78 



THE CHICK BOOK 



it would be soft, and wholly lacking in stamina, or con- 

 stitution. Where the birds are to be marketed by the time 

 they are four to seven months old the constitution need not 

 be considered, if the birds have sufficient to stand heavy 

 feeding and continue putting on good, fatted flesh. The 

 Important thing is that growth shall be continuous and 

 rapid, and the best quality of flesh attained. 



Marketing Soft-Roasters. 



The chickens above described are all dry picked, a,nd as 

 a rule are marketed by special dealers. In the south shore 

 section the birds are generally sold alive, to such dealers as 

 Messrs. J. H. Curtiss & Brother, or Mr. Farrar, and picked 

 by their men. In the south Jersey section the birds are 



visible under the skin of the breast. That discolored ap- 

 pearance of those two chickens distinctly marred their 

 otherwise fine appearance, and cheapened them. Experi- 

 enced caterers know that the juices of the meat are less 

 fine and not as pleasing to the palate where that decaying 

 bunch of food is left in the crops and gizzards, and refuse 

 to buy such chickens if better are getable. The seller has 

 sold a few more ounces of weight in each dozen birds, but 

 had lowered the price several times the gain in weight. 

 Lowering the quality invariably lowers the price of chicken 

 meat, just as of everything else in the world! 



There is no one thing that poultry growers so much 

 need to learn as that good appearance and fine quality are 

 most important factors in their profits. 



Interior View of a Brooding House, where no Hovers are Used, on the Jordan Poultry Plant. 



mostly picked by the farmers, and bought up by such deal- 

 ers as Allen of Glassboro, who packs and ships them to New 

 York, Boston or Philadelphia, as the markets in those cities 

 warrant. 



It is of the greatest importance that the work of pick- 

 ing be nicely done. The tender, "soft" skin may be so torn 

 and marred that a decidedly lower price will be returned 

 for the birds. The importance of a good appearance cannot 

 be too frequently urged. It is safe to say that thousands 

 of dollars are lost to poultry growers each year because cf 

 their ignoring this point. Take the one simple matter of 

 the birds being starved (literally not fed or watered) for 

 twenty-four to thirty-six hours so that the crop and gizzard 

 shall be entirely empty at time of killing. Only yesterday 

 we stopped at a marketman's window in Boston to look at 

 a display of fine roasters. Two of them had not been 

 starved before killing and there was a small greenish crop 



Many poultry growers cannot understand that it is the 

 "condition" in which stock arrives in the market that deter- 

 mines its value, and seem to think that because it was good 

 stuff when they sent it they should have the highest market 

 price for it. A shipper who sends chickens into the market 

 that show the effects of the soft weather will not receive the 

 price of that which is marketed bright and fresh. 



An amusing case of this kind came up in Boston a few 

 years ago. A farmer sent a case containing two dozen 

 ducks on a Saturday morning in summer, and they lay in 

 the express office over Sunday. When they reached the 

 commission dealer on Monday morning they were so "soft" 

 they were practically unfit for human food. Just as the 

 dealer got them open the keeper of an Italian boarding 

 house came in, looking for special bargains, and the 

 dealer called his attention to the ducks. The boarding 

 house man turned them over, felt of them, and then said 



