126 THE POULTRY-BOOK. 



You must keep the male bird away, or he will, like the pheas- 

 ant, destroy the eggs. 



When designed for the table, let these fowl be killed at an 

 early age ; the flesh is then superior to any other fowl at the 

 same age ; but when at all old, it is peculiarly tough and repul- 

 sive." 



CHAPTER V. 



THE GOOSE. 



A WRITER in the Monthly Journal of Agriculture writes as 

 follows : 



" The goose differs in many respects from the fowls already 

 noticed, being aquatic in its habits. It is marked by a flat bill 

 and webbed feet, characters also possessed by the duck and 

 swan, which, in conjunction with the goose, may be held as 

 forming a distinct family (Anatidfe) of the feathered aquatic 

 tribes. 



Our common table goose is the wild species domesticated, 

 known to naturalists by the name of the fen or stubble goose. 

 Where people have a right of common, or live in the vicinity 

 of marshy heaths, the breeding and rearing of geese will prove 

 very profitable, for in such situations they are kept at a trifling 

 expense ; they are very hardy, and live to a great age. If 

 properly kept, and fed regularly, although sparingly, they will 

 lay upwards of a hundred eggs yearly. If these are set under 

 large hens, each having half a dozen, with the assistance of the 

 goose herself, they may be nearly all hatched. For the first 

 three or four days, they must be kept warm and dry, and fed 

 on barley-meal or oat-meal, mixed with milk, if it is easily 

 procured ; if not, let these ingredients be mixed with water. 



