The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-14

latter would sour and dscolor the skin, to the great detriment of quality and price.
 | Broilers sell freely on retail poultry routes, and poultrymen who are using the
 ct-to-the-consumer methods of dis l posing of their products make their broil- l CT sales add very materially to the | usually low income of midsummer. For I this home trade 1t pays to dress the 1 stock in a special way, thereby increas- | ing consumption and stiffening prices. 1 The writer has used the following plan to | good advantaget
 Ready for the Fire After the birds are picked. prepare them for the fire. This is a simple task
 when one has had little practice, but 1t is always dreaded by the housewife.
 Run a keen, heavy bladed knife down each side of the backbone, severing the ribs cleanly. Do not cut too deep, as the intestines should not be touched. Carry the incision across the front of the bird, below the neck, and across the rear below the opening of the bowel. | Lift out the backbone, thus removing at one time the head, crop and the internal organs Sever the head from the neck and cut off the rear end of the backbone. l Trim out the heart, cut the gall bladder | from the liver and empty the gizzard.
 The backbone and giblets are then ready
 for use.
 Next open the bird and run the knife
 along the center of the breastbone. Break
 this and the keelbone may be pulled
 out. The carcass will then lie as flat
 as a slice of beefstealS and, after the | feet have been removed, is ready to
 place on the broiling iron.
 | Broiler chicks thus dressed should be packed fiat in pairs, accompanied by the edible portions which were removed in
 dressing. A pair nicely wrapped in wax | ed paper and placed in a suitable box
 makes a package which one may deliver with full assurance that it will give satis- faction and bring further orders. SPoultrymen who are located within ship ping distance of the health resorts can | usually dispose of broilers to very good advantage during the entire summer sea
 son. Stock of this kind is consumed in tremendous quantities, and the better ho- tels frequently pay very satisfactory prices for high-grade stun, even after general quotations reach the low level of
 midsummer. Right here the producer has an opportunity to exercise any business ability he may possess in making a good contract for his products. This applies also to those who have fine retail routes. Those who must depend upon the general market are confronted by an entirely diff ferent situation.
 Broiler quotations drop rapidly as the
 
 come available. These are gathered up by collectors from the general formers. usually at very low prices, are taken to central points, dressed and rushed to the great eastern markets. Naturally. the poultry specialist secures little satisfaction in competing for this trade. There is too little margin between cost of pro- duction and selling price. The solution of
 this problem is the capon, one of the most delicious and highest priced poultry specalties in the whole list. A capon is an unsexed male bird, from which certain sexual organs have been
 removed early in life The operation is | very simple, and any one can easily | learn how to perform it, either from watching a competent operator or study | ing and following the detailed. fully H. lustrated instructions which are furnish- | ed by manufacturers of caponizing in struments and appear in many textbooks | on poultry husbandry. Of course, when | the latter plan Is followed one will do well to experiment on birds which have | been killed for table use before actually
 operating upon living specimens. | Advantages of CapOns The advantages to be derived from
 caponizing are many. Capons make con- siderably larger growth than cockerels, and their flesh remains soft indefinitely This permits the grower to hold them
 over the crowed fall market and sell
 them to advantage during the winter
 months Not only do they make greater weight, but the price per pound is much
 higher, the income per bird is consid-
 erably increased. and the profits cor lrespondingly enlarged.
 l Further, they are very quiet and docile, | not inclined to take vigorous exercise
 which makes hard flesh, and never fight l ing among themselves or annoying the other stock. The experienced poutryman will appreciate relief from these vexa- tions
 Valuable for Market or Home
 The practice of caponizing these surplus