26 BULLETIN 21, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGBICULTUBB. 
can successfully direct ordinary help which shows some adapt ability 
in feeding chickens and has had some experience in that work. 
Under ordinary conditions such help, if well selected and properly 
advised, may secure very good results; but in case of emergency, 
such as an over-supply of chickens, or extremely hot or cold weather, 
the expert manager easily proves his extra worth, as it is impossible 
for the manager of the average poultry house to always be on hand 
during such occasions. Conclusions drawn from the season's work 
show that in these cases the cost of the expert labor, combined with 
the different methods of handling the birds and the extra labor of 
picking out sick birds and " cripples," made the labor cost per pound 
of gain considerably higher than at any of the other stations, the average 
cost of labor per 1G0 pounds of gam at the stations being SI. 41 at 
Station 3, $1.58 at Station 2, $1.75 at Station 4, and $2 at Station 1. 
GRADING POULTRY. 
Two grades of dressed poultry were made at Station 1 — fancy, or 
No. 1, and choice, or Xo. 2 — with a very small per cent of culls which 
are not included in these tables. The variation at this station for 
each successive 20 lots was as follows, the figures given representing 
the Xo. 2 grade: 7.9 per cent, 13.5 per cent, 13.4 per cent, 14.8 per 
cent, 14.7 per cent, 12.8 per cent. 
Four grades were made at Station 4, classed as Xos. 1, 2, 3, and 4. 
The Xo. 1 grade included all fancy dressed poultry which plainly showed 
the effect of milk f eeding, particularly a bleach, which is so characteristic 
of milk-fed poultry. The second grade was made up of well-bleached 
poultry, not as well fleshed as the first grade or which had undesirable 
market features, such as black or feathered legs, dark pin feathers, 
or not neatly dressed. The third grade included the well-fleshed 
birds, which were not well bleached, while the fourth grade bore the 
same relation to the third as the second did the first. The per cent 
of the several grades was as follows for each successive two weeks 
during the season: Xo. 1, 39, 25, 21, 35, 39, 45, and 24; Xo. 2, 9, 6, 
5, 8, 10, 10, and 8; Xo. 3, 35, 44, 49, 35, 34, 38, and 13: and Xo. 4, 
17, 25, 25, 22, 17, 7, and 55. The per cent of fancy grades varied directly 
with the per cent of gains in the feeding station, high gains producing 
a large per cent of the Xo. 1 grade. 
SHRINKAGE IN DRESSING. 
The shrinkage in killing and picking without drawing at Station 1 
averaged 11.4 per cent for lots 1 to 20: 13.5 per cent for lots 21 to 
40; 13.4 per cent for lots 41 to 60; 14.3 per cent for lots 61 to 80; 
15.4 per cent for lots 81 to 100; and 15.1 per cent for lots 101 to 113. 
The lowest shrinkage was in the broilers, and gradually increased with 
