The record-union., 1896-05-18

each in year. They begin to lay early
if they have been well kept through the
winter, and the eggs are large and pure
white in color.
1t is best to use hens or an incubator
"by hand" very easily, if they have a
warm place to sleep. A young duck is
mostly appetite, and is not particular as
to what is given him to eat, just so 1t is
wet and soft, and they will live and
thrive on food that would starve
chick. We feed corn meal, wheat mid
dlings, scrap meat and cracked corn,
feeding all of it pretty wet, as a duck
likes to have his food wet when eaten.
A flock of young ducks will eat an as
tonishing amount of freshly cut grass,
If it is chopped into short lengths, and
purslane, lettuce, beet-tops and other
green stuff of that sort is greedily de-
voured. If well fed, a Pekin duck will
attain to a weight of five pounds in ten
weeks, and at that age they are in de-
mand as roasters for the city trade.
1t is not necessary to have water for
ducks to run in all the time, but they
must have plenty of it to drink, and this
should be changed often, as they get
into it, and it soon gets filed with filth,
unless there is a new supply furnished
There is not a bit of danger of over
feeding lot of young ducks, as they
will eat until their crops hang to the
ground, and feel comfortable.
A curious thing about a young duck
is the ease with which it can be
drowned by a heavy rain. Until their
feathers get started, hard rain will
drown them as soon as it will chicken.
When caught out in a rain, they will
stand with their heads up and mouths
open and soon give up the ghost After
the feathers start there is no danger
from anything of this kind.
A flock of laying ducks should have
one drake to about five ducks, and
should be fed corn and cracked wheat,
and kept shut up in the morning until
they have laid their eggs, or they will
wander off and drop them anywhere
about the place. Have a dry house for
them to sleep in, and have it we'll bedded
with straw, which frequently renew
DEMAND FOR "CLEAN MILK"
There is often much complaint in the
cities and smaller towns, where milk is
delivered by dairymen, against the
quality of the milk. In most of the cities
there is an authorized inspector to see
that the milk sold has a certain stand
ard of butter fat or cream, and any
thing below the standard is prohibited
The deficiency sometimes found in this
respect is not always the fault of the
"nilkman." He is frequently depend
ent upon the farmers to furnish his sup
Ply for his customers, and they some
times have all grades of cows, and
often such are noted for the quantity
rather than the quality of the milk they
yield. The innocent milkman is some
times imposed upon by this thin milk,
even when not watered.
There is a quality of milk Of greater
Importance to the consumer than the
butter fat, and which is not so easily
detected by the Babcock test, and the
want of which sometimes renders the
milk unfit for use. We refer to its
purity; this Indispensable property de-
pendS upon the condition of the cows
from which the milk is taken, which
again depends upon the manner of their
keeping, feeding and milking. To pro-
tect honorable and cleanly dairymen in
and dairy inspector in every city, whose
duty it should be, among other things,
to visit the dairy establishments of all
the dairymen who supply milk to the
citizens. These officers should be au-
thorzed to enforce cleanliness for the
stables in which the COWS are kept, for
a proper arrangement, as well as clean
Illness for the cows, and finally cleanli-