SF505 Vi5 Cornell IHntversit^ Xibrari? OF THE 1Rew IPorl? State College of Hariculture r\o_ .:-^ 'z.n>ii„,iv\ Cornell University Library SF 505.V15 The Indian Runner duck book Jhe only aut 3 1924 003 251 703 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924003251 703 THE INDIAN RUNNER DUCK BOOK lEht IflhiJf (^Hrfii C- S. VAL-ElNnriNE: CONTENTS I . Some Guesses and Some Facts about Indian Runners a. English History, Views, and Standard 3. The Present Show Quality of American Standard Indian Runners 4. Comparison of English and American Types 5. Selling and Cookery Value of Indian Runner Eggs 6. System and Forethought in Making a Market 7. The Indian Runners Making History 8. Best Ail-Around Handling of the Breeding Stock 9. Some Spurious and Some Genuine Indian Runners 10. The Future of the Indian Runners in America 11. Indian Runner Ducks and Farm Breeding 12. The Newer Variety, the White Indian Runner THE INDIAN RUNNER DUCK BOOK. The Only Authoritative American Book about this Marvelous Egg Machine. "They say she did ! " "Who did?" "The Indian Runner Duck.' "Did what?" "Laid 320 eggs in one year." RIDGEWOOD, X. J. F. H. VALENTINE 19 11 ^q,^■'g1^L COPYRIGHT. 1911. BY F. H. a C. S. VALENTINE Some Guesses and 'Some Facts About INDIAN RUNNERS CHAP'triR I* I think it was about 1904 or 1905 that the first important litera- ture concerning; the Indian Runner Ducks -^vas pubHshed in this country. At about this time, good articles, dealing with the wonderful qualities of this new bteed were published in at least three of our poultry period- icals. Soon, breeders, here and there, began to try them in a somewhat gingerly way, as though rather expecting a gold brick. The great serv- ice which this early literature did the breed was tp call public attention strongly to it, through what then seenied the exorbitaijt claims made for these birds as layers. , After a few years Mr. Irving. Cook took up this breed, advertising continuously and rather strikingly. As he began the work when young and enthusiastic, and, later, gave his entire strengtji to his Indian Run- ner business the Runners soon found themselves in the njidst of a "boom." But even before him several men who still breed the Runners ;• ■ ' >.!■'> ' - ■ - ■ were at work with this breed. As soon as the breed began to attract keen attention, spme breeders who wished to improve it in every possible way began to make inquiries as to its origin. . One early breeder who made every effort to get the true history about this time reports that even then "it seepied tp be a matter of surmise- All the writers' ideas. on the subject seemed to be vague, and many conflicting statements were niafje." , Some^pf the 'J ' :. ' " causes for this haziness and conflict of statement, I have been able to run down. 3' Much misconception arose through an accident. The first two detailed descriptions of the breed which I noted in American publica- tions were from writers across the big waters, one in New Zealand, the other in Ireland. Birds in these countries would naturally have come from England, and be of English type. H. DeCourcy's article was .so straightforward and sensible, yet so conservative that it seemed to give the pubhc good ground for confidence in the breed. Unfortunately, this early article gave the West Indies as the original home of the Indian Runner. This statement has been copied by many, while others have given a widely different origin. In a recent circular, the matter was disposed of in this way: "Coming originally from the West Indies, thev are a cross of Rouen and Wild Mallard." Of the three supposed facts given here (West Indian origin, Rouen blood, Mallard blood,) probably not one could be provea, though the last might have some credibility through the tact that most breeds of ducks are descended from the Mallard. I have long suspected that the DeCourcy statement, as printed in this country, was an office, or "proof" error. Trying to get at the facts. I wrote to Mr. DeCourcy in October, 1910, inquiring if this were not the case. The reply was directly to the point: "If my article says 'West' it was a misprint, — or perhaps a clerical error of mine." As the real, native home of the Indian Runner has long been believed to be the East Indies, it is quite easy to see how such an error could arise through the misplacement of a single letter. At no other period except when the breed was just being introduced could such an error have worked so much mischief as to the facts. Among the early breeders here were Mr. Cook, Mr. Fay Davis, Flint, Mich., M. V. Decker and, in 1900, A. J. Hallock. Mr. W, Delano's name has also been given me as an early breeder, but I have been un- able to get any information from this source. It will be admitted with- out question, I think, that our one reliance for the early history of the breed in this country must be the statements of the earliest breeders. While the "West Indies story"" was going the rounds, with no one 4 contra iictinj; it, and gaining strength through repetition, the British l~irds were being quietly bred for some time, before the public began to awake to the value of the Runners. The Davids brothers, of Kansas, began about 1902, Davis in 1897, Hallockin 1900. These three, I know, had their birds from Great Britain. I think there is no room for doubt that all the other early breeders had stock from the same source, either direct or through contemporary breeders. Since it appears that the earliest specimens here came from British sources, it seems to be onl}' ordinary common -sense to take British testimony as to their origin. The English early history- as far as it is history, and not supposition, at least — -should be admitted to be the true history. At all events, the guesses and "impressions" of later breeders here, have absolutely no value. During the present season not less than 160 breeders have been advertising Indian Runners. There may have been more, but I have a list showing this number. Seven years ago, Reliable Poultry Journal — for years a favorite medium with the duck breeders — carried only two Indian Runner advertisements in May in the Classified list. The Run- ners have appeared almost wholly in the classified lists ; since they seem to have been almost universally welcomed as an accessory to other breeds of fancy fowls. At all events, they have sold so easily that only classified advertising has been necessary, apparently. One of the two who were thus advertising in 1903 was Cook. In 1906 he blossomed out as the breeder of "the only true fawn and white colors, and the world's heaviest laying strain." He had, then, five com- petitors in the classified column. Remembering that this was only four years ago, we may well be amazed at the advance which the Runners have so recently made in public favor. According to these figures, the fawn and white type became "the only true" just about five years ago. It mav be 'remembered, also, that this was the year the Standard which breeders have followed for the last five years, appeared. It would seem that, even in Great Britain, the Runners were not well and widely known so very much longer than they have been known S here. In 11893, four years before, :Mr.- -Davis- received his first birds, a book on- poultry for profit was put out by a Britisher who had previous- ly writteti, another poultry, book, ; and who might have been thought to be fairly well posted. ^Me mentions Qnly three breeds of ducks, but takes occasion to remark:' ;'It is much to,be'regretted that no steps have been taken to breed. laying. strains of ducks,"' ' '. The history of tt\e Runner in England, ihowevef^iis easily to be foUo-^^ed back ..for, about twenty-five years. If it becomes hazy as we go farther, bac]*, this ii,^d not surprise the Yankees who have managed so to conceal their tracks in something- like fifteen years that in a new book a,(^yertised as the bpst in Araerica, and giving sixteen entire lines to. the Runners, it is plainly stated that the origin of these ducks cannot be traced authentically. But a Rouen cross is admitted. Was that Rouen cross a , Yankee contribution ? , > . ' ' ' If,: as no. one doubts, the Indian Runner Dutks came to us from England, it would seem,, indeed, the part of common^sense, and of cour- tesy no less, to accept the story of their origin as presented by the best and oldest English breeders. , Am,erican cleverness, however, professes to have discovered that the Britishers, no matter how decent people they be, are presumably equivocating about the origin of the Indian Runner duck. The juxtaposition of a quasi-Yankee head and a Belgic head has brought up a new story, to the effect that the Britishers did not get their Runners from East India or any other old place whence old sea- captains come out of obscurity, -but just across the channel in Belgium! Bt;t they have carelessly omitted to tell us how it happened that when those Belgian ducks flew (?) across the channel, they happened to light in County Cumberland, away off to the north-west, as far as possible from Belgium. Frankly, I think this story very far-fetched. -For, the English certainly could not be ignorant of the existence of these thous- ands of Belgian ducks. If they were really the same thing as the Indian Runners it would be well known on both sides of the channel, in which case the only possible conclusion .would be that the English breeders 6 have deliberately clouded their origin, and lied about it for these scores of years. I do not believe fair minded Americans wish to support this unworthy view. Some information so definite and detailed that it would seem as though it must be connect, has rece.itly come to me through an EngHsh Corresportdent. 1 have not had sufficient time 'sine© to ferret out the treatise giving this information, to which my correspondent refers. His Jetterjeads as. follaws: - "The earliest history of the fowl, (I. R. DucE) that can be gathered is that they were closely associated with the anc- ient Hindus in India looo years B.C. The bird appealed to them through its fighting qualities. Thus it was that the fowl was first domesti- cated, not for its food value so much as its sporting qualities. It was principally located in 'the Punjaub, Northern India; its culture spread over India, then distributed through 'tfe islands of the Indian Ocean and into China, and as civilization increased and commerce and Colonization commenced it gradually worked its -way through the Malay archipelago into Persist, aM thence into th;e Euroisean countries. I have riot been able to-firid the treatise'I- have somewRerieon this subject or would have sent it to you." , ' *■ ■ 3. ,1 do not give. these as absolutely^ the facts, because 1 have, at the present), n(>;Pthe'r basis for it than the meniory of a 'single corrdipondeil't.' •But, in -view of the interest dq. the matter, and the many guesses, it seemed well to give this, also, a 'place. ■.' /^ :. ( English History VIEWS AND STANDARD CHAPTER II After we trace back to a certain period, or, possibly, forty years or so, the history of the Indian Runner in England becomes somewhat hazy. English breeders say that the earliest literature on the breed — or, at least, that which goes farthest back, is a little treatise by John Donald, who lived in County Cumberland, where the breed was first known. In this book, Mr. Donald states that the Indian Runners were brought to England by a sea captain, about sixty years before his book was written. H. DeCourcy, of Ireland, a writer whom we know quite well in America — thinks it is now twenty years since he first saw this (undated) book. This would make it eighty years since the breed first made any history in England that. is now remembered— a period so re- mote that none would now be alive who had personal knowledge of the facts and of its introduction and earliest history. One of the English treatises, "The Indian Runner," was written by Jacob Thomlinson, who first knew this duck in County Cumberland He refers to Mr. Donald's (earlier) work, and also to a brief treatise by Mr. Henry Digby, giving credit to these men for all items not within his own, personal knowledge. The illustrations in the Thomlinson pam- phlet are from drawings by Mr. J. W. Walton, Secretary of the present Indian Runner Duck Club. "They give," says Mr. Thomlinson, "a clear insight of what a true Runner should and should not be." 8 The models from which these pictures were drawn "have won prizes at the great National Shows." They were intended to be used as "a guide to both old and new fanciers, to obtain a more'uniform. idea of type and standard." Mr. Thomlinson's own knowledge of the breed reached back thirty years, but his treatise was also undated. However, he gives us a point to rest on by saying that he first took "particular notice" of these birds in 1884, when one duck made for him a record of 180 eggs. As this "completely overshadowed" other breeds, it was the foundation of Mr. Thomlinson's vital interest in the Indian Runners. The peculiar, running gait, it is thought, seems proof of the Ind- ian Runners being survivors of the fittest, long ago, in a barren region lacking in vegetation and abundant insect life, where the usual type of waddling duck would have died from want of sufficient sustenance, through sheer inability to forage so fast and so far. Tradition, vague rumor, or what not,- gave rise to a belief that the original home of these birds was the East Indies. From the fact that Mr. Donald was a resident of County Cum- berland, the original seat of Indian Runner .culture in England, it seems to follow that he is most likely to be right as to their origin, and it was to him that the earlier English breeders looked very largely for infor- mation. The power of the true Indian Runner to stamp its color and marking, in the^case of a cross, is taken as evidence of very long fixation of its characteristics in the native state. Eighty per cent of such prog- eny, it is said will favor the Runner, especially in characteristic color. This varies considerably above the proportion given by Mendel's law. English breeders seem willing to allow that the long neglect has made it impossible that many types should not appear in various parts of the Island; for, the original blood must have been largely tainted dur- ing the slowness of the nation to recognize the peculiar value of the brqpd, and to place it early under the 'care of some organization which would watch out for the preservation of the most valuable and vital 9 characteristics. Like the Rhode Island Red in this country, the breed had a sadly neglected youth. Quite a number of importations have in later years, been made into this country from the flocks of Mr J. W Walton, "Honorable Sec- retary" of the Indian Runner Duck Club of England. Mr. Walton says that the best birds have always been in a very few hands. He wrote me, personally, that even in England '"breeders, exhibitors and judges fell into nearlv every possible ti-ouble with Indian Runners and reduced them from an outstanding and most distinctive bird to a common type, small, cross-bred duck with fairly even markings. That was the Exhi- bition Runner (?) of eight or nine years ago. loo '/c,of American (Stan- dard-bred) Runners and 99 % of English are wrong in shape, and position of legs. Color without type is of no value. " Mr. Walton has also said that it was quite certain that many earlier judges of Indian Runners "had no acquaintance with the genuine Runner." It was under this strained situation that the Indian Runner Duck Club in England took up the work, and formed a Standard calcu- lated to preserve the distinctiveness of this most remarkable breed. The birds illustrated in English poultry journals at about this time, according to Mr. Walton, "showed strong evidence of Mallard blood." It was within the decade before the English breeders found their bearings that most of our earlier importations were made. This shows how strong was the probability that many of these earlier importations were of mixed blood. It was about or just previous to this time that the Indian Runner Duck Club intervened to save the Runners from extinc- tion as to their most distinctive characteristics. It superseded the Stan- dard formed by Mr. Donald and Mr. Digby, (with which there had been dissatisfaction for some time) by one better designed "to retain the valuable utiHty and artistic qualities" of the breed. A part of its object, as stated, was to keep the exhibition of the Runner "free from dishonor- able and fradulent practices." In order to get at the English ideal of shape, it may be well to give a word to "the old, cod, soda-water bottle." This bottle, whose 10 form is given as a general model to work toward, tapered toward each end. The taper is gradual, in the bird, from the thighs back. Mention is made of the funnel-like expansion where neck passes into body. The accepted angle of carriage is up to sixty-five degrees when the bird is traveling, and from this to seventy-five degrees when alert. The neck is a strong feature, the head and neck together carrying thirty points Length, thinness, and fineness are especially demanded. In these points, the great majority of American Runners fail, breeders seeming to overlook the added beauty and grace given by a slender neck. I shall not try to give the English Standard demands in their en- tirety, but will refer to those which need study, in view of the swinging away in type and color by the American Standard, and by the birds shown in America. The color demanded in contrast with the white in a fawn, rather warm and soft, sometimes expressed also as of "ginger color" a term which the American breeders have adopted, but which I have not seen in the American shows. The newest m^les shown here are decidedly of a pinkish, rather than ginger tone, a shade which carries Pen of selected descendants of nestlings shown in another cut. From the earlier importations, and bred to English Standard. Young stock. Mature ccat was just completed. Seventeen weeks old. Will become more slender with more age. directly toward the claret which is disqualified by the American Stand- ard. The color is required to be uniform, from surface to skin. The chief variations between color-tones, from English and Amer- ican poi.its of view, is in the head and ramp of the drake and the body, fawn color and overlay on the shoiilders. The last point is often strong in color, the pencilings being rather distinct, but they are supposed to blend into a warm fawn of the true shade desired, when seen from a short distance away. The trick in getting color on the English-bred Runner, is to get one tone a good ginger, and the other as near it as is possible, the outer portion being the lighter As this is the portion most visible on the breast and body, it gives the appearance of evenness, as soon as the new coat loses a little in strength of color. If too weak in color when the new coat is first donned, it will be washy in the ex- treme after a few weeks, and will well justify the term so often applied to the lighter birds bred to American Standard, "a dirty white." This loss of color is one of the worst things that can befall a true Runner. I am loath to use the word "true" at all in speaking of the Runners, since it has been so juggled and made to mean such widely different things, "Genuine" might, perhaps, be a better term. The full stern, of the upturning, Pekin type, is considered a'de- fect, although this cannot be allowed to count strongly against females that have laid one or two seasons. The rump of the male and its head may be of a dull, rather bronzy green. The English Standard lays emphasis on the point that type must receive greater consideration than color or markings. Short, thick necks, squat specimens, smallness at the expense of the long shape, are decided defects. Slate and dark red in drakes are not favored. It should be perfectly plain to any normal mind that the' English type of Indian Runner, being so much'olderj than anything in America, justly lays claim to the title of "The True Indian Runner." There are many breeders in America who are breeding as nearly as possible to the English (genuine) Standard, possibly yielding a very little on color in otdet not to have a bifd too widely different from ttie one demanded b)' the American Standard. Up to the present, (so convinced were man)' of our judges, even, that the American Standard was not requiring the true type) the EngHsh-bred birds have beea able to get, in some instances very good prizes, though not often the best. Last year, such a male bird took second at Madison Square Garden. From what I hear, I judge that the ax is to be applied to such birds at future shows. "Whose birds was the American Standard made to fit ? " asked a correspondent, suspiciously, not long ago. The only testimony given to the public on this point inheres in the advertisements of two of them, that ONLY their birds meet the requirements of the new revision. For months before the latest revision of the American Standard of Perfection, a sustained fight was made to educate the public, and incidentally, the Revision Committee, up to a knowledge of the real type of the genuine, Indian Runners, and of the injury the proposed action would be to the breeders of the English type, and to the breed. terhaps a dozen breeders took part in this, one being a poultry judge, But the Standard had called for an entirely different type for so man)- years, that the Revisers were simply afraid to give any recognition to the breeders of the genuine Indian Runners. Indeed, it was scarcely to te expected that the Standard-makers would so publicly acknowledge a sustained error. Moreover, the known custom in this country, with all breeds, of making the Standard to fit the aims and ideals of the greatest number of the more powerful breeders, stood in the way. It is no doubt true that there are more of the present breeders who favor the "plain" type of solid fawn, with white, than of the breeders who favor the pen- ciled fawn type. This penciled type is not insistently penciled, except when the feathers are first grown, but is rather dimly penciled in two shades so harmoiiious and so near together in tone that they gently blend into a color which appears as a solid color as the season advances. The cuts shown herewith, of birds soon after molting, will easily give proof of this. 13 1 do not think there is, in the ranks of the breeders of the orig- Inal variety, any feeling of enmity toward the favored American type, in itself. But the feeling is very general — I think I may say, fairly, uni- versal — that the breed name belongs of right to the original type. The other should have come in, if come it must, as a second variety, with a variety name. It is preciselv as though the Silver Penciled Wyandotte should attempt to push aside the original Silver Wyandotte, and make insistent claim to being "the only true Wyandotte. " Surely "shape makes the breed, color (only) the variety." Is it not so, breeders ? It is by no means impossible to rectify' this error, evea yet, since there are other revisions ahead And it is the great hope of those who are breeding really good Runners of the White-egg type, that our Stand- ard makers may undergo an operation for strabismus before the time of the next revision. We'd like them to see straight ! H Present Show Quality of AMERICAN STANDARD INDIAN RUNNERS CHAPTER III The American Standard type of Indian Runners, as seen in the best shows, is not only a different type of bird from the EngHsh Runner, but it is in the main decidedly different from the ideal which has, up to the present date of writing, been pictured and described in the American Standard of Perfection. The ideals of the breeders have been gradually changing, as to color, and the birds that win now are quite different in color from those that won a few years ago. The allowance of gray as well as the preferred fawn, while possibly it seemed necessary at the beginning, has not worked to the good of the breed. A far larger pro- portion of males still come with gray breasts than would have been the case could the Standard have demanded, from the first, that fawn should be the one color, without the gray as an alternate. I have studied much^ over the peculiar demands at some points of the American Standard of Perfection, in its dealing with Indian Run- ners. Its ideal pictures in the 1905 American Standard are near the de- mands for good Runners, as laid down by the English Standard. At two points in the description, however, the American demand swings quite away frcfai the English. Where the latter calls for legs placed well back, and makes legs placed too wide apart a defect, the Americ- an Standard demands legs "set well apart." And whereas the English Standard calls for bronzy green on the head and rump of male the Stand- IS ard has demanded as the ideal, for the 5 years previous to 19 10 a liglit fawn color, which must be even throughout the entire plumage, except where the white markings should be seen. The American demand for "Hght fawn" has now been modified to "fawn" and the color is really a peculiar, almost indescribable light pinky-brown. It is, without doubt, a beautiful color and very much ad- mired; but so much has shape been .subordinated to color-tone of the "fawn" that the winning birds at the great New York State Fair, in .September, 1910, showed nasty, white splotches in the fawn spoiling the color-marking most decidedly. These birds bore virtually no resemblance to the ideal in the then Standard of Perfection, as to shape and carriage being low in carriage, beefy in type, and, as one has described this type, "more like a Rouen than a Runner," although not so heavy as the former. In November, 19 10, I went to the earlier show held in New York, chiefly to study the Indian Runners. These picked birds were mainly very good in the even color now preferred for both sexes — really a hand- some pinkish fawn. Only a few were good in carriage; scarcely one had a fine neck; and fully thirty per cent were notably splashed with white in the fawn of the back. A neck defect which breeders have not seem- ed to take into account (the proof being that it is so general) is that, the neck being already too short and thick, is made to look shorter and thicker by having the dividing Une between the colors too high. It is often cut squarely, but in about one- third the single specimens shown, there was only about an inch to an inch-and-a-half between the cheek marking and the fawn of the lower neck. The Walton ideal sketch shows the white on a slender neck and nearly five-eighths the length of the fawn marking on the side of the breast, at the point where it ex- tends entirely to the square cut in marking across the breast. This gives a widely diiTerent appearance to the bird. The illustrations of Indian Runners in the poultry publications generally, have not been of a sort to furnish much of an ideal to breed- ers in general. There are a few birds of typical carriage in this country, 16 but they are still very few; I mean of those which will hold the carriage practically all the time. The photographs from life commonly published, give little hint of the Runner which the "Ideal" in the Standard has shown. The new Standard is to contain a new and improved "ideal," Some years ago, Mrs. Mabel Feint made a pencil sketch from life which was very good for the time, though a trifle too full in breast, not showing the straight under line of body which is typical of the real Runner, and which even the American Standard "Ideal" demands. This cut is still in use in some quarters. The photographs I have seen, even up to the present time, have not been, as a rule, as good as Mrs Feint's "Ideal." She was a breeder of Runners for some years, and the birds she carried ^ are still bred as a distinct strain. In her tiine, these won over many of those from the more prominent breeders. The American type of birds are claimed to be "sports" from birds imported from England. Inas- much as English breeders, for many of the earlier j^ears, flirted with the solid-color will-o'-the-wisp, it would not be at all strange if some of the birds from England at that- early date should throw sports But the better English breeders have long decried and regretted their waste of time, and the detriment thev worked the breed for a period before they learned to breed strictly to the tj'^pical color. I doubt that it is possible, in this year 1910, to buy of any Amer- ican breeder, birds that will hold their carriage all the time, except at strictly exhibition stock prices, I think this is proven true, in the east, where many of the earlier Indian Runner breeders were located, by the fact that so few realh' good ones are seen, even at the most important shows. One needs to handle Runners for some time, and learn their typical carriage and their habits of behavior at different periods of ;^rowlh not onl}', but at different stages, in order to criticis.e them fairly. Probably it has occurred to very few that it is almost im- possible for a la3nng bird to hold her typical carriage and form. There is abundant reason for this, with the Runners. A single I. 17 Runner egg ready for exclusion, is likely to weigh three ounces, and the ducks are quite reasonably likely to lay six days out of seven, during at least a portion of the year. Prof. James E. Rice, b}' experiment, found that a color-fed hen deposited some fourteen layers in the formation of an egg, showing that the egg had been fourteen days in growing from the pin-head ovule to the two-ounce product of average exclusion. If we may suppose a duck to be 14 da}'S in growing an egg, from the beginning to its readiness for exclusion, and laying six eggs in a week, she must be carrying with.n her narrow bod}-, at one time, twehe eggs, of diminishing sizes from the three-ounce finished product, to the tiny, but enlarging ovule of the egg cluster. It is, of course, impossible to conceive that such a weight of eggs should not change both the shape and the carriage of the female, for the time being. Thus it comes about that we have to speak of these birds as in "exhibition form" and ■'laying form," while there is still another period of nearly half a year, during which they eat so much that they