selec.ed for nchness of cream, they should 
yield 250 lbs. of butler per oow. This will form 
a basis also for 500 lbs. of cheese per cow, and 
therefore should yield, on an average for auy 
term of years, at least $>50 per cow, besides 
what may be made from the refuse milk in bat¬ 
ter making or whey in cheese making. The 
refuse milk, iu butter making', should pay for 
the labor, leaviug the $50 for tho keeping, in¬ 
terest on the cost of tiio cow, aud profit. In 
cheese making the whey is worth less than this 
for pigs or calves, and would thus reduce the 
profits somewhat. 
The selection of these profitable cows may be 
made very easily, by simply weighing the milk one 
day in each week, if cheese alone is to be made; 
aud if butter is to be the product, then iu addi¬ 
tion to weighing the milk, each cow's milk, for a 
limited time, must be set by itself, so that the 
color, quality and quantity of cream may hr noted, 
and tue cream mn-t also be churned into butter, 
us the percentage of cream does not determine 
the percentage of butter. A cow whose milk re¬ 
quires more than 25 lbs. for a pound of butter 
should not be kept fur butter rnakiug, but 
should bo sold for cheese making. Now whilst 
dairy products are low, the time is most favor¬ 
able for selecting the herd, aud weeding out all 
cows that do not come up to the standard for 
which the cows are kept. 
faiiiisnijif darimmu), 
ORNAMENTAL WATER SPOTS IN 
GARDENS. 
Water in landscape attracts the eye more 
powerfully than any other surrounding object, 
and therefore it should uever. if avoidable, be 
placed near a boundary, or near any object to 
which it is not desirable to attract attention. 
The margin of pieces of water in garden grouuds, 
when designed to imitate nature, should be as 
nearly as possible a refined representation of 
what is seen iu natural lakes. The grass nods 
should never toneh the water, as they too fre¬ 
quently <lo. because tho green of the ouo and 
tho blue of the other do not harmonize. In 
nature tho harmony is provided for by the 
water sinking lower at one time than it docs at 
others, which naturally leaves a dark line of soil 
even in the most unfavorable cases, or a narrow 
line of- bright gravel or said in cases most 
worthy of refined imitation. As substitutes for 
gravel, stones may be introduced here and there, 
being grouped either wijb plants on the shore, 
or with aquatics, the shade* and reflections of 
whioh will produce a degree u variety ami • ff^ct. 
which will go far towards completing the beamy 
of the sceue. Auother rule to be remembered 
in the placing of water, whether in imitation of 
nature or in the creation of artificial effects, is 
that regard should always be had to the sur¬ 
rounding scenery. Water, in imitation of nature, 
should be placed, like the natural element, Nu 
what is in reality or in appearance the lowest 
portion of the grounds; water in highly arti¬ 
ficial scenes is not, however, subject to this rule. 
E . Dorado Co., Cal. W. C. L. Drew. 
>■ - 
lotfunlintal, 
STRAWBERRY BLIGHT. 
Spaulding Co., Ga., June 15,1878. 
I see iu the Bubal for June 15 a communica- 
cation from Messrs. E & J. C. Williams con¬ 
cerning Blight in Strawberry plants, a subject 
which I am anxious to see further discussed 
through the same valuable medium. I have 
been experimenting for several years with 
Strawberries, often paying as high as one dollar 
and a half for a dozen plants to make a trial, 
and then throw away after proving them worth¬ 
less in this soil aud climate. 
Last year I bought t wo new varieties, Ji Mon¬ 
arch of" the West ” aud “ Hoxamer’s Seedling.'' 
They were plauted iu February aud grew well, 
showing on each variety a few berries whioh 
were left to ripen, so that their comparative 
merits might be tested. Early in the season, 
however, the H xamer’s Seedling began to with¬ 
er and die out until I nearly lost the Btock of 
them, while tho Monarehs continued to grow 
aud spread until the whole bad was covered with 
runners. Then, when winter came ou, they con¬ 
tinued to grow and were greon all winter, and 
early in the spring began to bloom, and were 
first iu ripening of seven different varieties. 
