Age of Geese. 41 



in fining and improving the grass of coarse 

 meadow land. Geese as well as turkeys, 

 it is well known, travel to the London 

 markets ; but it is not so generally known 

 that goose feeding, in the vicinity of the 

 metropolis, is so large a concern, that one 

 person feeds for market, upwards of five 

 thousand in a season. The best geese in 

 England, are probably to be found on the 

 borders of Suffolk and Norfolk, and in 

 Berkshire. Wild geese have not the su- 

 periority of the wild duck, tasting of fish, 

 and being far inferior to the tame. The 

 foreign fancy varieties of the goose, are 

 chiefly ornamental for lawns and waters, 

 and as objects of curiosity. 



A GOOSE on a farm in Scotland, two 

 years since; of the clearly-ascertained age 

 of eighty-one years, healthy and vigorous, 

 was killed by a sow, whilst sitting over her 

 eggs ; it was supposed she might have lived 

 still many years, and her fecundity appear- 

 ed to be permanent. Other geese have 

 been proved to reach the age of seventy 

 years. It is asserted that, at the great 



