TURKEY RAISING 



doubled their numbers, and the Pacific states, which 

 showed a very substantial increase. 



Reasons for Decreased Production 



The reasons for the decrease in turkey production are 

 several. Probably the principal cause is the fact that as 

 the population in any section of the country increases in 

 numbers, there is a tendency for agriculture to become 

 more intensive and the farms to become smaller. For this 

 reason the amount of range suitable for the raising of 

 turkeys is lessened. Then, too, where farms are close 

 together, the ranging habits of turkeys cause them to 

 work over the grain fields of adjacent farms and this is 

 likely to cause ill will, for damage to the growing crops 

 is attributed to them in a much greater measure than is 

 deserved and no credit is given them for the beneficial 

 effects of the insect destruction which they bring about. 

 Many farmers have therefore given up raising turkeys 

 rather than have this cause of trouble between themselves 

 and their neighbors. Disease has likewise been quite a lim- 

 iting factor in turkey raising. The mortality among the 

 young turkeys, with the usual care which is given them 

 on farms, runs high. Outbreaks of blackhead and of 

 some other diseases are frequent and serious in certain 

 sections of the country, and the losses resulting from 

 these outbreaks have discouraged the farmers from at- 

 tempting to raise turkeys. In some sections, also, pred- 



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