The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-12-18
DRESSING AND SHIPPING PoUL,
TRY.

In the first place, poultry should be
kept without food twenty four hours;
full crops injure the appearance and
are liable to sour, and when this does
occur, correspondingly lower prices
must be accepted than obtainable for
choice stock. Never kill poultry by
wringing the neck.
To DRESS CHICKENS Kill by bleed
ing in the mouth or opening the veins
in the neck; hang by the feet until
properly bled. L9ave head and feeton,
and do not remove intestines nor crop
Scalded chickens sell best to home
trade, and dry picked best to shippers;
so that either manner Of dressing will
do if properly executed. For scalding
chickens, the water should be as %
the boiling point as possible without
boiling; pick the legs dry before scald-
ing; hold by the head and legs and i'm
merse and lift up and down three
times; if the head is immersed, it turns
the color of the comb and gives the
eyes a shrunken appearance, which
leads buyers to think the fowl has been
sick; the feathers and pin feathers
should then be removed Immediately
very clearly, and without breaking the
skin; then plump" by dipping ten
seconds in water nearly or quite boil
ing hot, and then Immediately into
cold water; hang in a cool place until
the animal heat is entirely out of the
body. To pick dry chickens properly,
the work should be done while the
chickens are bleeding; do not wait ard
let the bodies get cold. Dry picking is
much more easily done while the bodies
are warm. Be careful and do not break
and tear the skin.
To DRESS TURKEYS Observe the
same instructions as given for prepar-
ing chickens, but always dry pick.
Dressed turkeys, when dry picked, al
ways sell best and command better
prices than scalded lots, as the appear
ance is brighter and more attractive.
Endeavor to market all old and heavy
gobblers before January 1st, as after
the holidays the demand is for small,
fat hen turkeys only, old Toms being
sold at a discount to Gamers.
Ducks AND GEESE Should be scald-
ed in the same temperature of water as
for other kinds of poultry, but it re-
quires more time for the water to pene-
trate and loosen the feathers. Some
parties advise, after scalding, to wrap
them in a blanket for the purpose of
steaming, but they must not be left in
this condition long enough to cook the
ash. Do not uL dertake to dry pick
geese and ducks just before killing for
the purpose Of saving the feathers, as
it causes the skin to become very much
inlamed and is a great injury to the
sale. Do not pick the feathers eff the
head; leave the feathers on for two OF
three inches on the neck, Do not SINCE
the bodies for the purpose of removing
any down or hair, as the heat from the
fame will give them an oily and I'm
slightly appearance. After they are
picked clean, they should be held in
scalding water about ten seconds for
the purpose of Pumping, and then
rim sed off in clean, cold water. Fat,
heavy stock is always preferred.
Before packing and shipping, poultry
should be thoroughly dry and cold, but
not frozen; the animal heat should be
entirely out of the body pack in boxes
or barrels; boxes holding 100 to 2OOlbs.
are preferable and pack snugly;
straighten out the body and legs, so
that they will not arrive very much
bent and twisted out of shape; fill the
packages as full as possible to prevent
moving about On the way barrels an
swer better for chickens and ducks
than for turkeys or geese; when con
venient; avoid putting more than one
kind in a package, mark kind and
weight of each description on the pack,
age, and mark shipping directions
plainly on the cover.-Farmers' Re-
UieIU.