Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1894-01-25
lCELAND'S CHIEF INDUSTRY
tloer DUCK Farming Takes Little ! ono,
Ingenuity VI

trouble to journey thithcr viii axe
much to interest them Will md
H eiCy' LOT It's cathedral a1,+bo,.
ICES the use of the word cons;e. u'lor
Struggling collection of wooden bo,,soe
winch remind the traveller 81 o sa'e'
small and desolute village on tho ,,,na.
coast of Scotland. ~ 'lie west
49, 4aLge square building, like some
s 10 odrh or mammoth county con-
"uulary' hrst strikes the eve. Tbis
ID the governors house. almost 49,
only stone building in the town,
AZ Ihe available space on the shove
ho t, taken up with houses is covered
win goldfish drying in the SIM ana
giving out an lntolerab BILE stencil
All The rocks, palings and even 4ba
TOOLS OF the houses themselves Arc
covered with these CLEANING tast;7
MONIES Of the city's chief occnnat ton
OF trade. '1on
Other products OF the place are elder
down, horses and hot water. One ~
the largest elder duck farms is sitna+ed
on small island in the BAY. and With
the permission of the owner. can he
visited by strangers.
The scene is not without interest
Behind, far away on the horizon line
rises the snow capped peak of The
onaefel Jokuls, nearly 5000 feet in
height, which, though more than sixty
miles away, glistens and shines like
silver in the morning sun.
In front lies Reykjavik, the civil and
ecclesiastical metropolis of Iceland.
Not much agricultural labor or ingen-
uity is expended by the elder duck
farmer upon his property. It consists
Tor the most part of large open field
of stunted grass, which has been blown
by the wind and worked by the action
Of the weather into round hummocks,
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
w 1Cll Vic Icludlo UuO, Is d lduISOLIcs
snowy creature, with much white in
his plumage. He is excessively Shy
and wary. while the female, whose
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 we'll with
one another.
The period Of laying lasts some six
OF 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 a 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 at the least.
AS soon as he and his men arrived at
the nest thev carefully remove the fe-
male and take away the superfiuous
down.and eggs The duck immeadi-
atlv begins to lay afresh and covers
her ecos with new down which she
nlucks from her breast. If the supply
is Inadequate the male comes to her
assistance and helps to cover the eggs
with his down. go.
This, being white, is easily dlstln-
guished from the brown covering
Which the female supplies, and Is not
so good in quality.
The nest is now, as genera RUE
left until the young ones are hatcheo,
There is not much calloWness ana
helplessness about these youngsters:
About an hour after they are out OF
the she'll they quit the nest together'
when it is once more plundereo.
The best down and greatest nu1noer
of eggs are obtained during the nrsI
three weeks of the laying perloa' anu
it has in general been observed ina
the birds lay the greatest nomoer u
e~rs in rainy weather.
The female is close and persistent
sitter and SO long as she IS
s;ttino the male, with commendable
6 Hard by, but as soon as the
,-o1,no are Matched he considers his res
possibility at an end, and leaves them m
r. their own devices and the care Oh
their mother. ~ u..+ -
It is a curious and pretty sight 10
ca how the latter looks after her
brood, She leads them out 20 OF + the a ness
as soon as they creep +b out s al ene wife
w When she reaches the waterside she
takes .st them on her back and S,s sw .han
with them for few Yards nhss s sre th left
dives, and the young ones s1,o are co nI
n r01 he heenceforth are obliged to look
ah indeed ee,a the farmer seldom sees his his
flock again till the next d breea1ng Ssa
son, for they become COMP pha DAMP
VIZ a a., tha sea where they feed upon