264 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



FATTENING. 



" It is the same with the goose," says Main, 

 " as with every other bird that is fattened up ; 

 that moment must be laid hold of, when come 

 to a complete plumpness, or they would soon get 

 lean and die if they were not killed." Meal 

 and skimmed milk will soon do the business : 

 after ranging in the grain stubbles but little else 

 will be required. These are called "green geese" 

 and are most esteemed by the epicure ; they will 

 then be about six weeks old, tender and fine. 



The writer of the article on poultry in " Bax- 

 ter's Library of Agriculture," recommends steam- 

 ed potatoes, with four quarts of ground buck- 

 wheat or oats to the bushel, mashed up with the 

 potatoes, and given warm. This, it is said, will 

 render geese, cooped in a dark place, fat enough 

 in three weeks. 



The French method of fattening is detailed 

 very copiously by M. Parmentier. " The whole 

 process," says he, "consists in plucking the 

 feathers from under the belly ; in giving them 

 abundance of food and drink, and in cooping 

 them up more closely than is practiced with 

 common fowls ; cleanliness and quiet being, 

 above all, indispensable. The best time is in 



the month of November, or when the cold 

 weather begins to set in. When there are but 

 a few geese to fatten, they are put in a cask, in 

 which holes have been bored, and through which 

 they thrust their head to get their food; but as 

 this bird is voracious, and as with it hunger is 

 stronger than love of liberty, it is easily fatten- 

 ed, provided they are abundantly supplied with 

 wherewithal to swallow." 



The Romans considered the liver of the goose 

 a great dainty, and to increase its size they fed 

 them sixteen days on a paste of Turkey figs, 

 stamped and beaten up with cream ; their livers 

 would thus be brought to table, each weighing 

 three or four pounds. Equal parts of the meal 

 of oats, rye, and peas, mixed with skimmed 

 milk, form an excellent feeding article for geese 

 and ducks. 



The grand object of preparing, not geese only, 

 but all kinds of poultry, for market in as short n 

 time as possible, is effected solely by paying un- 

 remitting attention to their wants ; in keeping 

 them thoroughly clean, in supplying them with 

 proper food (dry, soft, and green), water, exer- 

 cise-ground, etc. They should be fed three 

 times a day: and it is truly astonishing how 

 soon they acquire a knowledge of the time. 



