The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-11-20

variety of fOWl-the largest variety OF
the bird. he lure of the American
love for bigness has made itself felt
in the turkey realm and the fame that
has come 10 the S0-pOund and So
pound turkeys which have been sent
as Thanksgiving presents. now and
then. 10 the President of the United
States, has influenced other farmers
to try 10 emulate the Rhode Islander
who for a third of a century has been
sending his prize birds 10 the White
House at Washington. and. tnciden-
tally, is never done Dragging in the
newspapers about their size.
IL must be admitted. however, that
the bronze turkey holds the post of
honor because of its size, its rich
plumage and, according to many cpl
cures. fits flavor as well. No doubt
its siZe-its standard weight ranges
from 10 10 SO pOunds-is TO be at
uibuted 10 the fact that this variety
Of turAy originated from a cross be-
tween the wild and the tame turkey
For that matter, the wild turkey Of
North America was the ancestor of
the present day domestic turkey. but
the crosses" which have been made
in the case of the bronze variety have
been particularly fortunate in Undue
the officials of the department Of ag-
riculture recently declared that the
bronze turkey has been developed TOO
much in the direction of size and If he
can ser other people to conform to his
way Of thinking perhaps we may see.
a few years hence, an era of small
turkeys of even finer flavor than those
over which the American public has
been smacking its lips these past few
seasons
Even now the Wanted bronze tur-
key is not the whole thing in turkey
dom, for there are six standard var
ieties. the branches of the family in
addition 10 the. bronze being the Mar
ragansett, the muff, the slate, the
white and the black. Many people
who may think that they have been
enjoying pretty appetizing turkey
from time out OF mind. may be sur
prised To learn that the prestige Of
the turkey as an article of food was
seriously threatened a few years ago
through carelessness and lack of fore
sight in breeding methods. Not much
was said about it, except in the poul-
try papers and at the conventions Of
poultry raisers. but the menace was
sufficient TO arouse the more progress
that they mended their ways, put a
ban on imbreeding and went on for
the pure bred or standard bred tur-
key with the result that rich. new
vigorous blood made its influence felt
in infusing strength and vigor 10 tur-
key flOcks in all parts of the coun-
try.
Certainly turkey raisers ought to
pay attention 10 business. for there is
a tremendous and constantly increas-
ing demand-One might almost say,
regardless Of price-for the feathered
aristocrat that becomes our national
bird at Thanksgiving time All this
means money, of course. for the tur-
key farmer, and just here il may be
added that there are splendid pro-
fits in turkey raising No other kind
of live stock will return so large a
profit 10 the successful producer as
viii poultry. and turkeys constitute
the most profitable class of poultry
If properly handled Why, from the
time the turkey Is six weeks old he
virtually makes his own livelihood.
wandering around and eating bugs.
grasshOppers. waste grain and other
eatables that II not an actual pest are