1114 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



weather. Full-grown Toulouse geese will yield nearly half a 

 pound of feathers at a picking. To pick geese, follow the direc- 

 tions for picking ducks, given on another page. 



Preparing Poultry for Market. The very best poultry 

 will fail to bring the highest price if it be not dressed in good 

 shape and put up in the style that customers demand. This is 

 especially true of New York and New England markets. From 

 the Ohio Farmer I copy the following directions for preparing 

 poultry for the New York market. They were prepared from 

 information furnished by leading New York commission mer- 

 chants : 



" Western poultry does not usually bring the highest price 

 in the New York market, for the reason that it is generally in- 

 ferior in quality, and put up in an unattractive shape. In order 

 to sell well in New York, poultry must be of good quality, and 

 put up in the style that that market demands. 



" Fowls, old or young, that have been kept in good condi- 

 tion right along, will require about ten days of extra feeding in 

 order to put them in prime condition for market. Separate the 

 market birds from the rest of the flock, and feed liberally three 

 times a day. For the first day or two do not give all the fowls 

 will eat, but increase the quantity of food given each meal until 

 they have as much as they will eat up clean. For the morning 

 and noon feed give boiled potatoes, beets or carrots mixed into 

 a stiff mass with corn and barley-meal ; at night give whole corn. 

 Keep gravel, charcoal, and plenty of pure water or milk in the 

 coop. If skim-milk is plenty mix their food with it. For the 

 last three or four days mix a handful of pulverized charcoal with 

 each bucketful of soft feed. 



" It is against the law to offer in the New York market 

 dressed chickens or turkeys with full crops. The city ordinance 

 reads as follows : 



" * SEC. 1. That no turkeys or chickens be offered for sale in 

 the city unless the crops of such turkeys and chickens are free 

 from food or other substance and shrunken close to their bodies. 

 That all fowls exposed for sale in violation of this ordinance 

 shall be seized and condemned ; such of them as shall be tainted 



