140 Money in Broilers and Squabs. 



purifies them and removes somewhat of the oily odor which they 

 otherwise have. 



When many pin feathers are found on the birds, they have to 

 be removed with a sharp knife. White pin feathers can be shaved 

 of?, as the part remaining in the skin will not show, but black pin 

 feathers must be removed entirely. The operator takes the skin 

 of the bird between the fingers of the left hand and makes a slight 

 longtitudinal cut in the skin on the side of the pin feather, when it 

 can be easily removed. 



As soon as the bird is picked the blood is rinsed from the head 

 and mouth, the bird is placed upon its back, and a string tied tightly 

 around the middle of the body, pressing the wings firmly against 

 the sides. Fairly stout, white cotton twine is generally used for 

 this purpose, but mongrel geese, for the Christmas trade are some- 

 times tied with a narrow colored tape, or braid, which adds some- 

 what to the appearance of birds designed for a fancy trade. 



Some fatteners break down the breast bone before tying. To 

 do this the bird is laid on its back on a solid bench, the breast is 

 covered with several thicknesses of damp cloth, and two or three 

 blows on the breast-bone given with a wooden paddle, made from a 

 piece of smooth oak board, about an inch thick and perhaps six 

 inches wide. Just enough force should be used to crush down the 

 rib bones, so as to settle the breast bone down somewhat, the ob- 

 ject being to give the breast a plump, meaty appearance. After the 

 wings are closely tied against the body, and the blood has been 

 rinsed from the head, the bird is immersed in ice water, barrels 

 usually being provided for this purpose. 



Where birds are scalded all the feathers are removed, including 

 those on the neck and wings left on when the bird is dry picked. 

 This allows the housewife to use the whole neck and wings in cook- 

 ing, so that the shrinkage in drawing would be a little less from this 

 method of picking than from dry picking. 



Josephine Morse, in Poultry Topics, gives this method of killing 

 artid picking geese ; hang the goose up by the feet where it cannot 

 bruise itself. Stick a narrow-bladed sharp knife through the neck 

 close to head. Be sure to sever the veins, but make as small a wound 

 as possible. Let the goose hang till dead. Have a boiler little more 

 than half full of boiling water; throw in one pail full of cold water; 

 take the goose in one hand, dip in the water three times and then 

 wrap in an old bag or carpet to steam a few minutes. Then with 

 the thumb and fingers remove the feathers and down at once by de- 

 ginning at the head. Finish by singing with a blaze made with 

 shavings, as there will be less smoke. Then wash in rather warm 

 soap suds and dip in cold water. A small vegetable brush is nice 

 for the purpose. 



Practically, all the geese sold in Boston and New York markets 

 are dry picked, but for some markets scalding is practiced. In that 

 case the birds are dipped quickly into hot water, sometimes alter- 

 nating the dipping with cold water, and the birds while moist with 

 the hot water are wrapped tightly for a few moments in cloth. The 

 operation must be carefully done, so that the head will loosen the 



