212 



GEESE. 



is always fatal — they would still be unable to extract 

 his treasures from the deep recesses of his honey bag. 

 They, therefore, begin to bite and tease him after 

 the most approved fashion, all the time singing in his 

 ears, not your money, but "your houey or your life," 

 till, utterly worn out, he delivers up his purse by dis- 

 gorging his honey from its capacious receptacle. The 

 graceless creatures release him at once, while they 

 Bck up his spoil and carry it ofi" to their homes. 



GEESE. 



The goose is an excellent bird, and highly raluable 

 to the farmer on account of its hardihood. There 

 are varieties of the tame goose, (though none of the 

 wild,) but the white ones are considered the most del- 

 icately flavored. 



To rear geese, the contiguity of a pond at least is 

 "indispensable, though in fattening them, bathing is 

 forbidden. The numbers reared in the fens of Lui 

 colnshire, and in Suffolk, and Norfolk, are prodigious. 

 Some of the poulterers in the vicinity of London fat- 

 ten 5000 geese in the season. 



Ueese, though fond of dabbling in the water, iire 

 particular about their lodgings at night: these? should 

 be dry and clean. On account of their aquatic pie 

 dilections, and their disposition to quarrel with othei 

 birds when confined in yards, they are better kepi 

 distinct from other poultry; and their duag is sv ol- 

 fensive to cattle on pasture grounds, that they i-m 

 only be bred with real advantage in the neighborhood 

 of lakes and rivers, (on the marshy and worthles.- 

 margins of which they can feed,) or on coarse, bog 

 pasture, which may be rendered very profitable if de- 

 voted to the support of these easily fed birds. Some 

 kind of grass they must have, as this agrees with 

 them, and without such aid they could not be kept 

 with economy, as they feed voraciously. Wherever 

 commons abound, with pools of water, the peasantry 

 derive great benefit from rearing geese; and though 

 the enclosing of commons is on the whole a national 

 benefit, the loss to the adjoining poor is sometimes 

 serious, at least we must so infer from the complaint 

 of some rustic poet — 



•* It's a great sharae fi 

 To steal a gnose fro 

 But sure that man's 

 Who steals the 



n the goose." 



Geese live to a great age; instances are on record 

 of their having attained the ordinary limit of a man's 

 age. 



The gander is rarely allowed more than six wives, 

 and he will be quite content with one. The most 

 approved color of the gander is white, but the gray 

 goose is preferred by many. 



Geese, well fed, and kept in warm, dry lodgings at 

 night, will lay early in March, and may be made, with 

 great care, to produce from twenty to fifty eggs with- 

 out intermission, though their most usual habit is to 

 lay from live to twelve eggs, twice or thrice in the 

 year. If the goose be cooped up on the first occa- 

 sion, to lay in a particular spot, she will afterwards 

 deposit her eggs in the same nest. The nest for 

 hatching sliould be made of soft straw; and when 

 the laying is over, from fifteen to twenty eggs should 

 be put under her. Her period of incubation ia one 

 month. 



Many persons, in order to obtain as many eggs as 

 possible from the goose, have the hatching duties ex- 

 ecuted for her by deputy, either by a common hen or 

 turkey. The latter is a much more desirable nurse, 

 as she can cover so many more eggs than the other, 

 and is naturally disposed to sit during the same pe- 

 riod. 



An empty glass crate, with a sack or mat thrown 

 over it as a curtain, makes an excellent bedstead for 

 a hatching goose. 



The same precautions and treatment necessary for 

 other poultry, should be observed in the liberation of 

 goslings from the shell, though there is probably less 

 danger in assisting the prisoners of this tribe from 

 their confinement than in the case of more tender 

 shells and less hardy birds; but in all cases the less 

 interference with the natural instincts of the mother 

 and her brood the better; and none but experienced 

 persons should attempt to open the shells. Goslings 

 may take a walk in the open air, in very fine weather, 

 on the third d'ay after their birth, for a short time, 

 with the precaution of shading them from the hot 

 sun. Their food at first should consist of barley or 

 oat-meal, but afterwards grits may be given, of much 

 coareer quality than that tor chickens; a small por- 

 tion of bran, after a little time, may be mixed with 

 boiled potatoes; but like chickens they must be fed 

 frequently at first, as they are greedy. Green food 

 from the garden is scarcely a necessary ingredient in 

 their mess, as they supply themselves liberally with 

 grass when they become strong. If, however, they 

 have no pasturage, they should be supplied with gar- 

 den olfiil chopped up in their food. Geese are fat- 

 lened by tramming when in that state in which they 

 are denominated green geese, in November. The 

 same mixture of barley or oatmeal with potatoes, 

 worked into paste with milk, is used in each case for 

 craiiniing; and an active expert woman can stvff ten 

 gees ■ in an hour, with the aid of a cramming pipe — a 

 "tin Inmiel, with a pipe five inches and a half in 

 length, anil les^ than an inch in diameter, and the end 

 sloped otl like the mouth-piece of a flageolet, and 

 rounded at the edge to prevent its scratching the 

 throat when it is introduced. A small round bag is 

 adjusted to the pijie, through which grain is introduc- 

 ed into the crop. The operator sits squat on the 

 ground, hohis the goose with one hand, introduces the 

 pipe of the lui nrl into the mouth of the goose, with 

 the other, an i so supplies the food until the crop is 

 filled. Watei is ui the same time given the goose to 

 drink, and must tilwtiys be left them, as the cramming 

 renders them very thirsty.' When regularly cram- 

 med, which is too lic(iucnlly the case, they are very 

 closely cooped up; but this is detestable and unne- 

 cessary barbarity. ' -eese do not by any means re- 

 quire this cruel and artificial treatment. If turned 

 out on stubble, they soou become exceedingly fat, 

 and much better flavored than if gorged by compul- 

 sion. Having excellent appetites, they feed greedily 

 on raw potatoes or Swedish turnips if sliced for them, 

 and will even fatten well on this food if confined to a 

 yard; some oats twice a day, and barley-meal once, 

 with milk or water, should be their only food for the 

 last fortnight of their lives. Of all things, greasy 

 paste is the most detestable, as it gives a strong 

 and abominable flavor, and tends to render the flesh 