appear rather logy, and assume the carriage ol maturity only at intervals. This is during their growth toward maturity, and we need for this period a third term, such as "growing form," to describe them then. One of my correspondents who is vcr}- anxious for the true Indian Runner to become well knovv-n and well liked, rather re- gretted the fact that iMr. J. W. Walton's pen pictures of ideal Run- ners were published in this countr)-, since they show such an exag- gerated type to American eyes that those buyers without experience would be dissatisfied with an\- average Runner that could now be sent them. I may say, however, that in m\- experience, no fowl ever sent out has given such good, general satisfaction as the type of English Indian Runners now bred in this country. Xearly all the letters of acknowledgment which I receive, as well as those which other breeders have shown me, express the greatest satis- faction with the average birds. A short time ago, I saw one which read thus: "I have never received anything by express which gave me so much satisfaction and delight as the coop of Indian Runners you sent me." These were the average run of low priced birds, say at about two dollars each. There is a reason for this in the fact that, although but few of the Runners hold the distinctive carriage all the time, and, being few, are held for the high prices, yet the average Runner will almost invariably show off nicely whenever frightened', or excited or free to run and pose. And I have never known any breed which seemed to possess so much of interest for its breeders, whether they were, cr were not, finished fanciers. But, there is much more to the question of true type in In- dian Runners than has yet appeared in our survey. More and more, as the years pass, are fanciers falling into line on the declaration that no breed can survive long and prosper, 'everi as a fancy fowl, unless it is first a capital, utility fowl. This may be called. I think, a foundation tenet of The Fancy at the present time, h'cw adver- tisers permit themselves to put forth any claims to trade without supporting them strongly with testimony and assertidn as to the superior utility value of their breed, and especially of their particular strain of that breed. Even the story of the superlative fancy value of the "$10,000 hen" must be buttressed by the statement that her progeny lay at the rate of 83 eggs in four months ; and is not this ]>y implication, 249 eggs a year, with chances of 250 in leap years? On the very day of this writing, I have read, from the pen of Mr. Robinson, one of our leading poultry editors, the statement that, as he sees it, the poultry business, except in such special lines as the growing of soft roasters and of ducks for market, is going out of the hands of specialists into the hands of the farmers ; and, it f^'oes without saying, almost, that the Indian Runner, being a cham- pion layer and a prolific breeder, will soon cease to be of much use to The Fancy, through sheer over-production, unless the farmers 19 awake very widely to its value. The Indian Runner must become — ■ and that very soon — the farmer's duck. In the Runner camp, a rumble has been growing for some little time. During 1910 it has risen almost to a roar. The Runner of the emasculated type called for by the American Standard of Perfection, although lovely to look upon for color, in its best estate, has a great weakness as a producer of eggs for market, in the fact that it lays a large proportion of green eggs (a few call them ■'blue.") It does not need much argument, I think, to convince any one with an unbiased mind that the cr3-stal-white egg produced i;y the English Standard Runner is far and away more desirable for a market egg than one tinted more or less deeply with green. A card that came to me yesterday, written from the very center of the green-egg camp, gives a fair idea of the situation. One may read between the lines as to how the green-egg type has satis- fied. .this breeder. I quote literally: "Are }Our Indian Runners the kind that lay white eggs onl_y? \A''ill you sell them guaranteed lo lay white eggs or refund the purchase price? Please quote price on 50 eggs from * * '" * white egg strain. ' ' A breeder of American Standard Runners, having had much trouble and complaint regarding the large output of green eggs, wrote to another asking counsel, and saying, among other things, that the green-egg type were not so good layers as the others. The attitude of the recipient of this letter is shown in a brief paragraph from the reply: "It is said in England fully 80% of the (so-called) Indian Runners have very little Indian Runner blood in them, and a still worse condition prevails here, because of our Standard. Ow- ing to this Standard, there are very few genuine Indian Rvmners to be found." This sweeping statement harks back to the fact that English breeders, as I have noted above, tried so hard to "improve" their Runners that they nearly ran them into the ground, and came near losing the real Runner completely. At present, not only in England, but in her colonies, the feeling of the better breeders against any admixture of outside blood is intense. In Australia, the birds that won in the great competition were English, Standard-bred Runners. i\Ir. Dunnicliffe, the secretary for the competitions, as I note else- where, told me personally that nothing else will be accepted in Australia. ei Comparison of ENGLISH and AMERICAN TYPES CHAPTER IV For a breed that is sweeping the country with such amazing swiftness, the Indian Runner has received far too little really criti- cal attention. It has been bred in England several times as many years as it has been noticed and bred here, and in both countries one craze of the average breeder seems to have been to modify it, ;n order to get more size. This is folly, even from the utility point uf vie\^•, for the minute you increase size 3 ou increase eating capa- cit}', and eating capacity beyond what is netded to produce flesh and eggs is dead against economy in an animal that has a specific, great point, like the €gg-laying tendenc}- of the Indian Runner. Many breeders of the Indian Runner have been calling atten- tion to the proud fact that Indian Runners won the Australian Con- test prize with a marvelous record, as announced a year ago. But the majority of them have not a shadow of right to use this as a talking point for their birds, since it was a far different bird from the American Standard Runner which made these records. Believing that this was the fact, I wrote, some time ago. to .VIr. Dunnicliffe, Organizing Secretary, in connection with the llawkesbury contests, asking him what kind of Runners were in 'ihese Austral'nn contests. He \'ery kindly wrote me the facts, which 'Hipported my belief. These are his exact words: "The Indian Runners kept in Australia have been bred from stock imported from England.. The English Standard is followed by all our poultry- clubs and shows. As is the case elsewhere, there are people here who breed Rouen blood into them to improve the size, but any trace of this blood in them would knock them out in the shows In the matter of laying, we find that any infusion of Rouen blood depre- ciates them, and the best laying records have been put up by birds of pure, English blood, selected here for many years for their lav- ing capacity." The American Indian Runner, being bred to our Standard, has been much modified. The distinctive Runner shape has been subordinated to color' the color lightened, the capacity for breeding true largely destroyed, and the value as a layer lessened, all in order to get a plain contrast to the white, instead of a penciled one. Per- haps the new manufacture is prettier; since beauty is lagely a matter of opinion, I will not question that. But we have lost three or four most valuable characteristics in getting it. The English breeders who at one period thoughtlessly risked all these to get size, have more excuse, since they thought this an economic advance. Within a few days, recently, I received two letters, both from strangers, on the lookout for white-egg Runners. One of them said that he had been buncoed, for his "fawn and white" ducks were all colors, many being white. The other wrote: "I got 100 eggs of . ■ — , this spring, ordering white, but getting mixed colors and small eggs, and most of the ducklings were white. I sent to , and got fine layers of large, pale green and white eggs." One of the firms mentioned by this corre- spondent was a Chicago winner, the year he bought, and the other a firm that has had more write-ups and free readers and puflfs than most of the other well-known water-fowl breeders put together. And I call attention to the fact that there were two distinct types, from these two different breeders of "fawns," into one, at least, of which white blood had been introduced; and probably some into 23 the other also, but more carefully. Neither of them was of the true, white-egg type. There is one specific point, viz., length — about the "genuine Runner, aside from the carriage, which I have not seen referred to in periodicals in this country, although the Standard does say that the birds shall be long and narrow. The long birds were frequently downed at New York in favor of those showing the light, even fawn, evenness seeming to be the chief item in a good Runner, from the American point of view, in addition to good carriage. Some of our show birds do have fine carriage, but a very large proportion of them in the yards of breeders have lost this through the out- crosses for color. The English Standard gives something definite to go on, in stating what should be considered "fairly good weights and lengths;" though it cautions that these must not count alone, but must be in connection with well balanced type. It also recom- mends that judges sec the birds on the run before making awards. But I think these "fair" lengths will open the eyes of our breeders. They are: 25 to 30 inches for ducks, and 28 to 36 inches for the drakes. Runners, by the yard, as one might say ! The stern, too, is very different from the Pekin type so often seen here in the winners. Birds that have lajd for a considerable time do get heavier at the rear, but the true shape is quite light at the stern, tapering from the thighs to the tail. This, with the lenc/ h and carriage gives a bird whose distincti\'eness differentiates it frt.ni all other types the minute the eye falls on it. This, to my mirid, is what we want, especially as this is the heavy laying type in tliis breed, according to testimou)'. I ha\-e had, during this season, letters from two Indian Run- ner breeders, both of whom raise these birds by the hundreds, both of whom have the best birds going, of the light fa\vn type (that is. their stock is from th s type, and ^■ery high in quality), and both of whom avow a belief that the English type of Runner is the true 24 type. Both are changing from the. Ami^rican type, to the longer, more slender, white-egg type. Judge Ctipp has said publicly: "Consulting the uumerous' breeders of this famous duck during the show season, nine out of ten would admit that those of the> penciled variety were the best layers." He also said,:. "I doubt if- there is another fowl in e.x;ist- i.nce that will lay as many eggs during- the' year as: the Indian Run- der. Even the Leghorn must take of! her hat to the Indian Runner duck." Mr. Clipp speaks as a breeder, as v/ell as a judge. What might be considered to be- a fnongrel Runner? One. surely, which had been outbred 'Strongly.- What does the Bull Orpington Duck claim to be? 'A ci'bss, having Runner blood. On the strength of Runner blood, and calling attention to this very size that shows the mongrel, its handlers are pushing this breed. It is probably a good breed; it can doubtless be bred up till it is considered once more pure in blood; biit whci.?' ft is, it -v^-ill haifC mainly lost the Runner 'characteristics which ntiW constitute one of its chief, talking points. Since, then^Twe-alread) have 'a- mongrel Runner with' a bfeed liiihi'e, let 'us bewa^Er' leSt we make 'thfe Indian Runner itself a hiongrel by ddding other blodd, no matfe'r''6f' wliaf name. The true Rimner is so distinctive that it is mo?'^' eas'ilj' 'in- jured by outcr8sses, it seems' lo rte*,""than'kh3- other 'i)i^(^tf''tould possibly be. - . .- . ,,j...;. ..i .,;-, It was certainly not 'Tfriorie thdn 13 ycd'rs after Mr'.''*rhoinlin- .^on's first "particular attefitife'it" Ihat the first birds were' iini?of¥ed into this country. This ftfike^' it" Ver^ pi-obable ind&d'' 'that 'nil: earlier birds iinpOrted iif'to Arh'frica, -v^fer'e Wfy poor bir*(?3, Iroiii the ]jr'eSent point of view o'f''' the -EiV'gli-siiilndran' Ri.u'iVieT'Suc?kl'*t'iub. A^-; they have been bred to'' tlre'''Ailiei-icSn''S¥i-ndatd'Mio\V for ^'Mumber of years, it is perfeCtl'y''-fA'if''li5''concludr'ilikt'''f6'vV' 'O^'shoHc of tlic English Standa"rd-br^d "dfVck^ '\ikie' beeii ' iriitoSrtfe'd iii i-hlihi ytiAts":' This woltld follOvl'''ff'dm 'fhe'-'faef'-'tiTd't ■Aih-ericanls'' were' M'ee' white, translucent eggs, it is easy to see that their value as produc- ers of market eggs is abnormally high, as compared with anything yet known. The eventual value of the green type egg turns entirely on the question as to whether or not a green egg will sell in the market. Possibly — a remote possibility, is it not? — possibly some one wilt 34 have business acumen and push sufficient to popularize the green egg just as some localities have popularized the brown egg of the Asiatics. But up to the present, it seems to be a fact that green eggs are little desired, except at Easter time, when- the colored eggs have the right of way for a short period. This is not saying that they will not sell; I hold that a perfectly good food product in as good general demand as eggs, should always sell, if the producer have any skill at all in marketing. But I leave it to the good sense of the reader whether the Indian Runner, so prolific and quick maturing; so likely therefore, to increase remarkably last, would not better think twice before she lays a green egg for I he average buyer. For, it is the average buyer to whom we nnist cater, in all market offerings. We can educate him, but it is slow work, and it takes a skilled market man to do it. When we come to the third point, the consideration , of the Indian Runner egg as a household luxury, we can make out a tre- mendous case. For while this "luxury" delights the producer by selling at special seasons, occasionally, at twice the price of hens' eggs, it usually brings but five to ten cents more a dozen. The latter figure is proportionately cheaper for the consumer than hens', eggs, just as soon as the latter get above twenty cents. They fall, below this figure so seldom nowadays, that it is safe to state that the ducks' eggs are always cheaper than hens' eggs, if only ten tents more a dozen. Two of these eggs will, at any time, take the place of , three hens' eggs, even when the latter are fully up to the standard, market size, which is two . ounces. No eggs were ever more delicately sweet