508 
<Ikt RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
The Goose Business 
From two standpoints geese are inter¬ 
esting. As fowls we must admire them 
for that which passes among their kind 
for personality; that dignity and that 
sense of their own importance, of which 
they seem to be so much aware. As a 
commercial venture they have possibil¬ 
ities not to be despised in this season of 
falling prices for farm products. When 
at the year’s end the goose check comes 
in, plus the value of the feathers, one 
finds it more than merely respectable. In 
certain quarters a distinct objection to 
geese on the farm exists, due either to pre¬ 
judice or ignorance. The belief that they 
can be raised only on waterfront places 
is erroneous. Rivers, creeks and ponds, 
however desirable from the goose’s point 
of view are not a necessity. The only 
place taboo to geese is the over-stocked 
farm. Grass they must have, and in such 
quantity that they will not denude the 
(Hander at Right—Goose at Left 
quent oeeurrencec—escorting a goose to 
her nest, and the season’s first egg is de¬ 
posited. 
Taking Care of the Eggs. —Eggs 
should be gathered daily to guard against 
chilling, and marked indelibly with date 
of laying. When setting the eggs later 
it will be an easy matter to pick out the 
earliest laid. As a rule all the geese be- 
ging laying and begin sitting at about the 
same time. A plan by which many effi¬ 
cient raisers secure more eggs in a season 
is to bar the first “sitter” from the nest 
till she is “broken,” and hold over the 
eggs till the next one begins, when the 
extra eggs are set under quiet hens, five 
to each. As early laid eggs have a higher 
percentage of infertility, by this method 
one usually secures from the goose turned 
off a new lot, which yield a better hatch. 
The weather has now grown milder and 
she may be trusted to attend to this hatch 
without aid. 
The incubating goose should have pri¬ 
vacy. An easy plan by which she may be 
allowed to use the nest she has fashioned 
—and it is a work of art, with its lining 
of down plucked from her breast—is to 
shut her up in the box. Once daily when 
no geese are around she may be let off for 
corn, water and grit. * As the time for 
hatching approaches, and she begins to 
hear the goslings cry while still impris¬ 
oned in the shell, she refuses to leave the 
nest, in the intensity of her maternal 
zeal. By this time she is quite thin. Na¬ 
ture’s provision to lessen danger of her 
crushing her babies. 
Much trouble can be avoided if sitting 
geese can be put to incubate in a sepa¬ 
rate house. Here in prepared boxes may 
be transferred the downy lining built else¬ 
where, picked up carefully. The broody 
goose is shut up therein with an egg, and 
she seldom revolts against the change. 
Food and water may be kept here con- 
that they may not be made too tender by 
heat. Then, if you want to save yourself 
future care, no matter how you want to 
cuddle them, forbear. Forbear, also, to 
talk to them, for they are the friendliest 
little creatures that hatch, and talk back 
and soon forget their mother. One gos¬ 
ling may be left with the mother to sat¬ 
isfy her. 
A precaution which was justified more 
than once, is to teach the goslings to eat 
meal dough while they are still in the 
house. Long before the yolk has been ab¬ 
sorbed the gosling begins to nibble at his 
surroundings, the flannel, the side of the 
box, the gosling next to him. On the sec¬ 
ond day, a little cornmeal dough, just a 
spoonful or so. maye bsmeared on the 
side of the box within reach, and soon 
they begin to nibble it. They do not for¬ 
get this trick or the taste for meal, and 
in long, protracted rainy spells, when 
they cannot graze, this accomplishment 
will sustain them. 
Individual coops, according to my ex¬ 
perience, are best. They should be lo¬ 
cated on well-drained ground, where no 
rain will seep in during cold storms, in a 
sunny Spot. A little straw in the coop 
will insure the goslings against chilling. 
Sometimes they are at first afraid of 
the mother, on aeount of the separation, 
but they soon become attached. They 
soon begin to nibble at tender grass 
shoots, but to insure a good start they 
should be fed soft meal dough in a pie 
plate at least once a day. Perhaps at 
first the mother eats it all, but they early 
learn the trick. 
