DUCKS AND GEESE 



bams. When fattened the geese are usually shipped 

 to some large market alive. Several farms in the 

 neighborhood of Boston make a specialty of finish- 

 ing geese each fall, and the methods used are quite 

 different from those described above. No geese are 

 raised on these farms, the operation being confined 

 to the fattening or finishing of the geese and to kill- 

 ing and dressing them for the market. Some of 

 these goose fatteners also have stalls or stands in 

 the Boston markets where they are enabled to dis- 

 pose of their fattened geese to the best advantage. 



Fatteners. In previous years these fatteners de- 

 pended largely upon the geese produced on the 

 Rhode Island farms for their supply. In the past few 

 years, however, the supply from this source has 

 dwindled greatly and the bulk of the geese for fat- 

 tening are now shipped from Prince Edward Island, 

 Canada, in carload lots. Such summer geese as are 

 now fattened still come from Rhode Island and are 

 brought in by truck. The fattening season begins in 

 September and lasts until Christmas, Some early 

 goslings are bought in June but there is not as good 

 a profit from the summer geese, the demand and 

 prices being adversely affected by the supply of 

 spring ducklings available at that time. 



Experience and good judgment will benefit the 

 goose fattener greatly when purchasing his supply 

 of geese for fattening. What he wants are goslings, 

 not older geese, which have made a good growth 

 and which have a large frame but which are in poor 



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