574 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



living from pig-sties, the barn-yard, and other unclean places, will not furnish as nicely 

 flavored meat as those fed with clean, healthful food. A fowl cannot feast constantly upon 

 filth and drink impure water, and furnish very delicate flavored or healthful meat for the 

 table. Not only will the food eaten by fowls flavor the flesh, but the eggs also. Onions 

 given to hens in large quantities will give a very decided onion flavor to the eggs. Chickens 

 of the larger breeds will be grown enough for table use at from three to four months 

 of age if well fed from the time they are hatched, while they are frequently used for 

 broilers when from six weeks to two months old. 



In France, and some portions of England, the cramming process is resorted to in 

 fattening fow]s. Two methods of this process are practiced: the forced administration of 

 solid food, and that in a semi-fluid state. Buckwheat meal, bolted quite fine, is used mostly 

 for this purpose. This is wet with sweet milk until it is of the consistency of baker s dough, 

 when it is made into little rolls about the size of a lady s little finger, which are cut into pel 

 lets from an inch to two inches long. Each of these pieces of dough is dipped in water before 

 being put into the bird s throat, when it will swallow it at once. The quantity given is 

 according to the size of the fowl, care being used to increase the amount taken each day, to 

 feed regularly, and never until the previous meal had been digested. 



Killing and Preparing for Market. Fowls should not be fed for at least twelve 

 hours before killing; many prefer that they fast twenty-four hours. If killed with the crop 

 and intestines full, the task of picking and dressing them will be much greater than if 

 they were empty. Since poultry that presents the most attractive appearance in the market 

 draws the most remunerative prices, it is the interest of the poultry raiser to kill, dress, and 

 pack for market in such a manner as will insure the best condition. It was formerly the 

 custom to wring the neck of the fowl in killing, but the better method of bleeding has become 

 generally adopted. This is not only more readily accomplished, but the flesh is whiter than 

 where the old-time method is practiced. 



The best method of killing fowls is to open the beak, then with a pointed, narrow knife 

 blade, make an incision at the back of the roof of the mouth, which will divide the vertebrae 

 and cause instant death. The fowl is then suspended by the leg until the bleeding ceases. 

 Dry picked fowls, or picking without scalding, when the fowl is quite warm, is the best way 

 of removing the feathers, as poultry looks much better prepared in this way, and will gener 

 ally bring a higher price in the market. If done when the bird is warm, it is a very easy 

 task, and the skin will not be torn, while the extra price obtained will more than pay for the 

 trouble. Fowls can be picked more easily by scalding, and this process also imparts to lean 

 fowls a plump appearance. In scalding, care should be used not to have the water too hot; 

 it should be just scalding hot, and not boiling; 190 is about the right temperature. Immerse 

 the fowl, holding it by the legs, taking it out and putting it in again until the feathers come 

 off easily. Do not let it lie in the water at all. Pluck the feathers off at once, and if properly 

 scalded both feathers and pin-feathers will come off together. They should always be picked 

 clean. Hang turkeys and chickens by the feet to cool, and ducks and geese by the head. 



Fowls should never be sent to market undrawn; that is, with the internal organs left in. 

 The undigested food in such cases soon enters into a fermentation, and putrefaction takes 

 place, which in a few hours taints the meat, giving it an unpleasant flavor. The quantity of 

 greenish looking fowls in the market are good illustrations of such results, while when 

 cooked, will have a flavor that no amount of washing in soda water will obliterate, or high 

 seasoning conceal. &quot;We are aware that it is customary in some markets to receive poultry 

 undrawn, but if customers really understood the difference between fowls drawn and properly 

 cleaned when dressed, and those drawn only as purchased in the market, they would, for 

 sanitary reasons, as well as for delicacy of flavor in the meat, soon render the latter an 

 unmarketable product. 



