HAPTER XIV
Fattening and Marketing Geese

_Classes of Geese Marketed._ The market geese consist principally of the
surplus young ganders not required for breeding purposes and such of the
old geese of either sex as it may be considered desirable to get rid of.
Some young females, when the number raised is in excess of the number
required for breeders also find their way to market. While these geese
are marketed in the largest numbers during the Thanksgiving and
Christmas holiday season, particularly the latter, some geese of course
find their way to market practically throughout the year. There is also
a rather limited trade in "green geese" which corresponds to the trade
in spring or "green" ducklings. Green geese are goslings about 12 to 16
weeks old, generally of the larger breeds, which are forced for rapid
growth and are made to weigh in the neighborhood of 10 pounds at that
age. These bring a good price and yield a good profit where there is
demand for this class of geese.
_Markets and Prices._ As with most classes of poultry, the large cities
offer the best market for geese. Especially the cities which have a
large foreign population make good markets as many foreigners are more
in the habit of using geese for a holiday dish than are native
Americans. The most favorable market usually occurs at Christmas when
roast goose and apple sauce is in considerable favor. Considerable
numbers of geese are also used at Thanksgiving time and in recent years
as the price of turkeys has steadily increased there has been an
increasing tendency to substitute goose for turkey on that day.
Following are prices paid for various classes of geese on the New York
wholesale market from May 1920 to June 1921 as reported by the New York
Produce Review. Quite a wide variation in price will be noted in many
cases which reflects the difference in condition of the geese as
received. In the case of express receipts of live geese where a wide
variation in prices occurs the high quotations represent the receipt of
especially fattened geese from nearby farms.
WESTERN GEESE, FROZEN
1920
May 5 25 @ 31c per lb.
12 25 @ 31c " "
19 25 @ 31c " "
26 25 @ 31c " "
June 2 25 @ 31c " "
9 25 @ 31c " "
16 25 @ 31c " "
23 25 @ 31c " "
30 23 @ 29c " "
July 7 23 @ 29c " "
14 21 @ 27c " "
21 21 @ 27c " "
28 21 @ 27c " "
Aug. 4 20 @ 25c " "
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