Cramming M a chines. 
83 
The most peculiar thing about M. Martin’s management, however, is the singular fact that 
the fowls are tied upon their perches by thongs of raw hide, which arc passed round their feet, 
but leaving them otherwise at perfect liberty. Partitions or upright slabs fixed to the perches 
divide them from each other, and keep them practically in separate compartments, with the great 
advantage of a free circulation of air. The whole apparatus is frequently disinfected with sulphate 
of iron, which keeps the birds perfectly free from vermin. The feeding is done by a machine 
which contains the food in a reservoir. The operator, who has a seat which he can vary in height, 
takes the head of a fowl in one hand, and with the other places down the gullet of the bird a nozzle 
fixed on the end of a flexible tube which reaches to the machine ; by then pressing down a 
treadle, a piston forces the proper quantity into the fowl’s crop. A graduated dial regulates the 
quantity given, according to the age, size, and stage of fattening of each bird. A slight push with 
the hand causes the frame to revolve so as to bring the next bird opposite the feeder, and the 
feeding is thus performed with such rapidity that one hour is sufficient for the entire 200 
birds. The commission states that the fowls seem to enjoy this novel mode of treatment, and that 
if any drops of the nearly fluid food fall accidentally upon the perches, they are eagerly pecked 
up by the eager birds. As soon as the fowls are ready for market they are hung up by the 
feet, a cloth passed round them to prevent struggling, and a small knife thrust into the 
throat. As soon as dead, they are plucked, washed, drawn, wrapped in wet cloths to cool 
rapidly, and placed on a stage that the blood may freely escape, on which the whiteness of 
the flesh depends. 
These arrangements we quite agree with the commission are well worthy of consideration. 
It might be thought that the fowls would struggle violently on finding themselves fastened to the 
perches ; but this is not the case if put on at night. The advantages in cleanliness and ventilation 
are very great, and it is found that the birds almost invariably thrive and fatten well. The 
commission, in fact, expresses great surprise and satisfaction at the results achieved, and strongly 
recommends the adoption of M. Martin’s system, which may be considered to be the "latest 
improvement” as regards poultry-fattening in France. In this country we believe the sole 
manufacturers of machines for cramming are Messrs. Crook, whose apparatus is represented 
in Fi°\ 46, where A is the cylinder containing the food, terminating in the flexible nozzle B. 
The piston which forces out the food is propelled by a rack and pinion, C, driven by an ordinary 
power-gearing from the hand wheel, which is furnished with three handles. In using, the cylinder 
is turned upon the pivot D to an upright position, and filled with the semi-liquid food ; the whole 
is then returned to the horizontal position, and by means of the three handles on the wheel, 
the proper quantity is injected into the gullet of each fowl by turning the wheel one-third 
of a revolution. It will be seen that two persons are required to work this machine ; and it 
would be better as a piece of mechanism if the cylinder were retained permanently in an upright 
position, or the piston worked by a treadle in the French mode, the nozzle being gradually 
