A chicken sold on the general market as dressed has been killed, bled and picked. To be in the best condition for keeping it should be killed by piercing the brain with a sharp knife, bled through the mouth by severing the jugular vein, and dry picked. Such a bird is shown in Fig. 1. It is now ready to be transformed from common chicken into an extra fancy product that often retails as high as 50 cents a pound.

The first thing to do in bringing about this transformation is to singe off the hair-like feathers that cannot be plucked. Wood alcohol makes a good flame for this purpose; it is smokeless and does not give the meat any taint or odor. Be careful not to sear the skin.