Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1907-01-08

bihQ Sffvutu JAhNCt Ou ayOJ lIOM
Morini, Gin the north Of France to
Rome. Those which are tired are
carried infront so that the rest push
them on,by naturalcrowding.v
1t is noticeable that Lucretius
should speak of the silver, (white,)
goose and Virgil Of the white goose.
This shows that the original grey
leg goose had been changed to a
white one, giving evidence Of long
breeding in the change Of color.
1t is also notable that even in that
ancient time the Romans had learn
ed to SO feed geese that their livers
would become enlarged, these being
considered a delicious Wand as they
are to this day by gourmands every
where. 1t is also notable chat at
that time the north Of France was
famed as a goose raising district, as
it is in our own time. M 81
Down through the ages the goose
has frequent mention. Pope, the
poet, in his TRANSLATION of Homer
makes a smooth phrase by making
Penelope say:
"a teamof twenty. geese, a snow white train,
Fed near the limpid lake with golden grain.
Amuse my pensive hours"
It is very probable that the exist
ing varieties of geese are descend
apts Of crossing of original races.
AT least it seems plain that no exist
ing wild breed is the one from which
our domestic geese descended. There
is but one family Of domestic geese,
all being varieties from common an
cestry. This is proved by the fact
that they produce fertile progeny.
The great difference in the wild
and domestic geese is that wild geese
mate in pairs, while domestic geese.
are polygamous.
The principal varieties of geese
that are bred to-day are the Tou-
louise which gets its name from a
town of that name in France, and
the Embden, named from town in
Hanover. The Toulouse are gray
with light to white on the under
part of the body, while the Embdens
are pure white throughout. The
gray goose and white gander of our
grandfather's days are fast disap-
pearing, flock rarely being found,
except in some remote neighbor-
hood that the march of improve
ment has not yet reached.
A good many Chinese geese are
seen; they are notsnearly as common
as thesiarger Toulouse and Embdens.
The Chinese come in both Brown
and White. They are sometimes
called the bantams among geese, on
account of their size. While
Embdens and Toulouse ganders
weigh II pounds.
Chinese geese are very prolific,
laying many more eggs than either
of the larger breeds. They are es-
teemed for their flesh but are not
liked by great many people on ac-
count of their loud calling at fire.
quent intervals.
African geese are as large as
either Embdens or Toulouse. They
are distinguished by a dewlap and g
knob at the top of the base of the
beak. They are a splendid variety
but are quite rare in this country.
The American Standard of Per-
fection recognized Canadian or wild
geese and Egyptian geese. The
former is merely the wild goose ma
tive to this country and the Egyp-
tian is a nondescript little bird,
which some authorities deny the
the name Of goose. Either of these
breeds are of small economic value
in this country,
In" Races of Domestic. Poultry,
by David Brown several'other Vari-
cites Of esefareIillustEated and de-
scribed, but these are mostly local in
Importance, many of them being