The Oregon daily journal., November 24, 1906, Image 14

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r OR NO annual holiday feast I
I thar available - a mora tempt-
' . Inc array of eatablea than
, confront : tha , ' house wife . who
- aeta about making a i menu for the
Tbanksairlnc dinner. At tha head of
tha llat, of eouree, atanda the all-lra-portaat
turkey. No other class of do
' xneatlo poultry baa eoma into such (en
teral aa throughout the entire world
the chief feature of tha repeats on
, tha traditional feast days of the au
tumn and winter and tha demand for
'the fowl that temporarily displaces the
aa our national bird U if - any.
thine even rreater at Tfeanknflrtn
''than at Chiistmaa. -
Tba turkey ta a delicacy that tha
' ctrUlsed world owes to America. How-
rrer. It did not require any great lenrth
of time after the first explorers had
; returned home for tha people of Europe
to awake to the toothsome .qualities of
: ' tha bird and fire It a place on their
dinner tables. The flrat turkeys were
transferred from Mexico to Europe tn
mo. mad by 1S41 It had taken its place
- among the dalntlea la England, where
. aa 8 years later It waa tha customary
fare of tha farmer. All present-day
turkeys are the descendants of one of
miiiuiis. , x lie null
can wild turkey, the original species of
tha eastern United Btatea. tha Mexican
turkey and the Honduras turkey, which
waa originally a native of Central
America, ' ' ,v .
It has only been, however, within the
past one third of a century that the
.: turkey-raielng Industry has assumed Its
' present scope and magnitude. Within
the past few yeara there baa been esse
'ell Improvement owing to a, growing
realisation that It Is mora profitable to
pure-bred breeding stock than the
. smaller and leaa vigorous stock of days
. gone by. Tha efforts, to Introduce
throughout the country the several
' standard varieties of turkeys has great
ly benefited the turkey-growing Indus.
try of the United Btatae.
.Tha... genrfTkl iendncjdurlag ..recant
; yeare has been toward higher prices
for turkeys, and thene advance have
been tha mora readily obtainable alnce
of lata the supply of market turkeys
has been much less In proportion to the
demand than It waa a few yeare ago.
. Tha average wholesale prioa of turkeys
. aa recorded tn New York for the past I
osen years has ranged from I to II
cents per pound, whereas Boston deal
ers bare la some Instance had to pay
evea higher prioea, and In CMnego the
prioea have fluctuated from to II
'.. jceatsvi ',. .!
- That turkey-ralaine la not so, iinlver
sally followed On aUruri eommunltlea
- -aa-tho-averago wlty dweller supposes It
to be la well attested by tha fact that,
whereas there are mora than 1,000,000
farms in the United Btatea, tha annual
prop of turkeys la not much over
1,100,000, or little more than one tur
key to each farm. Aa a turkey pro
ducing state, Texas Is far In tha lead,
producing . upward of two , thirds of a
million ' turkeys each aeaaon. Follow
ing Texas come Missouri. Illinois, Iowa,
Ohio and Indiana, in, the order named.
The atate of Rhode " Island, which la
' Jimtly famed for the quality of lta tur
keya. producea lees than 1,000 turkeys
. a year, but these birds In tb aggregate
ere worth about double an aouai nam'
. ber from any other atate. Rhode Isl
and turkrya often bring II and 40
-na In tha markets of tha big cltlea,
whew, other turkeys go pegging at 10 to
14 cents per pound. .
