Evening star., 1937-11-27
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

The poor old turkey has served us well
enough these last 800 years-but he ism t
all that he should be.
Two to one, there are scraps OF him
left even today from Thursdays dinner
We will have to end up with turkey soup
to get rid of him.
This is altogether out of keeping with
modern ideas of efficiency. Truth to tell,
the bird is as clumsily antiquated as q
1909 model automobile and breeding ex-
perts. especially at the National Agricul-
tural Research Center at Beltsville and
at the Department Of Agriculture re-
search station at Miles City, Mont, are
working to streamline him, to get less
weight and more meat on him. They
want to adapt him to the average Ameri-
can family OF today. Nature adapted
him to be big family of couple genera
tions ago.
At Beltsville they have tried crossing
the turkey with chicken to mix up the
desirable qualities OF both birds. The
experiment didn't work because the eggs
wouldn't hatch and 1t seems likely that
turkeys must be improved out of their
own hereditary resources.
The housewife, Department of Agricul-
ture marketing experts have determined,
wants turkey weighing less than Is
pounds. For restaurants and hotels, the
bigger the better. This is the first breed
ing adjective.
Nearly all customers want more meat
on the legs and the breast. It may be pos
sible to hit upon some sort of chromosomal
combination whereby growth in these
places will be stimulated and the white
meat will not be exhausted so soon.
third objective Is to breed q turkey
which will mature more quickly, which
might compensate the raiser for the de-
sirable loss in weight. A fourth is to
stimulate turkey egg laying. Now the
turkey hen seldom lays more than six
months in the year. This very definitely
restricts the fresh turkey season.
A last objective Is to lower the turkey
mortality rate by breeding from the
hardest stocks. The bird is delicate at
the best. Disease has made great inroads
in the hocks in the past. Because OF
certainty of infection it is practically i'm
possible to raise the birds in some parts
Of the country. Turkey chicks get
pneumonia with the slightest wetting.
This Is one very pertinent reason why the
VA CooSO UA ~ COOtS 81 luuCIl III IllC lIldI ACV.
Largely within the last Is years, the
report In this years Department of Agri-
culture handbook points out, turkey rais-
ing has bloomed into big business
$4,000, ,000-a-year enterprize. Approx
imately 20,O00,000 birds are reared. The
loss from one turkey disease alone-a loss
which is borne in the bill for the Thanks
giving dinner-is above 100000.
Although the distribution now is world
wide, the turkey is distinctly an American
bird and one of the New Worlds great
contributions to the foods Of man. When
the North American Continent was set
tNd wild turkeys were common almost
everywhere throughout the Eastern wood
lands. Both for Indians and whites they
were table delicacy. Hunted ruthlessly.
their numbers have been greatly reduced
and their range restricted. It is doubtful
II any now are found north of Virginia.
Except for the dog, the turkey probably
was the only animal domesticated by the
Indians north Of Mexico. The tribes Of
the Muskogean confederacy, whose ter
ritory was the present area Of the Gulf
States, are known to have kept small
iocks. Many were raised BY the Astecs
Of Mexico.