The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1888-11-23
GEESE.

ring exercises at the kindergarten"
GEESE.
1t is a matter Of curious study that geese
are bred only in such limited numbers.
They are hardy. They require only the
cheapest shelter. For many months in the
year they will obtain the whole Or a great
er part of their living. Goslings are easily
and cheaply reared. The flesh sells readily
and brings a 4 good price. The birds are
handsome, on the water r~iyaling the
beauty of the swan. But yet few breed
them. Perhaps the most influential reason
why SO few breed geese is that farmers,
rightly or wrongly, are prejudiced against
them. They say that they destroy more
value than they create; that a flock which
would produce fifty dollars worth of flesh
and feathers would destroy by eating and
tramping fifty dollars worth of hay; in a
word, they do not think they are proita-
bic. But geese do not need to run in a
meadow. They need grass, but they can
feed in a pasture as well as a COW. Kept
in a meadow a COW might destroy as much
as her income would equal. Regarded in
this light cows would not be profitable.
The fact is, geese, properly managed, will
pay a handsome profit. During the sum-
mer they can be turned into a pasture, and
as long as the feed is good, will get their
own living. They can be plucked several
times in a season, and their feathers sell
readily at a high price. The eggs can be
set either under hens or under geese, the
best method being to set the earlier eggs
of the filters under large hens and the lat
ter under the goose which lays them. They
do not lay a large number of eggs, although
we recall one instance where a common
gray goose laid over fifty eggs. The eggs
are almost always fertile and hatch well.
The goslings are easily reared, their teuder-
est age being when they begin to feather.
For the first few weeks of their existence
they make very rapid growth, and then
comes the additional extra strain of not
only feeding their bodies, but also that of
clothing them. At this time they need a
little extra care and feeding, and the CIV
ing to them. in addition to all the grass
they eat, corn-meal thoroughly scaided and
seasoned with a little salt. They should
also at this stage Of their growth be pro-
tected against drenching rains, as having
outgrown their downy covering, and not
yet having grown their feathered coat, their
bodies, and especially their backs, are near
ly bare, and they are untitled to withstand
the wet. But once feathered they become
extremely hardy, and are almost absolute
strangers TO disease. Foxes and extreme
old age are their chief enemies. Fifty
years is reckoned as the average age of the
goose, although some manage to reach
three-score and ten. Goslings after attain
ing their growth can be quickly fattened,
and there is a ready sale for such poultry,
and as the prices realized are generally
very satisfactory, the fowl, which has cost
almost nothing, except the exercise of a
little common sense, to rear, affords a very
handsome profit. Geese are profitable or
Improbable, according to the manner in
which they are kept. If given the use of
pond on which they can enjoy themselves
and dive down in search of minnows and
~tadpoles, they can supply themselves with
all the animal food they require. They
should also nave plenty of grass. When
geese are kept on abandoned fields, and
have access to ponds, they are profitable;
but if they are to be fed altogether, they
will be kept at a loss. They often do dam
age to pastures, and destroy and waste
much that they should not disturb. The
best breeders are the Toulouse and Emb-
dem, 1.-THE latter being entirely white in
color, thus rendering their feathers more
valuable. A cross of the Toulouse gan
der on the Embden goose makes the larg-
est product for the market. \ goose will
lay from twenty to forty eggs, but seldom
matches more thar one brood. The Cos
lings should not be allowed near the water
until fully feathered, as dampness is ill.,
furious to them, the down being no protec-
ton. They should be fed for the first six
or eight weeks on a mixed diet, and may
then be left to their parents altogether.
Old geese make the best breeders, but only
the young ones are marketed. Eggs from
geese under two wears old do not hatch
well.-Farm, Field and Stoeknaan.
The following is the experience of a Bal
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