POULTRT-CRAFT. 189 



poultry they have to market, but still can get very good prices. One of the 

 worst mistakes in marketing poultry is made by those who hold their stuff 

 until cold weather, selling it about the holiday season, after having fed it sev- 

 eral months longer, for less than it would have brought in July and August. 

 That practice is a relic of a by-gone age is poultry culture. If it will not pay 

 to caponize the cockerels they should be sold as well as possible while the 

 prices are still fairly good. 



276. What the Market Wants, and What It Does Not Want. 



* ' Now byjirst class stock we mean well fatted, so that the breast bone does 

 not stick out like the keel to a boat; yellow meated, well dressed \ cleanly 

 picked, not roughed all up or torn, no pin-feathers left in, nor the legs and 

 feet left dirty. Such stock, if packed to present a neat and inviting appear- 

 ance, will command good prices nine or ten months in the year." 



4 ' We call particular attention to the fact that our quotations areforjirst 

 quality, quick grown, straight breasted, yellow meated, plump stock. 

 Stunted chickens several months (too) old, hump-backed, white meated, and 

 crooked breasted, are not wanted. We have very little call for such stock at 

 any price * * * and the returns made for it will be discouraging to the 

 shipper." (W. H. Rudd, Son & Co.'s circular). 



277. Sizes and Weights Preferred. Broilers should weigh from 

 one and one-fourth to two pounds each, the lighter weights being in demand 

 from January to July, the heavier for the remainder of the year. Broilers 

 weighing three-fourths of a pound each, called " squab broilers," have for 

 some time been used in parts of Europe, to take the place of small game, and 

 there is a growing, though still limited, demand for them in this country. 

 They are in demand only through January, February, and the early part of 

 March. Roasters range from five pounds per pair early in the season to ten 

 and twelve pounds per pair in the fall and early winter ; quality being equal, 

 the largest birds bring the best prices per pound. 



In capons birds weighing about six pounds each command readiest sale ; 

 but larger birds, nine, ten pounds and more, bring better prices. 



Hens weighing four to five pounds each, sell better than either larger or 

 smaller stock. 



N. B. The above weights are all for dressed poultry. 



278. Selling Poultry Through Commission Merchants. The large 

 commission houses in the cities furnish shippers full instructions for dressing, 

 packing, and shipping poultry to their market, and also keep large shippers 

 informed of the fluctuations in prices and condition of the market. The 

 requirements for different markets vary ; some cities use proportionately 

 much more live poultry than others ; capons bring relatively better prices 

 in some cities than in others, etc. If a poultryman had located with reference 