That good pnflta are within reach of
the turkey-raiser may be appreciated
. Wna tt ta eaylelned that la tha wast
mmm
knaioTtTTwcirrTina8r oMinry nopai
Hons turkeys can be grown and sold at
I centa a pound, live weight, and re
turn a profit to tha growers. Smaller
growers who live near towna and vil
lages have an added advantage, tn that
they have an opportunity to dress and
sell their turkeys to private customers
at local retail pricea. Indeed, experi
enced men declare that there Is no
other kind of livestock that win return
so large a profit to tha successful pro
ducer aa will poultry, and no kind of
poultry that brings In mure money than
Jtnrkey swhen proper! y handled. r '
It costs comparatively little to raise
turkeys by reason of ths fact that tha
birds are able from the ttm they are
lx -weeks old until winter 'sets In to
gain the greater part of their entire
living from bugs,- grasshopper and
waate grain that they pick up la their
wanderings over the farm. In other
words, they are self-sustaining foragers
where they have sufficient space 4o
roam over. - Turkeys that are hatched
In tha early ' spring ahould grow to
weigh from It to 20 pounds by Thanks
giving. . These weights are. af course,
often exoeeded by the blrda furnished
mn rhpBonouncd"'t he moat 'popular
. Plx standard vsrietles of turkeys are
more or less grown In this country,
namely, the Brome. Narrsgansett, Buff,
State, White and Black. The main dlf-1
ferences are In tha site and ln the color
of plumage. The Brons and Narra-:
ganeett turkeys are the largest; the
Huff and Slate are medium, and the
Black and White tba smallest There
is, however, scarcely enough preference
shown 1n the open market for any one
of these varieties for table us to cause
It to be favored In the production of
turkeys fpr the market Even In Rhode
Island, where ths highest quality Is at
tained, there Is not much preference for
any particular variety. Taking tha
country aa a whole, . probably more
Bronse turkeys are grown than any
thr t''r , TM Brmiiili a. orosa
between the wild and the tame turkey,
and its beautiful rich plumage and Its
stse are bound to make it conspicuous
In the turkey family. -
Ths successful turkey-grower has to
continually bear in mind many consid
erations regarding turkeys that mat
seem strange to tha person whose only
acquaintance with the bird Is In ths
form In which It appears on tha dinner
table. While our present-day 'turkeys
are classed as "domestic fowls." they
are In reality only seml-domestlo when
compared with other poultry. The
commonplace houses or coops that are
given to hens and 'Chickens will not do
for them at all. Manufactory results
can never be secured by handling tur
keys like cage birds or hothouse plants.
Indeed, too much care and attention Is
the worst possible thing for a future
ruler of the Thanksgiving feast In
their wild state the turkeys ran hither
and thither, seeking small grains, seeds
and bugs apd getting plenty of exer
cise In the quest for food. Consequent
ly, it Is unwise In their present seml
domeetla condition to pamper them and
overfeed the blrda on unnatural foods.
Feeding tha newly hatched turkeys
la one of the responsibilities thst de
volve upon the turkey-raiser. Some
feed breed end milk In a saucer as soon
s the diminutive birds will eat, while
others soak bread In milk and aqueese
It dry before feeding... gttll others ad
here to aa absolute grain diet while a
goodly .number of turkey-growers feed
the rising generation of birds anything
they Imagine they will eat la the au
tumn, .when tba woatbac paging to turn
THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL; PORTLAND. SATURDAY EVSrrfING, " NOVEMBER
cold and Insect food becomes scarce, aa
Inoreased grain- -diet-la provided for the
growing birds.
- The policy of tha most successful
growers Is, to keep the turkeys growing
from tha start to the finish of -their
comparatively brief lives and to have
them ready for the Thanksgiving mar
ket when the prices are tha beat of tha
year. Complete growth and the great
eat possible weight will. If plans have
been rightly laid, be attained toward
tha close of the eleventh month of the
year, for the records of yeara abow that
tha- hlgtieet value of marfcet turkeys
has Invariably boon reached during the
last week of November. The prices
are almost as high at Christmas time.
but the demsnd is nut so liilsk. 1
Many of tha farmers In Rhode Island
and elsewhere who grow turkeys for a
fancy market feed them chestnuts and
celery seed during tha last few weeks
of fattening. However, such delicacies
are rather expenalve articles of food
and can only be used by those who aell
their product for - almoat double the
average market price. 8uch feeding Im
parts a pleasant flavor that adds vslu
to the turkeys which are finished In
this way, and theae specially nurtured
birds find reayy sale at the hlgheet
prices for the tables of those with
whom cost Is 'a minor consideration.
Quite aa much attention must, be
given to the killing and shipping of
tha turkeys to market aa has been be
stowed upon tha proper growing of the
turdeyAf tortor hy a re klMeeKtaay
must be dressed according to the re
quirements of tha market to which they
are to be sent For Instanoe, In the
case of turkeys sent to Boston It Is the
custom to remove all the feathers and
chop the heads off, whereas New York
Jemands Its turkeys with the hesds on,
also the tall and outer wing feathers.
- Few turkey-raisers sell their product
direct Moat of the birds are disposed
of by the farmers to jobbers or middle
men, who make a buelnesa of handling
such stock and who ship to the various
city markets. - A large portion of ths
turkey .crop that cornea to American
cities at Thanksgiving time must ' of
necessity be packed In Ice, although ex
perts declare that turkeys vot : thus
packed ar at their beat The men who
pack turkeys for shipment become mar
velously adept In their work. Mr. Voee
of Rhode Island, who has for mora than
on third of a century - supplied the
Thanksgiving turkeys for tha White
House at Washington, on ons occasion,,
with the aid of -two men, picked and
shipped 14,100 pounds of turkey.
