789. Method of fattening Geese and Ducks.—Geese, the more quiet and undisturbed they are kept, the faster and better they fatten. Put young geese into a place that is almost dark; feed them with ground malt mixed with milk, and they will very soon, and at very little expense, be fit to kill.
Another way is cheaper still:—Mix barley-meal, pretty thick, with water, which they must constantly have by them, to eat as they choose; in another part of the shed where they are, keep a pan with some boiled oats and water, for them to resort to when they are inclined to change their food. This variety is agreeable to them, and they thrive apace, being so fattened at less expense than in any other manner.
790. Cobbett's method of fattening Geese.—Geese are raised by grazing: but, to fat them, something more is required. Corn of some sort, or boiled Swedish turnips, or carrots, or white cabbages, or lettuces, make the best fatting. The modes that are resorted to by the French for fatting geese, are, I hope, such as Englishmen will never think of. He who can deliberately inflict torture upon an animal, in order to heighten the pleasure his palate is to receive in eating it, is an abuser of the authority which God has given him, and is, indeed, a tyrant in his heart. Who would think himself safe, if at the mercy of such a man?
791. Swedish method of raising Turkeys.—As soon as the young turkeys leave the shell, they are made to swallow one or two pepper-corns, and returned to their mother. They are afterwards fed with crumbs of bread and milk, and with common dock-leaves, chopped small, and mixed with fresh buttermilk, and kept in a warm place or sunshine, and guarded from the rain or from running among nettles.
Nothing, however, is more useful for them than the common garden pepper-cress, or cut-leaved cress. They are very fond of it; and, supplied with as much of it as they will eat, they will not be delicate in their other food.
792. To fatten Turkeys as they do in Norfolk.—The quality and size of the Norfolk turkeys are superior to those of any other part of England. They are fed almost entirely with buckwheat; and give them with it boiled oats, boiled malt, or boiled barley, and sometimes, for change, even boiled wheat and water.