Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 31, Number 301, 26 November 1906 — Page 7

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t :-- 5J. Vr -'if---'- - 4 I -5 OR no annual holiday fraet la tlx : available a mora tempting; array of eatables than confronts the honsewlfs Uho aets about making a menu tor the rhanksglvlng dinner. At the bead of the lat. of course, stands the all Important urkey. No other class of domestic poultry has come Into such general use throughout be entire world as the chief feature of he repasts on the traditional feast days f the autumn and winter and the denand for the fowl that temporarily dlslace the eagle as onr national bird is. f anything, even greater at Thanksgiving ban at Christmas. The turkey Is a delicacy that the dril led world owes to America. Howerer, it kid not require any great length of time fter the first explorers had returned ome for the people of Europe to awake o the toothsome qualities of the bird and Hve It a place on their dinner tables. the first turkeys were transferred from Mexico to Europe In 1520, and by 1541 t bad taken Its place among the dainties n England, whereas 30 years later It Ivas the customary fare of the farmer. &1I present-day turkeys are the descendnta of one of three main families. The North .American wild turkey, the original pedes of the Eastern United States, the uexlcao turkey and the Honduras turkey. Which was originally a native of Central America, It has only been, however, within the kaet one-third of a century that the tur-ey-rglslng Industry has assumed Its presnt scope and magnitude. . WItala the bast few years there has been especial Improvement owing- to a growing reallzalon that It Is more profitable to use kure bred breeding stock than the smallr and less vigorous stock of days gone y. The efforts to Introduce throughout he country the several standard varieties f turkeys has greatly benefited the tur-y-growing Industry of the United tates. The general tendency during recent ears has been toward higher prices for urseys, and these advances have been he more readily obtainable since of late he supply of market turkeys has been hues less In proportion to the demand han it was a few years ago. The 4 ver ge wholesale price of turkeys as recordd In New York for the past dosen year as ranged from 8 to 20 cent per pound. rhereas Boston dealers hare In some iutances had to pay even higher prices. nd la Chicago the prices hare fluctuated rom 0 to IS cents. That turkey-raising Is not so universally tallowed In all rural communities as the j ersge city dweller supposes it to be Is Veil attested by the fact that, whereas pere are more than fire million farms In he United States, the annual crop of urkeya la .not,, much over 6,500.000. or ttle more than one turkey to each farm.' s a tnrkey producing state. Texas is Er In the lead, producing upward of twoIrds ef a million turkeys each season, ollowlag Texas come Missouri. Illinois, ows. Ohio sod Indiana in the order amed. The State of Rhode Island, which i Justly famous for the quality of Its nrkeys, produces less than fire thousand urkeys a year, but these birds la the ffgregate are worth about double an equal umber from any other state. Rhode ilaad turkeys often bring 3S and 40 ents la the markets of the big- cities, hen other turkeys go begging- at 0 to 5 cents per pound. That food profits are within reach of ie turkey raiser may be appreciated hen it la explained that la the West ad Southwest under ordinary conditions irkeya can be crown and sold at eight eats pound. lire wetg-ht. and return a rofit to the growers, tmaller growers bo live near tows and villages hare an dded advantage. In that -they bare an pnortunlty to dress and sell their tux- I

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1 keys to private customers at local retail prices. Indeed, experienced men declare that there is no other kind of lire stock that will return so large a profit to the successful producer as will poultry, and no kind of poultry that brings la more money than turkeyswben properly handled. It costs comparatively little to raise L turkeys by reason of the fact that the birds are able from the time they are six weeks old until winter sets in to gain the greater part of their entire IlTlng from bugs, grasshoppers and waste grain that they pick up In their wanderings over the farm. In other words, they are self-sustaining forager where they have sufficient space to roam over. Turkeys that are hatched In the early spring should grow to weigh from 14 to 20 pounds by Thanksgiving. These weights are, of course, often exceeded by the birds furnished by the best growers, but all tn all they may be pronounced the most popular. Six standard varieties of turkeys are more or less grows la tills country, namely, the BroDse, Narragansett. Buff. Slate, White and Black. The mala differences are in the size and la the color of plumage. The Bronze and Narragansett turkeys are the largest; the Buff and Blate are medium, and the Black and White the smallest. There Is, however, scarcely enough, preference shown tn the opes market for any one of taese varieties for table use to cause It to be favored In the production of turkeys for the market. Even In Rhode Island, where the highest quality la attained, there la not much preference for any particular variety. Taking the country as a whole, probably more Bronze turkeys are grown than any other variety. The Bronze is a cross between the wild and the tame turkey, and Its beautiful rich nlumage and lta size are bound to make it conspicuous la the turkey family. The successful turkey-grower baa to continually bear In mind many considerations regarding turkeys that may seem strange to the person whose only acquaintance wltb the bird la la tfco form In which It appears on the dinner-table. While our present-day tnrkey are classed as "domestic fowls," they are In reality only semidomestic When compared with other poultry. The commonplace boose or coops that are given to hen a and chickens will not do for them at alL Satisfactory results can never be secured by handling turkeys like cage birds or hot house 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 and getting plenty of exercise In the quest for food. Con sq neatly. It is Misers, as a rule, have no faith tn banks ; and thieves, when they have stolen, money or realised on the proceeds of a good haul, dare sot trust their wealth to a bank or trust company. Thus It has come about that misers and rogues of all descriptions resort to many strange devices to safeguard their wealth and seek oat places that bey sweetly Imagine will never be fount sy prying; angers. A noted miser la Manchester. England, who died recently, bad half a dozen places to conceal bis wealth. He kept It In the form of bank notes or securities, which could easily be realised on. This fellow lived tn a dirty tumbledown boons and when be was seen on the streets his soiled rags of clothing excited great compassion. In tb lining of that ragged coat of bis. however, ho alwaya carried several thousand dollars tn tbe shape of British gov

