The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1918-04-24
INCREASE TURKEY CROP
AT LITTLE EXTRA COST
Requirement of Range Usually Limits
Production to Farms-Number of
Farms Producing Turkeys Small
Bronze Variety Most Pop
ular Among Poultry
RaiSerS

For those who are favorably stu
ated for raising turkeys, a more prof
table side line scarcely can be found.
Plenty of range is necessary. to raise
turkeys, SO this usually limits the op-
portrnity to the farms. Turkeys are
included in the Department of Agricul-
lures program for increasing poultry
production, and specialists Of the De
partment point out how and where in
creases can be obtained.
! Turkeys are especially suited to the
grain and stock farms where there is
ample ranging ground abounding in
such turkey food as grasshoppers and
other insects, weed seeds, waste grain
such as is left in the fields after har-
vest, and nuts of such varieties as
beechnuts, chestnuts, pecans, pine
nuts and acorns. On such farms the
present prices of grain affect the
turkey raiser but little, for with the
exception of what is used at fattening
time the feed consumed is largely Of
such kind as would otherwise be
wasted
With but little additional outlay to
the farmer many more turkeys could
and should be raised, Federal special
lists say. The small number of turkeys
per farm in the United States is sur
prislng: According to the census of
1910, which is the latest that has been
taken, only 1877 per cent of the total
number of farms reported any turkeys
at all, and on those farms reporting
turkeys an average Of but slightly
over four breeding turkeys was found
per farm. Some farms by nature of
the crops grown on them or because of
unfavorable surroundings are not
adapted to turkey raising, but most
hon
flock of from 10 to Is hen turkeys
and a tom, raising from rs to $50
each year at good profit
Throughout the Middle West, where
most of the turkeys are raised, it is
unusual to see flock Of more than
: U on farm, although in Texas, where
more are produced than in any other
state, flocks Of several hundred are
rather common. In sections of the
Southwest and on the Pacific Coast a
few persons have engaged in turkey
raising on large scale, rearing
thousand or more every year. There
are not, however, enough turkeys
raised on the Pacific Coast to supply
the local demand. This is true also Of
the Atlantic Coast States. Production
IN New England, once famous for its
turkeys, is very greatly reduced.
Owing. to the fact that the Bronze
turkey is the heaviest, it is more
popular among turkey raisers than
other varieties. Since turkeys are sold
by weight the heaviest birds bring
the greatest returns. When a large
number of people are to be served, as
IN hotels, restaurants, and boarding
houses, the demand is for heavy
turkeys. For family use the demand
Is for small or medium sized birds
Unless they are to be marketed local
~ among customers who demand small
birds, it is far more profitable to
raise the heaviest. Regarding other
characteristics, it is quite generally
asserted that the Bronze is the hardi-
est est variety, that the Bourbon Red and
White Holland are the most domestic
and that the White Holland is the
most prolific. These qualities are pos-\