If weather is fine, goose and goslings 
may be put in a wire-covered coop about 
8x4x2 ft. These coops are temporary af¬ 
fairs, to be discarded or passed on to the 
next hatching, as soon as the little chaps 
are able to follow their mother’s saunter- 
ings without exhaustion. It is here that 
the gander first meets his offspring, and 
oftentimes he takes them off triumphantly 
if they can be persuaded to follow. 
land to supply themselves. I would not 
advise that geese be put upon dairy farms. 
Likewise, they come into competition 
with sheep. 
Choice of Variety. —The most impor¬ 
tant thing in venturing with geese is se¬ 
lecting the variety. The best breed is 
the one which yields best returns for out¬ 
lay. Of the popular breeds, I should say 
that the Embden is pre-eminent. No 
others seem to unite in one breed so many 
qualifications. It is vigorous, lays well, 
grows rapidly, fattens easily, and stands 
a favorite in market. The by-product of 
pure white feathers captures highest 
prices. The Embden sells in the markets 
of some Eastern cities as “Kent Island,” 
commanding special prices as such. The 
explanation is that this variety, raised on 
the island of that name in the Chesa¬ 
peake, has been developed by intensive, if 
unintentional, breeding to the finest size 
and vigor—a super-Embden. As a result 
that are quite as distinguished in then- 
own class as Tangier oysters or Dela¬ 
ware peaches. 
Building the Breeding llock. — 
One’s capital is the flock of breeders. Only 
the finest should be accepted. Sometimes 
the beginner makes a luc-ky strike and 
comes into possession of a ready-made 
flock. Otherwise, young geese must be 
sought in December, not weighing less 
than 14 lbs., and ganders from 1G lbs. to 
20 lbs. The tyro finds it bewildering to 
distinguish the sexes, but any grower 
soon learns the marks of the fe¬ 
male ; short, sturdy neck, mild demeanor, 
modest carriage of head. The gander pro¬ 
claims his sex by his distinctly longer, 
straight neck, his head upreared dom¬ 
inantly among his mates, his blue eye de¬ 
fiant. Needless to remind the beginner 
that geese and gander should be un-re- 
lated. 
Unlike the transient hen or turkey, the 
goose flock is a thing of permanency. 
Once mated, they are good for years, and 
as progenitors constantly improve. They 
form attachments. Ganders have favor¬ 
ite wives, and this trait is particularly 
noticeable in the Embden. It. is both un¬ 
necessary and inefficient to disturb them 
by changes. Only when some goose or 
gander comes to grief and must be re¬ 
placed is it done, and the lot of a new 
gander introduced into a flock with old 
ones is not to be envied. 
This fowl is unexacting. Any sort of 
decent shelter suffices. A house with dirt 
floor, or a low, deep shed, protected on 
three sides and opening into a pen. in 
which they may be sheltered in bleakest 
weather, is acceptable. But it should be 
their own, and not shared with other 
poultry. 
The only ration for geese during Win¬ 
ter is shelled corn, .with plenty of water, 
and access to a sand pile. They graze 
for necessary roughage around their yard 
or sheltered spots in the lee of fences. It 
is believed that pasturing them in AVinter 
on wheat or rye is unwise and unneces¬ 
sary. Since they are fond of bathing, the 
freedom of ponds, pools or ditches adds 
to their comfort. 
The best nests are permanent affairs 
about 18 in. square, built in a row across 
the shed or house, on the ground, filled 
with straw or pine fallings. Or dry- 
goods boxes of same dimensions may be 
used. In February or even in January, 
if the Winter be mild, one may observe 
great activity about the goose house. Per¬ 
haps an old gander may be seen—a fre- 
AVho was it said the New England stock is running out? This doesn t look like 
it. This is a group of purebred Yankees in Massachusetts. IIow would you 
like such a family? 
stantly, and as soon as she accepts the 
new nest she is allowed the freedom of the 
bouse. 
Geese are temperamental creatures. 
