Sec. 'J.J 



POULTRY. 



151 



be removed without breaking the skin. A torn or broken skin greatly 

 injures the appearance, and the price will be low in proportion. 



Do not send the birds with tail and wing feathers in, unless it may be 

 occasionally in a very handsome turkey. 



Geese always sell best the week before Christmas, and they should always 

 be stall-fed. Christmas prices are usually for well-fed geese, such as will 

 warrant their increased production, since it is contended by persons whose 

 opinion is entitled to great respect, that with proper care and skill, upon a 

 farm well fitted for the business, a tun of geese can be made at the same 

 cost as a tun of beef, leaving the feathers as an excess of profit. 



Now let all who read, remember that common-sense attention to these 

 rules, in regard to preparing poultry, will often insure 25 per cent, higher 

 prices than poidtry of the same value originally will bring, if slovenly dressed 

 and packed, and carelessly directed and stupidly forwarded, as often hap- 

 pens. To bring the highest market-prices, poultry must be good and well 

 handled. 



202. Preparing Game for Market.— WiM turkeys, wild ducks, and the 

 smaller birds should be packed in the natural state. In cold weather they 

 may be packed snugly, backs up, with or without clean straw, taking care 

 to keep the plumage as smooth as possible. If the weather becomes warm 

 during the transit, straw between the layers acts beneficially as an absorbent 

 of moisture. Birds should never be drawn, and if mutilated by gun-shot, 

 the market value will be much reduced. 



Woodcock, quails, and other small birds are in cool weather sometimes 

 each wrapped in paper, and packed in dry sawdust. In hot weather they 

 may be packed without the paper in coarse sawdust and ice. They seldom ar- 

 rive in good order if more than twenty-four hours on the way in hot weather. 



In venison it is best to send only the hind part of the carcass, including, 

 say, two or three ribs with the saddle. Tiie skin should be stripped from 

 the fore part and carefully Avrapped about the saddle, thus keeping it clean 

 and in good order. 



By the " game laws" of the State of New York, the killing of any wild 

 deer, partridge, quail, woodcock, or snipe during the months of February, 

 Marcl), Aprii, May, June, and July is prohibited under penalty of $25 for 

 each offense. 



Common carriers or their agents may, in the discharge of their legitimate 

 business, transport deer or game during the iniiibited period without viola- 

 tion of the law ; aiul commission merchants and dealers are protected if they 

 can show, to the satisfaction of the court, that the game in question camo 

 from any other State, or foreign country, or that it was not killed during tho 

 inhibited period. 



The taking of speckled or brook trout is prohibited between the l.ith day 

 of September and the loth day of February, under the same penalties and 

 provisions as in the case of game; but the Cayuga, Seneca, Crooked, and 



pr 



Otsego lakes are excepted from this prohibition. 