than those of the Indian Runner ; so that it may fairly, be said that, we shall soon hayp a luxury which is, jiot extravagant, and which, it is hoped, may soon become plenti- fUil on our markets.. At the date of this writing, only a few favored i^Uyers can have them, because there are not nearly enough to go around. The cities have hardly heard of the Indian Runner, as yet. 35 I am fortunate in being able to report a household test, made by Mrs. Grant M. Curtis, the editor of a Table Department in the "Reliable Poultry Journal." A breeder of the white-egg type, in western New York, sent to Mrs. Curtis 's office some eggs for test- ing on all cookery points. The breeder's confidence in English tj'pe of Indian Runner as a winner was not misplaced. When the eggs were hard-boiled, or poached, the only fault that \\as found was that the whites were a little tougher than those of the hens" eggs, cooked in the same ways; but, the yolk was reported as smoother and richer tasting. Soft-boiled, and used as frosting, they were affirmed to be equally good with hens' eggs. In custards, two eggs to a quart of milk took the place of the five eggs the cook was wont to use, and "it was as delicious a custard as we ever tasted." The lady who made these tests tried the eggs in making sponge cake, also, "believing that sponge cake is one of the most difficult cakes to make. Three eggs were used in the place of live with equally good results." The report closes: "Wc could not detect any unusual iiavor in any of the eggs used, imA even in the custard and cake. Having tested them, we should not hesitate to purchase such duck eggs. . . in preference to hens' eggs, which are, alas, ofttimes so far below what should be standard size that we wish, with 'Uncle I. K.' that eggs were sold by the pound.'' As J\Irs. Curtib acknowledged herself to have been, before this test.. ^^omewhat prejudiced against duck eggs, this may be regarded as a handsome amende to the Indian Runner. Not enough eggs remained to try omelet making. If the ^experimenter could have tried it, she would have found that it is in this point that the Indian Runner eggs score most strongly, per- b.aps. They make a most delicious omelet, will bear more liquid than hens' eggs, for this use, and may be used with water, instead of milk, when necessity demands. The- firmer white doubtless is 36 ;in advantiis^e here, as the omelet is not so likely to fall, and some like it better with water than with milk, while the scalded milk is avoided in the case of the many invalids to whom milk seems to he poison. ■V/ System and Forethought in MAKING A MARKET CHAPTER VI Up to the time of the present writing, Indian Runner ducks have been kept so busy in supplying the demand for eggs for hatch- ing, that they have not had time to "bother" with market eggs. The fact that the young grow to mature size in the short period of something Hke twelve weeks has made it possible to sell hatching eggs freely during two-thirds of the year, even to northern breed- ers, while those whu want eggs to go south will take them at almost Miy time except in the very hottest' months. Some do not even make this exception. .\ letter received late in November says: "I am filling some orders to southern customers. The half-Waltons ;ire doing a good share of the laying." A note received in late October of this year from a well-known breeder, mentioned just having taken ofT a fine hatch of duckings from the incubators, and said that he was still hatching for himself every e^g he could hold 10. 1 do not think the later hatched birds ever attain such good ^ize, but they help out while stock is still scarce. Among the early hatched birds, in our own yards, we frequently have males which l;o a half-pound above Standard weight. Last year, a breeder told me that he filled one order for 5.000 38 eggs. Perhaps others fill even larger ones. But he was obliged to call on neighbor breeders for quite a proportion of his order; since it would take 250 ducks three weeks to lay 5,000 eggs, even if every duck laid every day, and every egg was perfect. This is, of course, beyond the limit of laying for any flock of domestic fowls of this size. Or virtually, for any flock. "What sellers they are!" is a suggestive sentence regarding Indian Runners, from a private letter received here in October, 1910. This attribute has belonged to these ducks ever since I have known anything about them. The demand has snapped up, — usu- ally before winter — all that could be raised, for breeding use ; and even then it was not satisfied with the amount of the supply. This market, both for eggs and for stock has, in one sense, made itself. But, in the future, as the farms work more into raising In- dian Runners, there will need to be some systematic effort to make markets which will take all the supph^ at a satisfactory price. Con- sidering the matter of price from the actual, intrinsic value, since the eggs of the Runner average to weigh one-half more than the standard, market hens' egg, they should be worth one-half more. This must be discounted a little by the fact that "an egg's an egg," and, for strictly table use, three hens' eggs will "go farther" than two ducks' eggs (usually serving three persons,) though the eaters will not get the same amount of nutriment. There is also the old prejudice against ducks' eggs to be reckoned with. Judging by intrinsic value alone, when hens' eggs bring forty cents in a firm market, Indian Runner ducks' eggs should be worth sixty cents. Whether we shall ever attain to this as a permanent stand- ard of comparative values, I am unable to prophesy. At Easter, I think there will be no difficulty in doing it; at other times, until the market is firmly estabHshed, we may, perhaps, find it necessary to take a price from five to ten cents above the market price of hens' eggs at any given time. 39 I know of one case in which the producer sold the output of eggs in Boston market at five cents a dozen more than for Leghorns' eggs, all through the spring and summer, though Bostoii is not a good market for ducks' eggs, fn another instance, in New ^'ork market, a breeder sold Indian Runner eggs in crate lots, at 17c and upward, more than the going price for fine hens' eggs. This was at Easter time, and several years ago, even before all eggs were a.s liigh in price all the time as is now the case. I know, too, of a cer- tain physician, practising in a small town, who recommended Indian Runner eggs for his patients, as preferable to hens' eggs. In that city, the Runner eggs have brought at least five cents more than hens' eggs, regularlj^, through some years and do\\ n to the present time. This does not seem enough, but when we remember that the Runners are more prolific than hens, that they lay during a longer average period, and that they will thrive on coarser feed, with less coddling, and with cheaper housing, the argument in lavor of the Runners is pretty strong. There is one point about selling which I want to make as em- phatic as possible. This is: the sellers must ignore the prejudice against duck eggs — a relic of a careless age, or poorer ducks — ex- cept when obliged to meet it through the inquiry of a possible cus- tomer! Talk about the good qualities of the Runner eggs, and especially about their size and their sweetness. They have both, si:' that your arguments are ready for you in the goods you have in sell, regardless of the class of goods your grandfathers sold. If you have eggs enough to warrant it, put an advertisement into 30ur town paper, offering eggs at a stated price, and telling the points in which they are superior to hens' eggs. When the people have read it times enough, they will believe it. This is the best way to make a market for any poultry products, if you have enough to make it an object. It costs very little, and it enables you to sell birds when they are ready, instead of holding the good till the 40 backward catch up, which they seldom really do. Besides, if you word your notices to that end, you are educating your possible customers up to your class of product, and when they want stuff, Ihey will seek you. While I do not, at present, urge that the Indian Runner be grown specifically as a market duck, our recent experience shows that it can be thus grown, and profitably so. We placed, in the vil- lage paper, a fifteen-word advertisement offering table ducks, at door, alive, at one dollar each. A single insertion sold all we had to spare, within two weeks. A little earlier, we made an opening into the trade of a high class city club, at the same price, dressed. It makes little difference as to the last, if one have the time for the work, as the feathers will more than pay for it. Inasmuch as (lucks, like the commoner fowls, come about half males, there is always a surplus of these. There will also be a proportion of old ducks to work off, each year. I think it would be better, in gen- eral, to send these in one lot, to a city market. Selling anything is a psychological experience. Many are good salesmen, because they have some natural keenness which enables them to go about it right. Experience may add much, also. And, because it is a psychological thing, it may be learned through a general study of psjxhology, the results of which will apply to every experience in business, social or family life. It sounds fear- some, but it is fascinating and practical. For those who cannot help to build up a market, there are opportunities now which were never before offered. One eastern firm is offering, during the autumn of 1910, highest market rates on good poultry of all kinds, and furnishing coops, returning the price of coops when they reach the store with their consignment of poultry. 41 The Indian Runners MAKING HISTORY CHAPTER VII Nearly every mail brings inquiries as to the \-arious types (jt ', adian Runner, or recitals of experience with tlie breed in one type • r the other. As to the birds themselves, I have little difficulty ■ .! replying to questions. As to origin, history, etc., the people /ho have the facts have varied in their willingness to let the public i ave them — at least through this medium ; and it has had them hrough no other medium thus far. The public wants those facty . nd it wrants them badly Several of the earlier breeders gave me all the help I asked. or this' they have my hearty thanks, arid I know that they will ave that of the public which is interested in Indian Runners, «s .ell. Others ignored my request, or answered far afield. To one i-eeder, I wrote thus: "Davis, of 'Michigan, tellsmr that you vere one of the original breeders of Indian Runners. I want to ■nd out just when they caiiie into the United' States and who im- orted them. Do you know who was the first, and whether or not le birds came from England? Also, how long ai^u? I see Mc- ■ Irew says little is known about them. I know what English breed- ' rs say, but it seems to me that it ought to be possible to find out . .42 vhere United States breeders got them, and when the first were im- I'Orted. It has been given out here that they came from the W.e^t Indies, which 1 do not at all believe, unless the two types which wt are breeding-. at present in this country had a different origin en- tirely. Reply would very greatly assist," etc. All but one of these questions was ignored in the answer. I had two ideas in mind in speaking of origin. The West Indian story, which I have refuted elsewhere, had gone all over !he United Slates, and, having been credited to a reputable writer, who was a breeder of the Indian Runners before most of us had heard of them, it was quite generally accepted as fact; especially by those who did not know much about the duck in England, and what the best English breeders had to say about it. Moreover, i-ugland and the West Indies have, had many dealings, throughout many )-ears, ard it was not an incredible story, in the light of possi- bilities, that our Indian Runners should have come to us, in part, at least, through the West Indies. Aside from this, there was the possibility of different origins tif different strains. Last winter, at the New York .show, a man prominent in affecting the fate of Indian Runners in this country i»y his public acts, said, in my hearing, that it would be very easy indeed to reproduce the Indian Runners by the use of two or three I if our earlier breeds, — at least as far as the solid fawn marking, nn white was concerned. All breeders of fancy, fowls know, after ihey have a little experience with breeding and exhibiting, that no man dare sa\ what blood is in any one strain of birds of any breed, when it has Ijeen long out of the originator's hands. That "for- eign" blood has been put into the Indian Runner of some strains, no breeder of experience and observation can fail to see. Indeed, it is usually admitted, in a general way, although no one confesses lo having introduced such blood. When a bird which, in its purity, slibuld stand very erect, degenerates into a logy, heavy bird which 43 it js very difficult to breed out of the horizontal carriage, there i< a reason-^with apologies to the owners (?).of this clause! And every experienced breeder knows in a general way what that reason is. When a bird that is, in its purity, rather definitely and strongly marked with a dark color, throws a large number of white specimens, as many complainants affirm that the "fawn" Indian Runners do, there is white blood back of it somewhere. White will not prevail so widely in the face of man's continual selection of the other sort, unless man has made the mistake of adding more white, and so has strengthened it. I saw some fine Indian Runners in another state, in the fall of 1910, bred from "Walton" stock. They were excellent in shape and beautiful in color. I judged that the importer was trying to breed on this stock to get shape and carriage, and up through it to the American Standard. This would be the one best way out of the difficulty, if it were feasible. But, when a judge of National reputation assures you that it is folly to trv to do this, and that the true way is to buy of the men who now have birds nearest to the American Standard, you want to know ■'\A'hy?" And you make your question mark very large. The fancier would not be unduly dependent on the Standard, if he could depend on it not to change just as he got somewhere near its demands. And, when the Association makes a mistake it is almost in honor bound to stand by it, or to recede from the j)oint gradually, for the sake of those who have done its bidding, and bred to the false ideal. Nor can it afford, from one point of view, to admit that it has made a mistake, although many of its members will admit this personally. But the farmer must take what the fancier hands down to him, if he wants anything new in the, way of a breed, and while the association helps him on one hand, it injures him on the other. On the day before I write this chapter, a letter came in tiie 44 morning mail, from one of a firm of farmers who evidently want to grow up into fanciers, but can b};- no means afford to ignore the utility side of breeding. The letter said: "I have some good In- dian Runners, and want to keep only the best. However, my best ducks I cannot take to the Fairs, as they are too dark. Yet, they produce the eggs we prefer, — the white ones." But this man is not so badly off as is the one who wants to raise Runners solely for the eggs, when such a one chances to get his stock from a breeder of the solid fawns. If he gets from these a large proportion of green eggs, he is diappointed, disgusted, discouraged, and can get no redress. On the day previous to the receipt of the above mentioned letter, I received another inquiring about the white-egg sort, and saying: "I have some of the green-egg kind, but am not satisfied with the color of the eggs." A large breeder wrote me, the same week: "An inquirer, an M. D., writes to know if I will sell ducks guaranteed to lay white eggs or money refunded ; that he would not have layers of green eggs at any price, nor as a gift ; that he would hardly eat them if well-cooked." Of course, this is largely a matter of personal whim, as far as not eating a green-shelled egg is concerned. But we need to remember that the great bulk of the Indian Runner eggs must shortly be sold to the public at large, few of whom lack personal whims, of one sort or another. It is our business to humor those whims just as far as we may. And we know that the people of much of our country have been taught to demand white eggs; whether it be a whim, or not, does not affect the fact with regard to the call for white eggs. A Texas rancher who thought to take Fortune by the top- knot, as it were, and haul her -into his service, wrote as follows: "The penciled ducks are better than I thought. I thought I would order several pens from different parties and stock up on the best. My only wish is that I had bought all penciled Runners." The 45 Mvu I )v h enlarged to show the delicate Lacing, which does not appear in any ordi- nary photograph. Bred to English Standard, but rather full in breast. itation: "The two varieties (American and English types) have the same style of carriage. » * All the difference is in color of plumage."