The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-08
By MRS. JOHN c. MOSES

By MRS. JOHN c. MOSES Badly picked chickens cause money losses to packers. and the importance of proper picking is comparatively as great to the owner of a small flock whose picking is done only for the family table, Torn skins, burnt wings and legs duo to continued and rough stripping, pin' feathers that show dscolored necks be- cause the neck feathers were pulled first instead of ast-these things can be pre- vented by proper picking.
 Much loss results from "roughing'' when the quills and most of the soft feathers are removed. The few feathers, pins and down remaining should be re- moved by the "tipper'' or ''pinner' Proper brairing is essential to easy dry picking-it makes dry picking as easy as "scalding"
 STEPS IN PICKING The following paragraphs explaining the steps in picking are numbered to correspond with the sketches in the pie ture, reading from left to right: No. 1.-The picking shackle, made of gal vanized wire one eighth inch in dame- ter, is suspended by cord With the feet in the shackle the wings of the bird should be level with your elbows.
 No. 2.-As soon as the throat vein is cut and the brain punctured, grasp the wings in the left hand. being sure not to clasp the neck. Grasp the tail with the right hand-thumb down-then turn the wrist and twist out the feathers ,as the fisl turns upward.
 No. 3.-Pull the large wing feathers next. Hold the hand with the thumb up- ward. Grasp as many feathers as you can in one hand. Jerk them out with d sharp, quick downward movement. One grab for small birds-two for large.
 No. 4-Now for the breast and sides. Begin at the wishbone. Take large hand fuls. Seize the feathers with the whole fist, thumb upward. Pull up and out, twisting the forearm outward
 No. 5.-Work up to the thighs, taking
 large fistfuls of feathers and being sure to pull upward and twist the forearm out ward It's the twist that turns the trick and prevents torn skins. Do one side first, then the other.
 Mo- 6.-The legs come next. Clasp the leg firmly at it's base. Keep the thumb upward. Move the closed hand along the leg, pressing hard enough to strip the feathers. Be sure to work in the direction of the feather setting, and strip only once. Feathers left must be pulled
 THE BODY FEATHERS
 No. 7.-As the shackle holds the legs apart, it's easy to slip the hand between them to pull the soft body feathers. Pull up. and toward the body of the picker.
 No. S.-The trick in removing the back and hip feathers is to grasp the feathers with the palm of the hand outward, and then rotate the forearm inward. This makes sort of scraping motion. and ou. come the feathers.
 No. 9.-In the picture is hand in the act of scraping. Do you see the way the forearm Is turned inward? Pull out the little feathers between the shoulders with thumb and forefinger.
 Mo- 10.-Now is the time to strip the neck. Clasp the neck, thumb upward, around the base. Strip by sweeping downward Sometimes two sweeps are needed-one on the upper the other on the lower half of the neck. Any feathers $ left must be picked out.
 No 11.-Great care must be taken with sition with the thumb and forefinger, the body. Stretch the wing as shown. Pick the medium sized, soft feathers on the broad surfaces in small punches with the thumb and forefinger. If the punches are too large, the skin will be torn.
 No. 12.-Hold the wing at vertical pc. sition wit hthe thumb and forefinger, pinching the second joint from the body. With thumb and forefinger moving downward against the feather setting remove the small feathers on edges and web. The stiff feathers and fans are pulled one at time by bending sharply downward and jerking quickly.
 POULTRY APPEAL RENEWED
 Renewing their appeal to Americans to increase production of poultry and eggs. the specialists of the United States department of agriculture in a meeting at Kansas City in June adopted plat form of production with the following aims: Keep better poultry. select healthy, vigorous breeders; hatch early, preserve eggs( except for matching; cull the fiocks. keep small flocks to supply the family tables. grow as much poultry feed as possible; eat more poultry and eggs and conserve the meat supply
 GULL THE POULTRY FLOCK
 To encourage the production of better poultry specialists of the United States department of agriculture are now con ducting campaign urging all poultry growers to cull their flocks at this sea son and keep only the best laying hens for next year. In this work they are urging poultry departments of agricu;-