Next to turkey the chief standby of
the American housewife at Thanksgiv
ing time Is the Indispensable cranberry-
This appetising product of nature Is
native to a narrow belt of country along
the Atlantlo coast from Maine to New
Jersey and In Isolated areas along -the
Allegheny mountains from southern
Pennsylvania to North Carolina. The
middle west also receives a portion of
Its holiday aupply of cranberries from
Mlchigsn, Wisconsin and Minneoota.
The earliest plantings of the cranberry
Were made la Uta Cap Co4 ra.lea ol
i.mf inert a wrjtxrj .
Massachusetts during the first quarter
of the nineteenth century and .from
this meager start the Induatry has
grown to its present proportions, when
more then 20,000 acres of cranberries
are under cultivation producing, more
man j.voo.ouv ousneis per year, ,
The old Bay state still enjoys tha
distinction of leading all ber sisters In
the production of this - Thanksgiving
delicacy, for wbereaa New Jersey has
a cranberry domain of I.JB0 acres, or
nearly half as much again aa Massa
chusetts, tha Jersey cranberry growers
Harvest each year only-about one fourth
of a million bushels, whereas the 'land
of the Pilgrims, with its smaller . area
In cranberries, sends nearly 100,000
bushf'ls to tlio dinner tables of a" hungry
nation. The Maanachusetts yield' of 117
bushels per acre -Is exeeeded only in
that garden spot of western Oregon,
where some small cranberry patches
have yielded 111 bushela per acre.
Two species of cranberries oeour tn
the "belt," of which tha brilllant-hued
fruit la a habitant One la known aa
tha Little cranberry and Is - the old
world kind, whereas the other Is' the
large, or American cranberry, Tha fruit
of tha cranberry Is borne on short up
right Shoots of the previous season's
growth and the fruit haa tha appear
ance of being ' distributed along the
stem, a fact which Is taken 'advantage
of In harvesting, and which has made
It possible to devise mechanical devices
that are to a considerable, extent In
creasing the harvesting oatiaclty .af. the
women and children who find occupa
tion as cranberry plckera. -
In their, composition both species of
ths cranberry are closely allied to the
so-called huckleberries, . " Botanlcally
they are clasaed merely ' as dlatinot
species, all tha blueberries, huckleber
ries and cranberries going to make up
one family. Of this group, so many of
which produce delicious dessert and
culinary fruits, the cranberry la the
only one which has been Improved and
extensively cultivated. , It -also enjoys
tha distinction of being one of tha na
tive fruits of America which has be
come an ImpoAant commercial product
and haa won for Itself a . world-wide
reputation. , '. ;
The areas in which cranberries- are
cultivated or where they are indigen
ous to the soil are known technically
as bogs or meadows, for the cranberry,
while not a water plant thrives best
on soils In which the water level Is
within a few Indie of tha surface of
the solL - Tba flrat step In tha prepara
tion of a cranberry bog or meadow Is
to eradicate all bushes and tree growth,
following which tha surfsca vegetation
la removed by a process known as
"turfing," whloh consists in removing
a layer of soil to a depth of from two
to four inchee. .
After tha removal of tha turf the
area to be planted la graded In ordor
to make It perfectly 'level, tha object
being to maintain the water level at' a
uniform depth below the surfaos of tbe
soil and at the some time make It pos
sible to flood the area with water, as
It - be necessary, to da from Movom
r u v.r
ber to May. in localities where It la de
sired to protect tha plants from Insects
and from late spring frosts. - Dams ars
also provided In-order to store- a suf
ficient quantity .of water , to flood tba
area. 'The next 'operation In providing
a source " of cranberries is "sanding."
which constats -In-covering the area to
bo planted to. a depth of thre or four
Inches with a coating of Band. .,
'In the 'coast regions; where' a large
proportion of our beet cranherriea are
srrown' tha sanding of the- meadows is
a simple matter, nines' .the borders "of
the bogs, are usually .made up or snnd
blows tn - from the -ocean.-' -In the Cape
Cod oountry sanding Is done almost en
tirely by hand labor. .The sand is car
ried : lij..whcclbarrow'ilj)verternporsry
movable plank tracks from adjoining
sand banks to ths 'surface of ths bog.