( ) Compare the types on these opposite pages and see if you agree with him I A poor cut, but a good bird. a a. £' » th 3 r/i m p 3 3 O 3 a> a o *" M* g" ? n* rt n* fD r/3 K ? « c- o 8 a. O 3 n p (lucks had converted the rancher to the penciled type, before the}' l;ad time to lay an egg for him. The solid fawn is so handsome, in the best specimens, that I should hardly expect such sudden con- version, but I have the buyer's own testimony, in writing, as to ihe fact. One or two letters which I have in hand are so bitter in ex- pressing an opinion about the matter of change of type that I do not think it wise to publish them, even without signatures. One breeder, in especial, stated with hot comment, that he would hold to the genuine type, even if they should he disqualified by the Ameri- can Committee, in the revision of the Standard. One letter, from an inquirer not at all familiar with the In- dian Runner, asks many questions. Among others, "Are they hardy?" The descriptive adjective "hardy" usually appears in any recital of the virtues of these ducks, but no one has enlarged upon it. 10 my knowledge. When people ask such a question as this, I im- mediately wonder what they mean b}" "hardy." Able to withstand snow? Cutting winds? Dampness? Extreme cold? What is "extreme"? We have the light winters of the south, and the 40- degrees-below-zero of the northwest. Which of these is the fair test? Or is it a point in between? I can testify to the limit of six below zero. I have seen Indian Runners, just maturng, run- :iing in the open, in December's bitter days, with not a bit of shel- ter but some small coops, which they ignored. The yards were strongly wind-swept, and the birds were out all night as well as ;:11 day. They sat on their feet, and hid their heads in their ruffs, when it was coldest, and especialh- during cutting winds. No one with any experience with fowls would expect eggs under such con- in some seasons. A valuable breeding bird requires comfort, and if she have not a comfortable shelter and warm litter, many of her eggs will be wasted through chilling, during the early part of the year. One should not forget that, although ducks are water fowl, they need dry shelters and drained soil, at least near their sleeping place. I have seen ordinary puddle ducks, probably once kin to the Rouen aristocracy, sit all night in the dead of win- ter on a pond, just where it was fed from a living spring. But these ducks were not expected to lay until March. 53 MAKING A VIGOROUS BREEDER The foregoing, remarks indicate the general handling which goes to the making of a vigorous breeder, or a vigorous layer. The market duck is handled differently while growing, especially in the matter of feed. The very sweeping statement has been made that there is only one duck for profit, as that one is so far superior to all the others. But this statement was penned eleven years ago, when the very name of Ind'an Runner was practically unknown in this country. More recently, an extensive grower of the big, market ducks has told me that, in his opinion, there would never be any market for the Indian Runner. Fortunately growers of Indian Runners are disproving this to some extent, although at the present writing, these ducks are unknown to the majority, prob- ably, of city commission men. Indeed, in New York City itself, T have found only one firm familiar with the Indian Runner by name. The author of "Poultry Craft" says that exclusive duck farming can be made profitable only near a large cit}-, where there is a good demand for ducks ; a few ducks, he admits, can be grown profitably almost anywhere. The same author says that, on large plants, the estimated cost of growing is up to eight cents a pound, and that special duck farmers would soon have to go out of busi- ness through the very fouling of the soil, and its consequent un- liealthfulness, did they not use the latter part of the summer season in making it sanitary through the use of growing crops. Fortunately, the Indian Runner can make good so fully in a iino-le, special line, that of egg production the year around, that we scarcely need to listen to the market men, no matter what they have to say about real, market d.ucks. The Runner breeders will have only to dispose of their worn-out layers, and the Runners lay well until several years old, according to testimony. The feed, then, will not be that of the market duck, but that of the breeder and layer. One part green food to two parts 54 Pfrain. mixture is the general rule to produce a well-framed duck. All will be fed on this basis till, possibly eight weeks old. After this, the market ducks needs more corn in some form. The stock to be grown on is kept on about the same ration right along till it is time for laying to begin. It is understood that meat is always Jed after the ducklings are a few days or a week old, the amount being-increased as the birds get larger. Ten per cent is about_ the average given to the ducks well started, which is. sorrietimes in- creased to twelve per cent just before fattening time, if they are to go to market. If a single article of food were to be mentioned as of more value to duck breeders than any other, doubtless it would be bran. Bran, however, differs, in these times, from the older mill product, and modern brans are not all alike. I wish to impress especially the need of securing a good grade of feeding stuffs for ducks. Tainted meat, or moldy ground stuff will work quick havoc with ducklings, at almost any age. Some time ago, a correspondent wrote to in- quire what could be done for the ducklings, which had suddenly begun to die by the score and dlmpst by the hundred. Every pos- sible point of failure was canvassed, but handling seemed to be correct upon all, till we came to the question of spoiled feed. Then it came out that a mill which had been relied upon^ was putting out a product made from grains that had virtually become rotted ■ -if ' ■; in the fields. Ducks have a desirable quality in the fact that they will not eat when really sick, and thus they have some chance to recover. The universal testimony is that a duck well-hatched is as good as raised, after one gets the knack, and the chief difficulty in raising ducks inheres in their greedy desire to gorge themselves, combined with neglect, by their owner,' to make sure that they always^ have water to' help them at this weak point. Dry feed and withheld v/ater are the duck's worst combination foe. Considerable can be 55 done to ward off trouble by soaking the cracked corn which is used, for an hour or so before feeding it. (The only point to watch out against is letting it ferment in extreme warm weather.) Being then swollen before it is eaten, :t will not make trouble by swelling lifter being eaten. The duck has no crop proper, like the hen. The feed is passed into the stomach, and thence through the other or- gans of digestion. The duckling eats eagerly and often. This is, no doubt, the chief reason why it does not do to use too much hard, dry grain, or to omit water at any time. We have found much satis- faction in feeding stale bread soaked in milk, in connection with bran, for the first few weeks. Cracked corn is used for one meal a day, and clover, cut sweet-corn stalks, grass, rape, weeds, cab- bage, beet pulp and other things that may be handy, help out the growers who may not have grass range. The matter of shade is one which must never be overlooked. 1 have seen, on farms where there was abundance of delightful shade, both duck and chicken coops located out in the open, under a broiling July or August sun. At the same time, the shallow water dishes were entirely dry, it might be for hours. Such ducks and chickens are pre-destined to die of mysterious (?) causes, and none can ward this off till shade and water become a part of the constant conditions under which they grow. Ducks are very sen- sitive to the heat of summer suns, and I have seen even the less sensitive chickens thrown into convulsions or Hmberneck during the awful heat of midsummer conditions without shade. The best of things can, however, be overdone. The one safe way is to make both shade and sunshine free to the younglings, and let them choose for themselves which they will take at any one time. It is not necessary, as one breeder did, when told to provide shade, to coop the ducks so that they could not get from under the dense shade of an overhead grape arbor. Even summer days vary much, and summer nights become as cold as autumn, at times. I have worn S6 mittens on the fourth of July, and even then suffered with the cold, in New York state. An exception, of course, but one never knows when an exception may arise. Forethought is one's best defence, and must be a continual part of the poultryman's panoply. It is altogether better to feed and water outs'de the shelters, except under very unusual conditions. All who keep ducks under cond'tions which require yarding, make much use of small grit, and many use charcoal also, at least, occasionally. Charcoal is espe- cialy good in the case of trouble with indigestion. But, inasmuch as the old saw about locking the barn after the horse is stolen ap- ].lies with great force to ducks, the wise duck grower stud'es his conditions carefully, and so plans as to render impossible, those things which are likely to make trouble in the duck yard. One careful grower known to me who would by no means be caught napping about anything in the regular preventive line, has lost a large bunch of ducks through hunters ; another, through the ducklings having eaten rose beetles. The sexes are usually about equally r«presented in the young stock. Occasionally, a freakish hatch may be very unequal. One buyer, in 1910, reported one duck and nine drakes raised from one setting of eggs ; while another, more under fortune 's care, ap- parently, reports, on the very morning when I am writing this chapter, three drakes to nine ducks. One breeder suggests that beginners cojild more easily enter upon poultry culture with Indian Runners than with any variety of hens, because they "would meet with but few of the vexing problems and setbacks that would fall to their lot if they tackled chickens." The first requisite in handling, he says, is to get pure- bred Runners, "free from crossing with Pekin and other ducks." To speak definitely of our own experience, I may say that we have hatched and raised our Runners entirely with hens. Early in the season, I give not more than nine eggs to a hen. This is equal 57 to 13 hens' eggs. .,A nest with a 3od or ea^-th l)ottom is best. The egg's are supposed' to hatch in 28 davs,, hut I have, had a bio,,d all outand'i'n the coop before' the end of the 28th day. The duC:vHn,L;s require little feed the fii'st day or two. ^,1, do not try to teed tiiem till they begin to lodk for it, 'for tney do not need it earlier., 'iat\ should have water in a shalloW dish so that they caiuiot get wet in it, and this means refilling it often. The first feed'is stale bread soaked in sweet milk. If 1 couldn't get th s, I think, f.om iii> ])resent knowledge, I might feed Spratt's Duck feed, ]xisi at iir.sl. After a very few days, I add to the soaked bread a utt.e, bian a..d middlings, a little ground corn and pats with the hulls sifted out. and some clean sand or fine grit. Just as soon .a? the}' will eat it, I work in succulent feed in the way of cho jped ca,bbage, letLuce, ra]je or similar greens. If the green juicy stuff is not available, scalded cut clover is excellent. But something of this character is impera- tive for ducks, unless they have abundant good pasturage. I feed fi\e times d::il)- for the first few weeks, and m^x in a little sand once daily. At least one feed is of green stuff. After a few da}'s, 1 add a little good beef scrap; the less milk the more scrap. Don't use scrap that smells like fertilizer. And be sure all feed is sound and sweet. If the milk sours, I would make it into curds and m x. with the other ingredients, and use a little rnore bran in proportion. The ducklings are very sensitive to cold and wet for the first few days of their lives. They must have protection from storms till they are feathered. I have found them so nearh drowned by a sudden, hard shower that reviving them seemed hopeless. But drying and warming them by the kitchen range , put renewed life into the chilled bodies, and they seemed none the worse for the wetting. Their recuperati\e powers seem to be great. They will reach the point where they do not need the hen sooner than will chicks. But they should always have some shelter to which. -they can retreat. An open shed seems to suit them admirably. i:-,r;'j.;-; ;; 58 A shed-l ke house, situated on sloping land, usually open to the sun, but planned to close at night when necessary and having i.ood litter, about covers the real needs, as to shelter, for the breeding ducks, or the layers. Loncerning- the most ^deeply interesting point, as to how freely the Indian Runners will lay in the "off" season for hens' iggs, testimony varies so much as to