KILLING POULTRY. 91 



be still left in the crop, this must have been miscalculated, 

 or else the bird has turned sick, in which case a meal must 

 be missed. The number of meals per day will vary from 

 two to three, but in either case the hours should be equally 

 divided, and kept to regularly. It is much the best to keep 

 the place in semi-darkness between meals. 



There are various modes of killing all of them very 

 effectual in practised hands. One is to clasp the bird's head 

 in the hand, and give the body a sharp swing round by it, 

 which kills by parting the vertebrae. M. Soyer recommends 

 that the joints be pulled apart, which is effected by seizing 

 the head in the right hand, placing the thumb just at the 

 back of the skull, and giving a smart jerk of the hand, the 

 other, of course, holding the neck of the fowl. In Surrey 

 they also use the thumb, but hold the neck against the 

 thigh. In France, having first hung up the bird by the 

 legs, they thrust a long, narrow, and sharp-pointed knife, 

 like a long penknife, which is made for the purpose, 

 through the back part of the roof of the mouth up into 

 the brain, and draw it all through the brain to the front. 

 By either plan, death will be almost instantaneous. The 

 fowls, it is true, often kick and struggle a good deal for 

 some time ; but as they will do this equally after decapita- 

 tion, this must be due to muscular contraction rather than 

 any form of actual life. 



Fowls should be plucked at once, whilst still warm : the 

 feathers theq, come out much easier. The small hairs are 

 then singed off with a piece of lighted paper. Some after- 

 wards dip them just one instant in boiling water ; but this 

 practice is not universal. 



The fowl having been properly bred, properly fed, and 

 killed, the next question is that of dressing for market. 

 Here English custom stands much in need of improvement, 

 and it is against the true interest both of producer and 



