208 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 12. 
A YEAR WITH THE AYLESBURYS. 
Thinking that many persons might he induced to keep 
this elegant, hardy, and profitable water-fowl, if they knew 
the ease with which they are managed, and the slight 
accommodation they require, I am induced to trouble you 
with twelve months’ experience respecting them. 
During the last year, I possessed the means of keeping 
only one variety of Duck, having, on the lawn at my late 
residence at Willesden, a circular wire fence, thirty yards 
across, enclosing an equal amount of land and water, the 
former hearing some low evergreen shrubs and a few de¬ 
ciduous trees; the whole being sheltered from the north 
and east winds by a little coppice. In this enclosure I 
placed, early in January, two Aylesbury Ducks and one 
Drake, all first-class birds. As there was no house of any 
kind in the enclosure, I placed in it (on their sides) some 
American flour-barrels, containing soft straw, to serve as 
nests and sleeping-places; and as the limited range pre¬ 
vented the birds obtaining food for themselves, they were 
most liberally fed with oats, placed in a vessel of water; a 
plan which has the double advantage of being more accept¬ 
able to the Ducks, and less inviting to the sparrows. With 
this feeding the Ducks immediately began to lay, and during 
the intense cold of January, and also during February and 
March, the average supply of eggs was six per week »for 
each; but it must not be forgotten that they were most 
liberally fed at least three times a-day. After a short time, 
I removed the barrels, as I found they were never used as 
sleeping-places, and very seldom as nests, the eggs being 
generally deposited under a shrub, and always laid during 
the night. 
After this, there can be but little doubt as to the hardi¬ 
hood of this variety. Often have I seen them, during the 
intense cold of a frosty moonlight night, enjoying their oats ; 
and I have also observed, that when the pond was not frozen 
over it was not unfrequently selected for a roosting-place. 
My earliest broods were hatched by Cochin hens, and 
progressed rapidly, being fed for a fortnight on oatmeal and 
middlings, and afterwards on oats and water. Those eggs 
hatched under hens required only twenty-six days for hatch¬ 
ing ; whereas, those placed by the Ducks took a longer 
period—thirty or thirty-one days. I did not attempt any 
very early broods, having no convenience for rearing them 
under shelter. 
The eggs produced by this system of management were 
large, with white porcelain-like shells, and as free from any 
objectionable flavour as the finest hen’s egg ; a circumstance 
to be attributed to the purity of their diet. 
In June, as the flock had become numerous, they were 
allowed the whole range of about two acres of shrubbery, 
when, of course, they required rather less hand-feeding ; 
but as they made their way into the kitchen-garden at night, 
and ate out the hearts of the whitest cabbages, they had to 
be shut up at dusk. Another objection to giving them a 
free range at night is, that the eggs are usually lost, being 
laid in any place the Duck may happen to bo at the time. 
When about to sit, however, they are laid in a sheltered 
nest, usually under a shrub, and carefully lined with down. 
In many Poultry books the statement is made, that Ducks 
are too fond of the water to be good sitters. This is one of 
those absurd remarks that are copied by one compiler after 
another. I have often noticed that a Duck, on the opposite 
side of the pond to the nest, will journey round by land in 
preference to swimming across, when sitting; which I attri¬ 
bute to an instinctive desire to avoid cooling the body at 
such times. 
It may be, perhaps, alleged, that the plan of liberal feed¬ 
ing, here recommended, is unprofitable; but the large 
supply of eggs, and the number of Ducklings fit for the 
! table at eight to ten weeks old, will prove that this idea is 
an incorrect one. It should be borne in mind, that the 
growth of a duckling is excessively rapid, when compared 
with that of a chicken ; and this can only be accomplished by 
a proportionate supply of food. And I may mention, that 
though I began with birds that had taken first prizes, the 
ducklings, before the end of the year, exceeded their parents 
in size and weight. The birds began laying in the begin- 
i ning of October, and up to the end of the month averaged 
| thirteen eggs weekly, from four birds,—one old and three 
young ones; but I do not imagine that more than two 
were laying. 
In all the Poultry works that I have looked at, I have 
seen no other mode of distinguishing the sexes alluded to 
than the recognition of the curled tail-feathers of the Drake ; 
these are not always present, and are readily removed by 
accident or design, when a second-rate Drake makes a first- 
rate Duck, and, as such, not unfrequently takes the first 
prize at the Poultry Shows. They may be, however, imme¬ 
diately known by the voice ; that of the Duck is a distinct, 
unmistakeable quack! that of the Drake is, what may he 
termed, a querulous querk. The distinction is so marked, 
that if once noticed, the sexes are not liable to be again 
confounded. 
In conclusion, I may state, that I believe it to be as true 
of Ducks as of all other varieties of Poultry, that to pay, 
they must be well kept. A certain portion of food is required 
for the daily support of the body of the animal, and it is 
only the excess given beyond that quantity that contributes 
to the production of eggs, or the growth or fatting of the 
animal. If, therefore, enough food only is supplied to keep 
the animal alive, no profitable results are obtained; and the 
complaint then is, “ My fowls don’t pay." Consequently, 
their amount of food is diminished, and then they pro¬ 
duce less. 
It is quite certain, that with a given quantity of corn you 
may obtain more eggs by properly feeding twenty head of 
Poultry than by usiug it to half feed double the number. 
W. B. Tegetmeier. 
A PRODUCTIVE PINE-APPLE. 
I send you an account of the produce of an Enville Pine 
plant. Last season, 1853, I fruited a maiden plant, twenty 
months old. The fruit, when cut the last day of May, 
weighed Gibs. loz. The plant sent tip three strong suckers. 
I turned it out of the pot into a much larger one; all the 
suckers started into fruit; they were cut late in September, 
1854 ; the heaviest was Gib. 4oz.; the second Gib. 2oz.; and 
the third 51b. 13oz.; IGoz. to the pound; which makes 
altogether, from one plant, or stock, in thirty-six months, or 
little more, 241b. 4oz. I find from this that the system, as 
regards time and profit, is the best. I have some fine 
plants with two, three, and four suckers each.—T. Cross- 
ling, Felton Park, Northumberland. 
LYCORIS AUREA; OR, GOLDEN LILY. 
I have flowered this pretty Amaryllid, this season, and 
was very much pleased with its simple and honest appear¬ 
ance. Its Nerine-like nakedness, from the want of foliage 
at the period of blooming, seemed to render it an object of 
charity; and so I clothed the surface of the mould in the 
pot which it was growing in with moss ; and, armed by my 
kindness, it was prepared to make a much more respectable 
appearance to the gazing regards of the floricultural part of 
my friends than it was before. 
The colour of the flower is a golden-yellow, by no means 
common amongst flowers. Its stem grew fourteen inches 
high, was of a pale green colour, and an inch in circum¬ 
ference at the base. Its florets were three in number, the 
petals undulated, and the tube funnel-shaped about 21 inches i 
long, and one inch in diameter at the mouth or widest part, i 
with the petals reflexed. I thought it very pretty, because j 
there was a novelty about it which added to its charms. It ' 
thrives well in a light loam, and will do well in a greenhouse | 
or pit, producing its flowers in September or October, and 
its leaves during the winter, requiring protection during its 
growth from frost. 
I was induced to gain more information respecting it; 
and, seeking, the next subject which attracted my attention 
was the derivation of its name. I find “ Lycoris” was the j 
name of a Homan female, celebrated for her extravagance 
and beauty; and why it should have been applied to this 
little, simple, honest-looking flower, I do not know; as it is 
not extravagant enough to produce its leaves and flowers | 
at the same time. I fancy it to be a misapplication; or 