convince me that t is quite a matter of handling. Mrs. Harshbarger's ducks lay during the niouliing season, and on into the extreme cSld months. She rei)orts 75,4 of fhem laving by February 1. She states that her (large) Hock averaged ' y eggs per duck in 108 days; also, that the eggs laid during the ti\e poorer months of the year will "more than pa} all expenses of feed, shipping baskets, printing and advertising for the entire _\ ear. ' ' ' Mrs. Brooks's birds lay during the moult (to a lesser extent than in spring, of course) and she ships eggs for hatching in No- \ember, the sparsest month of the year for hens' eggs. One breeder, writing in November, says: "Every mail brings reports of ducks from my eggs laying." Judge Clipp says that he sees duck eggs in the exhibition coops of the Runners at midwinter (even after trying shipments). The early hatched may begin to lay in July, and "anybody's" will lay in February. Mr. Hurt says that the very slender neck, long, ih n body and alert carriage characterize the best layers. "The White Queen," the best bird I have seen in America, as regards genuine type, may well serve as a model for those who would fix the correct type firmly in mind. Compare her with Walton's ideal -ketches, published in this country in May, 1910, and see how 1 ttle she lacks of meeting them. She is, in fact, far more beautiful. Having a good, laying type, one needs to provide comfortable JKjusing at night, a spot sheltered from winds during the day, and 6o liberal rations, with a goodly proportion of meat. This sums up the matter of the egg- harvest. I m ,st not, however, leave any one with the impression that only one method ot feedmg will do for Indian Runner Ducks, or other ducks. The methods most commonly recommended in handhng ducks have been gleaned chiefly from the handling of the men who raise them commercially, for the sake of the carcass. They are the methods of those who yard their ducks, and push them almost beyond reason when they are to go to market early. On the farm, especially where there is abundant room and nat- ural water privileges, one may do differently. I am accustomed to' a rough mental grouping of feeds which is easily possible to any feeder. It includes the starchy feeds, which are heat and fat makers, (includ- ing fats themselves with the fat makers, at a higher value); the muscle and egg makers form my second group; the green feeds, clover meals, vegetables, form the third. If birds are on free, good range, we need not think much about this third class. If not, we must make much of it, and use its members in large proportion. We must remember that grass is not the same as hay, because it is so largely water. Propor- tions may be roughly in one's mind, something like one part of muscle- makers to two of fat and six or seven of the starchy things (which means, mostly, the grains in their natural state, unground and undivided as to food values) . To produce eggs, one adds a larger pro- portion of the muscle-makers, like peas, beans, meat, etc. This is all that is necessary for a feeder to know, except whether any special feed ranks high as a muscle- maker or a fat maker. It is really the base of that far more elaborate thing called "scientific feeding". A very practical difficulty which meets the handlers of laying ducks is that, in mid-winter, the ducks, being largely night layers, must be in reasonably warm quarters, or the eggs will freeze. Breed- ers of ducks especially noted for laying should, therefore, plan fo^ 6r warmer housing than others find necessary. This does not .mean that they mu«t provide close, stuffy houses, for these will not work for tl.e good health and vigor of the stock. The best thing any one can do to make his shelters warm for stock of any kind is to locate them where they are sheltered from wind. The closer thfey are to. shelter on the windward side, the warmer they will be. A second good aid toward the needed warmth for laying ducks, is deept, soft litter If this occu- pies only such portion of the floor as will accommodate the inmates comfortably, they will group themselves there; as they are very partial to a nice bed. Thus, their bodies will keej) the eggs warm, and early rising on the part of the handler will do the rest. The one who handles our ducks recently planned some very simple houses, which have been put up experimentally. They are really only deep sheds,,, being six feet on the front and 12 feet deep. The height at the fr^nt is six and one-half 'feet, and at the back it drops to 40 inches. The houses are boarded closely, and covered both on roof and sides with one of the commercial roofings. The front is entirely filled by two curtains which drop against the strip binding the house in front, and which open flat against the roof whenever desirable'.' The more they are up, the better for the birds. This house has been planned to meet several difficulties which experience showed. The door is on the side, rather close to the front. It is double, having an outer solid shutter and an inner frame covered with wire netting The depth of the house is to'permit the easy hand- ling of litter which I mentioned; to allow, also, feeding near the front on stormy days, and to protect from inblowing wet and snow. The curtains are of cheap muslin. A man who had used duck, which used to be so much recommended, told me that he thought the muslirt much better. The duck does not permit sufficient i^flp-X of air, he said. Were it not for the color and weight, which darken the inner house somewhat, I should use loose bagging, nearly always available on the farm at no cost. We do use it wherever possible. 62 Ever since I have taken special interest in poultry, Mr. Hunter l-.as been trying to drum it into the heads of all whom it may concern that tl.e three i_oints necessary to winter eggs are early hatching, good "growmg" and pullets for a stand-by. In similar way, I might make three j^omts for ducks; early hatching, proper feeding, comfortable ,|housing. V\ ithout all these the -duckvwill not give returns in winter. The very word, "returns" pdmts to tfte fact that she must «eceive' first. Let no breeder forget this. ' Even when she has given her returns in eggs, it yet remains for her owner so to educate or to select his market that the cash returns shall be of the best. This matter is one in which our southern people sLould be especially interested, as they have the best chance, on ac- count of their climate. In March, 1910, a produce reporting paper gave 22 and one-half to 23 cents as the lowest price for hen's eggs, reached up to the date of report, during that season. On the same date it was reported that duck eggs were beginning to move, toward the New York market. They were classed as "Baltimore" eggs, though some came from Tennesses "and other western points." Baltimore duck eggs were reported as bringing 42c. at the same time that hens' eggs were bringing a cent or two more than one-half this price. When we have actual market reports showing what is possible in the line of returns from duck eggs, at least during a portioii of the season, we do not need to guess. And I note that southern inqviirers are plentiful, and eager Europe sent us a good many cases of eggs last year. Shall we not rather raise our own ? I note in certain niarket news that prices drop to "almost one half" on duck eggs, after Easter. But, if this one-half is even then equal to the price of hens' eggs, no need complain very bitterly. The market for duck eggs has to work itself out, but it seems to be doing very well at present. And I think it may be expected to improve steadily, once the Indian Runner eggs become known in city markets. Ignorant old New York will get them after a little, and learn something to her advantage ! 63 Some Spurious and Some GENUINE INDIAN RUNNERS CHAPTER IX By Mrs. Andrew Brooks. [Mrs. Brooks is the friend of the Indian Runner. Sh-e lives on a farm and knows farm needs, and she is a true fanc'er. She has done such valiant work in trying to preserve what bhe believes to be the only "true" Indian Runners, and to introduce them here because of their economic value, that we have asked her to write something of her views of our monograph. C. S. V.] As Indian Runners have been in this country only a few years, and an unjust and misfit Standard of so-called "Perfection" was made for the breed, practically disqualifying true Runners and standardizing mongrels, the present mix-ed and confusing state of affairs is not surprising. In making a standard, attention should be paid to nature's laws. This was not done. It is an established fact that the natural colors of Indian Runners are fawn and white, the female having penciled plumage, while the drakes have cap and cheek markings of dull, bronzy green with rumps bronzy black or brown, turning dark brown or fawn when coat is old (the shade depending upon 64 the length of time that has elapsed since th*e molt, but never the same as body color). The American Standard has demanded the same color in both sexes, namely, "light fawn," even throughout. Such a standard places a premium on faking: blood foreign to the breed was bred in to secure light fawn color with no pending on plumage of females and drakes having head and rump markings the same as the body color. As would be expected, this addition of foreign blood has brought about grave structural changes, altered the color of the eyes, also the color and size of the eggs, besides les- sening the number of eggs. The chief value of the Indian Runners lies in their capacity to be veritable egg-factories of large, white, marketable eggs. As layers of such eggs, and as foragers, the Standard hit them hardest, requiring wrong posit'on of legs, de- stroying the character;stic Runner gait and making less able forag- fis of them. The new Standard may possibly be an improvement (jver the old one in some respects, but I understand that it demands the brown eyes, which have been acquired in making over the breed lo conform to standard requirements, and to produce the reijuired color of plumage. A shade in color of feathers would not much matter but it should not be gained at the sacrifice of utilit} value. Longfellow in The Builders said : "Nothing useless is or low -- Each th'irig in its place is best; And what seems but idle show Strengthens and supports the rest." This applies to fancy and commercial poultry; for, it should be remembered that the whole poultry industry is a structure rest- ing upon the "firm and ample" foundations of economic value. If we tear this down and destroy utility, how long will the industry survive? I have had much correspondence with Indian Runner breed- ers in all parts of the United States and all their testimony proves 6s a c c c 03 J3 O the same thing, viz., that eggs from the light fawn American Stand- ard-bred ducks are laid in fewer numbers ; such stock does not be- ,L;in to lay so early in the season by some weeks ; also ceases lay- ing earlier in the fall : while true Runners do not cease entirel V, even during the moult, as I can testify from experience. A worse lault, in the light fawn ducks, is that they mostly lay green or tinted eggs of smaller size, that do not sell for so much. - Our l)est markets call for white eggs, and owing to their mixed parentage these light fawns cannot reproduce themselves reliably. All m\- correspondents tell the same story of sending for eggs at high prices (naming the most prominent breeders;) of getting green or tinted or mixed colors of eggs that produce ducklings which show lack of uniformity, some being mostly yellow, some light and some dark. One man wrote: "1 want to acquire a flock of genuine English Runners that will be second to none. I have had enough of mongrels. . . I want a duck that will lay white eggs and plenty of them and reproduce themselves in type and markings, instead of the young looking like they were the result of mixing half a dozen widely different breeds. I'm sick and disgusted with mj- humiliating experience with Standard Indian Runners. I have them that were hatched from eggs from ducks claimed to score 96 points and there is not one closer to the Indian Runner Standard than is a Rouen." Another, late in the season said he had spent weeks in trying to find eggs from flocks guaranteed to lay only white eggs and had not discovered one such flock. He judged by the discus- sion which he read in the papers about the Standard that I must have them, and added: "For heaven's sake don't say you have all the orders you can fill." One inquirer asks: "Will you fur- nish ducks that are guaranteed to lay white eggs only, or money refunded?" It is a significant fact that most of such inquiries come from the midst of the country where the light fawns are most extensively bred. Another writer, who met with disappointment 67 in trying to breed the American Standard, wrote of buying the 'lighest priced birds the most prominent "light fawn" breeder would sell, keeping them side by side with real Runners with the same care and feeding, only to find that they were not so valuable ;:s the ducks they were trying to displace, as they were so much poorer layers, and of tinted eggs. Hundreds of ducks lay.ng green ur tinted eggs are kept in some flocks. The eggs are scattered iiroadcast all over the country to purchasers who believe that they ..re buying Runners, innocently supposing that "Runners are Run- ners," and not knowing that there are imitations of the real article, '.ihich are sold as genu ne. I'his is only a faint picture of the .