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llll 0 nnwlse tn their present semidomestic condition to pamper them and overfeed the birds on unnatural foods. Feeding the newly hatched tnrkey 9 Is one of the responsibilities that devolve upon tne turkey-raiser. Some feed bread and milk la a saucer aa soon as the dtmiautlv birds will eat, white others soak bread In milk and squeeze It dry before feeding. Still others adhere to an absolute grain diet, while a goodly number of turkey-growers feed the rising generation of birds anything they Imagine thy will eat. In the autumn, when the weather begins to turn cold and Insect food becomes scarce, an Increased grain diet Is provided for the growing birds. The policy of the most successful growers is to keep the turkeys growing frpm the start to the finish or their comparatively brief lives and to have them ready for the Thanksgiving market, when the prices are the best of the year. Complete growth and the greatest possible weight will, - If plaas have been rightly laid, be attained toward the close of the eleventh montb of the year, for the records of years show that the highest value of market turkeys has Invariably been reached during the last week of November. The prices are almost as high at Christmas-time, but the demand is not so brisk. Many of the farmers la Rhode Island and elsewhere who grow turkeys for a fancy market feed them chestnuts' and celery seed during the last few Weeks for fattening. However, sucb delicacies are rather expensive articles of food and' can only bo used by those who sell their product for almost double . the average market price? Such feeding Imparts a pleasant flavor that adds value to the turkeys Which are finished In this way. and thee specially nurtured birds End ready sale at th highest prices for the tables of those with whom cost la a minor consideration. Quite as much attention must be gives, to the killing and shipping of the turkeys to market as baa been bestowed upon the proper growing: of the birds. After turkeys are killed they must be dressed according to the requirements of the market to which ther are to b vnt Far tnatanH In the case of turkeys seat to Boston It Is the cus-

-QUErER HIDING PLACES FOR FORTUNES.

ernment bonds. Under a plank In bis one room were found 100 gold guineas, making all told $600 In gold. The gold pieces were all wrapped up tn dirty rags, so as not to Jingle. In R helms, France, a notorious beggar and miser kept great sums snugly bidden away la bis old battered falgh bat. In Berlin a German specimen of the raiser dses was seat to tbe city poorhouse snd be was so ragged and filthy that tbe authorities at once gave a hot bath to him and proceeded to furnish him with clean. If worn, clothing. . Be took It all. bat when they wanted to give him decent shoes be Insisted on wearing the battered old slippers be bsd worn for many years. Finally they forced him to wear the shoes, but they found that now be kept tbe slippers in bis bosom and a search showed nearly $5,000 In notes secreted tn them. Tbe . Stew Xork police records contain

