Milford chronicle., 1909-06-18
The GREAT AMERICAN BIRD.
Large Profits Lie in Turkey Raising
By Proper Care in Handling,

the widespread pinions, the rega
head and the strong talons o
Americas greatest bird of prey
HaIidetus Leucocephal'ts In reality
this mistaken emblem of freedom
for the bald eagle is a robber-has
given place to as regal, if not as
fierce, and withal a far more useful
bird, the wild turkey of America
MeLedgris americana. The native
turkey cock is the king Of American
game birds, but he has a far greater
use than as such. The wild birds
of the Carolina and West Virginia
Mountains serve to instil vigor and
virility into the high-bred domes-
ticated focks of our most success
ful turkey growers. Black and
white present hardly greater con-
trasts than is seen between the
vigor and disease-resistent qualities
of wild turkey stock and the ema
ciated and run down flocks to be
found on the average farmstead
where turkey raising is attempted.
There is no other kind of live
stock that will return so large a
profit to the successful producer as
will poultry, and no kind Of poul-
is more profitable than turkeys
when properly handled" is the
striking statement Of T. F. Nc
Grew, the author of the Turkey
Bulletin of the Department of Ag-
riculture, (No. (2oo.)
~ Turkeys fed for market will of
course sell for much more per
pound than can be obtained for
hogs or cattle, while the actual
cost per pound Of turkey meat is
is but little il any more than for
hogs or cattle. Turkeys will from
six weeks old u1til winter, gain
the greater part Of their living from
hogs, grasshoppers and waste grain
that they pick up in their wander
ings. They are almost self-sus-
tanning foragers where they have
sufficient range.
This sounds well, and the figures
On profits on turkeys appear most
on paper; but on the other
hand many have tried and tried to
grow turkeys and after experience
ng all kinds Of difficulties have be-
,ome disheartend and given up {
he attempt. After the large pro- I
,Ortion of deaths among the newly /
latched poults has been subtracted
md account taken of the immense
mount of time, trouble and worry y
Ievoted to the remainder, the tur- b
,eys finally raised for the table or b
0 be sent to the market are seen to b
ave been produced at a big loss r
ather than the good profit men b
ioned by enthusiasts. P
Nevertheless, there is money in u
arkey raising and the difficulty K
/ bringing the figures to the right g
de Of the ledger is much less than
supposed. 1t needs only ol
ersonal inspection OF successful II
lrkey farms and a comparison Of OF
lie methods there employed with hi
lose used in raising the average dl
nall flock, to realize this. The g
-eatest item contributing to fail I
re lies in the extremely poor b
-eeding stock used not occasion th
ly but generally throughout the al
,untry. Had the same rules been III
,plied to breeding in other lines 1t
live stock that has been the rule pr
it'll turkeys, the Uuited States wi
ould be a ffth-rate power in this IN
spect. Very young turkeys, it bu
true, are quite tender and old ce
les are not free from attacks Of re
diseases. but the in an
rent strength and vitality Of the dl'
the average turkey is so far be- SIC
" what it should be, that an alb 20
rmal death rate in turkey rails rel
2 is not to be wondered at. da
The fact that one formulation is
ficient to fertilize all the eggs of th'
e laying, has made possible the DE
dermining of the health and Wig esE
of the present day domestic tur- all
y. Hundreds of people depend de-
on a neighbor s flock for the ser for
.es of male and pay no atten- ins
n to breeding stock except to egj
ep a few turkey hens. This has tor
Iuced many of the turkeys of the fio'
1ntry to a condition Of almost moi
becility; bre
Before the government purchased apl
her Island as a naval station it Wig
ned by bird-loving millionaire iml
o used it as a breeding place for gre
manner of fowls. Located at
mouth of Long Island Sound it nev
S rib of wild land, some seven or
eight miles long and bearing the pro