MARKETING 



purpose. In other places the best pickers are white men. 

 Women are also employed to a large extent in picking, 

 especially for pinning or finishing up the birds. The price 

 paid for picking runs about 4 cents apiece for hen turkeys 

 and 5 cents for toms. After the bird is thoroughly 

 picked, the blood is washed from the head, and the feet 

 are also washed if very dirty, and it is laid on a rack with 

 other dressed birds. 



When the rack is filled it is wheeled into a cold storage 

 room where the temperature is a little above freezing. 

 The turkeys are left in this room until the body heat is 

 thoroughly out of the birds. This may take from 12 to 

 24 hours. When the birds are thoroughly cooled they are 

 graded according to size and condition and are packed in 

 suitable containers for shipping to market. 



Packing 



Turkeys are put up in two ways: either in boxes or 

 barrels. Probably there are more barrel turkeys than 

 box turkeys, although boxes are used very largely on 

 the Pacific Coast markets and to a considerable extent in 

 other markets. Both barrels and boxes are lined with 

 clean wrapping paper or parchment paper and the heads 

 of the turkeys are likewise wrapped with clean paper. 

 White lumber such as cottonwood is the kind favored for 

 making the barrels and boxes. It is said that pine will 

 impart a flavor and odor to poultry when packed in it. 

 Where turkeys are packed in barrels there are as a rule 



