46 



TURKEYS— THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



were made on the sale of goods. It also confined shipping 

 from the west to the coldest months of the year. Under the 

 present conditions, however, birds may be shipped in refrig- 

 erator cars, or packed in ice, and upon arrival, if the market 

 is dull and sales slow, or if the price falls below the ship- 

 pers' figures, the entire shipment may be placed in cold stor- 

 age and held indefinitely without deterioration in sweetness, 

 though after thawing they wiil not keep so long nor so well 

 if they have been kept frozen for any great length of time. 

 We know of one lot of chickens which were recently taken 

 out of the freezer which have been so stored for three years. 

 They were perfectly sweet when taken out and the appear- 

 ance was good. They lacked keeping qualities, and had to 

 be very quickly disposed of after thawing. As is well known, 

 poultry in these freezers is kept solidly frozen, and the car- 

 casses are covered with white frost. If, after removal, they 

 are to be quickly thawed, the common custom is to throw 

 t'uem into a tub, barrel or tank of cold water, where they are 

 allowed to stay until the water has taken the frost com- 

 pletely out of the carcass. It is not uncommon to find little 

 lumps of ice floating in the water which have been formedby 

 the frost which is drawn from the poultry, ilost consumers 

 of the well-to-do classes profess antipathy to all frozen poul- 

 try. The facts are that, when the poultry is fresh killed and 

 in perfect condition, cold storage does not seem to make 

 much difference in its flavor or appearance. Where it has 

 been kept until in danger of . spoiling, or is imperfectly 

 dressed, it does not appeal to the fastidious taste after hav- 

 ing been frozen for an indefinite period and then thawed. 

 The flesh lacks juiciness and flavor, and to many it is alto- 

 gether unpalatable as food. Rhode Island turkeys seldom or 

 never reach the freezer, but are generally sold within a few 

 hours of their arrival in the market. With western turkeys 

 it is very different. Many whole shipments go into the 

 freezers rather than to sell at market quotations and a great 

 many are bought on the low market and held by the various 

 dealers to be used through the summer months. Roast tur- 

 key is as common in July and August at many of the sum- 

 mer resorts as any other kind of poultry, and this is only 

 possible because of the modern storage facilities. 



Several experiments have been made in shipping western 

 live turkeys to New England, where they have been kept and 

 fed and, when in suitable condition, killed and marketed as 

 Rhode Island turkeys. This, however, has rarely proved to 

 be a paying venture. The birds come through in very thin 

 and poor condition and whether from the change of climate 

 or because of unfamiliar surroundings, they are slow to take 

 on flesh, and a great many are lost from one complaint or 



another. Those which do reach the killing period by the 

 ordinary stages do not turn out as good poultry, nor com- 

 pare at all favorably with the native stock of this section. 

 The turkey is naturally timid in disposition and it is doubt- 

 ful if they ever can be handled and changed about from one 

 place to another in large numbers without deterioration in 

 market qualities. 



The future success of turkey production in New Eng- 

 land depends upon the ability to cope successfully with black 

 head and kindred complaints, which now weigh so heavily 

 on the industry, and perhaps in the majority of cases dis- 

 hearten the growers, and eventually cause them to give up 

 the attempt. If, therefore, through experiment, study and 

 help of the colleges and different stations, this trouble may 

 be overcome, it will result in a decided boom in New Eng- 

 land turkey culture, and wili add decidedly to the money 

 making possibilities of the more remote and far away farms. 

 Of course, in the more thickly settled farming regions the 

 extensive production of turkeys will probably never prevail. 

 The bird is a natural rover and does best when allowed to 

 ramble and 10am without let or hindrance. Where the farms 

 are near together and consist largely of garden plots and 

 cultivated grounds, a roving band of turkeys may, and will, 

 make disastrous work over a considerable tract. To avoid 

 too much trespassing and consequent ill feeling, some keep- 

 ers, in the old days, used to resort to a contrivance which 

 was called a yoke, and which consisted of a thin board 

 through which holes were made and which fastened by strips 

 of cloth across the turkey's back, the strings passing under 

 the wings, fastening the board to the back, thus preventing 

 the birds, flying, and they could be kept in any desired en- 

 closure. The custom seems to have gone out of use. It is 

 doubtful if any mechanical arrangement which makes un- 

 natural conditions for the birds will ever prove altogether 

 successful. Probably the only way to profitably produce 

 large numbers would be free range, great attention to breed- 

 ing stock, extreme care of mating, and the introduction of 

 new, strong blood and the numerous little details which 

 come to the knowledge of all poultry breeders. It is doubtful, 

 in fact, if production in large numbers is altogether practi- 

 cable. The greatest success and the largest proportions of 

 profit are made with small flocks of from ten to twenty 

 breeding birds. These require very little attention, no extra 

 facilities, and the product counts largely as profit, and if 

 these flocks could be scattered broadcast over New England 

 farms it would result in the addition of many thousands of 

 dollars in extra revenue with very little increase in cost. 



GEORGE H. POLLARD. 



