Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-05-16
TIN fOULTRY YARD.
poMEsTIcATED GEESE
BY ED wE,BER

by ED WEBER
History, literature and art all pay
homage to the goose as far back as
very ancient times. The earliest poets
d call attention to the goose. which we
remember to have seen in Homer.
where Penelope says. IL have twenty
4 geese at homo that eat wheat out Of
water. and am delighted TO look at
then.n This was written about 1,2OO
years before the beginning q the Chris
Z tian era. As the geese were ev1dently
dOmesticated and a. they'are mentioned
In a casual manner it Is probable that
this fowl had been domesticated1 long
before that time.
Was Held in Great Esteem.
Among the Greeks and Romans u
seems to have been the only domestic
water fowl known and from numerous "
illusions to it they evidently heh 1t IN
a. great esteem as we do after q lapse
Of more than 5000 years. Virgil calls
1t 1.-THE silver goose" IN connecton Witn
the saving Of Rome
Lucretius, referring to this event, at
tributes the vigilance OF the geese 20
their sense Of smell. saying, 1.-THE white
goose, the preserver Of the citadel OF
the descendants OF Romulus, perceives
K at a great distancefthe odor Of the hui
man race" ia 3},st
Pliny omtf Goose. 4
PIiny, the historian who persisted
during the destruction OF Pompeii. A..
4 d. ~, referring to the same event says.
.The goose Is carefully watchful, wit
ness the defense OF the capatol. when
the silence OF the dogs would have be-
Z trayed everything. It Is possible, also.
that they have some discernment OF
wisdom. Thus one ID said to have stuck
perpetually to the philosopher Lacydis,
never leaving him either in the public,
Il, the baths. by night, nor by day. Our
folks are wiser. who are aware OF the
goodness OF the liver. In those that are
cramned, It increases to great size;
when taken out 1t Is put to swell In
milk and honey, and it is not without
cause that 1t is matter Of debate who
was first to discover this dainty, wheth-
ar Scipio Metellus OF consular dignity,
or Marcus Seius. q Roman knight OF
the same epoch. Vs. II q z;
Anoisnts Cook Goose Fest. d
.But. what Is certain. Messalinus
Gotta, son Of MESSIAH, the orator, dis
covered the method Of cooking the web
4 Of their feet and fricaseeing them In
small dishes, along with cocks combs.
Il Am ready heartily to attribute the
h merit TO the kitchen Of either. It II
wonderful that this bird should travel
on foot from Marini Gin the north Of
Il France) to Rome. Those which are
L tired are carried in front so that the
rest push them on by natural crowd
i Ing" gsE .,5,s g.s -
It - noticeable that Lucretius should
speak Of the silver (white) goose and
8 Virgil Of the white goose. This shows
that the original grey goose had been
changed to q white one, giving evidence
Of long breeding In the change Of color.
II is also notable that even in that
ancient time the Romans had learned
D to so feed geese that their Hvers would
become enlarged. these being considered
delicious Wand as they are to this
day by gormAnds everywhere. Il =
also notable that at that time the north
Of France was famed ass goose rais-s
L sing district, az it il In our own time.
The Goose in vSrss.
Down thru the ages the goose has
received frequent mention. Pope, the
y poet. Ia his translation Of Homer makes
4 smooth phrase by making Penelope
,say: AZ ;s
"a team Of twenty geese. ! snow
white train, 5E
Fed near the hmpid lake with golden
grain, S-sa Aa
Amuae my penstve hours"
It 10 very probable that the existing
varieties Of geese are descendants Of a
crossing OF original races. At least it
seems plain that no existing wild breed
n Is the one from which our domestic
geese descended. There IN but one fam.
lily OF domestic geese, all being varie
ties from a common ancestry. 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. WI
Varieties Of Modern Geese.
The principal varieties Of geese that
are bred today are the Toulouse, which
gets It's name from town of the same
name IN France, and the Embden.
named from town In Hanover, Ger
many. Tho Toulouse are gray with
light to white on the under part Of the
body, while the Embden are pure white
all over.
The gray goose and white gander OF
4 our grandparents days are fast disap-
pearing. a flock rarely being found ex-.
cept In some remote neighborhood.
A good many Chinese geese are kept
but they are not nearly as common as
the larger Toulouse and Emblem. The
y Chinese come In both brown and
white. They are sometimes called the
4 bantams among geese, on account of
their SIZE Embden and Toulouse gam
ders weigh twenty pounds at maturing,