Читать книгу One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money - Harold Morse Dunphy - Страница 79

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A small farmer, living a few miles from a city, derived a very handsome income from the raising of ducks and geese.

From a long and careful study of various domestic fowls, he had learned that, while ducks and geese are much more rare than chickens, and that many people prefer them as table birds, they eat much less than hens, and the feathers of the geese are always in demand, at top prices.

Both ducks and geese are much more hardy than chickens, and not nearly so liable to disease, therefore the losses are not so great. By keeping “Indian Runner” ducks, he got an almost unlimited supply of eggs, which always brought good prices, while during the holiday season the demand for ducks and geese was second only to the demand for turkeys, which are expensive to raise.

When he figured up his receipts at the end of the year, he found that each goose had brought him a net profit of $5.75, while the ducks averaged considerably higher, owing to their greater egg-laying capacity. Both classes of birds, when fattened just before Thanksgiving, brought fancy prices, and involved a great deal less labor and expense in their raising than would be required in the case of hens.