448 MARKETING THE PRODUCTS 
for Sunday. It is well, therefore, so to plan shipments that they 
will reach their destination on Thursday, or not later than Friday. 
Cold Storage of Dressed Poultry.—Where dressed poultry is to 
be shipped a considerable distance to market, it is usually sent in 
refrigerator cars, in which the temperature is kept at or below 40° F. 
by means of salt and ice crushed fine and packed in the bunkers. 
In this way dressed poultry can be shipped thousands of miles, and 
will go through in prime condition. Thorough chilling for about 
forty-eight hours in a mechanical freezer before placing the poultry 
in the car will help to put the shipment through in good shape. 
During periods of heavy production dressed poultry is often 
placed in cold storage, but it should be held a much shorter time 
than is the case with eggs. Cold-storage birds deteriorate consider- 
ably, especially if not properly bled and dressed; and, owing to this, 
the practice should be limited to holding for only short periods. 
OTHER PRODUCTS. 
Preparing and Marketing the Feathers.—Feathers, after being 
properly cured, find a ready market, prices varying materially 
with the quality of feathers and the uniformity in color, as follows: 
Geese feathers bring from forty to sixty cents, the highest price 
being paid for pure white feathers free from quills; for duck feathers 
from thirty to forty cents is realized, and for chicken feathers 
from four to twenty cents per pound can be secured. Colored 
feathers bring from four to six cents and white feathers sometimes 
as high as twenty-five cents. 
Feathers are utilized for a great many purposes, the principal 
one being the filling of pillows and cushions; and, oftentimes, for 
making millinery supplies. The feathers which are secured on 
poultry farms, where many birds are dry picked for market, if 
properly picked, separated, and dried, are considerable revenue. 
In some sections buyers of poultry and eggs collect feathers 
also, but there is usually no local collector available for the small 
producer, whose best course is to get the name of some special 
feather buyer from trade papers, and communicate with him. 
Such firms purchase feathers of all qualities, and on request will 
quote prices and manner of shipping. Extensive shippers of 
dressed poultry find it to their advantage to secure a regular 
firm to handle their whole output of feathers at a regular price. 
In this way the producer learns what quality and methods are 
