THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



wing, likewise count. Fine and delicate-looking 

 skin must also be considered, and also white- 

 ness of skin and body, though in less degree, for 

 splendid birds have been shown quite yellow in 

 skin. Another quite cardinal point is evenness 

 of flesh, free from deposits of yellow fat clearly 

 visible under the skin : the latter at once 

 stamps the bird as badly fed and coarse. Really 

 good and even feeding shows specially upon 

 the back, which should be well covered with 

 lean meat ; so reliable is this sign of good 

 feeding, that in France fowls are often ex- 

 posed for sale with the back uppermost. If 

 that is well covered with meat the breast is 

 nearly sure to be so ; but the converse by no 

 means holds good, so that many English house- 

 keepers do not believe in there being much 

 meat on the back at all. Smallness of bone 

 should have some weight given to it, though 

 not nearly what some insist upon. Finally, 

 there is the quality of the flesh, which can be 

 judged by gentle, delicate touches with the 

 tips of the first two fingers of the right hand. 

 Since the previous edition was published 

 the Utility Poultry Club have decided upon 

 the following standard for judging table poul- 

 try : — 



1. Size and quality 25 points. 



2. Youth, quantity, and quality of breast meat ... 30 points. 



3. Straightness of keel, fineness of bone, absence 



of offal and surplus fat 25 points. 



4. General marketable appearance, colour of 



skin, &c 20 points. 



The feeder or breeder as such has nothing 

 to do with trussing fowls or preparing them for 

 the table. He cannot have, because the least 

 wound would be a centre of de- 

 Trussing composition, and the birds he sends 

 Fowls. must " keep " as long as possible. 

 That is why he fasts them, that they 

 may go to market with both crop and intestines 

 empty. Trussing is the poulterer's business, 

 and is put off till the birds are sold for actual 

 consumption. Of course, now and then a 

 poulterer who is close to his own source of 

 supply may order fowls to be delivered trussed, 

 but this is seldom the case. More often a rearer 

 and feeder in a small way, in a district where a 

 demand for better poultry is growing, may have 

 private customers, and be glad to secure the 

 double profit. 



There are various ways of trussing a fowl ; 

 the old-fashioned plan with skewers, the liver 

 being tucked into one wing while the gizzard 

 graces the other, being described in most cookery 

 books. A much superior method has, however, 

 been more and more adopted by the best 



London tradesmen during recent years, and is 

 likely to supersede all others wherever it 

 becomes known. The following description of 

 this method, which has not hitherto been cor- 

 rectly explained, is written from notes of the 

 lectures and demonstrations given during 

 several years in succession at the Dairy and 

 Smithfield London shows of table poultry, by 

 Mr. W. Bellamy, of Jermyn Street, one of the 

 best and probably the largest* of West End 

 poulterers, and by his chief manager (Mr. 

 R. Batchelor). 



The first thing is to draw the sinews from 

 the drumsticks. This can be done in two ways. 

 Making a longitudinal incision in either side of 

 the shank with the point of the knife, about an 

 inch above the foot, the end of a skewer is 

 inserted under the sinew, the skewer twisted 

 round it for a purchase, and taking the skewer 

 in the right hand, the sinew is drawn out. The 

 other way is to treat it like a turkey's leg, 

 cutting across the shank in front, just above 

 the foot, down to the bone, and bending the foot 

 further over till the shank-bone breaks ; then 

 hooking the bent-down foot into a V-shaped 

 hook (an ordinary meat-hook does not answer : 

 the angle of the V is required to "jam" and 

 hold the foot firmly), and pulling the limb down, 

 the foot and sinew are left behind. Either now 

 or previously the two points are cut off from each 

 wing, and either all the toes half an inch from the 

 ball of the foot, or some cut off the entire foot, 

 which we think is preferable, even when not done 

 in drawing the sinew. When a fowl is thus pre- 

 pared at home, all these trimmings should go 

 into the stock-pot along with the liver, gizzard, 

 neck, etc. The sinew above the hock-joint, in 

 front, is also cut across, in order that the shank 

 may " lay out " nicely, instead of doubling up as 

 in the natural position. 



Next we take off the head and neck. With 

 the fowl's breast downwards, pinch up the skin 

 at the back of the neck close to the shoulders, 

 insert the point of the knife longitudinally at 

 the side, and cut upwards so as to leave a small 

 flap about an inch long. Draw this flap back, 

 and pressing the very top of the breast firmly 

 down to the table, cut through the neck-joint 

 close to the root, or level with the shoulders, 

 leaving no neck-bone projecting. This is to be 

 done, however, without cutting through the skin 

 on the lower or breast side, which is simply 

 scraped fairly clean of flesh and the congealed 

 blood which may have collected. We thus have 



• We are informed that 340,000 fowls alone were bought 

 and sold by Mr. Bellamy during a single year. Indepen- 

 dently of the public demonstrations above mentioned, the 

 influence of methods thus widely exemplified is necessarily 

 great. 



