The Profitable Duck. 129 



well. The process is very simple : All that is necessary is a 

 chair, a box, 2x3 feet and two feet high for the feathers, a few 

 knives, and a smart man to handle them. One knife should 

 be double-edged and sharp-pointed for bleeding. The bird 

 should be held between the knees, the bill held open with the 

 left hand, and a cut made across the roof of the mouth just 

 below the eyes. The bird should then be stunned by striking 

 its head against a post or some hard substance. The picker 

 seats himself in the chair, with the bird in his lap, its head 

 being held firmly between one knee and the box. The sooner 

 he gets at the work the better, and if he is smart, the bird will 

 be well plucked by the time life is extinct. The feathers 

 should be carefully sorted in picking ; the wing, tail and pin- 

 feathers should be cast away, and the body-feathers, with the 

 down, thrown into the box. Care should be taken in the mat- 

 ter, as the feathers are no mean source of income and will 

 always pay for the picking. They should be spread out and 

 dried. When dressed, the birds should be thrown into ice- 

 water until the animal heat has been extracted when they 

 can be packed closely in clean boxes and shipped to market at 

 any time within twelve hours, without ice. 



