THE POULTRY BOOK. 
321 
many of my country acquaintances, it is not by any means advisable to retain 
them for many seasons, as the offspring prove less hardy and far more degenerate, 
than where the old gander has been exchanged for a younger bird. My con- 
victions tend therefore to the belief that aged geese are undoubtedly the best 
mothers, sitting more closely ; and that afterwards they tend their goslings more 
efficiently than the younger and less experienced of their species ; and, as a 
general rule also, the goslings when hatched are finer than those produced from 
the one-year old female, and also, whilst growing, feather with greater rapidity.” 
