There are many patterns of feed troughs in use, hardly any two being alike. They are simple affairs, the simpler the better, as they are more easily kept clean. The designs given for water troughs are equally as good for feed troughs and answer the purpose very well. Each pen of birds should have two troughs, one for water and the other for feed, built proportionately to suit the age and size of the birds they are intended for. Make them of sufficient length to avoid crowding, so that all the birds in each pen will have ample room to eat at the same time. OYSTER SHELLS AND GRIT. Grit in some form is essential to ducks and should be kept before them at all times. Many overlook this fact and do not seem to understand that it is of as much value to them as it is to chickens. The sand used in the mashes tends to supply a certain amount of grinding material or grit to them, but does not fully satisfy them for digesting their food. On a farm where more than ten thousand birds are raised annually, and where disease is practically unknown, it was noted that in every pen there was a box of grit and a box of crushed oyster shells. This raiser states that he considers grit and oyster shells an absolute necessity for ducks, and he attributes the healthy appearance of his stock to it. His birds eat it freely and the supply is never allowed to run out. KILLING AND DRESSING FOR MARKET. There are two methods of dressing ducks for market, by dry picking and by scalding. Both of these methods are good and are being successfully employed by the largest raisers. Some have a preference for dry picking and others for scalding, and it becomes only a matter of taste which method is used. When birds are dressed by scalding they should be dipped several times, or until the feathers come out easily. The back should be dipped in the water first. After scalding, wipe them as dry as possible with a sponge and pick the breast feathers first. A bird when dressed for market has left on it the feathers on the wing, the tail feathers, and the feathers on head and neck, as shown in fig. 27. The legs are left on, and the birds are not drawn.