POULTR?Y-CRAFT. 189 
poultry they have to market, but still can get very good prices. One of the 
worst mistakes in marketing poultry is made by those who hold their stuff 
until cold weather, selling it about the holiday season, after having fed it sev- 
eral months longer, for less than it would have brought in July and August. 
That practice is a relic of a by-gone age is poultry culture. If it will not pay 
to caponize the cockerels they should be sold as well as possible while the 
prices are still fairly good. 
276. What the Market Wants, and What It Does Not Want.— 
‘* Vow by first class stock we mean well fatted, so that the breast bone does 
not stick out like the keel to a boat; yellow meated, well dressed, cleanly 
picked, not roughed all up or torn, no pin-feathers left in, nor the legs and 
feet left dirty. Such stock, if packed to present a neat and inviting appear- 
ance, will command good prices nine or ten months in the year.” 
‘s We call particular attention to the fact that our quotations are Sor first 
quality, quick grown, straight breasted, yellow meated, plump stock. 
Stunted chickens several months (too) old, hump-backed, white meated, and 
crooked breasted, are not wanted. We have very little call for such stock at 
any price * * * and the returns made for it will be discouraging to the 
shipper.” (W. H. Rudd, Son & Co.’s circular). 
277. Sizes and Weights Preferred.— Brozlers should weigh from 
one and one-fourth to two pounds each, the lighter weights being in demand 
from January to July, the heavier for the remainder of the year. Broilers 
weighing three-fourths of a pound each, called ‘* squab broilers,” have for 
some time been used in parts of Europe, to take the place of small game, and 
there is a growing, though. still limited, demand for them in this country. 
They are in demand only through January, February, and the early part of 
March. Roasters range from five pounds per pair early in the season to ten 
and twelve pounds per pair in the fall and early winter; quality being equal, 
the largest birds bring the best prices per pound. 
In capons birds weighing about six pounds each command readiest sale; 
but larger birds, nine, ten pounds and more, bring better prices. 
ffens weighing four to five pounds each, sell better than either larger or 
smaller stock. 
N. B.— The above weights are all for dressed poultry. 
278. Selling Poultry Through Commission Merchants. — The large 
commission houses in the cities furnish shippers full instructions for dressing, 
packing, and shipping poultry to their market, and also keep large shippers 
informed of the fluctuations in prices and condition of the market. The 
requirements for different markets vary; some cities use proportionately 
much more live poultry than others; capons bring relatively better prices 
in some cities than in others, etc. Ifa poultryman had located with reference 
