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About Roseburg news-review. (Roseburg, Or.) 1920-1948 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 1939)
ROSEBURG NEWSREIEW, ROSEBURG, OREGON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1939. Long Stride Ahead Taken Broad Breast Turkeys Once Waved Aside Turkey Exhibits Made Accessible to Spectators By Industry Progress of Turkey Growing o Ultimate Acceptance as Show Unit, Winning of Status in Perfection Standards Due to Chas. Dear, Originator. and Marketing in 15 Years Pointed Out by Official of Regional Association. "-w?:' r. . I I 3M: Ipffil rsrs P lly UKKHKHT BKYKHS. GciuMul Mummer North wt'stoni Turkey Growers AsBOciutioa. Kil't(-n yeaiH aso I was a resi dent of DoiikIuh county and I can not hi lp hut reminisce somewhat on the turkey production of thai time aft com pu red wiLh today. The hulk of the turkeys mined In PoukImb county were marketed in Ban HnmciBro and a few were shipped entit. Many commission men from Sun FranrlHco would call at the farm and solicit turkeys for their house an the very best outlet. A flock of l,0ni) turkeys was almost unheard of and most of the flocks were, from 50 to 300 birds,, Buyers representing certain firms would often advertise for turkeys and if more turkeys up pea red iu Itoselmrg and other cities than they had bargained for, the price would often drop from 2c to lc iu a single day, even though the market price had not chunked at the terminal. No Grading Standards In those days there were no grading standards and often there were long arguments between the grower ami the buyer about whe ther or not turkeys could be graded as No. 1 or No. 2. The price dif ferential between No. 1 and No. 2 turkeys was 10c per pound and if the turkeys were light in weight they were graded as No. 2. The turkeys were ail dressed un the farms. The young poults were raised with turkey hens ns commercial batching was just starting. The flock mortality was usually very lieavy. if the grower raised hall' the turkeys turned out by the lien he was considered a successful op erator. Turkeys were left largely to rature and were fattened only about :w days before they were to be picked for market. At market time many growers would find they had 15 per cent to 20 per cent crooked breasted turkeys They did not know why they were crooked and simply hoped lot- better lurk next time. FARMERS! WE OFFER A CLEANING SERVICE Made to Order For You Leave your clothing with us in the morning and we'll have it ready to take home in the evening. We are conveniently located near the highway just west of Stephens Street on W. Lane Street. There is no parking trouble. Bring in your soiled clothing tomorrow and try our modern service. NEW SERVICE LAUNDRY 324 W. iflilPn r Mmm 1.,. Hie method ot cooping turkeys in the pavilion at the Oakland turkey show, as Bbown above', made In spection of the birds easy for spectators. D. II. Morgan of Winston is the spectator pictured viewing some of tne prize winning turkeys. The Turkey show which made j Oakland and Douglas county fa- mous was not yet an idea and there were no luricey lnanteiing orgaui-ior gations in the state of Oregon. Probably only about one-third the number of turkeys were raised in Hip country then as compared witli now. Now Flocks of Thousands Conditions in the industry today have great Iv changed. It is not unusual in Douglas count v now to have flocks of 3.000 to 5,000 tur keys raised scientifically, and fed a well-balanced feed for which we can thank the commercial feed companies, who have built better turkey feeds and assisted In every way in lowering feed costs. In the Plate of Oregon some growers pro ducing as many as 10.000 to 25.000 turkeys and the farm flock has been pushed into the background. Turkeys are hatched mainly by large commercial incubators, with eggs supplied by growers keeping ttirkev hens for egg production. Thanks to the Oakland Turkey, show, quality is uppermost in the minds of all producers. The broad breasted turkey is a recent de velopment. Douglas county nt the nresent time could well expand IIP Lane ft! tihM breeding and egg Industrv. The type of turkey which it nrodunes in much in demand in many sections mo country. Ttirkev growers running their birds in hirtrer flocks have greatly reduced disease loss. The Oregon State college and many other colleges and the extension service have contributed greatly to the reducing of mortal ity. Practically every experienced grower at the time when he gets his turkeys knows almost to the week .when they will he marketed. A large percent of the turkeys are now killed in dressing plants. This is to Insure a better job of picking and cooling. Independent buyers are still ac tive In buying turkeys and turkeys from Douglas county are shipped to markets in both the east and west. Consumption of turkeys in Lob Angeles is now much larger than In San Francisco. Prices Stabilized Buyers' of turkeys today handle them on