■iluation. No wonder that true Runners are scarce and high priced. Who can count the cost of the harm done? It is beyond '■(im utation. The fancy and the utility should go togetlier, but as matters now stand prospective buyers will ha\e to decide w hether they will bi^etd for show and fancy rer|u rements or whether ;hey want the most valuable, practical duck from the utility point of view, the ones giving best money value. For us, we will concede .Standard excellence (?) to the fanciers; they are welcome to the duck they have created! Theirs will answer for exhibition pur- poses, as judges must place awards according to Standard. W'e \vill concern ourselves with maintaining the breed in its highe-t type and purity for the farmer and utility breeder. Runnes are pre- cminentl}' the farmers' breed. They are at their best on the free lange of the farms, as they get along with less care than hens. They are what the farmers need in these days of high priced labor. I'Jimners will la}' as many eggs as the best breeds of hens. No other breed of ducks will la}' so many white eggs; none are such foragers, or so capable of gaining a large share of their living, thus reducing the cost of feed, and they adapt themsehcs well to ad- ^ erse corditions. In the eighth annual Australian Laving com'ie- ;ition two pens of Runners averaged above 200 eggs each. As no meat was obtainable, no an'mal food was fed in their ration dur- ing the time of the test. What hens fed in like manner could have made so good a showing? Meat or animal food is even more neces- i-ary for ducks than for hens. When given free range they find much of it for themselves, working as they do, busy as bees from morning till late at night (stormy days the same or more so) thrusting their bills deep into the grass, searching for worms or insects. Nothing escapes their notice! A farmer who i;-' a near neighbor of ours has six Runners, yearlings. Now, in the latter part of November he is receiving 4 or 5 eggs every day and feeds them only corn ; no mash at all. As they have free range, 1 suppose they balance their own ration. They are kept dry-bedded ;.l night : the, first essential in raising ducks. Early hatched young tlucks or yearlings, or older birds, if managed right, will lay as well or better than hens, in the fall when prices are high and eggs most ;ippreciated. I know personally that, with such care as the average farmer can give, they will give flock averages of 150 eggs each in a year. The results of the annual duck laying competitions in Aus- tralia are very interesting and instructive, but I am not so much concerned with the records of such tests or the records of individual layers, as I am in the floclJ averages of these ducks, when well man- ^■ged on the free range of the farms or in the hands of the utility poultry breeder. The labor question is getting to be a serious one, hut the ducks help to solve it, as they are more easily cared for than hens. They are not troubled with lice nor mites, so that there are no houses to spray nor roost? to grease, no frozen combs to treat, no dropping boards to scrape ofif, no scratching up of gardens nor flying into grain bins. Nor is there need for so many males as are needed with the larger breeds : one male being sufificient for ten or more females on free range. They can be housed very cheaply; fences cost less when the ducks have to be yarded, as low 69 fences will hold them ; when matured, they eat no more than hens. It is also less work to raise the young stock since they grow up su quickly. The young ones may be brought into laying at five months of age, and eggs sell for more than hens' eggs. As the call has been so great for hatching eggs I sell at market only a portion of the time, but I have sold enough to know that eggs will sell for five to six cents per dozen more than hens' eggs. Have shipped to a commission dealer in New York for the month before Easter when I received from 18 to 20 cents per dozen more than I received for hens' eggs. I learned that after Easter commission men pay a premium of five cents per dozen more than they pay for Leghorn eggs. They may be packed in one side of case by themselves if there are not sufficient to fill the case. Runners are so valuable for layers that they are not sold to any extent at market for the table. But the surplus males find sale at good prices, the meat being so tender and delicious. It is really in a class by itself, as it has such rich, gamy flavor. Since they grow up so quickly and cost less to feed than Pekins there is no reason why enterprising poultrymen cannot build up a good trade for them as market ducks. 70 The Future of the INDIAN RUNNERS IN AMERICA CHAPTER X There is no question, I think, that at the present writing, (after the last meeting of the Revision Committee in 1910), the majority uf the fanciers of the country favor the plain, fawn type that has i)een convicted of laying so many green eggs (showing impurity, Mr. Jaeger says!) It could hardly be otherwise, indeed, since the Standard has demanded for some years back, that only such birds should be bred. Of course, all but the independent thinkers fol- lowed like sheep, whatever the Standard demanded, whether it meant a good Indian Runner, or not. And, I have no doubt that most of them have taught themselves to admire the plain feathers most, in the Indian Runner, even if they did not do so at first. Yet, the very same breeders would go into raptures over a Cornish In- dian hen if she showed extra good penciling ! Many of these breed- ers are so inconsistent as to argue for the greater beauty of the plain Runner, when it is a well-known fact that pencilings, lacings, ;md the like have given all the more distinctive beauty to our won- derfully varied breeds of the ornamental types among our domestic fowls. Those distinctively known as "ornamental" (therefore es- 71 pecially beautiful, of course) are the ones that show most variation in colors and markings. The plain are simply — well, plain, and that is all there is to it. Many of the judges, I am told, have Indian Runners. I can name several whom I know to breed them. Of course, they have exceptional opportunities to get good, Standard birds, and it would be too much to expect of human nature that all these people should now be willing to have a differing bird made Standard, off hand, no matter if it is the true, original Runner, and a better, economic bird. There were, in a dozen of the best poultry papers, during the lieight of the 1910 season, something like 160 breeders ad\ertising Indian Runners, virtually all claiming the "true" t3'pe. Those of the pla'n-feather camp, meant "true to American Standard." Those i.vho bred the original Runner, meant "true to the English Standard type," though I fancy most of them have tried to lighten the color as to make the pencilings rather indistinct. Indeed indistinct pen- ciling is what the English Standard calls for. The content of "truth" in the Indian Runner of the future should be incontestably large, since there is so much variation, yet all "true." It is also true that variation is likely to continue. Among all the breeders whom I know to have carr'ed the English type, the large majority have announced their intention of keeping to that type, regardless of what the American Standard for fanc}- fowls may be. The chief, economic reasons which they give are : the better laying of the English type ; and, the white eggs. The [iromise is, then, that there will continue to be bred in this country two types of Indian Runner, differing from each other really more than the white Orpington, say, differs from the white Plymouth Rock. Both will claim to be "true," and the confusion that will result will be intensified as numbers increase. This means that it behooves every one who wants Indian 72. Runners, no matter of which type, to inform himself thoroughly as to the differences in the two types, and to be very sure that he buys of a breeder who has what he wants. The two types have been bred together, which of course makes more confusion. The oldest of the breeders here of the English type sold birds, years ago, to the chief promoters of the American Standard type of to-day. Very many breeders, have tried both types. Perhaps a dozen of them have written of their experiences in the poultry papers. Of them all, I think only one has reported that the American type were the better layers. All the others stated that, when handled side by side, the English type were the better layers. I am not for a minute in opposition to those who. really want to breed the Runner oi the American, Standard type. What I do want, is to make sure that the farmers who are to supply the great majority of buyers of Indian Runner, eggs for hatching, for some years at least, shall get the^ type of bird that will prove most prac- tical. They will stand, to a man, for the white-egg type, I am certain. They will also stand for the English type strongly when they are made to know that it calls for a bird with longer body, and iherefore with more egg and meat capacity. Even the Secretary of the National Indian Runner Club said publicly (June, 1910) : "If we lower the type and egg production by having them fawn and white, we certainly should have, a different Standard." When we think of the best English Indian Runners, a yard long from tip of bill to tip of tail, and compare them, mentally, with the runty, American Standard type too often shown, it is easy to see why the breeders to American Standard fight against having the Standard weight raised. Many of the pictures of the American type show a bird with neck about as long as body, not including tail, the body being short and stumpy at the stern like the one at the right in our cut of the American Standard-bred males. Often the stern is so stumpy that it gives a peculiar impression of being "out of drawing 73 someway," as an artist would say. It does not balance gracefully. The effect of having the legs set so far back in order to get the running- balance, and then tucking the stern up so stumpily, is indeed, un- graceful in the extreme. The exhibition birds shown in contrast to the charming graceful white Riiriner, are from some of the most prominent breeders of the American type of Runner. Neither in shape nor in carriage Can they cdrhpare with really good Indian RiiYiners.' -^ "' ' If each breeder w;ir have the courage of his convictions, and advertise plainly what he has, it will save much confusion -for buy- ers, and an immense amount of disparagement of Indian Runner ■breeders. At the present writing, there are plenty, of ^buyers for both types. A short time ago, I received an inquiry for "first- class favtri'arf'd' whitb stOcl^.'" Believing that this custoraei; wanted 'the American "type, 1 Answered briefly, telling him that the English type of Runrier which I carried, v^'ould not win ■firsts for him in atiy large show, under present Standard demands. To my surprise, batek.came' a Tetter wanting rhy birds, the price being the same as would halve been asked for the sarrie grade of birds bred to Ameri- oarl' Standard. ' ' It is 'Scarcely possible, I think, to insist too strongly that those who believe m the Indian 'Runner as bi^ed to the specific, English Standard,^shbuld'rhal:e clear in each advertisement, just what they are offeriti^v-'iOnly in this way, can we avoid the infinite confusion which is likely to arise. Personally, I think it would be only just if classes should be made, at least in all the larger shows, for the English-bred duck. It would'be the only amende that could be made for having taken the breed name away from this duck and given it to a mongrel- inade duck. It is perfectly practicable, as I see it, to have classes for the English type, and judged by the English Standard. .As T yq-ite the ' closing' w6i"ds of this chapter, there comes to , ,. ) ^ - .,-, 74 my desk a new booklet from a breeder of the "fawn and wh'te" tpye for the last six years. Referring to the Runners of the Ameri- can type, he mentions their "real value as a layer of large, green and white eggs^ of much value." He also states that he would prefer all white eggs. Inasmuch as this testimony comes from the midst of the "fawn and; white" camp, surely none who breed the English type can be accused of unfairness or of bias in making simi- lar statements. And for their own trade, they need only to mike it widely known that they have the strain known to lay white eggs, and trade will run to meet them. ii Indian Runners Ducks and FARM BREEDING CHAPTER XI A letter concerning Indian Runners which came to me in De- ceinb'ir, 1910, says:"I've tried several breeders in the north and south to find one who bred the white-egg duck. One, I believed, and parted with my money, only to discover that I had bought "green" ducks. The breeder claimed she could fill my demand, as both parents and grandparents, for that matter, were hatched from white eggs " Another farmer, who does a business large enough to run about 1200 eggs in incubators through April, and who has recently made a start with English-bred Runners, says: "I have picked out six females, all marked alike, fawn with concentric penciling, and will reserve same for our own breeding. Our females are well taken care of and with good care and attention to them I am looking for a great egg yield. I am going to write up a piece to have published later about a farmer's experience with Indian Runners, and I hope it will have weight with that class. For if the average farmer can get eggs in winter from the Runners when their hens do not lay, you can rest assured they will have some " Because 1 see no future before the Indian Runner, eventually, uxcept as a farm duck, I am especially glad to get the farm point of 76 iview. The ;ibove letter was sent on to me by a breeder in another state, that I might see how farm interest was, developing. It will be njted that, although the writer carries far more than the average of poultry on a farm, as evidenced by his incubating so many eggs, he is looking for something that can do better in winter than is customary .with hens. He is of the better class of farmers, we can guess, because he selects uniformly marked birds for breeding. He has enterprise, as is shown by the facts noted, and by hjs plan to write up his experience where it will attract other farmers; Beyond what his letter may thus show us, I know nothing aboat him. But I wish the country was ful- ler than it is of farmers with several of the , characteristics which show in this letter. However, dealing continually, in, my work with queries from farmers all over the country, I can testify that there are many more of the class who have enterprise^ education and good hard sense than people who do not. come into touch with them are ready to be- lieve. , , t There are already many types of Indian Runners in the country, entirely aside from the two very distinct and opposing ones to which so much reference has already been made. It is almost impossible for any breeder to put his hand to a breed without transforming it to some extent. This is abundantly shown even in the references to the "strains" of different breeders, and to the differing claims made by advertisers. How are these changes made ? Often — very often, by "hocus-pocus." That is, by putting in a dash of any blood which a breeder may think will bring the birds nearer to his ideal — usually an ideal as to feathers and form, rather than as to production. Produc- tion cannot be ignored, to be sure, but it is made to take at least third place; for color comes first with the average fancier, then fonn, then, if he has no other hobby to work out, production, possibly. But it is also true that no two breeders can take even the same strain, with birds very similar, and, working enterely apart, show the same type of birds at the end of five years. Each puts his own stamp 77 upon the breed, or variety. ,.Jt may be. that all the change has been made by selection of eggs. It may be that it has 'been made only in the selection of birds to c^rry oi;i- his work. The fact remains that each worker is practically certain to put hi^ own, special stamp "his niark" upon the birds which he will soon call, his "strain " . . A breeder who was especially anxipus to preserve and continue a certain type, wrote another for bii-d^,pf;tbat type, to be descended from birds sent out from the,yards of the first, some years earlier. It was made plain that only ^suchi birds were wanted. _ The testimony of the first breeder to the outcome is as follo,ws: "I asked, before order- ing, if they were just as had of me, and in return the. breeder wrote that they were my strain, pure (with the words underlined). When they came and I examined them, I could see that other t)lood had been used ; the penciling was different, not so distinct, of a prettier shade of fawn, if anything; but they were hardly as good in shape and style, and I was in a panic. I thought I would return them, but finally sold most of them, telling the customers just what they were. Thetemain- ing suspects I shall put in a yard by themselves and obsePX^estfifem . " Eventually, it came out that the; breeder from whom these ducks came had had one male from a third breeder running with theiemales 6i the'- first breeder's stock. There w&s no suspicion of intentional error, as far as I know, for breeder number two was considered honest; but the incident shows both how soon change of strain shows in the progeny, and how difficult it is to get just what one wants and definitely orders; Human nature seems to have a strangely transforming effect on varie- ties of fowls ! . ■ A breeder who had had f^iwn ducks of two types, from two breeders, wrote me: "I am satisfied that I hurt the laying qualities by use of the Hght strain, (the second lo.t)." Both these acquisit.'ons proving to be layers of green eggs, this breeder bought birds again, the third lot being from a well-known white-egg strain. Another change then made itself manifest, of which he writes: "My old ducks could 78 not and would not fly under any circumstances like the last ones. One is^ar ahead of any I have" ever seen in' upright carriage, and I would ;,like t-o get aiU.of- mine of that type.