COMPARATIVE RATE OF DECOMPOSITION IN MARKET POULTRY. 17 



When received at the commission man's. All in excellent state of preservation. No 

 difference could be detected between the various forms of dressing. Skins were 

 bright; flesh was firm; odor excellent. 



First retailer's sample. All the fowls had softened and had begun to darken in color. 

 The undrawn fowls were in the best condition so far as color, brightness of skin, and 

 firmness of flesh was concerned. The wire drawn were nearly as good in appearance 

 as the undrawn, but they were a trifle darker. The Boston drawn were as good in color 

 as the wire drawn, but the cut fat had begun to soften, although no distinctly sour 

 smell was present. The full-drawn fowls had soft fat and were slightly sour inside. 

 Their color was the worst of all. None of the fowls were slimy. 



Second retailer's sample. All of the birds were in bad condition, dark colored, and 

 repulsive in appearance. The necks of the full drawn were dark and green here and 

 there. There was stickiness under the wings. The skin around the incision was 

 blackened and the body cavity inside was dark. There was a small amount of fluid 

 present. A sour and even putrid odor was present. The Boston-drawn fowls had 

 both heads and necks green struck; were sticky under wings and thighs, and there 

 was a distinctly unpleasant odor from the interior of the body cavity. The wire- 

 drawn fowls were brightest in color. The heads were blackened, the necks slightly 

 discolored, and the flesh was very soft. They were sticky under the wings. One 

 fowl was green struck around the vent. The undrawn fowls had a putrid odor around 

 the head. The wings and thighs were sticky. The skin was poor in color and the 

 flesh had darkened. The body cavity was in good condition but had a decidedly 

 stale smell. 



The Boston-drawn and the undrawn fowls could possibly have been sold as very 

 low-grade stuff. The wire drawn and full drawn were not salable. All the birds 

 were in such bad condition that tasting the flesh was dispensed with. 



SUMMARY. 



(1) Undrawn poultry decomposes more slowly than does poultry 

 which has been either wholly or partially eviscerated. 



(2) "Full-drawn" poultry, that is, completely eviscerated, with 

 heads and feet removed, decomposes the most rapidly. 



(3) " Bos ton drawn" and "wire drawn" stand midway between 

 the undrawn and full drawn in speed of decomposition. The "wire 

 drawn," which is most like the undrawn, is usually the better. 



(4) The following deductions are based on eleven shipments of dry 

 picked, dry chilled, dry packed, unwashed fowls, which have been 

 studied at every stage of marketing, from the packer to the consumer, 

 the marketing throughout being in the market sense "prompt." 

 The effect of different methods of dressing in the case of delayed 

 marketing is now under investigation. 



APPENDIX. 



The bacteriological technique employed in obtaining the following results is that 

 outlined in Bulletin No. 115, Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 page 75. The determination of ammoniacal nitrogen was made by the Folin method 

 as adapted by Pennington and Greenlee to the work (see Journal of -the American 

 Chemical Society, 1910, vol. 32, p. 561). The determination of the acidity of 

 the fat was made according to the method outlined by Pennington and Hepburn in 

 the same journal, page 568. 



