ii:i rOULTEY PEEDINU AND FATTENlNtt 



cramming machines, fattening some 20,000 fowls every 

 month. In this connection, I miglit state that pro- 

 vioush' this part)' ran tliirt)^ incuhators, raising thou- 

 sands of cliickcjis 3'earlv, Ix^sides producing thousands 

 of dozens of eggs for the mai'ket yearl_y. But he has 

 fovmd so much moncA' in fattening by cramming that 

 lie luis given up raising poultrv and eggs for the market, 

 and his thirty incuhators are' idle and for sale. There 

 is a part}' also in Iowa using twenty-two cramming 

 machines — a party in Illinois who fattens on a very 

 large scale, fattening thousands yearly, a i^arty who 

 supplies the White Star line with poultry fattened by 

 cramming, and they take all lie can supply. The 

 Armour packing company of Davenport, la., has a 

 contract for 500,000 ha.nd-crammcd poultry. 



The greatest industry of Clarinda, la., is fattening 

 chickens for the London market. At the central station 

 here Imtter, eggs' and poultry are received from a 

 I'a.dius of seventj'-five miles and to the vakie of 

 $2,000,000 annually. This company is the oldest in 

 Iowa, and has other stations at Keokuk, Burlington and 

 elsewhere, handling between $5,000,000 and $6,000,000 

 worth of dairy and poultry products each j^ear. The 

 feeding house at Clarinda accommodates about 7500 

 chickens which are fattened by cramming appliances. 



Adraniage of Special Ileihods — By this means tlie 

 weight of the chicken is increased from thirty-five to 

 fifty per cent. The flavor of the meat is much improved 

 and the selling value gTcatly advanced. The process of 

 fattening is not secret, as has been represented. The 

 Clarinda poultry company is an.N'ious to teach tlie 

 farmers how to do "it in order that they may improve 

 the value of their chickens l)y proper food and care. 

 Tlicy do the same thing with steers and hogs, and there 

 is no reason why they should not fatten their chickens. 

 The feeding machine will eventually be a common 