They were very large, many of them measuring 
five inches iu circumference, anil of very sweet 
and delicious ‘lavor, while the fiexamer Seed¬ 
lings showed but little disposition io grow, aud 
what did grow rive nod but few berries—inferior 
in size, but of good d ivor. 
About the first or June, I noticed one of the 
plants of Hexamer wilting and attributed it to 
heat, as w j were then having very hot, dry 
weather ; but since then it has been raining sev¬ 
eral da vs, and still my plant did not revive; so 
when the Bural ciuiS and 1 read the article on 
“ Strawberry Blight,” I went and examined the 
roots of my plant and fuuad one Large grub aud 
two small, dark-browu, long-nosed beetles, ah of 
which seemed to bo living on the roots of the 
plaut. I had come to the conclusion that there 
was a difference in the hardiness of the Straw¬ 
berry, and that some would not stand our hot 
summers and others would, and had also con¬ 
cluded that the Wilson Albany and Mouarch of 
tue West, both of which, have short foot-stalks 
and broad, thick, green leaves, would BUnd our 
climate well aud i ioltl remunerative crops, while 
the ••Hexamers Seedling" and 'Agricultur¬ 
ist," both of Which have a light-grayish leaf, 
thin and woolly, with longer petioles, would suc¬ 
cumb to out hot, arid climate, aud prove to ho a 
poor berry in Georgia. I have had the Agricul¬ 
turist to die out badly before, but never sought 
out tho cause, and as tho question is up, would 
be glad to hear from some other Strawberry- 
growers m the Southern Suites on the subject. 
I am satistieu that because a Strawberry is good 
iu New Jersey is no evidence ihat it will prove 
equally good in Georgia. Climate and soil have 
something to do with the growth and fruiting of 
the variety. Bhea. 
’ - - - — 
STRAWBERRY NOTES. 
W it u us, the strawberry season has j ust closed. 
The acreage uxe eds that of former years, and 
the yield has been enormous, beyond all pre¬ 
cedent. The main crop sold at four cents per 
quart. This low price was a gTeat blessing to 
consumers, while the grower realized about the 
usual profits, per acre, necessitating, however, 
much additional labor. 
Among thu many thousands of quarts liter¬ 
ally thrown upon oui' market, one rarely found 
anv other variety thau the familiar " Wilson." 
Finer-flavored varieties, when off-red in market, 
sold uutv a trifle higher. Growers of flue- 
flavored‘fruits receive very little encourage¬ 
ment from consumers- 
A writer iu tin N. Y. Tribune, charges straw¬ 
berry growers w >th desiring only three qualities in 
the strawberry: xhai they shall be “big. red, and 
prolific.” If this charge be true, why is it true ? 
1 think fruit-growers will Audit to their advan¬ 
tage to grow for the public just what the pub¬ 
lic requires. So long as consumers are unwilling 
to pav a fair price for a good article, jilst so 
long will we raise “ big, ted. aud prolific " straw¬ 
berries for their consumption. A person can 
buy plenty of choice fruit, if he is wiliiug to pay 
a remunerative price for it, but to expect the 
best, at tho cost of the poorest, is unreasonable. 
People who desire choice fv its. grown at a loss, 
had better engage iu the business themsblves 
instead of writing complaining newspaper ar- 
tlcl68 
In this vicinity I find the.se complaining gen¬ 
tlemen will spend their owutime.and hinder me, 
to cheapen tfieir pnrohaaee; will travel whole 
blocks to save one* cent per box ou berries, and 
thru whou they get beat, as they almost invaria¬ 
bly do, their indignation is groat. Now Gon- 
tlomon, whether cones poedeuis of newspapers 
or not. you can get the best of every thing by 
paying a just price, aud only in this way. Try 
it, and if VOU do not find it so, then please on-, 
gage in that lino yourself, and thus supply wind 
others fail to dc. Nelson Bitter, 
<monclaga ro, July 1 , 1678. 
