The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1913-12-26
ENID LEADS AS
POULTRY CENTER
GARFIELD COUNTY SEAT SUR
PASSES ALL OTHERS DURING
PRESENT SEASON.
1918 BUSINESS OVER 100000
Eight Thousand Five Hundred Chick
ems Handled Daily by Five Large
Buying Companies for
Shipment East.

center west of the Mississippi river
is the title claimed by Enid since the
close of the Thanksgiving turkey sea
son. In the few weeks previous to the
autumn holiday, hundreds of thousands
of pounds of turkey and chicken,
shipped from the Garfield county seat,
demonstrated that Enid has surpassed
Springfield, Mo-. its former peer, in
; volume of business this year.
Before the year 1913 is closed con-
siderably more than $3,000,000 will
have been paid out by local buyers for
poultry and eggs, and the number Of
pounds of poultry shipped will aggre-
gate more than six million. Two large
companies, Swift & Co. and Aaron &
Co., and three smaller firms, Clark &
White, Enid Poultry Company, and
Jacks G. Co., handle the greater part
of the business. Swift e. Co. now is
erecting new $4,000 four-story
structure which will be completed
January 1, on account of increase of
business, the Aaron & Co. will build
similar structure next year.
The plains of Oklahoma and north.
ern Texas have the climate which Is
said to be the best in the United
States for poultry raising. The poul-
try is sold by the farmer to the pro.
duce man in the small town, who pays
him cash. Every train which enters
Enid on the ten lines which radiate
from the city carries a large consign.
ment of live poultry, throughout the
season from July l to January /. At
the height of the season they come by
the carload in large crates by express.
Lucky Birds Are Fed.
Once in Enid and delivered to one
of the big poultry houses, two courses
may be pursued. At the Aaron & Co.
house they may be killed and dressed
within few days, usually two to FIVE,
as the Aaron people specialize on what
is known as ranger stuff" IT, how
ever, the poultry is consigned to Swift
& Co., 1t will be fed for from seven to
ten days before butchering This
makes a fancy grade of poultry which
is known as 'milk-fed.'
The feeding station of Swift at pres
ent is located in large brick building
40 by so feet, and the Aaron people
occupy a similar space. AS the chick
ems are received here they are
weighed and placed in clean, newly
whitewashed crates, arranged in bat
teries, four high and twelve feet long.
These crates are divided into compart
ments, each of which holds from six
to seven fowls. Everything is SAM.
tary. The floors of the cages are of
wire netting so that the feet Of the
birds are always clean and dry and
the trays beneath this wire floor are
cleaned every day,
Along the side OF each compartment
runs a small wooden trough which is
filled with the balanced rations for the
requisite ten days. This building has
a capacity Of $4,000 chickens and has
been filled ever since the first of July.
Seven men are always busy and 800
worth of feed is used each day. The
feed for this number OF fowls each day
amounts to 1000 pounds, and is an
even mixture OF water, steel cut oats,
soft oats, cornmeal, condensed butter
milk, and tallow. the tallow being add
ed both for its fattening properties
and to supply the oil required by theI
fowls.
The poultry is kept on these ra-
tions for ten days, at the end of which
they are expected to have gained about
20 per cent in weight. For twenty-four
hours before killing the chickens re.
ceive no food and are given sand and
gravel to eat. They are then taken
to the picking sheds.
Eighty-fve hundred chickens are
picked every day in Enid from July /
to December /, and during the turkey
season about as many turkeys are
picked daily. About one hundred and
fifty chicken pickers are employed by
the two big poultry houses and the
pay roll averages $500 a week. In
picking chickens there are two meth.
DDS scalding and dry picking Tho
in Enid as it gives much better prod
uct for the retail market In dry
picking the pickers stand in a sort
OF pit and the feathers are thrown
on the floor as they are stripped from
the chicken.
Eight thousand FIVE hundred chick.
ems daily in Enid are placed in the
cold storage rooms of the Arctic Ice
company. About two cars. or 10000
pounds of poultry is shipped out each
day on orders. These cars are con.
signed all over the United States and
a glance at the orders in one office
for a recent week shows the following
points to which cars were sent: Nor.
wich, Conn, New York City, Chicago,
Kansas City, Los Angeles, Hartford,
Conn, Camden, n. j., Philadelphia,
San Francisco and Seattle, several
cities taking more than one car. Just
before Thanksgiving each house ships
out about three carloads of turkeys
day. The real turkey season. how,
ever, does not begin until nearer
Christmas as the Thanksgiving mar.
Il. ~