in only so long as he stood over them.

Ducks are easier to raise than any other fowl and are freer from
disease. They are ready for market when eight weeks old.

The industry is assuming large proportions, and ranches are now
raising ducks by the tens of thousands and are finding better
markets each year.

In starting any poultry business, it is better to begin with
twenty-five fowls and master details with those, then double the
number as fast as they have been made to return profits.

The Atlantic Squab Company, of Hammonton, N. J., says "it is a
simple matter for the beginner to figure out on paper net profits of
four or five dollars per year from each pair of breeders, but we
doubt if it can be made. It is, however, 'pigeon nature' to lay ten
or eleven times a year, but hardly natural to presume that each and
every egg will ultimately mean a Jumbo squab in the commission man's
hands.

"A loft [that is, a pair] of high-class Homers, properly mated,
should average six pair of squabs per year. For one year our squabs
averaged us a fraction over 60 cent per pair; say $3.60 has been
the returns from each pair of breeders. It has cost us 90 cent per
pair to feed for twelve months; remember, we buy in large
quantities; it would cost the small breeder $1 a year per pair to
feed. It would be well to allow 60 cent a pair for labor and
supplies, such as grit, charcoal, tobacco stems, etc., although the
bird manure, which we find ready sale for at 55 cent. per bushel,
has covered these incidental expenses for us. The inexperienced
beginner, with good management and close attention to details,
should clear $2 a year from each pair of birds, provided he starts
with well-mated pure Homer stock." Pigeons are particular about
their mates, and will rather go single than take a disagreeable
partner.

Raising Belgian hares at one time promised to be a most profitable
industry. The Belgian hare is a distant relation of the ordinary
rabbit. Its flesh is white, close-grained, and tender, resembling
the legs of the frog, and has a very savory flavor. It is considered
by many superior to poultry, and the rapidity with which they breed
gave promise of fortunes. The doe brings forth a litter of about
eleven every sixty days, and with prices ranging from $1.50 to
$2.50, as they were about the year 1900, with the cost of raising
from thirty to forty cents, the reason for this promise is evident.
In Southern California thousands turned