September, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



FATTENING POULTRY FOR THE 

 TABLE 



By E. I. FARR1NGTON 



FOR years poultry keepers have supposed 

 that' the proper way to fatten chickens 

 for the table was to feed them whole corn 

 for several weeks before they were to be 

 killed and dressed. Yet this is a mistake, 

 repeated experiments having shown that 

 birds fed on ground grains moistened with 

 milk or even with water will put on flesh 

 much more rapidly than corn-fed chickens. 

 This is a fact for the amateur poultry 

 keeper to remember at this time of the year 

 when there is likely to be a chicken or a 

 fowl on the table several days a week. 

 Most of the hens not to be carried over 

 should be disposed of before long and the 

 surplus cockerels are best out of the way 

 before cold weather, unless they are to be 

 kept in a pen by themselves to provide meat 

 during the Winter months. It may be said 

 in this connection that there will be much 

 less quarreling among the young roosters 

 and that they will fatten more satisfactorily 

 if kept absolutely out of sight and hearing 

 of the pullets and the older hens. Some 

 people find it advantageous to have the 

 cockerels caponized when they are to be 

 carried through the winter for table use. 

 Then they are extremely docile and in- 

 crease rapidly in weight. 



Chickens as they ordinarily come to the 

 table in this country would not satisfy the 

 epicures of Europe, where the preparation 

 of table poultry has come to be a fine art. 

 In France weights and other devices are 

 used to give the fowls an attractive appear- 

 ance when dressed, and birds intended for 

 a high-class trade are often wrapped in 

 linen which has been dipped in milk. 



Most amateurs might easily produce bet- 

 ter table chickens if they would confine 

 them to a small pen for two weeks and feed 

 them fattening rations. When the pens are 

 small the birds get but little exercise and 

 are easier to fatten. Two meals a day are 

 enough, as much being given each time as 

 will be eaten up clean. A good ration is 

 composed of corn meal, bran and ground 

 oats, equal parts of the two named last, and 

 with enough meal to make half the whole 

 amount. Five to ten per cent, of beef 

 scraps may be added. Water may be used 

 in mixing the mash, but milk is much pref- 

 erable, and enough should be stirred into 

 the mixture to give the consistency of cream. 

 Sour milk is rather better than sweet milk, 

 and buttermilk is best of all. 



In the West a number of mammoth plants 

 have been established for the purpose of 

 fattening poultry intended for middle State 

 and eastern markets, and experiments made 

 at these plants have yielded results of much 

 interest. It has been found, for example, 

 that the flesh of such breeds as the Plym- 

 outh Rocks and the Wyandottes, which 

 naturally are yellow skinned, may be made 

 almost white in two weeks of special feed- 

 ing. Corn and its products naturally pro- 

 duce yellow skins. Green foods like clover 



Violets growing in coldest Winter 



Fragrant Violets 

 in Snowy Winter 



— how you can 

 grow them just as 

 easily in February 

 as in May, 



Think of growing fresh violets, 

 pansies, etc., and all the flowers 

 you love so well, right at home, 

 in Mid-Winter, when the ground 

 dettuce, onions, etc., to eat and 



is white-blanketed with snow ! And vegetables, too- 

 all kinds of plants to set out early in the open ! 



You can grow all these things easily and inexpensively with one or more Sunlight 

 Double Glass Sash— the sash that brings Spring to your garden in the dead of Winter. 



and used on hot-beds and cold-frames 

 in season. This feature, coupled with the 

 fact that no expensive heating is neces- 

 sary, makes the "Sunlight" greenhouse 

 by far the most economical one you 

 can buy. 



Try Sunlight Double Glass Sash — see 

 for yourself the pleasure and profit they 

 will bring you. 



Write for These Two 

 Books Today 



One is a book by Prof. Massey, an authority 

 on hot-bed and cold-frame gardening, and the 

 other is our free catalog. They are full of 

 valuable facts on the growing of flowers and 

 vegetables in Winter. The catalog is free. If 

 you want Prof. Massey' s book, enclose 4c. in 

 stamps. Use the coupon. 



Sunlight Double Glass Sash Co. 



The Hot-BcJ, ColJ-Frame and Greenhouse People 

 943 E. Broadway, Louisville, Ky. 



Sunlight Double 

 Glass Sash 



The reason why Sunlights" made 

 Summer gardening possible in February 

 is this: Two layers of glass form the 

 top of the sash. These layers enclose 

 an air-space 5/8-inch thick, which acts 

 as a non-conductor, and retains in the 

 bed heat stored there by the sun, shutting 

 out all the cold. Mats or shutters are 

 never necessary. This does away with 

 the covering and uncovering that ordinary 

 single-glass sash requires. 



A New Sun-Heated 

 Greenhouse 



By applying our double-glass, we have 

 perfected a greenhouse that requires 

 little or no artificial heating, even in zero 

 weather. It is made in sections ready 

 to set up; is 11x12 feet in size; and is 

 glazed with Sunlight Double Glass Sash. 

 These can be easily and quickly removed 



JH.BR00KSeC0.0l!(^^ 



Jloor&Sidewalk Lights. 



OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. 

 Send^Catalogue. 



SCIENTIFIC AND 

 TECHNICAL 



BOOKS 



|]r WE HAVE JUST ISSUED A NEW CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL 

 jJ books, which contains the titles and descriptions of 3500 of the latest and best books covering 



the various branches of the useful arts and industries. 



U| OUR "BOOK DEPARTMENT" CAN SUPPLY THESE BOOKS OR ANY OTHER 

 jJ Scientific or technical books published, and forward them by mail or express prepaid to any 



address in the world on receipt of the regular advertised price. 



|]T SEND US YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS, AND A COPY OF THIS CATALOGUE 

 al will be mailed to you, free of charge. 



MUNN & COMPANY, Inc., Publishers 

 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN OFFICE 361 Broadway, New York City 



