Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1910-01-21
PLUCKING LIVE GEESE
An Operation Necessary to Fro
cure Good Feathers.
LOCKING THE BIRDS WINGS
This Trick Performed and Their Legs
sandassd Together. the Helpless
Geese Are Ready. IL Not Willing Vic
Tins For the Expert Piekers.


sandased Together. the helpless
Geese Are Ready. IL Not Willing Vic
Tins For the Expert Pieksrs.
yes" said a manufacturer and deal
er In bed furnishings, 1t Is necessaI!
that goose feathers should be iaheu
from the live goose If we are To stud!
the health and comfort Of people VINO
think they must have feather beds ana
pillows. Dead goose feathers are ho'
much better than husks 10 lie on ana
have not that great virtue OF hushs-
whOlesOmenesS.
They say 1t doesn't hurt goose L"
pluck il. but IL seems to me that one
might as well say that 1t wouldn't hurl
a man TO have his whiskers yanked OUT
by the handful The reason they give
for believing goose doesn't suuer
when its feathers are being plucked
out Of Il is that II never squawks OF
suueaks or makes fuss while the
plucklng is going on.
Now. believe II hurts II goose Ike
the mischief to have its feathers pulled
out, coming as they do from the ten
| derest spots on its body, and the rea
son the fowl doesn't utter any protest
prompted by pain is, according to the
| way | have sized geese up, because II
is such d blame fool. a goose VIII
] suuawk and clatter and cackle as II II
were suffering more agony than
horse with the collie just at the mere
sight of you. but If you corner IT up
and pelt 1t with stones it seems TO fof'
get that 1t has a voice and will take
all the punishment you give 1t without
q further word.
THE Pennsylvania Dutch farmers
pluck geese today just the same rs
their forbears did time out OF nina
and | don't know us there Is any othel
way. 1t certainly couldn't be made
any pleasanter for the goose unless
the plucker held chlOrOfOrm or some
thing like that 10 its nose While The
plucking was going on. The geese u
be bereft of their feathers are mrs
got together In an Enclosure used FOL
the purpose The perspicacity o.
geese may be strikingly made know
TO you when they are being rounded
I'D In such an Enclosure if there shouI'
happen to he knothole in one end %
il the door being at the other. Tina
door may be six feet high and three
broad. but goose after goose VIII X
more Il and try its best 10 get through
the knothole. Induced. though. to IT..
the door, every goose will bob its hea'
down as It passes through for fear o
, knocking it against the top OF til
, door jamb. six feet above,
There is man or boy n ever
neighborhood where geese are plucke
who Is an expert in getting the COOS
ready for the process. Not every Oh
can do that. The wings OF the COOS
have to be locked together by pecu
lar arrangement of the two near tn
shoulder, and while they are not tie
or fastened in any other way. the loo
IL such that no goose can unlock /
, The goose's feet are tied together Wit
broad band of soft muslin. Then
is ready for the plucker.
The pluckers. who are almost a
ways women. go among the geese wit
, their heads and faces entirely covere
with hoods fastened around the nee
with shirr string There are holes
the hoods for the eyes and also ut th
nose to supply fresh air for breathing
From the neck down the picEers N
covered with a glazed muslin GARNET
to which no feather or down will elm!
The FUCKERS will sit on low stoo
around large and perfectly dry tut
Each takes IN her lap goose mad
, helpless by its iHterlOcked wings an
bound legs and with rapid plying {
her fingers separates the feathers fro
it. This is done with such skill. thong
that the plucker rarely breaks Il
!, gooses skin or causes blood to folio
, the plucking out of feather. The "a
is constantly filled with the light feat
:. ers during the plucking, but they Sc
q tie into the tub at last.
; But there isn't as much call for Il
goose to undergo this raping of i
, feathers as there used to be. Not OF
, pound of goose feathers is used todH
q where there were fifty pounds twent
five years ago. Odd as it may seel
o asthma and hay fever long ago beg;
to have a good deal TO do with deCrea
ing the demand for feather beds al
pillows. 1t was discovered that asst
ma and hay fever had an affinity f,
such cOuches and head rests; TIL
y nothing would start an asthmatic q
for cheerful nights wheeling
quickly as feather bed. This disco
n cry spread, and the goose owes gre
n deal of its later day comfort to Il
8 asthma. "-Detroit Free Press.