16 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
water, left there for several seconds, and then placed in cold 
water to cool. ‘This process is technically known as ‘‘plump- 
ing,’’ and it greatly improves the appearance of the carcass. 
If the stock is to be iced when shipped, it can remain in this 
cold bath until taken out for packing. Otherwise it should be 
removed when thoroughly cooled and hung up todry. Never 
hang the birds in a direct draught, as they will become ‘‘wind- 
dried,’’ which is not desirable. 
DRY PICKING. 
Dry picking usually gives the beginner considerable trouble. 
Cramped fingers, backache, and discouragement are merely in- » 
cidentals. But every market poultryman should learn the pro- 
cess, and this comes only by practice. After a time a certain 
‘“‘knack’’ is acquired, and the work becomes easy. Much of 
the success of dry picking depends upon how the bird has been 
killed. If properly stuck in the brain or struck with the club, 
the feathers may be removed with comparative ease. Other- 
wise they will frequently act as if clinched under the skin. It 
is not to be expected that a bird will not be torn occasionally. 
The most expert pickers have frequent accidents of this kind, 
as often a bird will be picking easily and smoothly, and then 
for some unexplainable reason the skin will tear. The best 
thing to do, then, is to work carefully when picking the 
portions of the body most liable to tear, and hurry on the 
remainder. 
Have the bird hung at a convenient height, neither too high 
nor too low, as either height becomes tiresome before many 
birds have been dressed. Most pickers prefer to work with the 
bird about opposite the elbows. Begin to pick immediately 
after the bird has been stuck, as the feathers come easier while 
the blood is flowing. Operators differ in their ideas as to 
which portions of the body should be plucked first, but many 
experts work as follows: First, the coarse feathers of the 
wings are removed, one sweeping motion of the hand usually 
being sufficient for each wing. ‘The tail feathers are next 
snapped out. As the breast is the most tender part and the one 
most easily torn, it is next attacked. On each side of the 
breast bone lies a narrow strip differing in appearance from 
the rest of the breast, and these are extremely tender. After the 
