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FEEDING FOR GROWTH. 269 
ing fowls, the following arrangement will be found ef- 
fective: A long, low box (a shoe box, laid upon its 
side, answers very well) is lathed up and down in the 
front, leaving an opening all along the front, a bar being 
‘fitted across the box, three inches above the bottom. 
This bottom opening is to clean out the box with a 
scraper, once every day; after which dry earth is thrown 
n. "This box will hold six fowls, and a feeding trough 
and a water can should be fitted in front. A number of 
boxes may be tiered one over the other, and when the 
fowls have fed, the front should be covered and dark- 
ened, by hanging bagging over it. This will keep the 
fowls quiet. Two weeks of this treatment will fatten 
them. The finest flesh is made by feeding cornmeal 
aud boiled potatoes, mixed with skimmed milk, quite 
thick, and four feeds a day should be given. Fowls are 
best slaughtered and dressed as follows: A barrel is pro- 
vided, with a number of nails driven in around the open 
edge. A number of loops of twine, about six inches 
long, are also provided. The bird is fastened by noosing 
the loop around the legs, and is hung in the barrel, head 
downward. The head is then taken in the left hand, 
and a sharp pointed knife is pushed through the throat, 
close to the vertebra, and drawn forward so as to cut 
the throat clear through, by which sensation is at once 
arrested, and the fowl bleeds to death rapidly and pain- 
lessly. Being confined in the barrel, the splashing from 
the fluttering is avoided, and everything is done in a 
cleanly and easy manner. Dry picking is preferred by 
the marketmen, but the extra price will hardly pay for 
the trouble over the scalding of the fowls, and the easier 
picking in that way. To scald a fowl, take a pail three- 
quarters full of boiling water, and plunge the bird into 
it, drawing it up and down a few times. Keep the 
water up to the scalding heat by adding a quart of boil- 
ing water occasionally. 