Tbe boss- in most- cases1 are too low
and soft to allow the use of horses.
Like other eronomlo fruits, the. cran
berry Is not often propagated by seeds,
but propagates ltieir naturally by off
sets. Commercial propagation - Is car
ried on by the use of cuttings or lay era
The cuttings with which new cranberry
meadows ars established are usually. 10
ot 15 Inches long. ' Planting , of new
meadows Is done ss early in tha spring
as. cuttings'-can be secured, usually
bout the first of June. Once planted
cranberries tnke care of themselves in
sofar aa cultivation Is concerned. About
the only thing necessary for the grower
to do is to keen down grass and wsedy
growths of all kinds. ..... ,
In ths early days of cranberry cul
ture harvesting was necessarily done
entirely by hand, .and : this method Is
still in vogue in many localities,, par
ticularly. In districts where tha mead
ows ars of . small also. However, is
the Industry expanded : tha , Increased
demand for pickers mad It necessary
that, in order to bold tha cost of pro
duction within reasonable bounds, some
devloe be found which would lessen the
coat of harvesting by Increasing the
quantity an Individual Is able to pick.
This demand has' been met by two
forms of cranberry rake. . One Is op
erated by being forced through the
branches, thus pulling off the fruit,
while the other is first forced Into the
vlnaa,. the.. gn1 pressed down, and
then, by withdrawing the Implement
tha berries ara stripped off, tha shoots
24 1008.
r
- ' 'V
;
upon which -tha berries are borne being
drawn-between tha Iron fingers of the
picker; .' -.-j ; .-
- Either' of: theae'. Ingenious aids to
cranberry" "harvesting enables -, a great
saving of time and expense, aa one par
son can - gather 7 or 00 'measures of
six quarts each in an ordinary -working
day, while a hand picker cannot gather
mora -than half - ,that : quantity.. . For . a
time there waa a prejudice among many
growera' against 'the use .of these har
vesting devices because of. so much
Imaginary, injury to the bogs, but with
in the.pae't few years this prejudice haa
largely disappeared. , , .. . .
Cranberry harvesting is. 'usually paid
for by the measure., .Each- person. Is
furnished. w.JU, a j-ako on with paila
or boxes in which to place the berries
as picked.- The meadow la then laid off
In sections or strips and eech picker
Is assigned 'to a division. By this ar
rangement eech. worker gets his shars
of both- heavily and - sparsely fruited
plants, and the '. grower,, is certain of
getting the product from all parts of
the- meadow. , After the fruit Is picked
It is csrrled to storeheuses, where It is
allowed i to , remain , until assorted In
the trsys In which It was placed at
picking time." Most of these trOys havs
a capacity of about II quarts each, ..
'As the cranberries come from the
field there are to be found among them
mitny broken branches, loaves- and de
fective fruits. To remove , such leaves
and branches there la employed any one
of a variety of cleaning devices almllar
to tha fanning mills used for clesnlng
grains After having been, winnowed in
this fashion the fruit is spread upon
sssorttng racks. - Operators seated t up
on either side of .this apparatus look
over the berries In much the same man
ner, that beana are looked over try. hand
picking. From the assorting table ths
berries go Into barrels, only a compar
atively small portion being crated.
The grower who cultivates cranber
ries on a large scale almost Invariably
provides itoiwge buildings on bis own
land. It Is the prevailing practice to
hold the fruit in tha atorage-houses at
tha bogs until the market Is reedy,
which is from- six weeks to three
months after the eonclunlu of tha har
vest , No artificial cold is necessary In
the storave-houses. about the only pre-
eeuUoa nsoessar being to prsveut tha
; .. .-
; - , -. . .. . ,- .- ,- - y
fruit from freetlhg. . In the early days
it was thought' necessary to pack- tha :
berries !n oask and cover themr wlnh
water In order to preserve thera for
any length of time, but thla idea has
been abandoned and the fruit la for tha
inoat part -stored in small open boxes.
. The fruit a cle&ntd. aaorted and
barreled, usually In ventilated barrel.
In placed on the markHt Tba ; house
wife who visits: the retail .stores Is.
perhvps, more accustomed (o seeing
eranberries In bushel crates than .. in
barrels, but this crating of the fruit is
done by the middlemen, who act aa dis
tributing sgiits, rather thsa by ' tha
producers. The. price, of cranberries
has verted treraendoualy during tha
past quarter of a century. In some
years the fruit 'has sold as low as 11.10 '
to- 14 ' per- barrel, even in November, -when
the demand la keenest, and then
again the price bas been 'above 111. .
