The Parker post., 1912-09-14
TURKEYS ARE
MONEY MAKERS
ICE AND BETTER SHIPPING FAClL
tiles WILL ENABLE RANCHERS
TO RAISE BIRDS AT BIG MAR
GIN OF PROFIT.
(Palo Verde Valley Herald.)

The Palo Verde valley is young.
Its ranchers are at the learning stage
learning which crops and which
products can be produced prOfltably
under transportation and market con-
ditions existing Palo Verde soil
will produce anything that can be
produced in the great southwest, and
in abundance That has been proven.
The following turkey article, writ
ten by a practical Palo Verde far
mer, is the first of a series to show
which products of our valley can be
raised most profitably and why.
Now that we, the farmers in this
Palo Verde valley, can see that We
have an ice plant almost ready for
operation and a means of getting
our products to market much more
rapidly and cheaply than heretofore,
let us plan ahead little and figure
on what we are going to raise next
year Among these different things
let us figure on poultry in general
and turkeys in particular.
We should, now that the facilities
are at hand SO that dressed poultry
can be handled and shipped from
here, produce enough so that pack
er would come in and buy birds, kill
and ship and thereby add another
industry to our valley.
With very little outlay, We can in
crease our flocks of poultry, and it
is safe to say that a record of sales
will both surprise and gratify us at
the end of a year.
Let us plan to stock UP this com
ing season so that we will have a
good surplus to dispose of, notify our
Chamber of Commerce that we will
have a certain amount of poultry to
sell and then see them rustic in some
one to handle it for us. am not
advocating that any one go into
poultry raising exclusively but that
the farmers generally raise more tur-
keys and chickens than they have
before
In this southwestern country, un-
der ordinary good conditions, turkeys
can be grown at a cost of 8 to S12
cents a pound, live weight Consider
the prices which were paid last year
from 80 to 35 cents a pound, and
which bid fair to be the same or
higher this year, and it is readily
seen that there is a most profitable
margin.
There are several varieties Of tur
! keys to choose from and the variety
that the average person is most apt
to succeed with is the one that suits
his or her taste the best.
AS to standard varieties, the Mann
moth Bronze is probably the fla
vorite, the White Holland, Buff
Slate, Black and Namagansett each
have their good points and many ad
mirerS to support them. The Bronze
is said to have more native Or Wild
blood than the others and is more
shy Iii its habits.
Turkey raising has been largely
abandoned by the average farmer qin
the eastern and midd1e western states
10 nd ,i.abI I., -,
en-. The western states which were
formerly credited with raising very
few turkeys are rapidly forging to
to the front, and II that disease, hep
atitis or ''black head, is not check
ed, it will not be many years before
We will not have this noble bird,
which nas been identified with our
THANKSGIVING table since the begin
ming of American history.
In these western states, and in Cal
ifofnia I'm particular, the turkeys have
not had the serious setback that ttay
have in the east and here we find
men and women who devote thein
whole time and attention to this one
line of business, their shipments rum
ming into the thousands annually
Every farmer in the Pa1o Verde
valley should have flock of turkeys.
'fAe initial outlay should consist of
very ditne, after he has his start of
birds, consisting only of a roost,
wtaacfl possibly should be within a
wire corral, the larger the BETTER if
there is any danger of coyotes ar
bobcats. Our mild climate does not
require any protection for them
Turkeys are generally credited With
&aing the most profitable and hard
est 70 raise Of the different classes
of poultry, but dhose who have made
a special study Of it claim that fail
ares are caused most generally by
JJ,l it..1i Of t1,n 1tc hASY u,