180 POULTRY BREEDING 
cially in those parts where the breeding of turkeys has 
become precarious on account of the presence of the dis- 
ease commonly known as black head. The dressing and 
marketing of geese is not different from that of ducks. 
GEESE, WATERTOWN METHOD OF FATTEN- 
ING.—In the country surrounding Watertown, Wis., a 
large number of geese is fattened each year by a special 
process and sold at very high prices. The demand is 
such that the supply is always quickly taken, and dealers 
who supply the trade with these ‘geese go so far as to 
send representatives to buy them direct. The number 
fattened each year is not large, probably about 3,000, but 
the method is so simple that it may be followed by any 
one, This industry was started about 20 years ago hy 
German farmers and they were so successful that others 
have taken it up and it is growing. 
The geese are hatched and raised in the ordinary way, 
the special feeding requiring about four weeks. The 
raising of geese is an incident to the diversified farming 
and the special work comes at a time when other activi- 
ties are not insistent, making the industry very profitable, 
filling in a time that would otherwise be wasted. 
The average weight attained by these specially fed 
geese is about 25 pounds each, and the price, which seems 
to be definitely fixed, depends on the weight. A goose 
weighing 20 pounds sells at 20 cents per pound; one 
weighing 25 pounds at 25 cents per pound, the price 
being 1 cent per pound for each pound the goose weighs. 
The highest price ever paid was 28 cents per pound for a 
lot averaging 28 pounds each. These geese go to New 
York, Chicago, Philadelphia and even as far as San 
Francisco. The principal buyers are Jewish people who 
use the oil in the place of lard. The livers of these geese 
