138 Money in Broilers and Squabs. 



to let them out for about 15 to 30 minutes first thing in the morning 

 and again in the evening before dusk. The meals they get should 

 be nutritious, and a mixture of barley-meal, wheatmeal, a little 

 cornmeal and boiled potatoes given vi^arm twice a day is good. 

 About the last ten or twelve days it is advisable to mix a little finely 

 chopped rough fat with the meal. This has the effect of plumping 

 them up, rendering their flesh much more palatable. A trough of 

 clean water should be supplied to the birds after the evening meal. 



Killing and Picking. 



Green goslings are never drawn for market. 



In picking mongrel geese, the tail feathers should be left on the 

 bird. 



Professional pickers usually receive 10 cents each for picking 

 green geese. 



Young geese should be well fed the night before they are to be 

 killed for market. 



Care should be taken not to tear the flesh, as the skin of some 

 goslings is very tender. 



Some fatteners feed freely of some sweet green food, like oats 

 or sweet corn, about 2 or 3 hours before killing. 



Appearance has much to do with the selling value of geese, as 

 well as of any product put upon the market. 



The feathers from 45 green geese, dressed August 29th, weighed 

 I2| pounds after steaming and drying. 



Expert pickers can dress from 20 to 30 birds in a day, depend- 

 ing, of course, upon whether they are hard or easy to pick. 



When large numbers of green goslings are drsssed, the feathers 

 form no inconsiderable part of the income from fattening. 



Removing the pin feathers one by one is, of course, a slow pro- 

 cess, but it has to be done that the birds may present a good ap- 

 pearance. 



In picking, only the salable feathers are put into the box, the 

 wing and tail feathers and soft pin feathers being thrown upon the 

 floor. 



Before packing, the goslings should be removed from the bar- 

 rels of ice water and laid upon boards or benches to allow the water 

 to drain from them. 



The feathers from a mature gosling will weigh about one-fourtli 

 to one-third of a pound, but green goslings, if quite young, do not 

 yield as many feathers. 



The room to be used for dressing geese should be provided 

 with a box to receive the feathers, at which two pickers can con- 

 veniently sit, one on each side. 



For killing, a stout knife with a double-edged blade about 4 

 inches long, tapering to a point something the shape of a dagger 

 hlade is commonly used. 



A common shoe-knife is most convenient for removing pin 

 feathers, and should be kept very sharp, as a razor edge is neces- 

 sary to do quick and satisfactory work. 



Birds with dark feathers, particularly of Brown China, and 



