100 GOOSE DUNG. 



feather, let the plumage be removed, close to the 

 skin, by sharp scissars. The produce would not be 

 much reduced in quantity, whilst the quality would 

 be greatly improved, and an indemnification be ex- 

 perienced, in the uninjured health of the fowl, and 

 the benefit obtained to the succeeding crop. Labour 

 also would be saved in dressing, since the quilly 

 portion of the feathers, when forcibly detached from 

 the skin, is generally in such a state, as, after all, to 

 require the employment of scissars. After this ope- 

 ration shall have been performed, the down from the 

 breast may be removed by the same means. 



The time has arrived, I trust, for successful exer- 

 tions in the cause of compassion towards tortured 

 and helpless animals ; and-I presume to make a se- 

 rious call on the clergy and leading aristocracy of 

 the districts implicated, for the exercise of their in- 

 fluence in this case, granting the reform to be prac- 

 ticable. 



Goose dung is a very powerful manure, and a 

 large flock would have considerable effect in fining 

 and improving the grass of coarse meadow land. 

 Geese, as well as turkeys, it is well known, travel to 

 the London markets ; but it is not so generally 

 known that goose-feeding, in the vicinity of the me- 

 tropolis, is so large a concern, that one person 

 feeds for market upwards of five thousand in the 

 season. The best geese in England are, probably, 

 to be found in the borders of Suffolk and Norfolk, 

 and in Berkshire. Wild geese have not the supe- 

 riority of the wild duck, tasting of fish, and being 



