src="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@38467@38467-h@images@i002.jpg" alt="The Pekin Duck." tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}img"/>

The Pekin Duck.

The Pekin Combines the Best Points.

The Pekin is the only bird that will cover all these points. It has two slight defects,—its extreme timidity and its heavy, coarse voice, which it does not scruple to use when congregated in large numbers. The former can be easily overcome by careful handling. But to off-set these defects the Pekin will not only produce the first eggs of the season, but by far the greatest number of any of the breeds, with one exception, the Indian Runner. They mature earlier, are more hardy and domestic in their habits, never wandering far, and always returning to the coops at night. They are not mischievous, and require less water than either of the other breeds.

My birds have for generations been bred in dry yards, with simply water to drink, and all desire for it for other purposes seems to have been bred out of them. When allowed their freedom in the fall, the flocks never visit the brook, fifteen or twenty rods distant, and when driven there occasionally for the purpose of purifying their feathers, get out again just as soon as possible. Indeed, after a water bath their feathers cling to their bodies, and they present the same bedraggled appearance that the old hen did many years ago after one had immersed her in a water-barrel to cure her propensity for sitting.

A wealthy New Yorker ordered a dozen of my best ducks, a year or two ago. In a few weeks he wrote that he wished to return them, as they did not answer his purpose; "for," said he, "I have an artificial lake on my lawn, near my piazza, and I wanted these ducks to disport in the water for the pleasure of my wife and children, and they will not go in the water at all unless I drive them in with a whip, and I have to stand guard over them all the time, as they get out the moment my back is turned." I wrote him in return that had I known he wanted the ducks for their aquatic performances, I should have recommended the common puddle duck, when he would have had as much trouble to get them out of the water as he had to get the Pekins in.

Feathers are Pure White.

Another advantage of the Pekin over the other breeds is their pure white, elastic feathers which are largely mixed with down. These feathers readily command from forty to fifty cents per pound, and as the reader can see, are no mean source of income, especially when the birds are grown in large numbers. These birds, as their name indicates, originated in China. They are large, beautiful birds, of a proud, erect carriage, with pure white plumage outside. The inside feathers are slightly cream colored. The neck is long and gracefully curved; the head long and finely shaped, with a full bright eye. The legs and beak are of a very dark orange, and form a fine contrast to the pure white feathers. The minimum weight of our birds when matured is about fourteen pounds per pair, while the very heaviest will tip the scales at twenty-two pounds. My first experience with ducks commenced more than forty years ago. We used the common puddle ducks and grew them for the city market. The ducks were very small and so were the profits. They were fed but little and allowed full range, consequently the home ties were not strong.

Those ducks followed the little brook in the pasture through swamps and marshes for half a mile in either direction, wholly regardless of farm limits. If we expected any eggs from those ducks they should have been safely housed at night. This task devolved upon the boys. Now our paternal head, though a kind and indulgent parent (unfortunately for us), had the impression that boys were made to work, and work we did. Now, what boy of ten or twelve years had not rather chase ducks through the mud in the swamp than to wield the hoe among the weeds in the corn field? It was our recreation, our chief solace and delight through those long, hot summer days—the anticipation of that duck hunt in the evening. I think our extraordinary love for the duck hailed from this date. Later on we used a cross between a Rouen and Cayuga. This cross made a much larger and better market bird. The flesh was better flavored. They produced more eggs and began earlier in the spring, consequently prices and profits slightly improved.

These birds did not stray as far, but were as fond of mud and water as their little predecessors. It was a pleasing and comical sight to see three or four hundred of these ducklings of all ages, when first let out in the morning, run down the hill in their eager haste to reach the swamp, a part of them right side up, then rolling over and over on their broadsides; others still reversing themselves end for end down the steep incline, apparently a matter of supreme indifference how, so long as they reached the mud first.

These ducklings always returned at night with their numbers more or less depleted, as they were the legitimate prey of skunks, minks, weasels and mud turtles; and if we reached the summer's end with sixty per cent. of the original number we were well satisfied. All this has been changed. We have learned a number of points on duck culture since then. First, that all losses by vermin can be easily avoided by yarding your little birds at home and keeping them under your own eye. Second, that mud and water externally applied are not essential to their growth and well-being, and that in fact they will thrive better without.

Ready for Market 3 Months Earlier.

Third, that it is not necessary to keep your birds till they are six months old in the fall and then put them on the market when it is sure to be glutted, but much better to market them at ten weeks, when they are nearly as heavy, and you are sure to get more than double the price, as well as save three or four months extra feed. There are many other points connected with this thing which the novice must ponder carefully before he begins, as a slight mistake in the beginning often means a great loss in the end. As pioneers in the business we have for many years been carefully experimenting with the different breeds, different treatment and variety of food. We have met with many failures, suffered some loss, but with a gradual improvement through it all, which has been very encouraging to us, and though we do not claim perfection, yet we are now reaping a rich harvest compared to which our former losses are simply insignificant. It is a source of gratification to know that success has at last crowned our efforts.

When we look back forty years—when year after year chronicled failure and our best efforts met with loss—when we were the butt, ridicule, and laughing stock of the whole community; when we were assured again and again that we were fighting against nature and never could succeed, and repeated failures only seemed to confirm that assertion,—and compare it with the present, when we can grow our birds by the thousands, regulate the growth, control the mortality, and grow flesh or feathers at will; have shortened the precocity, increased fecundity, and even educated the birds to an aversion for water, which was formerly their home; we have completely reversed the order of things and taught our birds to reproduce at a season of the year when all nature is against them, we can safely feel the victory is won. We hope that our readers will not only benefit by the experience we shall present, but that many of them will be able to take this and carry it on where, according to the natural course of things, we shall be obliged to leave it. We are no longer young, the infirmities and decrepitude of age are slowly creeping upon us and admonish us