Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-01-24
ICELAND'S CHIEF INDUSTRY.
Elder Duck Farming Takes Little Labor or
Ingenuity.


present boast of, but those who take
trouble to journey thither will lind
T., much to interest them.
The city, for it's cathedral author
ICES the use of the word, consists of
struggling collection of wooden houses,
which remind the traveller of some
small and desolute village on the west
coast of Scotland.
A large square building, like some
giant barn or mammoth county con-
stabulary, first strikes the eye. This
is the governors house, almost the
only stone building in the town.
All the available space on the shore
not taken up with houses is covered
with goldfish drying in the sun and
giving out an intolerable stencil.
All the rocks, palings and even the
roofs of the houses themselves are
covered with these cleaning testi-
monies of the city's chief occupation
or trade.
Other products of the place are elder
down, horses and hot water. One OF
the largest elder duck farms is situated
on a small island in the bay, and, with
the permission of the owner, can be
visited by strangers.
The scene is not without interest.
Behind far away on the horizon line,
rises the snow capped peak Of the
Snaefel Jokuls, nearly 6,O0O feet in
| height. which. though more than sixty
miles away, glistens and shines like
silver in the morning sun.
In front lies Reykjavil1, the civil and
ecclesiastical metropolis of Iceland.
Not much agricultural labor or ingen-
uity 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 hummOcl1s,
such as may be frequently met with
all over the barren and devaSted coun-
try of Iceland.
In the recesses and holes and cavities
between the hummocks the elder
ducks may be seen sitting on their
nests, OF these there, are several
scores, and the birds themselves when
sitting are perfectly tame, some of
| them even allowing a stranger to
stroke them with the hand.
They are not all Matched at the same
time, and many are still in the egg
when others are Matched and swim
ming about in the sea.
The drake, as is frequently the case
with the female bird, is a handsome.
snowy crea ture, with much white in
his plumage. He is excessively shy
and wary. while the female, whose
plumage is brown and glossy, is, on
the contrary, tame and cOnfding.
The duck lays from five to six eggs
at the beginning OF June, and it is no
unusual thing to find from ten to six
teen eggs in one nest, together with
two females, who sit either at inter
walls or, if necessary, both together
at the same time and strange to say,
seem to agree remarkably well with
one another.
The period of laying lasts some six
or seven weeks, and the birds are in
! the habit of laying three times in diff
! ferent places From the first and sec
ond of these both the down and the
eggs are taken away, but from the
! last it is very seldom that the farmer
removes either
Should he do so with any degree of
persistence the birds would desert the
locality, and he is not such fool as
to destroy the duck with the golden
i 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 at the least
AS soon as he and his men arrived at
the nest thev carefully remove the fe
male and take away the superfuous
| down and eggs The duck irnmeadi-
atty begins to lay afresh and covers
| her eggs with new down which she
pluclzs from her breast. If the supply
! is inadequate the male comes to her
assistance and helps to cover the eggs
with his down.
This, being white, is easily distin-
| guished from the brown covering
which the female supplies, and is not
SO good in quality.
| The nest is now, as a general rule,
! left until the young ones are Matched.
! 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 plundered.
The best down and greatest number
! 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 and persistent
sitter, and so long as she is
sitting the male, with commendable
constancy, remains on the watch
| hard by, but as soon as the
young are Matched he considers his res
! possibility at an end, and leaves them
| to their own devices and the care of
! their mother.
It is curious and pretty sight to
see how the latter looks after her
! brood, She leads them out of the nest
as soon as they creep out of the eggs
and precedes them to the water, while
/ 4bav tO0d1a ftnr her
When she reaches the waterside she
takes them on her back and swims
with them for a few yards. She then
dives, and the young ones are left
floating 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 sea-
son, 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