MARKETING 



79 



horizontal position. Hanging the bird against the wall is 

 preferable to having it suspended in the center of the room 

 as it cannot flutter out of reach in case it slips from the hand. 

 Provide a barrel for blood and waste feathers and an- 

 other barrel for feathers which are to be saved. These 

 should be placed convenient to the hands of the picker. 



Making the Stick 



With the fowl hanging in the position named in the fore- 

 going paragraph, slip the thumb and first two fingers of the 

 left hand down the bird's neck until they reach the angle of 

 the jaw, forcing the mouth wide open and slightly stretching 

 the neck. Insert the knife blade with the dull side toward 

 the roof of the mouth. Rotate the knife quickly, first on one 

 side and then on the other and with a slicing upward and 

 downward motion sever the large blood vessels on either 

 side of the neck cutting toward the bone close to skull. 



As soon as the bird is bleeding freely, point the tip of 

 the knife blade on a line with the angle of the jaw and the 

 eye so that it is directed against the base of the skull near 

 where it joins the spinal column and press the knife point 

 sharply into the brain, giving a quick quarter or half turn to 

 the blade after you feel it enter. 



If the stick is properly made, a convulsive shudder will 

 pass through the bird and the wings will be drawn stiffly 

 back. This lasts but a moment. While it lasts, and before 

 any fluttering commences, seize the wings firmly in the left 

 hand holding the neck firmly with the little finger or the 



SECTION NO. 1 



Make four sections as shown above numbered one 



last two fingers of the same hand. So hold the wings that 

 primary and secondary feathers will be partly spread. Grasp 

 these firmly with the extended, partly open fingers of the 

 right hand and remove with a quick downward motion away 

 from the fowl's body. If the stick has been well made, they 

 will come away quickly and easily. 



Next remove the stiff feathers from the tail, then quickly 

 remove feathers from the more tender portions of the breast 

 and body, pulling in the direction of least resistance, taking 

 no more feathers in the hand at a tinie than can be removed 

 readily and being careful not to bunch feathers from different 

 portions in one hand. The method of removing the body 

 feathers varies with different pickers. The main thing is to 

 get them off of the more tender parts first, leaving the thighs 

 until last. As a rule, the wings should be cleaned up as soon 

 as the breast, back and abdomen have been bared. Even a 

 novice should be able to get the feathers quickly off an adult 

 fowl so that it will be almost clean before the muscular 

 twitching ceases. 



After the carcass has been rough picked, go carefully 

 over it and remove all pin feathers and down. Long hairs 

 may be removed by singeing in the flame of an alcohol lamp 

 or in the flame of burning alcohol poured into a small tin 

 dish. The alcohol flame does not smoke the carcass and 

 leaves it clean. Such singeing should be very quickly done 

 to avoid heating or charring the skin. 



In killing, do not bruise the body and do not break the 

 skull by striking with a club. Where poultry is to be shipped 

 ome distance to the market, or where it is liable to be stored, 



SECTION NO. 2 



Make three sections numbered two 



it keeps in much better condition if the skin is not broken 

 and if bones are not crushed. All blood should be removed 

 from the mouth and washed from the head and face. 



The dressed carcass must be thoroughly chilled before 

 packing for shipment. If it is not practicable to do this in 

 a chilling room or if such is not available, the birds may be 

 cooled in an ice water bath. If packed for shipment before 

 the carcass is thoroughly chilled, putrefaction takes place 

 rapidly and the poultry, when removed from the box, has a 

 disgusting appearance and is unfit to eat. 



In markets which 

 cater to high class 

 trade, dry picked poul- 

 try brings better prices 

 than the scald picked 

 product. The large 

 eastern markets pay a 

 premium for well 

 dressed, dry picked poul- 

 try and in some of them 

 scald picked poultry 

 goes begging at low 

 prices. The same is true of some markets on the _ Pacific 

 coast. A very large percentage, however, of the markets in 

 the United States, in inland cities especially, handle scalded 

 poultry exclusively and in most of them it is diflScult to find 

 attractive looking table poultry. 



It is to be hoped that dry picking will become more 

 general and that all of our markets will show a decided pre- 

 ference for products of superior quality. 



DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING B. & S. 

 SHIPPING COOPS 



THROUGH the courtesy of Mr. F. S. Snyder, of the 

 firm of Batchelder & Snyder Co., wholesale meat 

 dealers, we are permitted to reproduce their plans 

 and instructions for building a simple and inexpensive mar- 

 ket poultry shipping coop. 



Material Bequired 



19 laths, each cut into four pieces of one foot in length. 

 75 one-foot pieces are required. 9 strips cut from 7-8 inch 

 stock, each strip 4 feet long and 1} inches wide. 6 strips 

 from Hnch stock cut 2 feet 4 inches long. Six-penny slim 

 nails for the i inch stocks; three penny nails for the laths. 

 3 pieces of tin or galvanized iron or common strap iron, each 

 6 inches long and J to | inches in width. To prevent split- 

 ting soak the laths and strips over night. Weight of coop 

 when finished about 42 pounds. 



Two of the sections one and the sliding bar form the top 



"Make four sections, numbered 1, as follows: Take 

 two of the four-foot strips and nail them together, nailing 

 on them twelve of the one-foot strips of lath. The end laths 

 are to be from 3 to 3 J inches from the ends, as shown in the 



