Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-08
MARKETING FARM PRODUCE
Importance Of Care in Packing and Trans
porting.
Hints Regarding Butter, Eggs and
Poultry-Ship Only the
Best.

fetary Wilson. The bulletin is for the pur-
pose, as Its title indicates. of giving such
instruction that the producer NAV have
mis- stun arrive at the market i'm the best
condition possible
The bulletin states that farm products
Sell at greatly reduced prices in the market
owing to a damaged condition. which with
a little care would have been avoided. In
sucn cases. the only profit accru.s 10 the
transportation company, whose charges
Tor Carrying freight, of course. do not de-
Pend upon quality. but quantity.
Inc writer says that during the past
season ne witnessed striking example in
Washington of TRANSPORTING Agricultural
prouucts under conditions which would
inevitably result in the destruction of the
entlre shipment upon its arrival on its des-
.lnation. A boat load Of fruit on its way
to this market. chiefly blackberries and
cherries. al, of which had cost time and
money to raise and pick and pack, was so
careiessiy put up i'm packages buckets and
Larreis or all sorts. shapes and sizes. that
the whole was rapidly spelling In some of
the pals and boxes the blackberries we're
already fermenting and the deck of the
boa' was running red with tine iuice Of the
crushed berries The only profit this
consignment was to the Transportation
company, whose charges are of course
just as high when carelessly packed as on
carefully packed fruit. The opinion is
SiNNh tiidl StleCleu and backed n
very large portion of the fruit in question
would have reached its destination in good
order and sold at a profit for the shipper.
Butter Tubs Too Big.
In regard 10 butter the bulletin says
That there is probably no product which
brings the farmer better returns for his
labor and investment than this. when
properly made and marketed. On the other
hard, there are few things SO easily ruined
in the making. OF late years the cream
cries have supplied large portion of the
pest butter, but there is still a good de-
hldnd Tor high-luality dairy butter The
STANDARD packages are tubs which contain
70. 80, 40 and 60 pounds, respectively The
S,-pound tub is the size most used hy
cteaihefles. but the average farmer will
IND "a smaller size more satisfactory. as il
VIII usua iy take considerable time and n
number of Cummings to fill the largest tubs
an OF which is detrimental to the product
Uniformity OF the entire tub is of the ut
most Importance: while the more uniform
me entire product, the better. Butter tubs
are Usually made of ash or spruce The
s preee tun IS regarded with the greatest
FAVOR in Boston and throughout the New
England states and in New Orleans mar
het- Elsewhere in this country the tua
made OF ash is preferred.
Ship Only the Best,
III Is almost needless to say that a fine
high flavor is of the greatest Importance in
determining the price, although the finest
ilaVor IN the world VIII not atone fer
sireaked coloring. Cleanliness of the tubs
IS essential Much butter is being exported
~ w, ana so important is this point com
sidered that Immediately on purchase the
eH porters bag alirubs in burlap TO preserve
TIER cIean, fresh appearan.. In some i,-
stdnces the best prices can be obtained by
working up a trade with some near-f,. re-
taller, when ii Will pay TO mack in The s,,alI
pall BOXES; but If your output is 10 go
through the hands of commission mer-
chant, the regulation tubs will ne fo,pd
most satisfactory. In this connection a
lew words of caution may be added. if for
any reason your butter is off" don't shin
II. IL DON'T pay to ship any but the best,
ara butter which is off ia flavor is m ore
than likely to dete;iorate rapidly and
eventually sell as grease" With choice
butter firm at twelve CENTS grease Was
seliiis recently az four cents. and no doubt,
except for the-,nount of care expended
the grease COST as much to make as the
choice butter.
There is no variation in the packages for
eggs. They are invariably shipped i'm the
standard case, which contains thirty doz-
en-. Any commission merchant will furnish
cases Tree when the shipper will promise
shipments of any considerable size of
course, only strictly fresh eggs should DO
shipped, and, more than that. no doubtful
eggs and no soiled eggs should ever be nut
into case for market. There is about a
strictly fresh egg a certain bloom for
which buyers look. This bloom disappears
with time, or is rubbed off with handling.
therefore eggs should be handled as little
as possible.
Preparing Poultry.
Dressed poultry, except ducks and geese
is best packed in barrels. The birds should
not have food for twenty-four hours before
killing. Killing is best done by running a
sharp knife through the roof of the mouth,
making a sufficient wound to bring the
blood freely. Hang hy all
all the blood TO escape. bo not remove the
head, feet, crop, OF intestines Pick the
legs dry, and holding by the legs and head
zip three times in water Just below the boil
ing point. Keep the head out of the hot
water. If the head is dipped, it discolors
the comb ard shrinks the eyes. giving buy
ers the impression that the bird has been
sick. Remove all the feathers. including
pin feathers, at once, taking care not TO
break the skin, and then plump by dip
ping for AN instant into water almost boil
ing, and then into cold water. Hang up the
fowl and allow it to get perfectly cold be-
fore packing.
Dry-picked poultry sells better if the
picking is properly done but il is more Diff
fcult to do well and takes more time. To
dry pick properly the work should be begun
after the bird is killed and
while the blood is still flowing. after the
body gets cold 1t is almost impossible to
avoid tearing the skin. In packing, the
head may be placed under the wing. but
the body and legs should be Strengthened
out. 1dChaSeS nOjQiDS from fVt TO Su
pounds sell most readily. The birds should
be packed tightly to avoid any slipping in
the package.
The best method of picking ducks and
geese is to steam them. If this is imprac-
tioatle, they may be dipped into very hot
water the same as chickens and turkeys,
hut must be kept in a trifie longer. as the
feathers are more difficult to loosen 1t
does not pay to lick them alive for the sake
Of saving the feathers. as the small profit
derived from them Is more than lost on the
sale of the birds. the result being so to in
flame the skin as to greatly injure the sale.
Leave the head and uprer portion of the
neck unp.cked and the legs and feet in
tact. Sometimes the feathers are left on
the first Joint of the wing and on the tail
Never SINCE ducks and geese. IL leaves
the skin oily and uninvtfing. Unless your
birds look clean and attractive. don't ship
either ducks or geese to market. If poorly
PREPARED they are more .han likely not to
ring transportation charges.
n .sR.