Some are placid, maternal, reliable. Such 
should be marked with a daub of red 
paint on the head, to be kept in mind the 
next season for carrying goslings. If any 
are fractious, flighty and fussy, they 
should be turned off to lay. 
While discussing the marking of geese, 
it is well to say that breeders should all 
be marked, that they may be distinguished 
from the young, full-grown geese in the 
Fall. It is a real calamity to lose one’s 
old fowls by mistake, and it is no easy 
matter to separate them unmarked. A slit 
web on either foot never grows up. 
Management of the Eggs. —The su¬ 
pervision of setting geese after the first 
two weeks, and the management of the 
eggs, are the most onerous duties con¬ 
nected with goose raising, and is a story 
in itself. By testing the eggs on the 
fourteenth day one approximates how 
they will hatch. At least the clear, infer¬ 
tile ones can be detected. The testing is 
a simple matter. The eggs are held be¬ 
fore a bar of light shining in a dark room. 
1 have “tried” many an egg by the sun¬ 
beam shining through the crack of the 
goose house door hanging slightly ajar. 
Wholly dark eggs with no air-cell dis¬ 
cernible are rotten, but the novice should 
beware how he discards any eggs till he 
has learned to distinguish them. 
The vigorous egg. incubated under per¬ 
fect conditions, hatches about the twenty- 
eighth day. Cold weather, accidental 
chilling, and the keeping of eggs too long 
before setting, tend to prolong the period, 
and they may be two or three days later. 
In these cases, the goslings need often to 
be assisted out of the shell. Such help 
should be discreetly given, and the little 
chaps thus aided need special care. They 
cannot endure the hardships of their more 
vigorous brothers. 
As soon as hatched, the youngsters 
should be removed from the nest lest they 
be crushed, and deposited in a flannei- 
lined box beside the kitchen stove, with a 
soft old cushion lying lightly above them. 
As soon as dry they may be uncovered so 
After hatching, the only things that 
threaten the goslings are rain—and rats. 
They are most susceptible in their downy 
period, about three months, to rain, and 
drown easily. The digestive troubles that 
assail other poultry, roup, and kindred 
troubles, are unknown. All they require 
is penning at night, protection from rain, 
and all they can eat, which means, in ad¬ 
dition to grass, a ration of meal dough for 
supper for a month or so. 
Casual raisers limit their attentions to 
their geese to feeding them. They permit 
them to lay ivhere they will to hatch their 
eggs without supervision, and to rear 
their young unassisted. This is easy in¬ 
deed, and satisfactory if one has no hank¬ 
erings for efficiency in methods or records 
in flocks. AVith this method I have out¬ 
lined, it is not unusual to raise 80 gos¬ 
lings in a season from eight geese and 
two ganders. And certainly it is worth 
the trouble. 
If fattened early, the flock may average 
10 lbs. apiece. If held till Christmas or 
after, 19 lbs. is not unusual. Disap¬ 
pointing returns follow if they are 
shipped while thin. However, no flock 
on the farm, in consideration of the care 
in toto expended upon it, is more satis¬ 
factory than Embden geese. A. R. 
R. N.-Y.—AA T e have had excellent re- 
' suits with a flock of Toulouse geese. 
DOMESTIC.—The body of Brooks Hyde 
Pearson, an airplane mail pilot, was 
found in the burned wreckage of his 
plane March S on the Porter farm, near 
Curwensville, Pa., by AI. C. Porter, who 
had spent the day searching for the miss¬ 
ing plane. He reported that the ma¬ 
chine and its contents had been destroyed. 
Alail authorities at the flying field near 
Bellefonte, Pa., expressed the opinion 
that Pearson, who was piloting his mail 
plane from Bellefonte to Cleveland, ran 
into trees high up in the Alleghany Moun¬ 
tains during a thick snowstorm and was 
dashed to death. The ground where the 
March 22, 1924 
wreckage of the plane was found is very 
high, with many peaks. 
March 8 an explosion in mine No. 2 
of the Utah Fuel Co., at Castle Gate, 
Utah, entombed 175 men. Seven bodies 
were taken out tbe following day, but 
fire and poisonous gases hampered rescue 
work. 
