Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-07-03
Aonltrp.
FATTENING CHICKENS BY
MACHINERY.

1t seems to be generally admitted by
gourmands that no chickens not of mechani-
cal fattoning have such exquisite flavor as
those submitted to the process In the gar
dens of accimaton at Paris this is very SCI
entifcally practiced under the direction of
NJ. Odile Martin. ats advantages" say the
authorities, "do not consist in the rapidity of
the process alone, but above all in the spe-
cial quality of the meat thus produced 1t
is solid, very tender, exceedingly fine grain
ed, not over fat (which would not be an ad-
vantage), very white in color, and Of flavor
quite exceptionally excellent" If this is
so, of course there is no help for the chick
ems They must perforce enter their epinetts
and be automatically crammed. Behold
here the ingenious contrivance of the gardens
Of acclimation for manufacturing this excep-
tlonally excellent flavor.
1t is a huge cylinder with fourteen faces,
each in five stories of three compartments
each. 1t holds, therefore 2l0 fowls. The
cylinder is hollow and empty, except for the
axis on which it turns. This hollow con-
structon renders it easily ventilated and
kept clean. Before it is a box for the oper-
ator. This box or carriage moves up and
down by pulleys. The gavour-that sounds
less offensive than crammer-operates thus !:
Commencing at the bottom Of one Of these
fourteen faces, he seizes with the left hand
the neck of one OF the chickens, and press
ing on each side oil the beak, the bird is
forced to open its mouth, as any lady knows
who has doctored sick chicken or canary.
The gaveur then introduces the metallic end
Of the rubber tube into the throat Of the
chicken, and by pressure Of the foot on a
pedal the food rises, aud at the same time
the amount passing through the tube is indi-
Gated on dial in front Of the operator. 1t
is, therefore, a skilful operation, for the ga
yeur, whatever other motions are necessary,
must pay strict attention to the needle ON the
dial, or he will give his chicken too much or
too little. The three chickens duly fed he
turns the cylinder on its axis a little, and
the next face of it is before him. When he
has completed the round he turns tho crank
aud the carriage rises to the next story; and
80 he goes on to the top. Having completed
tho upper circuit, every chicken in that cpl
netto is duly fed. Then he turns the or aux
in the other direction, and the carriage de-
scends to the floor, where it rests on rail-
road. 1t is then moved along before the
next epinette, and the whole operation on
30 more chickens is repeated. A skillful
operator will gave, or cram, 400 chickens in
an hour. That is less than nine seconds to
each one for the time to move the cylinder,
to move the carriage up and down, and to
the next epinette must be counted out. Under
this epinette regime it requires an average
of fifteen days to iatten a duck, eighteen for
chicken, twenty for a goose, and twenty
FIVE for turkey. The food used for chick
ems is barley and corn meal, mixed with milk
into dough so thin that no other liquid is
required. The ordinary quantity given is
from ten to twenty ccntiliters, or from seven
tenths to ono and four.tenths Of gill each
time but this quantity is reached gradual
ly. When the maximum that any chicken
can assimilate is found, the number indicat-
ing this quantity is placed before its COM
partment, and the gaveur must measure it
exactly on the dial.
Truly, this is an ago Of wonders. What
q labor-saving invention this epinette must
be to the chickens Maybe it is not wise to
give these details. What If some enterpris-
ing American should be thereby tempted to
invest his whole fortune in grand improv'
cd automaton steam power epinette, war
ranted to feed ten thousand chickens a min
ute.--Harper's Magazine.