or two well-located drug or stationery stores for the display of large
cards bearing notices of the things for sale and your address; but,
of course, there are dozens of ways to find customers. Advertising in
newspapers will do as a last resource, but strictly personal methods
are the best.
Now about packing. Eggs should never be more than two days old and
must be sorted into lots of uniform color and size. If the eggs should
become soiled in muddy weather, wipe them with a damp cloth as soon as
gathered, so that the shell does not become permanently stained.
For private customers, table birds should be especially fattened and
dry picked, which means that the feathers are removed as soon as the
bird has been killed, without its being dipped into scalding water. As
the scalding spoils the flavour, birds so dressed are only accepted by
third-class market.
After the feathers and pin-feathers have all been removed, the bird
should be drawn, washed in cold water, wiped quite dry, a piece of
charcoal or peeled onion put inside the body and then trussed, for they
look so much more attractive than when shipped in a sprawling condition.
Drawing and dressing for market is not the custom for general marketing
in this country, but it is universal in Europe, and private customers
always appreciate the improvement such rigid cleanliness necessarily
makes in flavour. Wrap each bird in a square of new cheese-cloth. Place
a few sprigs of parsley, thyme and summer savoury at one side, for the
convenience of the cook; then put on an outer wrapping of white paper
and tie with clean, fresh string. Things going from a home should look
dainty.
Don’t try sending butter by express unless you have orders enough to
make it worth while to buy one of the refrigerator hampers which are
now used for automobiles. A hamper which costs about four dollars will
hold five or six pounds of butter, so it is not a very great outlay
when you can get forty-five cents a pound for your butter. In making
up hampers of fruit and vegetables, use small grape-baskets to divide
the different varieties. Line them with green leaves. Pack everything
with dainty care and reject everything which is not in perfect
condition. Don’t let anything interfere with the arranged schedule for
shipping. Gain a reputation for uniform excellence and punctuality, and
success is sure.
THE END
[Transcriber’s Note:
Obvious printer errors corrected silently.
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]
End of Project Gutenberg's Making Home Profitable, by Kate V. Saint-Maur