Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-07-03
DUCKS EVERYWHERE.
THE PART THEY PLAY IN cllNA's
 MATERIAL ECONOMY.

MA | EHIAL ESONOWY.
 The Celestial Kingdom's Vast Wealth of |
 Poultry-The Business of Rearing Ducks. l
 Matching by Artificial nIeans-Ready for |
 AIarket-PreservingE Eggs.
 Ducks, chickens and geese probably play l more important part in the material econ omy of life in China than in all other coun- | tries put together Speaking more particu larly of the former bird, while it would no doubt be an exaggeration to say that the ducks of China outnumber the domestic ducks of the whole world beside, it would not be so much of an exaggeration as some might think. China is difficult country to estimate correctly in many features Its population Is by no means definitely enumer- ated, and the claim that the tonnage of its inland commerce exceeds the ocean tonnage of all the world is not the idle boast one is at first thought disposed to think it So in the matter of ducks, were there any way to find out, it might be found that China contained more than all other countries put together
 Ducks are a staple food of rich and poor, and the numbers one sees everywhere are something bewildering. The vast swarms of tame ducks feeding in the fields or foraging in the lakes and rivers everywhere through out the empire are one of the most striking features of the country. You no sooner cross the bar of Chinese river than you begin to see big droves of ducks foraging along the banks for food, in charge of d0ck herds. Duck sampans float past you-hoats fitted up especially for the business of rearing ducks their quacking cargoes numbering not in- frequently 2,0O0 ducks
 These queer crafts fairly swa-m on the lower reaches of the Pearl river, in the vicin- ity of Canton. During the memorable ty- phoon of July, 1862, that wrought such de- Struction there. many of the duck sampans were capsized and the ducks released The result was that the river for some distance was mass of tame ducks for the time being without owners. By the unwritten law of the duck rearing fraternity, every duck that gets away from q boat becomes a ma verick," and, like the unbranded steer of the western ranges, is the property of anybody who can gather him in.
 THOROUGHLY SYSTEMIzED.
 The business of rearing ducks is thoroughly systemized in China Most of the eggs in the great centers of population arc matched by artificial means in institutions called Poo ap-chong. Like so many other things, arti- ficial incubation was practiced in China long before it was thought of in western coun- tries. A visit to one of these matching estab- ishmentS is very interesting. lu the large Poo-ap-chong at Pace-tai-shuee, near Canton, hundreds of duckings are coaxed by artifi- cial means out of their shells and into the great busy world every day. The way John Chinaman manages it is this:
 The eggs are packed in baskets of rice husks, which have been thoroughly heated through over charcoal embers The baskets are then stacked in tiers in dark rooms where a high temperature is maintained by jars of burning charcoal After few hours the eggs are removed from the husks and packed in warm baskets lined with soft paper, in another artificially heated room. Here they are kept for two weeks, during which period each egg is carefully turned over twice day. At the end of this time the eggs arc laid out on broad benches and covered with paper for another fortnight, when the tiny ducklings 1 issue forth by the hundred almost as spon- taneously as the blossoms of morning glory
 The business of the Poo-ap-chong being simply to buy the eggs and hatch out the ducklingS, the new arrivals are sold without delay to the dealers whose special branch of the business is to rear the tender youngsters 1 to a maturer age. The rearing establish ments situated on the banks of river or lake.
 Between Fat-shan and Sam-shuee, on the Pearl river, l paid a visit to one of these duckling establishments, where there must have been 50,0OO ducks. Huge coppers of rice were being boiled to feed them with and bare legged men were coming and going with baskets of small land crabs, worms maggots and tiny fish Later in life they are fed with coarser food, bran and offal. When about half grown the ducks change ownership by the wholesale again. This time they are pur- chased by itinerant feeders and vendors. These are the men who own the duck sam. pans, and who buy from the rearing estab. lishment several hundred young ducks at a time.
 YOUNG DUCKS AS FoRAGERS.
 The duck boat men sail up and down the river, auchoring now and then in favorable places to let their numerous brood forage along the muddy shore and shadows fo1
 food. The slugs, worms, frogs, crawfish
 snails, and all manner of creeping things that
 abound in the Chinese river lands are gob
 bled up by the wholesale by the hungry
 hordes of quackers that are suddenly lei
 loose among them. From being in the GUS
 tody of man from the very beginning ol
 their existence the Chinese ducks readily re
 spond to their owners call. 1 have seen
 drove of 2,0O0 ducks foraging in field { , quarter of mile from shore At the owner.
 summons they came racing back to the boat , Hopping their wings and quacking loudly il response.
 As the ducks become fit for market tn, boatmen dispose of them to the dealers il
 the river side cities, and sometimes pedal, , them through the streets themselves. As tn, boatman's stock is depleted by sales he zoe , to the rearing establishments and take
 aboard a fresh supply Great numbers O ducks are purchased from the duck boats by provision dealers, who salt them down auC
 dry them. Salted ducks are one of tn staple articles of food ill China, quite a , much so as is bacon in the United States 3 Vast quantities are shipped from one part o l the empire to another and to every Chimes 3 community in foreign countries One see
 the fattened carcases of dried and salte 8 ducks hanging in the windows of every mea - market in Chinatown, San Francisco or Ney D York. All these are cured in Lin Chow 0 ? at some one of the many curing establish
 ments on the Pearl river about Canton Apother actiya branch of the fllfcE buS