THE GALLINACEOUS TRIBES 



245 



be greater than the price re- 

 ceived for them. It is onl\- 

 during the first three or four 

 weeks that it is advisable 

 to give the goslings a little 

 ground grain, carefully mixed. 

 The eggs must be hatched not 

 by geese but by turkeys or 

 large fowls. To have eggs well 

 fertilized the geese must li\c 

 near a pond or running water. 

 The gander should not be less 

 than two years old nor ha\c 

 more than four geese with 

 him. Though geese are very 

 hardy and cold has little influ- 

 ence up(jn them, it is well to give them a com- 

 fortable home. A shed can be made with a few 



Till-: Arrival <if tin-; Fhkdicr 



stakes and thatch, and the floor covered with 

 oat straw, which should be turned over every 

 second day and renewed weekly. In summer 

 geese almost always sleep in the open and do 

 not seek shelter. They are not good layers ; the 

 best breeds will seldom give more than thirty 

 eggs a year. It is difficult to distinguish the 

 male from the female ; only experience can teach 

 one. The gander is built more heavily and the 

 head and neck are coarser. Their strength is 

 amazing and caution is required in catching them, 

 for their wing blows are severe ; they strike with 

 such force as sometimes to break the arm of 

 their captor. It is best to take them by the 



A F.X.MIT.V or (iKESE 



neck, for then the}' have less chance to defend 

 themselves. Geese have one special merit — 

 they are good guardians of the farm. 

 If there is the slightest disturbance 

 during the night they know it and 

 give warning, and if a stranger 

 comes upon the premises they make 

 a terrible noise. Tramps are not to 

 be feared if geese are about. There 

 is a Belgian story of a certain goose, 

 fifteen years old at least, which 

 always slept in a dog's kennel and 

 regularly accompanied him when he 

 was harnessed to his cart, and it is 

 said that three times she drove 

 thieves away from it. Hence she 

 was honored as a heroine. 



Toulouse Geese 



