The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1893-10-28
ELDER DUCK FARMS.
FACTS ABOUT ONE OF ICELAND'S
LEADING INDUSTRIES.
When the Mother Prepares to Set She
Covers the Eggs with Down from
Her own Breast This the Farmer
Steals and Sells.

Iceland. All the available space on the
shore not taken up with houses is covered
with Goldfish drying in the sun, and Civ
ing out an intolerable stencil. All the
rocks, palings and even the roofs of the
houses themselves are covered with these
cleaning testimonies of the city's chief
occupation or trade. Other products of
the place are elder down, horses and hot
water. One of the larger elder duck
farms is situated on a small island in the
bay, and, with the permission of the
owner, can be visited by strangers.
Not much agricultural labor or inge
nuity is expended by the elder duck
farmer upon his property. 1t consists
for the most part of a large open field OF
stunted grass. which has been blown by
the wind and worked by the action Of
the weather into round hammocks, such
as may be frequently met with all over
the barren and devastated country Of
Iceland In the rceesses, and holes and
cavities between lhc hammocks the elder
ducks may be seen sitting on their nests.
OF these there are several scores, and the
birds themselves when setting are per-
fectly tame, some of them even allowing
a stranger TO stroke them with the hand.
They are not all hatched ut the same
time, and many are still in the egg when
others are hatchcd and swimming about
in the sea- The drake, as is so fre-
quently the case with the male bird, is
handsome, snowy creature, with much
white in his plumagc. He Is excessively
shy and wary, while the female, whose
plumage is brown and glossy, is, on the
contrary. tame and conliding. The duck
lays from five TO six eggs at the begin
ming of June, and it il no unusual thing
TO find from ten to sixteen eggs in one
nest, together with two females, who sit
either at intervals. or, if necessary, both
together at the same time, aud, strange
to say, seem TO agree remarkably well
with one another. The period of laying
lasts from six to seven weeks, and the
birds are in the habit Of laying three
times in different places From the first
and secopd of these both the down and
the eggs are taken away, but from the
last it is very seldom that the farmer re-
moves either. Should he do so with any
degree of persistency the birds would
desert the locality, and he is not such
fool as TO destroy the duck with the
golden eggs.
In some cases the owner resides on or
near the farm. In this particular instance
he visited the island from the mainland
once week ut least. So soon as he and
his men arrive at the nest they carefully
removed the female, and take away the
supcrfluous down and eggs The duck
Immediately begins TO lay afrcsh, and
covers the eggs with new down, which
she plucks from her own breast. If the
supply is inadequate the male comes to
her assistance and helps to cover the
eggs vith.bis down. This being white
is easily disti"%uishd from the brown
covering which the female supplies, and
is not so good in quality. The nest is
now, as general rule, left until the
young ones are hatched. There is not
much callowness and helplessness about
these youngsters. About an hour after
they are out of the shell they quit the
nest together, when it is once more
plundercd.
The best down and the greatest mum
Der of eggs are obtained during the first
three weeks of the laying period, and it
has in general been observed that the
birds lay the greatest number of eggs
in rainy weather. The female is close
aud persistent sitter, and so long as she is
sitting the male, with commcndable con
stancy, remains on the watch hard by,
but so soon as the young are hatched he
considers his responsibility ut an end, and
leaves them to their own devices and the
care of their mother 1t is curious and
pretty sight to see how the latter looks
after her brood. She leads them out of
the nest, so soon rs they creep of out the
eggs, and precedes them to the water.
while they toddlc after her. When
she reaches the waterside she takes
them on her back and swims
with them for few ~yards; she then
dives, and the young ones are left float
ing on the water like yellow corks, and
henceforth are Obliged to look after
themselves. Indeed the farmer seldom
sees his flock again till the next breeding
season, for they become comparatively
wild, and live out among the damp rocks
In the sea, where they feed upon insects
and seaweeds and other like vivcrs. Some
idea of the value of the crop may bc
CLEANED from the fact that one female
during the whole time of laying generally
gives half pound of down, which
is, however, reduced one-half when
cleaned.
This down is divided into thang dunn
or seaweed down, and gras dunn or grass
down. The latter is generally consid.
cred to be the best in quality. The down
is very valuable, and fctches from 81 to
s. a pound.
The three takes of down vary consid
erably in quality, the 6rst being superior
TO the second, and the second To the
third. The birds themselves, apart from
their down giving capacities, are of little
value. The down taken from dead elder
ducks is valueless, rs it has lost all its
marvellous elasticity.
An elder duck farmer is excessively
proud of his ducks, and regards them
with intense and peculiar affection. The
owner OF the farm just described was in
the habit of saying that he would rather
loose one of his children than one of his
ducks, but TO any one who had seen both
this statement would seem TO have but