DOMESTIC FOWL 81 



produced here in greater numbers than anywhere 

 else in the world to-day. This is due more than 

 anything else to the great territorial size of the 

 United States, although there is a great demand 

 for upholstery feathers. The bird itself is not 

 highly popular on our tables, and within the last 

 decade the number reared in America has de- 

 creased by one third. 



Thousands of geese are killed each year in 

 Germany for their liver, out of which is manu- 

 factured the famous pate de foie gras. To secure 

 the pate the birds are fattened until their livers 

 swell to enormous size. The methods employed 

 to obtain this diseased condition are many, and 

 all are unalterably cruel. They need not be- 

 spoken of here. 



Because of the ancient origin of the domestic 

 goose it has proved difficult to trace with absolute 

 certainty its lineage. The ancestor of the 

 Chinese breed has never been authentically 

 identified. On the other hand, evidence points 

 toward the wild graylag as being the forefather 

 of the European breeds. This bird is still taken 

 in the wild state by the Laplanders and lives well 

 in captivity. 



Virtually all the breeds found in the United 

 States come either from Europe or China. De- 

 spite its long period of domestication the goose has 

 not shown a tendency to vary far from the native 

 type. Thus in all we have merely the large 