The - usual price, however, haa . been
from II to 110 per barrel. ,
Common .supposition is that delica
cies for the table comprise the . sum
total of the housewife's purchases- at
Thanksgiving time, and it might sur
prise many of our readot s to learn how .
large a proportion of the whole holi
day outlay goes for f lowera. . .The ma-
Jor port-ton of this latter appropriation
Is, of course, expended for the Thanks- .
giving flower, the shaggy chrysanthe- ,
mum. It la at thla aeaaon of the year
that the popular "mums' are at their
beat, and In the larger cities the flor
ltaJ are erM-im .'abl to secure enough
of-thB- ,trMraTind"T',rt'b,wnB- sup-
ply the demand. Prices . go soaring ,
much after the ; fashion of .tha quota
tions -foe lilies at Canter, .and Instead
of the usual pricea of IS to 111 .per,
dosen,' the householder who deelrea a
cluster of the appropriate poslea for
hla dinner table la likely to be held
up to tba tune of from 113 to. Ill par
dosoA for choice specimens. .
. - ,WALIXN FAWCETT.,
v i ii i mi i i i .
Gfazyr-Newspaper-by,
Crazy Editors
LJLJ5-
. By a.ptaff Corerspondeat.'
PECULIARLY happy -was tha -thought
of the management of
' tha Mauer-Ochllnger asylum for
i. 1J' the Insane In starting a news-,
paper written, and published by-the In- -mates.
, The paper Is called "The M-O
Asylum News." The first -number haa
Just been published and baa achieved a
greaC aucceaa It -is to- be monthly.
Tha asylum, which Is tha biggest In
tha world, la situated Just ' outstde af :
Vienna. Among - tha Inmates ara sev-
era! newspaper men and authors, print
era, pressmen; ' there ' ara . plenty of
poets. - ," r '""
Whan tha director of tha asylum pro
posed tha scheme It was hailed with da
light by the newspaper coterie of In
mates, and they all went frantically to
work. A printing plant waa already la '
the asylum. In his opening addreaa tba
editor uet&lla all .thla and than saya;
"What then,, is lacking! .- Workers? A
program T We need"
these.'.' He-eonchidea- wlth-''Aad- new
forward! - Every contribution will ba re
ceived with pleasure by tha editor and
carefully examined as to suitability. No
remuneration, it Is true, can be given to
succsssful authors, aa tha management
Is, alas,' poor and. haa no funds. But,
to be printed la tha M-O News Is aome-
thing.". ., . ,.. . - '
One of the '- Interesting ertlciea is
headed - "The System of Healing by
Work Opinions of " Patients - on ths
VaJus of Occupation." , " ' "
An artist.) Inmate , writes: ' "in
Judgment one - may say. with, parfaot
tnfth, that work is life and the spies af
life.: The history of civilisation proves
it" Another patient saya he waa suf- "
ferlha- from deoresslon. Hf waa put tb
(playing .tennis, billiards." reading aad so.
on. , But these did not interest mm. -ins
director then advised him to try earw
ins tors out of . wood.. He laughed at
the auggeation as ha was most awkward
with his nngsrs. Howsver, ha tried tt -.,
Practice made htm skilful. . Ha became
Interested, end is-practically cured of
melancholia, - There are a dosen auoh
Statements. t, '
s Two or three columns of ths paper
ara devoted to hygiene advloe and suf-
gestlons of treatment- There is a pus
tie page with three prises of 71 cents.
10 cents and II cants.
Critical assays, reviews of book and . '
publications with a scattering af Jokes -and
a dramatic critic's column make up
ths -rest of this highly original four
page paper, which, aa Its "motto" says, -Is
"For the Mad, by tha Mad."
Ths dramatlo crltlo writes of a negro
minstrel show at tha asylum. Ha ends
his; hotlcs by saying: "Particularly
charming was tha little nigger, four
years old, who Joined tn tha cake-walk
right merrily. The artlstio results ar
rived, at, however, were on tha whole
more original than high elasa"
Bo is ths M. O. News. : -r
- flak Whiskers Kant.
From ths Minneapolis Journal.
' With Hughes elected in New Tork
there Is hope for Chicago's pink feather
duster,' J. Ham Lewie.
Oyster Bee gait Water.
- Oveters-can only-live -In' water that j
contains at , least. 17 .parts of salt ta
svery L00 parts of water.