FATTENING AND MARKETING FEATHERS. 83 



mer the inquiry is irregular and quotations often purely 

 nominal. To command any sort of attention in the mar- 

 ket, the feathers should be dry-picked after the turkey is 

 killed and before being scalded. Scalded turkey feathers 

 are shown very little favor in any market and are often 

 quite unsalable. They are frequently received in the big 

 markets in such poor shape that they are sent to the dump. 



The best way to ship feathers is in crates or light boxes. 

 They should be sorted, tail, wing and pointers. The lat- 

 ter are used only in making corsets, and can be packed in 

 any style, a good way being in muslin sacks. The wings 

 and tail feathers should be handled carefully and kept 

 clean. The tail feathers should be free from body feathers 

 in order to bring top prices. Shippers sometimes send 

 wing, tail and pointers, without sorting. While they will 

 sell this way, the price is based on an allowance for the 

 cost of separating and repacking. The feathers should be 

 laid straight and packed tightly. Shoe or hat boxes are 

 well suited for this, or light cases made of laths will be 

 found strong enough, and still afford a saving in freight or 

 express charges. A point to be remembered is that the 

 feathers must not be jammed and packed crosswise, but 

 should appear regularly placed when the box or crate is 

 opened. 



Unless large numbers of turkeys are slaughtered, it may 

 not pay to ship the feathers. But when one dresses the 

 turkeys of an entire neighborhood, it might be well to sort 

 the feathers and find a market for them. At times, a de- 

 mand exists for pure white wing and tail feathers, at a slight 

 premium over colored feathers. The proportion of white 

 feathers, clean and perfect, is so small, however, as to 

 scarcely pay for the time and labor of sorting. To com- 

 mand top prices they must be sorted clean of all short 

 feathers. This is a slow and laborious undertaking to any 

 but an expert feather sorter, and if such is employed espe- 

 cially for the purpose, the added cost frequently equals 



