114 CALIFORNIA POULTRY PRACTICE 



managed and can stand pretty close confinement if necessary, but, of 

 course, like all other birds, do better with plenty of room. 



I have kept geese in England, in Dakota, in Sonoma County, Cali- 

 fornia, and two years ago got me a trio here. And in all these places 

 the geese were the same, always ready to do their part, always gentle 

 and easily kept in bounds, better than the best watch dogs that were 

 ever invented, and when given range on grass the least expense and 

 least trouble of anything I ever kept. 



The man who has a piece of low grass land that can be fenced in 

 a very low fence will serve geese can not put it to better or more 

 profitable use than investing in a few good breeding geese. And right 

 here in California we have the best climate in the world for raising 

 early geese. And it is the early goslings that pay. If you want to 

 turn grass into greenbacks, raise geese. But if you have a small 

 orchard of young trees and no grass, for the sake of your own 

 temper and the trees, don't raise geese. 



Varieties*. While you are about it get the best there is no money 

 in scrub geese. The Toulouse geese of French origin, are green in 

 color, with a white belly and a streak of white around the bill. It is 

 a good layer and easily fattened, but there are very few pure bred 

 geese of this variety to be found from the fact that it has been 

 crossed so much on the common grey goose. 



The Embden goose is the leading variety in this country; it is 

 among geese what the Pekin duck is among ducks one of, if not 

 the very best of all varieties. Pure white in color of feather and 

 meat both, a pair of young ones well fed will weigh as high as forty 

 pounds. While they do not lay quite as many eggs as the Toulouse, 

 the feathers bring more money, so that makes up the difference. 



The African geese are as large as most of the Embden and Tou- 

 kmse., and it is claimed for them that they are more prolific than 

 either. The ganders are active and sure breeders and mate promptly 

 with any variety of geese. This latter quality is certainly in their 

 favor, as not all geese will do that. They can also be mated with 

 five times as many geese as the Toulouse and twice as many as the 

 Embden. The drawbacks to this variety are: First, it is hard to pick; 

 second, its skin and bill are dark colored. Just so long as our people 

 buy to please the eye rather than to nourish the body, these small 

 things count in the price of an article and so many good varieties 

 of both geese and other fowls are held back by this prejudice. 



The veteran goose breeder referred to before, William Rankin, 

 says: "I think the most perfect goose is the pure 'bred African, as 

 they lay more eggs, mature earlier and make more pounds of flesh 

 in the same time. They are very vigorous and hardy, and you will 

 nearly always raise all you can hatch." He ought to know what he 



