Show scene in berlin goose market peasant women of alsace lorraine look after the geese that provide the livers for the famous strasburg liver pies three times a day these women stuff food down the throats of the goose by the aid of one forefinger it takes about an hour to teed 12 geese these women must keep close watch on these stuffed geese night and day and have a sharp knife ready to bleed any goose showing a staggering gait for when the stuffing has fattened the goose to the point where the liver enlarges rapidly he goose may go off with apoplexy and to let it lie several hours would mean a big loss of both the body for market and liver for the pies the goose on the market would not bring much more than the cost of the food put into it but the livers bring as high as fi a dozen then these worn en make a profit on smoked geese breasts the delicatessen stores paying as high as 75 cents a pound for these this reference to these peas ant women keeping such close watch on the fowl liable to die of apoplexy may let in some light on so many sud den deaths in our own heavily fed flocke As these die usually at night we do not notice the premonitory symptoms of apoplexy it we did and bled the fowl in time we could safely use it on the table all bleeders breeders bre eders of long experience with whom I 1 have talked writes W F pur due in michigan farmer say that there Is more money in geese than in any other class of poultry the risk of loss is smaller than ducks turkeys or chickens they are the healthiest and heartiest of all fowls seldom dying from diseases some people are of the opinion that a goose will eat as much as a bog but this Is not true old geese are strictly grazing creatures when pas turing is available and the go slings can be grown to five months of age with less than one peck of grain each the principal ration of these fowls during the summer and tall months Is composed compos ed of grass weeds and insects on nearly every farm there are a few places that are worthless tor cul atlon all such places could be utilized tor a goose pasture with profitable results low marshy ground makes a good run tor both old fowls and gollings goslings go slings it they can have a dry spot on high ground tor a resting place during the day and at night it roust not be understood however that waste ground ie essential tor the raising of geese they will thrive upon any pasture suitable tor cattle sheep or hogs cattle and geese will run peacefully together but over pasturing with geese is bad practise since the fowls soil the grass badly that cat tie do not like to graze after them and if confined in a small pasture they will soon kill it out geese can be raised successfully without water to bekim in but if a small stream run through the pasture or if there is a spring pond all the better pond that are simply accumulations of stag nant water are not desirable for obvious reasons the chief objections to geese ar their noisy and dirty ways and in fact they are a nuisance if allowed to run where they please as they art sure to be destructive to growing crops and they will dirty the drinking water tor the stock but as a rule they are easily controlled especially the large varieties geese will not thrive in close confinement but they should be fenced away from the yard garden and stock tanks A threefoot three foot wire netting fence will hold moet ol 01 the breeds experienced bleeders breeders bre eders ct geese say that it Is liest to purchase breeding birds in the fall as it takes some time for geese to become accustomed tc each other and they will not mate UE until they become thoroughly acquaint ed the choosing of mates generally takes place about the first of february geese are naturally monogamous in their wild state but under artificial conditions a gander will mate with several partners but tor good the gander should never be mated tc more than three females geese are very faithful and will live in for years the same mating taking place each spring year after year but it is not desirable to use ganders avei four years old young ganders are more active and insure greater fertility in the eggs than old birds the battel also become quarrelsome and ugly with age the females are good tor breeding purposes for ten or twelve years 01 even longer they are long lived and have been known to produce hatch able eggs up to thirty years of age two year old females can be used toi breeding purposes but they reach their best at three years of age the eggs of yearling gebee seldom hatch well once the foundation la laid toi goose farming there Is no advantage in selling off the old stock of female until they reach a ripe old age BE they are the best for breeding pur poses and the young birds bring the best prices in the markets |