CHAPTER XXXVIII 



RAISING GEESE PROFITABLE 



The goose is one of the very earliest birds known to have been 

 domesticated. It is, in fact, so long ago that it is not definitely known 

 how long, but certainly a long time. Mr. Weir says "It is possible 

 that the ancient Britons may have kept geese for amusement and 

 not for food." Maybe, but I don't believe it; the goose is England's 

 national bird, just as the turkey is the national bird of America. No 

 Christmas dinner is complete in England without a goose and very 

 few Englishmen will keep anything for amusement that he likes to 

 eat. And I know many other people of all nationalities that like 

 geese, too. 



There is not very much of a market for them in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, but San Francisco is a good market for both live and dressed 

 geese; and as our population takes on a more cosmopolitan character, 

 which it certainly will do after the opening of the Panama Canal, the 

 market here will be better. 



Geese are long lived, so that it pays to get good ones in the first 

 place and then keep them as breeders. William Rankin, a veteran 

 goose breeder in the East, cites one instance of a goose owned in 

 Boxford, Massachusetts, which was the property of one family for 

 101 years, and was then killed by the kick of a horse. She had laid 

 fifteen eggs and was sitting on them when a stray horse approached 

 too near the nest. She rushed off to defend her eggs seized the 

 horse by the tail, and was killed by a kick from him. 



Some breeders claim that geese seldom get too old to be good 

 breeders, while there are others who prefer their breeders to be from 

 two to five years old. But where I came from in England, those who 

 raised them kept breeders twenty-five to thirty years old. Sometimes, 

 though, it happens that ganders will show favoritism and if they do 

 this when young they will get worse as age increases so that most 

 all the eggs will be infertile. So it is better to change the male and 

 retain the females. 



These cases are cited just to give an idea or two to guide anyone 

 who wants to breed and raise geese. Personally, I am a lover of 

 geese and had intended to keep a small flock here, but found that they 

 stripped my young trees of their leaves. When the trees get larger 

 so as to be out of their reach I will get a few more. They are easily 