a smaller margin. They are n the market practically the year round and we see very little fluctuation of price. This price stabilization came about as a re sult of (he growers' own organiza tions. Tiie Oreeon Turkev Grow ers which is affiliated with the Northwestern Turkey Growers, in ; Sail Lake City, sponsored govern ment grading. These gradine standards are well established and : most experienced growers know , how the birds will grade before thev are killed. ; -n rowers collectively over many states have assisted in the adver tising and popularizing of turkeys. ; In this 15 years of time the average turkey weights In Douglas county i have increased from 10 pounds per bird for both toms and hens 1 drpswed. to nhnut 17 pounds per DOMES WHITE HOLLAND TURKEY FARM Winners of Champion White Hol land, utility class, Northwestern Turkey Show 1939. Our flocks won every special prize offered over all breeds at World's Poultry Congress, Cleve land, Ohio. Henry W. Domes, Rickreall, Ore. RT. 1, BOX 100 .- bird. Through national advertising the producers themselves have called nttention to the merits and the value of turkey meat which Is now produced In three times the quantity that it was 15 years ago The attention of the hotels and restaurants has been called to the heavy turkeys. Cooperation Need Seen Through the association activi ties light weight boxes have been used, which has greatly cut the freight expense, and freight rates have been reduced about 1 cent ner nound. Marketing costs have also been greatly reduced. Cooperation has been given to national retail concerns to help in crease the consumption of turkeys. The turkev Industry is one that has remained fairly profitable to the producer over - a period of vears. Increasing production- Is bringing many problems. Every producer now raising turkeys must ask himseir what steps he is per ponally golner to take to insure pro fitable outlets for his turkev crop. Will this be solved by collective ad vertising, or by marketing turkeys In more forms, such as canned tur key, full drawn turkev, or will the producers reduce their flocks, with some sections producing turkeys and other sections producing none? We believe thnt collective bar ealninsr and cooperative marketing from the standpoint of the produc er in the west will solve these fu ture marketing problems. About 50,000.000 rabbits are bred annually in Italy. Italians consume 500.000 metric tons of rabbit each year. Agriculturists predict the west ern chestnut, chief source of com mercial tanning, will be extinct within 20 years due to blight. Everywhere in Oakland, during the nrnercas of the turkev allow, a listener heard credit given to "Charley" Dear aa the originator of the "hroad ' hreasted"" turkey. -Mr. Dear modeat'.y discounts the honor accorded him, hut relates his experlencea aa follows: "When we hold the firat turkey show in Oakland, some of the growcra, including myself, brought iu what we thought were the finest hlrda to he found. The judge. A D, Walker, took one look at them and hrushed them aside. They did not conform to the symmetrical lines used as a standard, and ho refused to even consider them. "1 got to thinking the matter over. I knew thoae bir.ds were bet ter for the market than the turkeys which -were picked for first place iu tile show, and 1 came to the he lief thnt ft the judges could see them with the feathers off they would ugreo with mo. I went to .1. C. T,eedy, who then Avna county agent, and proposed a show of dressed birds. 22 in First Exhibit. " We rustled around and for that first dressed show in IDISO had 22 birds hanging up on a rack. Tom flarrison, Halston lirldges and r-rniiK spams were the Judges. "The next year I was made man ager of the dressed show ami we brought In 130 birds. 1 made a trip to Portland and got some peo ple Interested and secured some prize money. True to what I be lieved, the broader breasted birds weifi picked for first prizes. - "The following year the entries increased to 250. moved away and Tom Gnrriaon took over the sliow and sure has done a bang-up job ever since." . . Recognition Won The broad breasted bird now Is recognized Uy the .American Poul try association and a standard of perfection was sot up. Since this action was taken the Oregon type bird, now almost uniformly of the broad breasted variety, has been a consistent winner at all turkey shows. Mr. Dear, who Tor many years re sided In northern Douglus county, now Is engaged In farming at Cor vallia, but never nilaaes a visit back to his former home at Oak laud when the turkey show is in progress. CbristlllflR Is i-ni'Inii.li, .-...w.,n,j (.cicuiuieu In North Carolina. In nddilion to the conventional ini ti,A .in.. t in Some rnmniiinmoB l.a...,.t .' January S, 6 or 7. Roseburg Chamber of Commerce For 1 1 years has strongly supported the Oakland Turkey Show Congratulations and Good Wishes for your continued success. ROSEBURG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
