FATTENING AND MARKETING GEESE 



flesh rather than fat. Such geese will make more 

 rapid and more profitable gains. When geese are 

 bought for shipment by the carload from Prince 

 Edward Island, they should be penned and fed at 

 the point of shipment for 3 or 4 days before they 

 are loaded in the cars, so as to put them in shape 

 to stand the journey well. On the farms from which 

 they come, the goslings are not fed much and in con- 

 sequence are not in shape to stand shipment. 



The Goslings which are secured from the farms 

 for fattening are mainly common geese of no partic- 

 ular breed. Some pure bred geese are also obtained 

 as are some first crosses between the pure breeds. 

 A class of geese which is obtained in some numbers 

 from Prince Edward Island and which is much de- 

 sired is the so-called "Mongrel" goose. These are 

 obtained by breeding a Wild or Canadian gander to 

 geese of dark plumage similar to the Toulouse or 

 African. The mongrel geese much resemble the 

 wild gander in type and color and are in demand on 

 the market because of their wild or gamy flavor. 

 They bring about 10 cents per pound nlore than 

 common geese. The market, however, is somewhat 

 limited. These geese will not breed although the 

 females will lay eggs. Where the wild gander is 

 mated with light colored or white geese the off- 

 spring will have more or less light colored feathers 

 and will not as closely resemble the wild parent and 

 for this reason are not as desirable. 



Skipping. The geese are loaded into stock cars 



201 



