86 



5. Grasp the fowl by the comb or by the feathers at the 

 back of the head with the left hand and with the right insert 

 the blade of a sharp knife in the neck just back of the ear lobe, 

 on the under side of the neck bone and parallel with it. Run 

 the blade clear through the neck. When you withdraw the 

 blade twist it to right angles with the neck bone, severing the 

 artery in the throat, and causing the blood to flow profusely. 



6. Begin to pluck immediately. Pluck up the breast and 

 sides to tail. Remove tail feathers. Unlock the wings, and 

 strip them of long feathers. Remove feathers from around 

 vent, pluck the feathers from back. Finish plucking. If 

 done quickly the feathers will come out easily and the skin 

 will not be torn. The bird should be entirely denuded of 

 feathers in ten minutes. In case rents are made sew them up 

 neatly with white thread. 



7. If the fowl is to be drawn, with a sharp knife cut a slit 

 about an inch long back of the vent and parallel with it. 

 through which insert index finger, hooking it into the intes- 

 tines. Remove intestines. The lower end of the intestines 

 and the egg sac may be removed by enlarging the slit in the 

 shape of a half circle, until it joins the ends of the vent. This 

 will make a round hole about the size of a silver half dollar. 

 After removing the intestines cut off the fowl's head, then 

 draw back the skin and take off about an inch of the neck 

 bone, pull the skin forward and tie. 



8. For the Boston and New England markets the poultry 

 should be picked perfectly clean. For the New York markets 

 the tip feathers of the wings are left on. Do not singe the 

 PDdies for the purpose of removing any down or hair, as the 

 heat from the flame will give them an oily and unsightly 

 appearance. 



9. Plumping is recommended by some dealers, and con- 

 sists in dipping the carcass as soon as thoroughly picked for 

 ten seconds in water nearly or quite boiling hot, and then im- 

 mediately into ice-cold water. This makes the meat look 

 plump and fat, considerably improving its appearance. 



10. The laws of Massachusetts and New York do not 

 require poultry to be drawn. In the former State, however, 

 the crop must be drawn if there is food in it at the time of 

 killing. Custom, which is quite as potent as statute law, 

 requires that poultry marketed in Massachusetts be drawn. 



