220 THE DOMESTIC GOOSE. 



ally voracious, the love of food is greater than the love 

 of liberty, and they fatten rapidly. The food consists 

 of a paste, made of buckwheat, barley or Indian meal, 

 with milk and boiled potatoes. 



In Poland, a similar method is practised, the goose 

 being put in an earthen pot without a bottom, and of 

 a size not to allow the bird to move. Similar food 

 as that just mentioned is given in abundance, and the 

 pot is so placed that the dung may not remain in it. 

 The process is completed in a fortnight, and the geese 

 are sometimes so increased in size, that the pots have 

 to be broken to get them out. 



When the great number of geese to be fattened ren- 

 ders the preceding plan inconvenient and too expensive, 

 they may be taken from the pasture, and cooped up 

 twelve together, in narrow pens, so low that they can 

 neither stand upright, nor move hi any direction. 

 They should be kept scrupulously clean by often re- 

 newing the litter of the pens. A few feathers may be 

 previously plucked out from the rump and from under 

 the wings. A quantity of cracked Indian corn, suf- 

 ficient for once feeding, may be boiled and put into a 

 feeding trough, with clean water in a separate vessel, 

 from which they may be permitted to eat whenever 

 they feel inclined. At the commencement, they eat 

 a great deal constantly, but in about three weeks, their 

 appetite falls off. As soon as 1his is perceived, they 

 maybe crammed, at first twice a-day, and towards the 

 end of the process, thrice a-day. For this purpose, a 

 tin funnel is used, with a pipe five inches and a half in 

 length, and less than an inch in diameter, with the 

 end sloped off like the mouth piece of a flageolet, and 

 rounded at the edge, to prevent it scratching the throat 

 when it is introduced. A small, round bag is adjusted 

 to the pipe, through which grain is introduced into the 

 crop. The operator sits squat on the ground, holds 

 the goose with one hand, introduces the pipe of the 

 funnel into the mouth with the other, and presses in 

 the food till the crop is filled. "Water is at the same 



