The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-25

DDS of handling and marketing have had
to give way to newer and more elaborate
arrangements.
The great majority OF the turkeys con-
sumed by the American people are picked
up on the poultry farms by buyers who
give their whole time TO this work They
are gathered at the nearest station ana
shipped in carload lots to the poultry fac
tory which the buyer represents. The use
of the word factory in connection with
poultry is apt to convey a peculiar ldea,
but in this case it refers only TO a she'd
like structure. half open on the sides, in
which the birds are prepared for market.
IN A TURKEY FACTORY.
The birds are stored in a big shed from
which a narrow paSSageWaY, just Woe
enough to admit them in single file. leads
to the factory proper. A driver stationed
among the birds keeps steady line
travelling along this chute and prevents
them from becoming wedged IL oy crowd
ing. At the end of the passage, where IL
opens into the factory stands a man who
holds in one hand a sharp knife that
looks like a dininutiVe ice pick. AS each
bird marches through II IS seized by lhlS
man. who quickly dispatches 1t by
single blow on the head he throws the
dead birds in 4 heap at his SIDE, ana
thence they are cartad away TO the Scald-
ing room. where they are placed in long
tanks filed with hot water. Here Is
where the pOulrererS art comes INTO play,
for the water must be of just the proper
temperature to give the dressed birds
neat appearance. If it is too hot the
birds have a blush tinge, while if it is
noI uD TO the correct degree the quilts
come out with difficulty and give the body
e "plucked'' appearance.
From the scalding tanks the birds
travel on TO another room, where deft
hands and plenty of cold running water
thorouEhlv cleanse them. Next they are
laid out on Ions blocks Of ice until
thoroughly cooled, when they are packed
with ice in barrels. the barrels are COW
cred with ordinary bagSing. and as soon
as weighed are ready for shipping
Though this is the ordinary proceeding
the turkeys which travel 70 quick mar
l1ets are sometimes dry picked and DO not
mass through the scaIding tanks at all.
Under this treatment they VIII keep
longer without icing, than when they
have been Scalded.
From the factory the dressed turkeys
are shipped in refrigerator cars TO their
destination in the big cities. Some idea
of the extent OF the trade in dressed
poultry may be gained from the state
ment that for the eight or ten weeks Of
the holiday season th---IceIpts in New
York City alone run as high as 10000
cases per week. Each case or barrel con-
tafns about 200 pounds, so that this
means something like 6000.000 pounds Of
poultry per week. When one comes to
multiply this by the number of big
cities he realizes how capacious is the
American man for such delicacies as
these.
FIFTY MILLION POUNDS.
Tbo,,rh the receipts are fairly steady
for several weeks before Thanksgiving,
the great bulk OF retail sales is crowded
into the space OF a few days. So the
problem of storage must be solved. More
than one-half of the poultry that comes
TO the big markets IN October and early
November. travel at once TO The great