KILLING AND SHAPING. 9r, 



provided for the purpose, or is sewo up with fine 

 string. These cloths envelop it completely. It is 

 stitched first from the stern up to the hocks, and then 

 along the body to the "neck, the legs being laid on 

 either side of the breast and encased with the cloth. 

 The fowls are dipped in cold water and allowed to 

 remain in this position from 24 to 36 hours. When 

 taken out they have a sugar-loaf shape, the head being 

 at the apex and the stern at the base. The effect of 

 this system is to smooth the skin and give it a very 

 pleasing appearance, as will be seen by a reproduction 

 of a drawing (Fig. 20) after a photograph taken at the 

 Paris Show. 



Whilst it is true that the Sussex system first de- 

 scribed is probably aU that is necessary in this country, 

 still, at the same time, for those who intend to go in for 

 the higher grades of table poultry, we are inclined to 

 think that the French methods here spoken of would 

 be a novelty and appreciated by consumers, though 

 Enghsh shopkeepers may be at first too conservative 

 to adopt this view. 



Whatever the system adopted of shaping, it is a 

 most important point that the bird shall be plucked 

 carefully, and it is customary in some parts to employ 

 the services of what are caUed " stubbers." If any of 

 the feathers, and especially the short quills, are left 

 in the flesh, they will, of course, materially depreciate 

 the appearance of any fowl. We desire to urge upon 

 every producer the duty to himself and the industry 

 at large, to turn out fowls in the very best manner 

 possible. Some poulterers are very fond of breaking 

 the breast-bone of fowls. This we think is a most 



