446 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



packing, chickens killed in the same way, at the same time, were 

 chillecl and j^ackod as above indicated and shipped, side by side, in 

 the same refrigerated car to the same receiver, and marketed, side by 

 side. They were examined bacteriologictilly and chemically in the 

 packing house before they were shipped, and after every change in 

 environment samples went to the laboratory, where analyses (leter- 

 minetl the rate at which changes in the flesh were {)rogressing. Visual 

 inspection along usual market lines was, of course, a part of the test- 

 ing. Such shipments were sent once or twice a week from September 

 until February, when the poultry season for that part of the country 

 practically closed. 



The laboratory was then transferred to another poultry packing 

 plant in Nashville, Tenn. This location was chosen because of 

 the very rapid development of the poultry and egg industry in 

 Tennessee and Kentuck}^ and the important role whic^h this part of 

 the country plays in furnishing fresh eggs and poultry to the North 

 during the winter season. The results, as measured by a keen interest 

 on the part of the poultry men of the section and an endeavor to 

 adopt better methods of handling for both poultry and eggs all along 

 the line, htive fully justified its selection. The same problem, namely, 

 dry and wet chilling and shipping, is studied at this point. The gen- 

 eral practice in the West is to ship for long hauls dry packed; the .South 

 has almost invariably shipped wet packed during warm weather. 

 That each method of procedure might have a fair trial it has been 

 deemed advisable to conduct experiments on the commercial routine 

 in separate territories where each has had the preference. The length 

 of haul is about the same in each case. The receiving point is the 

 same. The establishment of the laboratory in the packing house 

 itself permits of a heartier cooperation between the investigators and 

 the industry than would otherwise be possible. General problems of 

 all kinds are discussed, and experimentation, with the assistance of 

 the field force, is being pushed along many minor yet important lines 

 by the packers themselves. 



Aside from the main problem chosen for the season's work, the 

 field branch has conducted many side lines of study, testing theories 

 of marketing by holding produce under conditions similar to those 

 of marketing and determining in advance of shipping the general 

 trend that the results would be likely to follow. Each problem has 

 been referred to the laboratory, as well as subjected to careful tests 

 such as are used by the trade to determine quality and condition. 

 The visiting of poultry plants in the vicinity of the field station, the 

 discussion of improved methods of handling with individuals, informal 

 talks illustrated by charts, etc., on marketing and dressing, as well as 

 meeting with more formal gatherings of organized associations of all 

 branches of the industry, would entirely occupy the time of one field 

 man should all invitations be accepted. The educational work at the 

 receiving center among commission men, jobbers, retailers, carriers, 

 warehousemen, etc., has progressed along many lines. An illustrated 

 talk was given in New York, showing the usual procedures for the 

 receiving, feeding, killing, dressing, chilling, paclang, and shipping 

 of poultry in the western producing section. This was followed by 

 an exhibition, in one of the refrigerated warehouses in the cit}^, of 

 poultry dressed in various ways 1,000 miles from New York and 



