10 Th Newt-RtvUw, Roseburg, Ore.Wed.. Nov. 21. W
Local Turkeys Destined For Many Of Country's Thanksgiving Tables
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EFOJtE That priia foms at the Routledge farm ara ready for market. They look ai kingly in
h. field as thev will reianina over a Thanksgiving dinner. (Staff Photo)
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AriEH inn prue crop or torn Turxeys n reaay ror marker, ine oirat are snipped to points al
over the United States, Hawaii and Alaska.
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ENROUTE After killing, the turkeys are scalded and picked by
a machine, but a score of women at the Northwest Poultry and
Dairy Products Co. must pick the feathers which the machine has
missed. (Staff Photo)
Douglas County Realizes
One Million Dollars Yearly
From Large-Breasted Bird
By GEORGE CASTILLO
Douglas county has parlayed a
tradition into a million-dollar busi
ness. The tradition is Thanksgiving
and its basic accoutrement the
turkey. An approximated 750.000
festive boards all over the United
States this year will creak under
the weight of turkeys hatched,
bred and killed In Douglas county.'
It s here that the most sought
after gobbler, the broad breast,
roams the grasslands in numbers
that even Douglas county residents
are unaware. Ed Davis, manager
of Northwest Poultry and Dairy
Products Co. estimates a turkey
population in the county of 125,000.
Record Crop Grown
With Thanksgiving just one day
off, birds are being killed and
shipped out from this major turkey
killing plant of Oregon at a clip
of 30,000 pounds per day. The kill
ing season started this vear on
July 31 to siphon off a record crop
of birds. Killing and shipping has
continued steadily since that date.
The turkey market has increased
with the rate of killing, and it
appears the holiday rate of con'
sumption will be the greatest ever
recorded.
Turkey wholesale sales in 1951
will draw about $650,000 to the
grower in Douglas county. Add
another $350,000 for labor and ov
erhead costs and it mounts to an
easy million dollar yearly rate.
As 4a case in point, let s ex
amine the Northwest Poultry and
Dairy Products Co. In Roseburg,
which, incidentally, is the only
government supervised and regis
tered plant in Oregon. Birds ready
for market come off an assembly
line at a rate of about 300 an
hour, preceding the peak holiday
market. The management pys out
an average of live dollars per
lumey "on tne nooi."
Davis said it was a common oc
currence to write a check for $30,'
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L0CKV00D MOTORS, Inc.
Rose and Oak St. Phone 3-4486
000 on an order of turkeys from
the producer. This creates a need
for employees to kill, clean and
pack the birds. Northwest employs
from 10, in the slack season, to
40, before the holidays, to do this
processing. Then, there's machin
ery, lights, power and a multitude
of other costs before the freight
and. railway companies begin the
job of shipping the birds all over
the country.
Processing St.ps Nettd
The processing of a turkey should
be particularly interesting to house
wives who spend many a weary
hour picking and cleaning a tur
key for the holiday feast. From
the time the turkey is killed until
it is hanging on the rack ready
for packing, it takes slightly over
10 minutes. Within that 10 min
utes, a continuous assembly line
carries the turkey through a scald
ing vat, several picking machines
and through a line of 20 women
who clean the pinfeathers.
But this assembly line rate is
still apparently too slow to meet
the rate of delivery and the rate
of orders. Although killing started
earlier this year than ever before,
the plant is booked up until Dec.
21 with live turkey deliveries.
The reflected great demand for
the Douglas county product stems
from a widespread desire for the
heavily - meated. broad - breasted
variety of bird which Oregon has I
lea tne nation in developing. Ore
gon, and this county particularly,
has yearly improved the turkey in
size and breadth of breast to a
point no other state of the union 1
has approachd. This is primarily i
due to ideal climatic conditions
for turkey breeding.
Some hens have run as heavy '
as 20 pounds and some toms have
reached a record weight of 40
pounds. It is not unusual to see a
bird with a breast measuring six
inches across. This means a n
abundance of white meat.
Aside from the weather, prob
hlv the most imDortant factor in
that development is the annual
Northwestern turkey snow ai nose
burg. Although threatnd by out
side interests, the show will be
staged here again this year Dec.
3, 4, S, t and 7. It's 'here that
breeders compete for quality with
emphasis on the broad-breasted
turkey.
One of the foremost Individual
developers of this broad-breasted
variety is George Routledge, whose
hatchery is located about nine
miles west of Roseburg. At peak
season approximately 20,000 tur
keys roam his farm. Year after
year, he has improved the blood
lines of the birds by trap nesting,
which is a means of identifying
eggs and subsequently the turkeys.
His estimates of the value of the
turkey industry in Douglas county
far surpasses the million dollar
estimate made by Davis. Calling
it "really big business," he points
out its relationship with other busi
nesses in a cycle from the egg
to the platter which includes equip
ment, feed, labor, processing, over
head, packing and shipping. He re
ports that the turkey industry in
the United States is estimated at
one quarer of a billion dollars.
He points out that Douglas county
and southern Oregon are particu
larly fitted for turkey raising be
cause of the rolling hills, stump
and other necessarily unusable
land. "Land which supports one
cow or a couple of sheep will
range several hundred turkeys.'
Routledge says. "Thus the income
is better per acre than in any
other industry." He continues, that
as an added benefit, the birds can
range on farm land since they
not only fertilize the land, but also
kill the weeds.
In concludion, Routledge said
LINOLEUM
FLOOR TILE
1720 Walnut Ph. 3-7367
c
the Industry has been a- boon to
Douglas county because it em
ploys many people and benefits
almost every business.
7 SCHEDULES
DAILY TO
LOS ANGELES
FROM ROSEBURG
What service! What convenience!
Seven schedules doily, including two
time-saving expresses. Choice of
scenic routes!
To
Pdily' One-Woy
Schedules Fares
Los Angeles 7 $12.10
San Francisco 5 8.00
Sacramento 6 7.50
Medford 1 1 2.65
Plus Federal Tax
RETURN TRIP 20 LESS . . .
an Round-Trip Tick.lt.
A. J. MURRAY
344 S. Stephana
Phan. 3-3341
GREYHOUND
DOUGLAS
COUNTY'S
LARGEST
TURKEY
Soes Into The ven Friday
See this Turkey Being
Roasted in the Biggest
Little Electric Range in
the World. The...
Mo otinetr household range
has an oven so big !
See the largest Turkey grown in Douglas County being
roasted in the largest oven available in a home tiie range.
See the Turkey being cooked in the oven of a "Thrifty
Thirty" Frigidaire Range Friday. Turkey and refreshments
will be served alt day Saturday. Come in to sample this
turkey and see this new revolutionary "Thrifty Thirty"
range Saturday. ,
omValkii
1 IAVUU1IIL7,
ROSEBURG 120 West Oak, Dial 3-5574
Every Saturday it Open
House in our store, Coffee
and refreshment! will be
served by our home econo
mist. See the "Wonder
SUTHERLIN Central & Stote, Ph. 2988 Oven" in use.