STUDIES OF POULTRY. 39 



foundations were laid in the laboratory, with microscope and test 

 tube, for the assistance of the fruit investigators. As in the study of 

 the handling of fruit, the United States Department of Agriculture 

 is taking an active part in the study of the handling of poultry and 

 eggs, as influenced not only by refrigeration but by every phase of 

 routine to which the produce is subjected. From the time the fowl 

 is ready for killing, or the egg laid, until it reaches the consumer, it 

 becomes an object of exact scientific investigation. Such a problem 

 must of necessity require years of research, and results can not be ex- 

 pected to come quickly, especially when storage in a frozen condi- 

 tion is to be studied. 



It has been observed that the industrial practices which give unde- 

 sirable results in the course of the usual marketing of fowls are not 

 only undesirable when those fowls are to be stored in a frozen condi- 

 tion, but the bad effects then are even more pronounced. Improve- 

 ments in the handling of poultry for prompt consumption are like- 

 wise improvements if long storage is anticipated. On the whole, 

 extra care and accuracy must be observed in the prestorage treatment 

 if the best storage results are to be obtained. 



For example, an incomplete removal of the blood of the chicken 

 when it is killed results in a reduced stability of the flesh, as well as 

 an undesirable appearance of skin and muscle. Even in prompt 

 marketing the deterioration of a fowl incompletely bled is to the 

 detriment of its value and flavor as food. When frozen, no matter 

 how low the temperature nor how perfect the conditions of the 

 storage warehouse, its discoloration increases and the time of its good 

 keeping, so far as flavor and appearance go, is reduced as compared 

 with its well-bled fellows. Hence the bleeding of a fowl is a matter 

 of greater importance than might appear at first sight. An anatom- 

 ical study of the blood vessels of the neck and head of the domestic 

 fowl has already been made, and on the basis of this information a 

 method of cutting to bleed has been recommended. 



At least 30 per cent of all the chickens prepared for market, both 

 for storage and for prompt consumption, are incompletely bled. 

 Their value is reduced from 2 to 5 cents per pound thereby. Their 

 keeping time is lowered to such an extent that it has been deemed 

 advisable to make an accurate study of the matter, shipping under 

 various conditions for long and short distances, marketing according 

 to the customs of various dealers, storing in a frozen state, and mar- 

 keting the frozen as well as the unfrozen birds. Such an investiga- 

 tion is already under way in the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



Pennington and Betts, How to Kill and Bleed Market Poultry, U. S. Dept 

 Agr., Bureau of Chemistry, Circular No. 61. 

 [Cir. 64] 



