Crammixg JMaciiixes. 83 



The most peculiar thing about M. Martin's management, however, is the singular fact that 

 the fowls are tied upon their perelies by thongs of raw hide, which are passed round their feet, 

 but leaving them otherwise at perfect liberty. Partitions or upright slabs fixed to the perches 

 divide them from each other, and keep them practical!)- in separate compartments, with the great 

 advantage of a free circulation of air. The \\hole apparatus is frequently disinfected with sulphate 

 of iron, which keeps the birds perfectly free from vermin. The feeding is done by a machine 

 which contains the food in a reservoir. The operator, who has a seat which he can vary in height, 

 takes the head of a fowl in one hand, and with the other places down the gullet of the bird a nozzle 

 fixed on the end of a flexible tube which reaches to the machine ; by then pressing down a 

 treadle, a piston forces the proper quantity into the fowl's crop. A graduated dial regulates the 

 quantity given, according to the age, size, and stage of fattening of each bird. A slight push with 

 the hand causes the frame to re\^olve so as to bring the next bird opposite the feeder, and the 

 feeding is thus performed with such rapidity that one hour is sufficient for the entire 200 

 birds. The commission states that the fowls seem to enjoy this novel mode of treatment, and that 

 if any drops of the nearly fluid food fall accidentally upon the perches, they are eagerly pecked 

 up by the eager birds. As soon as the fowls are ready for market they are hung up by the 

 feet, a cloth passed round them to prevent struggling, and a small knife thrust into the 

 throat. As soon as dead, they are plucked, washed, drawn, wrapped in wet cloths to cool 

 rapidly, and placed on a stage that the blood may freely es;ape, on which the whiteness of 

 the flesh depends. 



Fig. 46. 



These arrangements we quite agree with the commission are well worthy of consideration. 

 It might be thought that the fowls would struggle violently. on finding themselves fastened to the 

 perches ; but this is not the case if put on at night. The advantages in cleanliness and ventilation 

 are very great, and it is found that the birds almost invariably thrive and fatten well. The 

 commission, in fact, expresses great surprise and satisfaction at the results achieved, and strongly 

 recommends the adoption of M. Martin's s\-stem, which may be considered to be the "latest 

 improvement" as regards poultry-fattening in France. In this country wc believe the sole 

 manufacturers of machines for cramming are Messrs. Crook, whose apparatus is represented 

 in Fig. 46, where A is the cylinder containing the food, terminating in the flexible nozzle B. 

 The piston which forces out the food is propelled by a rack and pinion, C, driven by an ordinary 

 power-gearing from the hand wheel, which is furnished with three handles. In using, the cylinder 

 is turned upon the pivot D to an upright position, and filled with the semi-liquid food ; the whole 

 is then returned to the horizontal position, and by means of the three handles on the wheel, 

 the proper quantity is injected into the gullet of each fowl by turning the wheel one-third 

 of a revolution. It will be seen that two persons are required to work this machine ; and it 

 would be better as a piece of mechanism if the cylinder were retained permanently in an upright 

 position, or the piston worked by a treadle in the French mode, the nozzle being gradually 



