The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-02-04
A CHAPTER ON GEESE.
STUPID BIRDS, BUT WITH MANY IN
TeRGSTlNG POINTS.


The Fowls Fortitutie.
MAY he you have often noticed said a
dealer in feathers, that some farmers keep
geese year in and year out, let them have the
run of the farm, and seem To show them all
kinds of consideration, yet are always swear
ing that they are the biggest nuisance that it
could be possible to have around II you
have noticed that popularity in the daily
rounds of the husbandman, You have doubt
less also wondered why in blazcs the farmer
kept such nuisances around his premises.
used to wonder why it was myself, hut |
never found out the reason until one day last
summer. was out on Jersey farm, spend
ing my vacation. The farmer had big
flock OF geese, and he was eternally throwing
the most hctty kind of Jersey cuss words at
them. One day sat ON the farmers piazza
talking with him, The geese were placidly
cropping grass down along the road, great
big gander leading them on. Peace, tran
guilty and contentInent spoke in every
movement the lawn destroying bpeds made
"There wasn't cloud in the sky The
farmers men were working without much
apparent vim ut ralsing and loading hay
down III n meadow not far away. Suddenly
the old gander poked up his head, gave voice
to peculiar squawk lifted his wings and
started off on a run as fast rs his big web
feet would let him 90. All the geese poked
up their necks at the sound of the ganders
voice, lifted their wings, and with chorus
of noises that only flock of geese can pro
duce, started after the gander as tight as
they could wabble. The gander ran may be
twenty yards, and then, with wild shrek,
he took wing and flew in the direction of a
pond short distance from the road The
geese raised and flew after him, filling the
air with their discordant cries. Gander and
geese alighted in the pond, where they all
gathered in a bunch, held consultation or
congratuatory confab in a subdued chorus
of cackles, and went through all sorts of
maneuvers on the pond for a time, when
they separated and swan about as placidly
as they had been feeding a few minutes be-
fore.
AT the first movement of the gander
when he broke the tranquility of the feeding
flock, my friend, the farmer, arose quickly
to his feet and as he turned toward the
meadow, said:
There's them dinged haydn hands work
III as if they had all the rest o. the year to
get that hay in, an here we're goin' TO be
ketched in IA tearin old shower in less'n an
hour, or else there hain't no use in keepin'
geese
1.-The farmer hurried down to the meadow,
spurred up the men, and lent hearty hand
himself at the hay. Before many minutes
had passed | saw clouds banking themselves
in the horizon, and presently the mutter of
distant thunder was heard among them
The farmer was right. In an hours time
one of the hardest thunder storms | ever saw
was raging over that part of New Jersey,
and it caught the last load of the old mans
hay IN transit. After supper that night |
questioned my host on the geese, and found
that the reason he kept them was to keep
him posted on the weather
They hnin't never failed me yet he said
when cit up in the mornin' an see them
geese ont on the pond a-divm' an a-drcssn'
down their feathers as if they was gcttn'
ready TO 90 10 some party or other, know
that were sure of clear, warm, dry weather,
an | make my calculations cordinly. If
they haint a-dreSSn' of themselves much,
but act kinder as if it wasn't q much account
a-sprucin' up, then ! keep my eye ON EN-
That's "A warnm' that we're in danger of "A
spell q weather. If the geese quits the pond
an don't go back much through the day, |
know that the danger holds, an git ready
for set rain of day on SO. If they feed
along awhile and waldle back to the pond
kinder chipprr like, and go to drcsSin them
selves and divin', then I'm pooty sartin' that
they won't be no set rain commcncin' that
day. II the geese gItS up all of student
an tears around ike ye see 'cm this after
noon, then there's shower comm, an it's
a-coniin' fast, ye kin bet.
$50 You need never wonder why some
farmers keep geese around, and still wish
they were IN Halifax They are their
weather prognosticator, and they believe IN
'em as firmly as they do III the making of ap-
plcjack. This farmer told me another funny
thing about these geese weather signals He
said that when they prophcsy storm the
sounds they make are not like their cries at
any other time. Consequently the farmers
are never fooled by the cries of flock of
geese that may rise in the air from IA place
where they were out of sight, if the rise has
been caused by any fright the geese may
have been subjected to. An expert reader of
goose signals can tell the frightened cry
from the prophetic shrek as far as he can
hear 1t.
"Never saw goose plucking, heyt Well,
it isn't a sight that would give you much
pleasure. On the day set for stripping geese
of their feathers they are enticed into some
alright Clubhouse. The pickers, who are
always women, go among the geese with
their heads and faces entirely covered with
hoods fastened around the neck with shirr
string. There are holes for the eyes, and
also little holes at the nose for fresh air
From the neck down the picker is covered
with glazed muslin garment, to which no
feathers or down Will adhere The pickers
sit on low stools around "A large aud perfectly
dry tub There is generally "A man on boy in
the neighbOrhood who is an expert at getting
the goose ready for picking. Everybody can't
do that. The wings Of the goose have TO be
locked together by "A peculiar arrangement
Of the two near the shoulders, and while
they are not tied or fastened in any
other way, the lock is such that no goose can
unlock it without aid The feet are tied to-
gether with broad bands of soft muslin.
When a goose is thus made helpless it is
taken on the pickers lap, and she plucks the
feathers out rapidly but with such skill that
she seldom breaks the skin or causes blood to
follow. The air is kept full Of feathers dur
n, ~