THE GENESEE FARMER. 



335 



CHINESE GOOSE. 



The Chinese Goose. — Of this there are two vari- 

 eties, the brown and the white. It has been so long 

 known that its origin is involved in obscurity, and 

 it is called by a great variety of names. It is a 

 handsome bird. The male is disproportionately 

 larger than the female. It is the most noisy and 

 quarrelsome of all the goose tribe; and more than 

 one gander can not exist on the same premises. 

 At the same time it is so vigilant that no fowl- 

 stealer can set foot on the premises where they are 

 kept, witliout raising a din sufficient to wake the 

 seven sleepers. This must have been the bird that 

 once saved Rome. It is smaller than the common 

 goose, but is very prolific, sometimes laying in No- 

 vember. The white variety is, on the water, the 

 most graceful and active of the goose tribe, and is 

 higldy esteemed as an ornament to an artificial 

 pond. 



TOULOUSE GOOSE. 



The Toulouse Goose. — This, at best, is an ugly 

 bird, with a short neck, and a heavy low-set breast, 

 almost touching the ground. It is generally of a 

 dark grey color, mixed with brown. It attains to 

 an enormous weight; and even when fed to the 

 greatest weight, does not get so fat as the common 

 goose. Few, if any, birds of this variety have yet 

 been imported into this country. 



The Hong-Kong Goose — more peopeely the 



Swan Goose. — This variety is said to be derived 

 from China, but this is doubtful. It is the largest 

 of the goose tribe, of a dark brown color, with 

 fawn-colored breast, and closely resembles the swan; 

 walking with a stately affectation, and appearing 

 graceful and dignified on the water. It attains the 

 weight of 25 lbs. or more. 



HONG-KONG GOOSE. 



The Bkeniole Goose. — This is the smallest of 

 geese, and is mostly found in a wild state on the 

 shores of Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Europe. 

 It is about the size of a Musk Duck, aud of a pied 

 appearance, with black legs and bill. It has been 

 domesticated, and is very gentle, b\it shy, in its dis- 

 position; and is accounted the prettiest of orna- 

 mental water-fowl. 



IF 



BERNICLE GOOSE. 



The feathers of geese are usually considered quite 

 an item in the economy of a good housewife ; and 

 for the purpose of obtaining them, the geese are 

 usually plucked twice or thrice during the summer. 

 Young, or "green" geese, are considered a luxury 

 for the table in autumn or winter, and are readily 

 fattened when shut up in a dark place. Their diet, 

 for the first two weeks, is usually oats and water 

 mixed in a trough; after this, the food is gradualij 

 changed to barley meal mixed with water. Steamed ' 

 potatoes, mashed up with four quarts of ground' 

 buckwheat, or oats, to the bushel, and given warm,, 

 will fatten a goose in three weeks. 



