The age-herald., 1897-11-20
TURKEY FOR WHITE HOUSE
Mckinley Will Not Have to Buy
 One.
DUCK RAISING INDUSTRY
Wonderful Growth in the Business of Matching These observation-disclosures of How They
 Are Reared and Prepared For Market

" lOlls 4SONs 1J.-1u uE pTGSluclll Thanksgiving turkey is never paid for. Maj Mckinley will have a choice of several for his dinner table on that fsstal day. At least dozen always reach the white house as gifts for the occasion. Ducks and geese. too, will be contributed to the presidential larder by admiring friends. It happens so every year. In- deed, both geese and ducks are rapidly gaining recognition in this country as appropriate for Thanksgiving consump- ton, ranking next after the turkey. The department of agriculture is going to issue special illustrated bulletin about these birds in time for distribution just before Thanksgiving day. It is from the pen of Dr. George E. Howard.
 Secretary of Agriculture Wilson said only yesterday: People in the vicinity of have a chance to make a lot of money by raising Pekin ducks. There's millions dn the business. Duck farms are bsing started all over the country, even where there is not drop of water for the birds to swim in. Pekin ducks are raised as easily as pigs, and they can be fattened to weight eight and even nine pounds apiece"
 Some Big Duck Farms
 Just think of ducks weighing eight and nine poundsl In truth, duck rais- ing has become an important source of revenue lately to shrewd and enterprise ing farmers and there is a big future before 1t. There are many farms in this country devoted exclusively to matching and rearing ducks, averaging from 5,000 to 10000 birds as an annual output. notion of the proportions at taiEed by this industry may be had from the fact that e of feed are used daily by a single breeder The profits are the biggest and good in- comes are made when once the business has been thoroughly mastered. But 1t must not be imagined that such results are easily obtained. Duck keeping, like poultry raising, on large scale is science, and long experience is needed to insure success.
 A dozen years ago ducks were not con- sidered profitable to raise, their flesh not being highly esteemed by the people The old method of rearing them was to keep them in ponds and streams, feeding them mostly on fish and water insects. This diet gave them a strong fishy fla vor, hence the lack of popularity of the fowl in the markets.
 Big Demand For Ducks
 Artificial matching and mothering, com bined With judiciouS feeding and scientific system of rearing, have altered these conditions entirely. At present thera is a great demand for tame ducks, the average housewife having come to know that no k.nd of meat is sweeter and better favored. The quality of the flesh, indeed, has bsen wholly changed by improved methods of treatment and regulation of diet for the birds. Ma chinery has enabled the duck raiser to place his stock in the markets when pricss are highest and also to rear large numbers of the fowls in a limited time
 The average farmer has all the fa- cilities for growing good1y number of ducks, and may with a little outlay add considerably to his income. It is not at all necessary that ducks should have access to water; thsy grow and thrive a S readily without. There are successful plants where thousands of ducks are raised that have no water, save that which is given them as drink. It has been matter of much dispute which is the better way. Some duckkeepers all low their growing stock free access to water until they are eight weeks old, when they are penned and fattened for market. Others have no water on their farms, excepting wells. The only TO- and water" ducks is that the latter are of prettier and of cleaner plumage than the former.
 How to Raise Them
 Houses for ducks are simple affairs. They arc built plain and comfortable and have no furnishings whatever. A duck is differently constituted from hen, and must be cared for under differ ent conditions. The hen needs warmer houses and drier surroundings than does the duck. duck doaS rot mind the cold, if she can keep her Ie-t warm; cold feet will affect a duck as frozen comb does a hen, retarding laying and induc- ing ailments The feathers of duck are almost impenetrable and will with stand almost any degree of cold. Again a duck cannot stand the amount of con- finement in a house that hen can; she is more restless in disposition and is given to exercise in a greater degree.
 Duck eggs are matched in incubators in just about the same way as hens eggs. The young ducklings are delicate and sensitive to atmospheric changes; they must be kept very warm and pro- tected from chilling. The first three weeks of duckling's life is the critical period; after that time the loss is small hardly per cent. When bird is three weeks old it may be counted on for mar ket. The baby ducks are snuggled be- heath breeders, around which strips of woolen cloth are hung to retain warmth. Of course the brooder house is artificlally heated. But in every detail system must govern; the slightest carelessness is apt to cause heavy loss.
 Prepared For the Market
 After being artificially mothered in the warm brooder house for three weeks the ducklings are transferred to the cold 'brooder house, which must also have some artificial heat if the birds are be- ing raised for early market Here they are kept until they are six or seven weeks old, when they are transferred to larger quarters known as growing house." From this time on they are pushed for market being supplied with the most fattening food and as much of it as they will eat. At ten weeks old they ought to weigh four bands, and then they may be killed, plucked and dressed. Ducks grow twice as fast as chickens.
 In the wild state ducks gather their food from brooks and marshes, browsing upon grasses, small fishes, water insects, etc. When they are raised in confine- ment this diet must be initiated to some extent. The duck has no crop and its provender must be soft and mushy. Bread crumbs, cornmeal and hard-boiled eggs are the proper stuff for a. duckling during the first five days of its life; after that wheat bran, cornmeal, rolled oats, beef scraps and some green food. Four 1.sI T1x l&x<11 lNx-z