AVilliam G. Benham and Dwight Har¬ 
rison, officials of the former R. L. Dol- 
lings Company, who were tried in United 
States Court on charges of using the 
mails to defraud, were each sentenced 
March 10 at Columbus, Ohio, by Judge 
John E. Sater to 20 years in Leaven¬ 
worth Federal penitentiary and to pay 
a fine of $5,000. 
Charging fraud, graft and fraudulent 
misuse of Government funds, Amos AV. 
AA r . AVoodcock, United States Attorney 
for Maryland, March 11 started suit in 
the U. S. District Court against Smith, 
Hauser & Mclsaac, Inc., of New York 
to recover $7,000,000 alleged excess spent 
in construction of Camp Meade, about 
midway between Baltimore and AVash- 
ington. A suit to recover $2,000,000 
additional from another Government con¬ 
tractor will be filed later, according to 
AVoodcock. The camp, which was built 
between June 23 and December 1, 1917, 
“cost the Government $18,000,000,” said 
AVoodcock. “This suit is instituted to re¬ 
cover from the contractors $7,000,000, 
the excess cost.” 
WASHINGTON.—Henry Ford’s offer 
for Muscle Shoals, pending before Con¬ 
gress for more than two years, was ap¬ 
proved March 10 by the House. By a 
vote of 227 to 142 the McKenzie bill, 
which would authorize acceptance of Mr. 
Ford’s bid, was passed and sent to the 
Senate. Continuously before the House 
for a week, the McKenzie measure was 
•approved practically in the form in which 
it was reported by the Military Commit¬ 
tee, which had been informed by Mr. Ford 
that he would take over the Government’s 
nitrate and power project on the Ten¬ 
nessee River under the terms embodied in 
the bill. 
The Supreme Court March 10 upheld 
the New York law prohibiting the em¬ 
ployment of women or girls above 16 
years in restaurants in cities of the first 
and second class between the hours of 
10 P. M. and G A. M. The decision was 
based on the case of Joseph Radice, plain¬ 
tiff in error against the People of the 
State of New York, Radice was con¬ 
victed in Buffalo for having violated the 
law in question. An appeal was taken 
to the Court of Appeals, where the judg¬ 
ment of the lower court was affirmed 
without an opinion. Validity of the 
statute was challenged on the ground 
(hat it violated the fourteenth amend¬ 
ment by depriving the employer and em¬ 
ployee of their liberty of contract and the 
equal protection clause. 
March 11 the President sent a message 
to Congress asking for a reduction of 
25 per cent in income taxes due March 
15. Instead of complying with the over¬ 
whelming popular demand for the saving 
of $90,000,000 to the people at once, as 
urged by the President, the House de¬ 
voted the entire day to a matter of com¬ 
paratively little public consequence. The 
President’s letter, which was addressed to 
A Flock of Emhden Geese 
both branches of Congress, expressed the 
hope that a resolution authorizing the im¬ 
mediate 25 per cent reduction of taxes 
would be considered to the exclusion of 
all other business. His letter was read 
in the Senate without delay. The House 
set it aside pending debate on a measure 
permitting the Attorney-General to in¬ 
itiate Grand Jury proceedings of reports 
affecting the integrity of two members in 
connection with the Veterans’ Bureau 
scandal. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Airs. Annie 
Alurray Dike, president of the American 
Committee for Relief in the Devastated 
Regions of France, and who has been 
active in aiding those made destitute 
through the war. was formally received 
March 4 by the French Academy of Agri¬ 
culture, Paris, to which she was elected 
three months ago. She is the first woman 
member of this academy and the third 
woman to be elected to any French 
Academy, the others being the Queen of 
Rumania, a member of the Academy of 
Fine Arts, and Alme. Curie of the 
Academy of Aledicine. 
Killing cattle by electricity is to be 
started at Omaha soon by the Cudahy 
Packing Company. Thomas Byrnes of 
the Cudahy company has worked for 
seven years to perfect the invention, and 
although the experiments have been kept 
secret, several hundred head of cattle 
were successfully slaughtered recently. 