*' '' ' ' Y .'There is one'. |)di*(ter here' that Is"^' worth noting. The white*egg ducks a«e of.. the more' active type,' and" also of better carriage than anything furnished this breeder by two of the very best breeders of the solid fawn strains. "'''''^' Being a very licinest man, the writer of this letter was anxious .to kilow about the tendency-to flying because he had told customers :that a two-foot:'fenfce would corifine'^^ie ducks. I chanced to have a personal word to add to the soluticrn of this problem, because I had bred for some time the very strain 'he reported as being such flyers, a,nd had never usetl sian^^iA'f 'biiif' a two-foot fence to confine them, nor ever known 'them 'tb fly over it. '■' But it is perfectly easy to train these birds, or jihy others, tcl be breachy, by using feiices too low or too weak when the 'birds 'are' 'yoang' and most'active. The size of yards, too, may have an influence on this especial characteristic. Small yards, which 'Offer 'nti 'good Starting point for strong flight, will often' Confine the birds— any' birds — much bettei- than larger yards. That is, not such 'high fehces will be demanded. ' It is in the daily and yearly learning of sucTi thing^' as these as they"' come along, that any poultry raiser gets "knack" arid acciiinulates a store of wisdom on innuriierab'le poirits which it is simply* inipossible' to pass on in entirety to any other workeV. It is one point at a time usually. Just before we go to press with "The Indian Runner Duck Book," an authoritative letter from' England is received. It tells of many inquiries for cheap birds cOming from America and says: "There is no one' With real good type birds" willing to sell at utility prices. In fact, I have se6n birds for Which ten to twenty pounds (about fifty to one hundred dollars) was £sked, df very bad type and carriage; in my opinion, fit only for the pot. I think it unfair to ask those who have reallv good birds to sell them for killing prices, almost." Concerning 79 one of the newer American theories as to the origin of Indian Runners^' the same breeder says: "It is worth framing, as it is one of the most incorrect and ridiculous articles I have seei; and the writer is entirely at sea. 'The Common Mongrel, etc.,' would have been a more appro- priate title."' In this connection, I may say that there is a movement in Eng- land at this writing which promises to develop into the pubhcation of . a thorough and reliable book on the Indian Runner, giving all that is now known about its history, from the first to the present time. This is certainly a movement in the right direction, and I shall look with much interest for the purposed publication. The Patent Office at Washington has recently been showing symptoms of interest in the Runners, through an employe. Whether they are to be patented, or not, is not yet announced. If so, many breeders will be on edge to learn which type will thus receive recog- nition ! In other directions, also, matters are moving. I think it was late in 1910, though I am not quite certain as to the date, that a breeder in the east sent a trio of English-bred Indian Runners to the Government Experiment Station of PortO'' Rico, for experimental pur- poses. It is quite time some one in authority was doing something with these ducks, on this side of the Atlantic ocean. For, if the things which Indian Runner breeders have been saying have been untrue, they would result in uncounted waste of money for the thousands of farmers who will try them. Whereas, if they can be proved true by some of those in whom the farming coitiagent have confidence, it will mean hundreds of thousands of dollars for the farmer's pockets. We know positively that breeders in this country, even women on the farms, are making hundreds of dollars from their Indian Runners each year. On the date of January 26, 191 1, I received a circular from one such woman, claiming that her ducks were made to average over ten dollars each in eight months. It is not likely that this was from So market eggs, however. The crying need at present is for some Exper- iment Station here to make, an exhaustive test of both types of Indian Runners for the benefit of the American farmer, on the market egg basis. Austraha and New Zealand are far ahead of us in the things they do for the benefit of the farming population and ^the common people at large. But, as these matters depend largely on the common people's vote, it may be said that they are the ones chiefly to blame for what they do not get. The average man does not even know what his government is trying to do for him. And the Government is usu- ally fa,r more anxious to do something for him than he is to have things done, if we may judge by what is on the surface. Professors of Poultry Husbandry, for instance, are jubilant when they succeed, by all the arts at their command, in getting the names of many farmers. This is just because they know the Station can help the farmers, as soon as it gets into touch with them. And the best help must come through work with the fanners, man by man. In the matter of choice of type in the Indian Runner, I am in a position to know that our Agricultural authorities at Washington deliberately threw aside a chance to do something for the farming people in studying the two warring types of the Indian Runner. They assumed that the fanciers were right in breeding to fawn, simply because the fawn contingent was in the majority and slavishly followed the Standard. As an interest- ing commentary on this, a disgusted word from one who has bred Indian Runners for years fits in as nothing else could. He was en- gaged in the practical job of catching birds to fill a shipment and for his own breeding pens. Color study was, of course, a main feature in 0. K.-ing, or discarding specimens, and, as is always the case, many birds that looked well on their feet had to be rated as seconds on ac- count of fawn in the flight feathers. I happened to be looking on, and heard his dictum: "Color in Indian Runners is nothing but a humbug anyway, for they change color every two months. How are St you going to describe the color fairly when that is the case ? It is out ■ of the question ! And who is g*ing to say which is the right color, that of December, or of March or of June ? " It struck me that this was as pungent a comment on the folly of ruining the distinctiveness of the Indiatj Runner (because some one happened to think fawn in solid color was rnpre desirable than any two shades of fawn penciled together might be) as could possibly be made. The question must always be, Which of the varying shades of fawn is Standard fawn, and when shall the birdbe judged on .color, — in winter or in summer ? If in summer, or spring, is must be far too dark in December; if in De- cember ft is to be just right, it will be nothing but dirty white in June. And this everybody knows. T saw two breeders selecting a bird to fill an order that called-, for a high class specimen. The choice lay between two birds, one of which was nearly perfect in color, but was only moderately long in body and neck. The other was of beautiful shape and carriage, but had a flaw in the wing flight. "Which would you send ? Which would you rather have if you were choosing for your own yard ? " said one to the other. "The slim, long bird, every time," was the reply. "What, — sure ! even with the flawed wing, and remembering that it will affect the whole flock ? " "Yes; even at that. I stand for type first." "But what about shipping it- to a customer ? ' Would \ou de- cide on that one to fill the order ? " "No-o, I'm edvaid not," was the half unwilling reply. "The customer will be better satisfied with the bird that is better in color." All who have bred Runners long know this to be the case; and the reason is that, though Standard law, as generally applied, theoret- ically puts shape above color, in actual practice, color, (when at all hard to get) virtually takes precedence of type, as the birds are judged in competition. And this is what every breeder of Standard birds has to meet. He dares not send what he 'believes to be the better bird, many times, because custom has over-ridden Standard Law. Tl:e very *■ 82 Bifflple reason is, doubtless, that color appeals far more quickly to the average person, than does shape. Many a breeder of years standing, cannot select the birds typical in shape and style. And the public, which sees the shows and which buys stock, is more e'asily satisfied with the better colored bird, when it becomes a choice between coloi; and shape, unless the shape is inexcusably bad. 83 The Newer Variety THE WHITE INDIAN RUNNER CHAPTER XII The future of the Indian Runners is bound to include the variety just coming into sight here, viz., the White Indian Runners, Though but recently advertised for the first in this country, the White Indian Runners promise to interest the public at large so greatly that a few words must be given them even now. In Cali- fornia, in the middle-west, in th-e middle states, they are already being advertised. One cannot say much that is definite about their quality, as it is* likely, it seems to me, to be exceedingly "spotty" for some time. My reasons for thinking thus V.e largely in the fact that the very evident crossing of some of the original importations of Indian Runners with white ducks has resulted in the badly-mixed speci- mens, showing much broken white, of which buyers of Indian Runners have complained so bitterly recently. There cannot h^r much doubt that the majority of White Indian Runners have arisen through some of these crosses. The most likely cross is that of the White Pekin duck. I saw Pekins in a recent very large show, that 84 "THE WHITE QUEEN." I'erlia,)s the most perfect type of Indian Runner Duck ever produced in Ameriac were as upright in carriage as almost atiy of the Runners, and one specimen in especial that was fully as erect in carriage as any In- dian Runner I have ever seen shown. As the Revision Committee's lecommendation at St. Louis was for a body one-fourth longer than the ideal presented them by the artist, and a clean-cut throat with^ nut dewlap, the Pekin will be even better than in the past, as a ]iromising foundation for a cross leading to White Indian Runners. A Runner built on such a foundation would be too broad and thick^ ■^et, for many generations, no doubt; but human nature is such that it would doubtless be used, in the future; as it has in the past, if pointers from experience can be at all relied Upon. I wish to call especial attention to the cut of a White Indiari Ivunner female given herewith. It is by far the most typical speci- men of the Ideal Indian Runner, that I have ever seen. This bird is, moreover, a straight sport, as far as anything I really know can show. I do know that no white blood has been introduced into her ancestry since ;t came into my hands, some years ago. Other breeding experience would make any of us argue that there must be white blood somewhere behind her. As to proof, — there is none, ••'ud the testimony of her beautiful shape seems to throw the Pekin liUt of consideration, unless, by some trick of Mendel's law, we lia^e a dom.nant white from the Pekin, in connection with a domi- iiant shape from a Runner ancestor. But I think Mendel's law, as l;e would have had it applied, is being more questioned now than ever l)efore since Professor Bateson brought it to our notice. That is, the many investigation experiments, in the efifort to prove it a breeding- law, seem to show it less helpful generally in breeding than was at lirst expectied. These White Indian Runners are not an absolutely new prod- uct except in possible specific cases. Mr, H. DeCourcy, speaking of the Runners as they appeared in Ireland some years ago, wrote, in the "Reliable Poultry Journal" that the Runners had been bred for 86 several years by farmers with no regard to type and feathering. Yet he states that the distinctive features of the bird were so fixed that they still tended to dominate. I notice that he refers to the "car- riage" as penguin-like, not making the blunder of the American 1905 Standard in saying that the form is like the pengin, which lis posi- tively absurd ! He speaks of three distinct varieties at the time of writing, known in Ireland, and says that the penciled fawn and white — "a beautifully-penciled fawn color,", as he describes it — "certainlj' has a distinctive shape and carriage which the other varieties possess but in a modified form, and it is most probable that both the Brown-and- White and the White varieties have been bred from the original Fawn-and^White, either by the admixture of foreign blood, or b}' selection, or by both." This testimony must be considered by any fair mind asj abso- lutely unbiased, because it was given before our Standard-makers discovered that the plain fawn, with white, was "the one and only true." It was published in this country before there was any question of breeding to a solid fawn as far as our Standard was concerned ; though our Standard was fitted to some sports in the hands of a single breeder, — if I am correctly informed, — soon after. The white bird, ever3rwhere and alwayb, is a popular bird. And, as soon as the public is assured that it breeds true in'any measure, we may look for a strong movement toward the White Runner. . Some pretty good specimens were shown in New York in November, 19 10. 87 ROSE COMB BROWN LEGHORN MALE Indian Runner Drakes compare with Brown Leghorn Males in vigor. Both make unequalled sweet young Roasters. ROSE COMB BROWN LEGHORN FEMALE AND CARCASS Indian Runner Ducks compare with Leghorn Hens for great laying. If 4' '-^fy^'l m^^^^^J -^^^^mu.