In the days of feather beds and home-made pillows the practice of plucking live geese for their feathers was very common. Now, however, with the demand for goose feathers less and with the opinion of some breeders that plucking geese is both cruel and injurious, the practice seems to be decreasing. Many goose raisers in the South and a less number in the Middle West and North however still pluck the feathers from the live geese prior to the time of moulting. The frequency with which the picking is done varies greatly, some picking as often as every six weeks during the spring, summer and early fall while others pick twice, once in the spring and once in the fall, or once in the spring only. Geese should never be picked during the late fall or winter when the weather is cold or during the breeding season. Both young and old geese are plucked and the average yearly production of feathers per goose is about one pound. When the quills of the feathers are dry and do not contain any blood, the feathers are ripe for picking. In plucking, a stocking is placed over the head of the goose and the goose held on the lap and between the legs during the process. An assistant to hold the goose during the plucking simplifies the work greatly. In plucking, part of the soft feathers of the breast, sides, abdomen and back are taken but these sections should not be plucked clean. It is especially important that enough short feathers be left to support the wings. After plucking, the feathers must be cured before they are shipped. This may be done by spreading them out on a floor as described for the feathers taken from slaughtered geese or they may be placed loosely in burlap sacks and hung up in a garret or loft. Hanging in this way and in the loosely woven sacks, they are subjected to a good circulation of air and will dry out without heating. Sacks of feathers should not be piled or packed closely together, on top of one another or even be allowed to lie on the floor until they are thoroughly dry as otherwise they are almost sure to heat and mold. INDEX A Absence of crest in Crested White Duck, 34 African Goose, 156, 157 Age of breeding ducks, 55, 123 breeding geese, 152 duck eggs for hatching, 72 ducklings for market, 96, 102, 136 green geese, 187 Muscovy duck, 31 Amount of feed per pound of market duck, 95 for noodled geese, 197 Amount of land for duck plant, 46 for goose fattening farm, 208 Arrangement of cars for shipping live geese, 202 Arrangement of duck plant, 45 Artificial water yards for ducks, 62 Aylesbury duck, 23 B Baby ducks, selling, 78 Bantam ducks, 27, 29 Bean, definition of, 13 black in, 22, 23, 35 Bedding brood coop for goslings, 180 duck breeding houses, 60 duck brooder houses, 87 goose breeding houses, 168 pens for fattening geese, 195 Beef scrap, feeding, to ducks, 64 Bib in Blue Swedish ducks, 33 Buff ducks, 36 Bill, definition of, 13 black in, of Black East India, 29