The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1889-03-09
TURKEY TALK
The Juicy Bird Which is the
Epicure's Delight.
Where Choice Turkeys Abo
--HoW Fed and Markets

HPiSut0o Sou q" oyo ecii " tuo sdstc y
the turkey what kind Of "a summer hal
passed. A dry, tough fowl means q
season of few rains, scant vegetation,
and much skirmishing to obtain food.
A tender, juicy bird, with q gemey
flavor, on the other hand, indicates that
the season has been a prosperous one,
and the grasshoppar crop large.
A few years ago the New York mar
ket, wcro supplied with turkeys by
Connecticut, Now Jersey and Long
Island, but the consumption has in
creased to such an extent that the
nearby crop is augmented by tons OF
turkeys from the South and West.
Tho Connecticut turkey is par excel
lcnce the choice bird. No section of the
U=i.cd States can compare with the
Nutmeg State in raising them. The
natives have knack of producing
larger, plumper, juicier and moro ex-
quisitely favored gobblors than can be
found elsewhere. They inherit it from
their ancestors, who from colonial times
have been great turkey raiser,. Large
numbers of turkeys are not kept by the
Connecticut farmers. but every farmer
has his flock. From tho tims that tho
little turk breaks his she'll until he
reaches the size and primo condition
that fit him for slaughter, great care is
taken with his diet Plenty of milk
and curd in his baby days is followed
By cornmcal mush, wheat and barley.
Later in life whole corn IL fed literally.
From the irst the turkeys get a large
portion of their food by foraging in the
meadow, and WOODS where insects
abound.
Early in November the turkeys are
pretty we'll grown, and they are then
put through flttening process to pre-
pare them for the Thanksgiving slaugh-
ter. Many different methods are en-
ploycd. Some farmers feed all tho corn
that the turkeys will eat three tim3s
day. Others shut them up to prevent
exercise, and iced a mixture of -four
and corn meal dough. When III, tur
key tires Of eating, the dou h is rolled
into pellets and crammcd down his
throat. Oil meal and sunfower seeds
nre also used for fattening, and in some
sections the Italian method Of feeding
walnuts is resorted t.. 1t is claimed
that the rich favor of the nut gives
the turkey the taste OF wild game.
In California turkeys are raised in
Hocks numbering several thousand.
They arc placed in charge OF herder,
who drives them as he would flock OF
sheep They range over miles Of terri
tory in a day, and live almost entirely
by foraging. When the grain is cut
aud harvested, tho turkeys are turned
into tho Immense wheat aad barley
field, and tho birds 10 the cleaning
and become fat aud ready for market at
very little cost.
Through Indiana, Illinois and Wis
consin what are called "turkey foun-
dries' exist. They arc mammoth
coons. capable of holding from 1000 to
2oO0 turkeys. Each "Iouudry" employs
hail q doz;n teams Of horses or mules to
collect turkeys within . radius Of ten
miles and bring them to the foundry
daily. The farmers raise large foeks Of
turkey. tu: take very little pains to
feed aud care for them. The bird
range ut largo and find their living Is
best they can. Conse qsently they d o
not compare with Eastern birds in size,
vpr or fatness
They are sold alive to tho men with
the teams. The usual price Is six cents
q pouad. but some focks bring from
one half TO ono cent per pound more.
The fowls are placed in the large room
o! tho foundry. At one end of the es-
tabli>hmcnt is the dressing room, where
the killing j, done and the carcssses
prepared for market. From eight to
ten men are employed picking and
dressing the biris. They are paid five
c"rts api &c and dress on the average
Eve Ludi an h. ur
f. nu-