254 DOMESTIC WATER FOWL GEESE. 



but the month after. When well fed with barley and 

 oats, they thrive and do better, and their feathers grow 

 faster, and are better in quality than where it is omit- 

 ted. They must constantly have plenty of grass and 

 water. 



" In many parts of this fenny district, vast advantage 

 is made by the frequent plucking of the Geese. At 

 Pinchbeck, it is the practice to pluck them five times 

 in the year, as at Lady-day, Midsummer, Lammas, 

 Michaelmas, and Martinmas. The feathers of a dead 

 Goose are worth 6d., three giving a pound. But pluck- 

 ing alive does not yield more than 3d. a-head per an- 

 num. Some wing them only every quarter, taking ten 

 feathers from each Goose, which sell at 5s. a thousand. 

 Plucked Geese pay in feathers Is. a head in Wildmore 

 Fen. 



" In the fattening of Cfreen Geese, care should be 

 taken that a little green food be given, along with the 

 oats or other grain, that may be employed for the pur- 

 pose when they are put up, and that they be well 

 supplied with water and sand* A fortnight or three 

 weeks is long enough for this purpose, if they be well 

 and regularly fed ; but, in the fattening of the older 

 Geese, there will not be any necessity for the green 

 food. The place in which they are confined, with this 

 view, should neither be too light, nor too public in its 

 situation, as they do not feed so well, where these 

 points are not attended to. They should likewise be 



