Such eggs as are produced in surplus may either be utilized on the home table or sent to market. As a rule duck eggs are not in great demand except at certain seasons such as at Easter and during the Jewish holidays in the spring and fall when they bring somewhat higher prices than hens' eggs. The larger size of duck eggs, however, makes them favored by bakers and they can usually be sold at any time in a city of any size at prices as good as those received for hens' eggs. Eggs for market can be packed in the ordinary 30-dozen hen egg cases by using special fillers which hold 25 eggs instead of 36 as in the case of hens' eggs. See page 119. A farmer with a small flock of ducks will usually not have eggs enough to fill a case frequently and for this reason he usually finds it more convenient to market the few eggs he has by taking them into town in a basket. _Disease and Insect Pests._ Ducks are very little troubled by insect pests, nor are they greatly troubled by diseases. The usual difficulties encountered along this line are those discussed under this head in Chapter VI. Losses are often experienced as the result of predatory animals. Rats will cause a great amount of havoc among the young ducks if they are able to get at them. A single night's work on the part of one rat may practically clean out a small flock of ducklings. It is necessary to make sure that the ducklings are shut in at night so that rats cannot get at them. GEESE PART II. CHAPTER IX Extent of the Industry--Opportunities Geese can be raised successfully in practically all parts of the United States and are in fact scattered in small flocks over a considerable portion of the country being most abundant in the South and in the Middle West. The census figures for the year 1920 show Illinois with 195,769 geese to be the leading state in numbers, closely followed by Missouri, Arkansas and Iowa. Next in order of importance as goose raising states come Kentucky, Tennessee, Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas. The census figures of 1920 compared with those for 1910 show a decrease in the number of geese from 4,431,980 to 2,939,203. The only groups of states which showed an increase in the number of geese during this period were the North Atlantic and the Mountain states. Of the total farms in the United States only a small proportion, probably one-tenth, have any geese and the number of geese per farm would not average over 4 to 10 depending on the section.