Part 5

When especial care is given to the selection of breeding birds, and the grower bears in mind those profitable market characteristics—compactness of form, length of breast and body, and constitutional vigor, the most satisfactory results may be obtained from the growing of this variety, but no matter how much care may be given those conditions, only partial success will come if inbreeding is permitted. The use of over-sized males with small females is of less advantage than the use of smaller males with well matured, medium sized females.

MARKETING

Of course, we cannot all sell our turkeys for breeding. That would entirely rob the table of its Thanksgiving luxury. After the turkeys are grown and ready for market, quite as much care and attention should be given to the killing and shipping as to the proper growing. When these things cannot be done to good advantage, it would be better to sell them alive. Buyers who are prepared to kill, dress, pack and ship turkeys and to save the feathers, should be in a position to pay what they are worth alive, and should be able to handle them at a profit better than can the grower, who may not be prepared to do this work to advantage. So much depends upon marketing them in the best condition that small growers should either dress and sell to their home market or, providing it can be done at a fair price, sell alive to someone who makes a business of handling such stock. Kill nothing but well fattened stock. It seldom pays to sell ill-favored stock to the market. Do not give any feed to the turkeys for twelve hours before killing. This allows their crops and entrails to become empty and avoids much of the danger of spoiling. Full crops and entrails count against the value; they often taint the meat, and prevent it from being kept for any length of time.

DRESSING

Dry picking is always to be preferred when preparing fowl for market. When in fine condition, nicely picked, and sent to market without having been packed in ice, the turkey is at its best and consequently commands the highest price. When the fowl is plucked, hang its head down in a cool place until all the animal heat is gone from the body, being careful not to hang it where it will be exposed to the cold as it is likely to freeze. Do not remove the head, feet or entrails, but have the whole carcass, including the head and feet, perfectly clean.

SHIPPING

For shipping, pack as closely as possible into close boxes or barrels, nicely lined with white or manila paper. Do not use brown, soiled or printed paper. Have the package completely filled so as to prevent the poultry from shifting. Have all the heads laid one way, breasts up. Do not use hay or straw for packing as it marks and stains the fowl, detracting from the value. The above method can only be used when the poultry is sent to market without being packed in ice, and when this can be done in safety either in refrigerator cars or for a short distance in cold weather, it is by far the best.

The greater part, however, must be packed in ice. When necessary to do this, use nice clean barrels, cover the bottom with broken ice, then put in a layer of turkey, then a layer of ice; continue this until the barrel is packed full. Always use perfectly clean ice for packing. Head the barrel tightly, and mark its contents plainly on the head. Never ship mixed lots of poultry in the same package if it can be avoided.

Footnotes

Footnote 1:

The call has been so heavy that is been impossible for me to handle the business of the remedies from my Concord home, and they are now for sale with the Park & Pollard Company of Boston.

Footnote 2:

For the operation above described I have been using of late, and cannot recommend too highly, a knife which may be procured at Park & Pollard’s, called a Killing Knife.