52 w. cook's turkey, goose, and pheasant book. 



Toulouse geese grow to an immense size, the illustration 

 will give my readers an idea what they are like. The 

 underneath part of a Toulouse goose when pure is very close 

 to the ground, and some poulterers do not like them for the 

 table so well as other breeds, as they say there is a great deal 

 of offal or surplus fat, especially at the end of the breast 

 and round the abdomen. Notwithstanding this they are 

 very large birds. The colour of them is grey and they are 

 good layers, usually commencing about the end of January 

 or the beginning of February, if they are seen to properly. 

 Sometimes they are a little later, it depends a great deal 

 upon the season. The Toulouse have the largest frame of 

 any geese we have in England, and being good layers as 

 well, form one of the best varieties for crossing with other 

 geese. This will be referred to more fully in the chapter on 

 crossing. 



A well-bred Toulouse goose or gander is pencilled with 

 a dark and light brown shade all over the back and breast, 

 on the wings and down to the thigh. The fluff underneath 

 is almost white. 



A pure Toulouse can easily be detected because there is 

 an opening between the end of the breast-bone, giving the 

 appearance of two ridges between the legs, while in other 

 geese the breast-bone comes down level. The abdomen is 

 much nearer the ground than that of any other variety, and 

 when they get two or three years old there is usually a long 

 piece of skin hanging down underneath the throat. The 

 colour of the bill and legs is orange, and should there be 

 white on the bill it denotes either careless breeding or a 

 touch of some other blood. 



