The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-02-01
THE CANvAS-BACK QUESTION.

BY far the most important and cx-
citing discussion of the dav is that into
which the Baltimore papers generally.
and the New York World " has drift
ed. on the great question a TO the diet
Of that noble bird. the canvas-back
duck. The popular theory has been.
that the peculiar delcacv and flavor of
this most highly esteemed of all birds
were due 10 the liberal consumption Of
wild celery by the canvas-back. But
the World gives the testimony Of no
less an expert than Mr.. John Suther-
land, of that city, who thus ruthIcs>ly
upsets all former Ideas upon the preg-
nant question Of the canvas-back duck
diet, and who saws:
Il have shot canvas-backs on the
lakes and on Chesapeake bay, and have
cooked and eaten them the same dav.
hut wild celery | have no, seen. either
in the duck or outside of him. on the
ground where he feeds The wild rel.
cry is precisely like the domestic celery
except for the difference of culture. II
IL stronger, ranker. more pungent and
with a more pronounced flavor and
where garden celery grows a. long a.
the forearm, the wild celery j. a. long
"a the little finger and rs thick Wild
4 h.. nj lao s
row, fresh water streams. and lever in
~tagnant or brackish water don't
believe there is single blade Of wild
celery on the shores of the chesapeake
or along Gunpowder creek or hv Havre
dc Grace, and If any correspondent will
send me q single bit of wild celery
grown where the ducks feed | will give
him $40 Till for it, or $50 bill if SlU
isn't enough To pay for his trouble in
finding ii. 1t l. the valisncria which
grows there. 1t Is this plant upon
which the ducks feed. and they grow
Fat with the small insects and crustacca
which cluster along the stems. The
idea too thai il is the flavor Of the
wild celery which makes the canvas
back ilavor-whv. il would take a ton
Of celery, aud wild celery. too. if it
were there to eat and the ducks would
eat il, To iiavor Il single duck: and then
it would not be the capvas-back flavor
They are canvas-barks because they are
canvas-backs, flavor and all. just as
woodcock has its peculiar flavor and u
-nipe it, own as we'll remember well
laughing at Mr.. Evart's story of tn,
Massachusetts man who insisted that
his tame ducks were as well Favored a,
canvas-back-, or would Ice if they w0uld
only eat celery, but damn EN- Ia,
would say. they won't eat celery: nor
will wild ducks eat wild celery. o.
course. feeding ON juniper berries or
spruce buds might flavor the meat Of Il
grouse or other bird. bat wild celery
and canvas-back ducks-p>haw , il i,
an insult ts the tooth>ome bird"
So much for the assertion and expert.
ence of the expert, Mr.. John Suth-
erland, whose fame a an authority
upon the canvas-back question has
not yet reached this, the Su.quchanna
section If Maryland Now We are per
fectly aware that. - far a. personal
experience is concerned. the opinion .:
an editor on this sorely vexcd and most
mighty question of the d" canyas-hack
diet may be questionable Learned
as Maryland editors may he upon the
canvas-back duck in the abstract, the
average MARYLAND editor doesn't. we
venture tn assert. rcvel often over the
toothsome bird, much less grow ia, over
it as 4 hsbitua diet Personally. he is
a better Judge Of porcine fibre than of the
esculent bird. However his head NAV
contain some knowledge of what his
stomach is generally void Now the
truth is, that the oracular individual
who owns the patrician patronymic
" Sutherland" with its pebcian prefix.
lis correct To a certain extent. when he
asserts that the popular idea that the
caGvas-back derives his palatable flavor