The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-11-22

II you want turkey for your Thanks
giving Day dinner and have not yet
procured one. you should hurry. as
by tomorrow the price of the fowl viii
soar to % cents dressed and will sell
feathered- at IS to 20 cents. The
lowest price asked for dressed turkey
this year has been Is cents. The
cool weather has put the price of the
fowl up to it's highest mark, while
Thanksgiving Days nearness assisted
in making it beyond the mouths Of
the average family.
Manager Llewellyn, of the firm of
Woodfin & Scott, produce merchants.
situated in the heart of the whole
sale produce district. said last night
that there was a probability OF the
price of turkeys going still higher.
! The breeders are reaping a rich
! harvest he said, land are demand
ing the big prices
! Market Not Overstocked.
J Asked il there We're many turkeys
! on the wholesale market. Mr.. Level
/ lyn said that there was not an over
stock, since many hotel people and
observation-disclosures could not be sup
/ piled. The sale of the fowls have
I been unusually large during the past
{ eA'eNt
early today or tomorrow. the market
Will be short of a supply.
Quotations on Cary Street this morn
ing, Mr.. Ilewellyn said, would be for
/ dressed turkeys 20 TO % cents. with a
possibility of bringing 2s cents
'These turkeys will bring IS to %
cents In the retail stores" he said
Live turkeys will bring Is to 20 cents.
and will be sold retail at % to %
cents"
For the past two weeks hundreds Of
4 buyers have been securing the country
/ for Ia keys and in day or two more
/ the work Of dressing the birds for
Thanksgiving Day feasts will be An
/ fshed. This is the harvest time for
turkey breeders. and some OF them
Will receive hundreds OF dollars for
f. their flocks.
i History of the Turkey.
| The turkey is native of America
and small focks are still found wild
Tradition has it that turkey graced
some of the first Thanksgiving feasts
I at Plymouth. and history has it that
I turkeys were sent TO France in 1870
for the wedding feast Of Charles TX
4 Others had been sent to England and
I by the end of the seventeenth CEN
fury turkeys were bred extensively in
I Europe.
A'pi't"tahdlltil bl turkeys was begun
in Mexico, where Cortez found them
The Zuni Indians maintained focks of
! them and esteemed them highly.
benjamin Franklin felt that the tur-
Key should have been the national en-
/ blem, as he said; THE wild turkey is
so truly noble and valuable that IT
would have been a much filter emblem
Tor this country than the eagle"
The turkey found in what is now
hn 'Yt ia S4nf
er in color than the Mexican bird. and
from 1t developed the bronze turkey
as 1t is bred today This is the largest
OF all the turkeys. the standard weight
! running from twenty to thirty-three
i pounds for hens and twenty-five to
| thrty-six pounds for males. and speci-
mems have been known to weigh as
much as forty-fve pounds
Has Fine Plumage.
The piumage of the bronze turkey
/ has black az foundation, with a
sheen Of bronze and brilliant lacinv
of a greenish hue. many feathers be-
ing tipped with white. The head of
the male is rich red Beak and legs
in both sexes are dark in the young
fowls and grow lighter as the birds
become older.
4 Other varieties recognized by fanci-
ers are the Narrangansett, bun. slate
black and white Holland. and there are
still focks of pure wild blood, which
are highly valued. The bronze tur-
keys gain in stamina by the addition
of wild blood at times
Although naturally wild. the turkey
can be trained to roost under sheds
and many breeders prefer to have birds
protected in this way, at least during
the winter months, but a greater num-
Der have the birds roam outdoors the
year around contending that this makes
them harder
| Turkeys are particularly subject to
n disease known as "hlackhead," which
/ first appeared in New England and
which killed whole focks OF young
birds. 1t is contagious. affecting the
/ liver and intestines. and when once
established in flock serious Difficult
ties are encountered.