Geese and Turkeys. Jtf 



CHAPTEE XIII. 



GEESE AND TURKEYS. 



Geese in England — Benefit to Crops — Breeds — Weights attained — Management — 

 Turkeys— Said to be delicate— Breeds— Management— Fattening. 



We have now nearly got to the end of our list of com- 

 mercial poultry, aud come to the two great — i.e., so far as 

 bulk is concerned — varieties. Of these geese are the hardier, 

 and much easier to rear, so that in many places they are 

 much preferred to turkeys, if fat, bringing always a good 

 price in the market. They pay very well indeed for keep- 

 ing, and the farmer will, as a rule, find it worth his while 

 te have a few of them in the autumn, when his grain crops 

 are off the land. In the eastern-middle counties of England 

 very large numbers are kept, aud a ride through that portion 

 of the country would be quite a revelation to those who had 

 not been there before. On the fields and the commons, flocks 

 of geese and turkeys are to be seen, and the place where they 

 are not to be found is the exception, not the rule. They .are 

 a considerable source of profit, and, consequently, are not 

 neglected ; and the vast numbers which are sent to London 

 every year is astonishing to those who are not conversant 

 with the facts of the case. In these counties the majority of 

 farmers breed their own birds, but there are many who buy 

 goslings in the early autumn, and simply fatten them for 

 the market. In this country the sale of young goslings is 

 rare, as those who fatten hatch their own stock, and no 

 one part of the country is especially famous for its geese. 



