82 POULTRY FEEDING AXD FATT£>fING 



cramming machines, fattening some 20,000 fowls every 

 month. In this connection, I might state tliat pre- 

 viously this party ran thirty incuhators, raising thou- 

 sands of chickens yearly, besides producing thousands 

 of dozens of eggs for the market yearly. But he has 

 found so much, money in fattening by cramming that 

 lae has given iip raising poultry and eggs for the market, 

 and his thirty incubators 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 party who 

 supplies the White Star line with, poultry fattened by 

 cramming, and they take all he can supply. The 

 Armour packing company of Davenport, la., has a 

 contract for 500,000 hand-crammed poultry. 



The greatest industry of Clarinda, la., is fattening 

 chickens for the London market. At the central station 

 here butter, eggs and poultry are received from a 

 radius of seventy-five miles and to the value of 

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

 Iowa, and has othei' stations at Keokuk, Burlington and 

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

 worth of dairy and poultry products each year. The 

 feeding house at Clarinda accommodates about 7500 

 chickens which are fattened by cramming appliances. 



Advantage of Special Metliods — By this means the 

 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 greatly advanced. The process of 

 fattening is not secret, as has been represented. The 

 Clarinda poultry company is anxious to teach the 

 farmers how to do it in order that they may improve 

 the value of their chickens by proper food and care. 

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

 is no reason why they should not fatten their cliickens. 

 The feeding machine will eventually be a common 



