i 



86 The Illustrated Book of Po .try. 



right hand, turning the tliunib downwards at the same time, s^.-parates the vertebr.x", but it takes 

 a rather strong arm to do it. Countrymen, and many others, a tain the same object by taking the 

 head in the right liand and swinging the fowl round b}' it ; one ;;wing properly done will dislocate 

 the spine. Another method is to strike a sharp blow on the back of the neck with a stick ; 

 but any of these methods may cause much needless suffering in unskilful hands. It is true there 

 is no " instantaneous " method of killing a fowl, the tenacity of life being very great ; but the actual 

 operation should be only momentarj', and we strongly advise all inexperienced amateurs to make 

 sure of the matter by laying the neck on a block, and chopping off the head at a blow. What 

 we have said as to the tenacity of life may be illustrated by saving that even after this capital 

 operation the bird, if left to itself, will struggle violently all over the yard ; but this can, perhaps, 

 hardly be called life in the true sense, and we may hope there is little or no conscious pain. 

 The fowl should of course be first bandaged to prevent struggling, and, indeed, this ought 

 to be done in all cases where the knife is employed, afterwards hanging up by the feet to bleed 

 freely. When the head is cut off, the skin .should afterwards be drawn neatl)- o\cr the 

 stump, and tied. 



Poultiy should be plucked or picked whilst still warm, when the feathers will be removed 

 with much less difficulty. Fowls are generally picked quite clean, but it looks better in the 

 case of chickens to leave a few feathers about the tail. They will cat best if nothing further 

 is done to them ; but it improves the appearance greatly for market to plunge the carcase, 

 immediately after plucking, into a vessel of boiling water for a few moments, which will "plump" 

 it a great deal, and make the skin look bright and clean. After scalding, turkeys and fowls should 

 be hung by the legs, and waterfowl by the neck. For sending to market wholesale they should 

 not be drawn, as they will keep much better without, and this is the proper business of the retailer; 

 but in selling for consumption the birds should be properly prepared for table. It may not 

 be out of place to remark that if after drawing the cavity be filled with charcoal broken in small 

 pieces, the fowl may be kept sweet a considerable time. 



Aged birds should, if possible, be hung for ten days or a fortnight before cooking, which may 

 generally be done with the help of the charcoal just mentioned. If they are then half boiled, 

 and the cooking finished by the fire, they will be found much more tender than if the roasting 

 process alone be employed, and, indeed, if not over the age we have stipulated for, will be very 

 good eating. Fowls over the two years and a half will hardly be worth eating at all. 



Passing from age to youth again, it may not come amiss to many amateurs to saj- a \\ord 

 as to the disposal at very young chickens. Where the space is very limited, and is all ^\•antcd 

 for birds of first-rate quality, it is often impossible to keep the chickens till large enough for roasting ; 

 they viust be killed as soon as their comparative worthlessness from an exhibitor's point of view can 

 be determined. We have ourselves, when badly off for space, been thus obliged to kill to 

 waste, where we should now make a chicken pudding. We cannot better describe this well-known 

 Sussex dish than in the words of a correspondent of the Journal of Horticulture. " Take some," 

 he says, "according to the size of the pudding, of the least promising of your chickens, put them 

 away to fast during six or seven hours, kill them [very young chickens should always be decapi- 

 tated], have them picked quite clean, hang them in a cool larder for a day and night, and then 

 proceed to cut them up, but do it propcrlj'. We have heard the cut of a coat criticised by its 

 being said it looked as though it was chopped out with a spade, and we have seen chickens cut 

 up as though the operation had been performed with a hatchet. First take out the crop, then take 

 out all the inside ; cut off the feet, and put them in nearly boiling water (all tJic skin will then 

 easily peel off), put them, the neck, the gizzard (having first taken out the inside), the liver, 



