30^ SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Pa^t ir. 



the fleah, and probably not so salubrious as those of the same species, fattened in a more natural way. 

 The great secret of having fine pullets is cleanliness, and high keeping with the best com. 



2041. The process folloived in diferent parts of France to enlarge the liver, is de- 

 scribed at length by Sonnini {Nouveau Dictionnaire d^ Histoire Naturelle, art. Oie.); 

 ** The object is to cause the whole vital forces to be determined towards this part of the 

 animal, by giving it a kind of hepatic cachexy. In Alsace, the individual buys a lean 

 goose, which he shuts up in a small box, so tight that it cannot turn in it. The bottom 

 is furnished with a wide grating of rods, for the passage of the dung. In the fore part 

 there is a hole for the head, and below it a small trough is kept always full of water, in 

 which some pieces of wood charcoal are left to steep. A bushel of maize is sufficient to 

 feed it during a month, at the end of which time the goose is sufficiently fattened. A 

 thirtieth part is soaked in water each night, and crammed down its throat next day, 

 morning and evening. The rest of the time it drinks and guzzles in the water. 

 Towards the 2 2d day, they mix with the maize some poppy oil, and, at the end of the 

 month, it is known by a lump of fat under each wing, or rather by the difficulty of 

 breathing, that it is time to kill it, otherwise it will die of fat. The liver is then found 

 weighing one or two pounds, and, besides, tJie animal is excellent for the table, and 

 furnishes, during its roasting, from three to five pounds of fat, which is used in the 

 cooking of vegetables. Of six geese, there are commonly only four (and these are the 

 youngest) which answer the expectation of the fattener. They are kept in a cellar, or 

 place with little light. 



2042. The Roman qncures, who prized the livers of geese, had already observed, 

 that darkness was favorable to this kind of education, no doubt, because it prevents 

 all distraction, and directs the whole powers towards the digestive organs. The want of 

 motion, and the difficulty of respiration, may be also taken into consideration ; the first 

 by diminishing the waste of the system, and both by retarding the circulation in the 

 vena portarum, of which the blood ought to become hydrogenated, in proportion as its 

 carbon unites itself to the oxygen, which that liquid absorbs. This favors the formation 

 of the oily juice, which, after having filled the cellular system of the body, enters into 

 the biliary system and substance of the liver, and gives it that fatness and size which is so 

 delightful to the palates of true gourmands. The liver thus only becomes enlarged 

 consecutively, and the difficulty of respiration does not appear till the end, when its 

 size prevents the action of the diaphragm. The leanness of geese subjected to this 

 treatment is often mentioned ; but it can only occur in those whose eyes are put out, 

 and feet nailed down to a board, as the consequence of this barbarous treatment. Among 

 a hundred fatteners, there are scarcely two who adopt this practice, and even these do not 

 put out their eyes till a day or two before they are killed. And, therefore, the geese of 

 Alsace, which are free from these cruel operations, acquire a prodigious fatness, which 

 may be called an oleaginous dropsy, the effect of a general atony of the absorbents, 

 caused by want of exercise, combined with succulent food, crammed down their throats, 

 and in an under oxygenated atmosphere." [Encyc. Brit. Sup. art. Food.) 



2043. Early lamb. As an instance of both breeding and feeding for extraordinary 

 purposes, we may mention the practice of those farmers who furnish the tables of the 

 wealthy with lamb, at almost every season of the year, by selecting certain breeds of 

 sheep, such as the Dorsetshire, which lamb very early, or by treating them in such a way 

 as to cause the female to come in heat at an unnatural time. In this way, lamb is pro- 

 cured as an article of luxury, as early as November and December ; and, on the contrary, 

 by keeping the ewe on a cold and poor hilly pasture, the lambing season is retarded, 

 and lamb furnished in September and October. 



2044. Feeding for promoting the produce of milk or eggs. That which in plants 

 or animals is produced for particular purposes in nature, may, by certain modes of 

 treatment, be rendered, for a time, a habit in the plant or animal, vrithout reference to its 

 natural end. Thus in many cases annual plants may be rendered perennial by con- 

 tinually pinching off their flowers as they appear ; and animals which give milk or lay 

 eggs, may be made to produce both for a much longer time than is natural to them, by 

 creating a demand in their constitutions for these articles by frequent and regular milk- 

 ings, and by taking away every egg as soon as produced ; and then furnishing the con- 

 stitution with the means of supplying this demand by appropriate food, by rich liquid 

 food, in the case of milking animals , and by dry, stimulating, and nourishing food, in 

 the case of poultry. 



2045. Feeding to fit animals for hard labor, or long journeys. It seems agreed on, 

 that dry rich food is the best for this purpose ; and that very much depends on rubbing, 

 cleaning, and warmth, in the intervals between labor and rest, in order to maintain 

 something of the increased circulation ; and, in short, to lessen the influence of the 

 transition from the one to the other. The quantity of water given should never be 

 considerable ; at least in cold coimtries and seasons. (See Horse.) 



