274 Af/ricuUural Gazette of N.S. W. S^ApHl 2, 1908. 



About Geese. 



G. BRADSHAW. 



ClIAI'TEll I. 



Historical. 

 AViTiiix tlie jKist f(nv months then; have been iiuniorons applications to th(^ 

 IvUtor foi- " Something on Geese." 



The latest information on the subject was from the pen of .Mr. •!. .McCue, 

 a former poultry expert at the Hawkesbury College, and appcarcil in tlie 

 Noveinbci' (iazette of 1900,- -that issue and its icjirints bciiiL: Ioiil;- since 

 exhausted. 



The following monologu(^ sliould sujiplv ('V(»rything practical on the suliject 

 to in(|uir(M-s. 



When the goo.se became domesticated is still a matter of contention, nor 

 does it matter for the purpose of this pa]icr, e.^ccept to say that some writers 

 consider it more ancient than the cdnniion lien, both of whicli have been 

 servants of man from early times. Ancient literature has told us that since 

 the fourth century the goose has jirovided th(> (piills wherewith all oui- 

 history has been written, and depicted to us the virtues, faults, customs, ami 

 foibles of our ancestors. 



It was kept about the house in the time of Homer, and this poet never 

 mentioned t lien. Fattened fowls, certainlv, ai-e mentioned in 1 Kings, 

 5-23 ; but some writers assert that these were geese, as they abcjunch^d 

 throughout Palestine. Herodotus (450 h.c), the "father of history," speaks 

 of the Egyptian priests being supplied with abundance of beef and geese. 



AN'hen the goose first arrived in England is also lost in the vista of centuries. 

 That they were there at a very early time thei'c are manv records. 



The i-ent for land tenure in olden times was usually paid in kind, — geese 

 being invarial)ly included in the lists of landlord's reipiests. Geese were 

 usually recjuired at Michaelmas, ducks and hens at other (p)arter days. It 

 is thought that the English custom of feasting on fatted goose on St. 

 Michael's day originated fi-om the payment at that ]>erio(l of such kind. 



Jn tlie reign of Edward l\', we read that .)olin de la Ilav was bouiid to 



render to William Harneby, J^ord of Lastres, in Herefordshire, for a parcel 



of the deinesTie lands. - " w d., and one goose fit for his lord's diiuier on the 



Eeast of St. .Michael the .Virhangel.'' Another writer alludes to the 



agreement thus : 



Ami wIm'm the tcnaiitos coiiio to ])ay thcii (jiiarler'.s rent, 



They hriiig some fowle at ^lidsiiiniiiei-, a dish of tisli at Lent, 



At Ohrislinasse a capon, at Michaehiias a goose ; 



And somewhat else at New Year's tide, for feare their lease fly loose. 



Indeed, the majority of the leases in the olden times included items such 



as above, and if not brought their lease would be void. 



