Marketing Poultry Products. 87 



by some, but there are always two essentials; first to cut the jugular vein 

 and next pierce the brain, paralyzing the nervous system. The work is 

 done very quickly when one understands it. Of course it is necessary to 

 study out these details very carefully before attempting to kill a bird. 

 Dry picking is preferable for most markets, but the feathers do not always 

 loosen in the way described, and then it is necessary to scald. Scalded 

 poultry will sell about as well if the skin is not torn and the birds are 

 "plumped." This consists in dipping them in hot water for a few seconds 

 after picking and then at once into cold water, where they remain about 

 20 minutes. Roughly picked or bruised poultry is always discounted, so it 

 pays to handle the birds carefully before killing, and to take off the feathers 

 neatly. All animal heat must be removed before packing. This takes 

 longer than is generally supposed, and neglect of it causes loss every year, 

 when poultry known to be properly bled and only a short time on the road 

 arrives at market in spoiled condition. 



Methods of working up a retail egg trade are described elsewhere in 

 this book. For the general wholesale market the 30-dozen case is the 

 standard package. Where one is near market these cases may be made 

 heavy enough to use many times, but for long-distance shipments, where 

 :he expense of returning is too great, the crates are made of cheap 

 .naterial and go with the eggs. The eggs are separated by pasteboard 

 partitions, which may be bought in quantity of any dealer in poultry 

 supplies. Very large quantities of eggs come to New York from the 

 Middle West and Southwest. As might be expected, those from the 

 southerly sections usually sell lowest, heat damage during the collection 

 of carloads being greater in the warmer latitudes. Eggs are graded as 

 fancy, choice, good, fair, inferior, checks and dirties. Fancy eggs should 

 be strictly fresh, and not more than a week old when sold, but what they 

 should be and what they are do not always tally. The quality of the 

 other grades is suggested by their names. Checks are slightly cracked 

 eggs that are sorted out, crated by themselves, and sold for immediate use. 



Cold storage is the balance wheel of the egg and poultry trade, keeping 

 it going at a comparatively even gait the year around, preventing the 

 scarcity which causes prohibitive prices to all but the wealthy, and the 

 glutted market, with figures below cost of production. The range of 

 prices for a year will still show very high figures, such as 60 cents a dozen 

 for new-laid eggs and 35 cents for fresh-killed poultry, yet there is no time 

 when both eggs and poultry from storage, not fresh, but palatable and 

 wholesome, may not be had at prices within reach of almost anyone. The 

 scope of refrigeration has been much enlarged by dry air processes, which 

 have made it possible to handle products that get musty under the damp- 

 ness of ordinary ice storage. There are still many losses from improper 

 handling, but good eggs properly stored may be kept for a full year. 