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"? r ? -V.. jl " v c mm mm torn to remove all the feathers and chop the heads off, whereas New York demands Its turkeys wltb the heads on, also the tall and outer wing feathers. Few turkey raisers sell their product direct. Most of the blrdB are disposed of by the farmers to Jobbers or middlemen, who make a business of handling such stock and who ship to the various dry markets. A large portion of the turkey crop that comes to American cities at Thanksgiving time must of necessity be packed In ice, although experts declare that turkeys not thus packed are at their best. The men who pack turkeys for shipment become marvelously adept In their work. Mr. Vose, of Rhode Island, who has for more than one-third of a century supplied the Thanksgiving turkeys for the White House at Washington, on one occasion, with the aid of two men, packed and shipped 34.500 pounds of turkey. Next to turkey the chief standby of the American housewife at Thanksgiving time is the Indeapeasable cranberry. This appetising product of nature is native to a narrow belt of country along the Atlantic 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 supply of cranberries from Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The earliest plantings of the cranberry were made in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts during the first quarter of the nineteenth century and from this meager start tbe industry has grows to Its present proportions, when more than 20.000 acres of cranberries are under cultivation, producing more than 1,000,000 bushels per year. The old Bay State still enjoys the distinction of leading all ber stater In the production of this Thanksgiving delicacy, for whereas New Jersey baa a cranberry domain of 8,350 acres, or nearly half as much again as Massachusetts, the 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 nesrly 600,000 bushels to tbe dinner tables of s hungry nation. The Massachusetts yield of 117 bushels per acre is exceeded only In that garden spot. Western Oregon. many singular tricks for concealing stolen money. The most curious was found In connection with a servant girt who worked for a well-to-do shopkeeper. .- She was often left in charge of the small shop while the proprietor went out on other business. One day she disappeared and tbe savings of ber employer went along with ber. so tbe police thought $5,000 was tbe amount of money missing and ft waa all In bills of big denominations. After two weeks" hard search tbe detectives found the girl, bat no trace of the money. Her rooms were searched thoroughly and tbe girl waa carefully gone over by the matron at the police station, where she was taken at once. Nothing was found, snd, although a search was repeatedly made both of the girl and heft room and all tbe places she could be traced to, no aaoaey was recovered. Finally, after the girl had been arrested

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1 0 where some small cranberry patches have yielded 119 bushels per acre. Two species of cranberries occur tn tbe "belt" of which tbe brllllant-bued fruit to a habitant. One 1 known as the Little Cranberry and Is tbe Old World kind, whereas the other Is tbe large, or American cranberry. Tbe fruit of the cranberry Is borne on short upright shoots of the previous season's growth and the fruit baa the appearance of being distributed, along the stem, a fact which Is taken advantage of In harvesting and which haa made ft possible to devise mechanical devices that are to a considerable extent Increasing the harvesting capacity of the women and children who find occupation as cranberry pickers. In their composition both species of the cranberry are closely allied to the socalled huckleberries. Botanlcaly they are classed merely as distinct species, all tbe blueberries, huckleberries and cranberries going to make up one family. Of this group, so many of wbicb produce delicious dessert and culinary fruits, the cranberry la the only one which has been Improved snd extensively cultivated. It also enjoya the distinction of being one of tbe native fruit of America which has become an Important commercial product and has won for Itself a world-wide reputation, Tbe areas la which cranberries are cultivated or where they are Indigenous to tbe soil are known technically as bogs or several times and searched by the matron, she taunted that lady with her lack of success. Whereupon the matron lost her temper, and to tell the truth did something Whk-h made ber liable to lose ber plae. She slapped tbe suspected thief, and the two women got Into a regular hair-pulling match. The suspected thief bad a splendid suit of hair, and io and behold! bank notes fell out of ber hair. Five thousand dollars worth of bank notes were lytHg on the desk when tbe matron got through exploring that woftderful suit Of hair. , Tbe girl bad Simply dressed her hair, potting the bank notes between the heavy rolls ef bain The matron was forgiven the balr-pcLIlng episode in consideration ef the marveiou results. , Another old woman was being helped by a charitable organisation until oate day

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meadows, for the cranberry, while not a water plant, thrives best on soils In which tbe water level is within a few inches of the surface of tbe so!L Tbe first step la the preparation of a cranberry bog or meadow Is to eradicate all busbes and tree growth, following which tbe surf are vegetation Is removed by s process known as "turfing, which eosslsts in removing; a layer of soil to a depth of from two to four inches. After the removal of the turf the area to be planted la graded In order to make It perfectly level, tbe object being to maintain the water level at a uniform depth below the surface of tbe soil and at tbe same time make It possible to flood tbe area with water, as It may be necessary to do from November to May Is localities where It Is desired to protect tbe plants frou Insects snd from late spring frosts. Dams are also provided in order to store a sufficient quantity of water to flood the area. The next " operation in providing a source of cranberries la '-sanding," which consists In covering the area to be planted to a depth of three or fou inches with s costing of sand. In tbe coast regions, where a largo proportion of onr best cranberries are grown, tbe sanding of the meadows Is s simple matter, since the borders of tbe bogs are usually made sp of sand blows la from tbe ocean, to tbo Cap Cod eowatry sand tag Is done almost entirely by band labor. a common red flower pot which stood In ber window sill was knocked late the street by a stray cat. , Wbee Ft broke oa tbe pavement a stream of gold pistes spread out on tbe pavement. The charitable organization after that selected somebody else to help stong Is life. Hollow walking sticks have frequently been csed by beggers as s safe deposit box. The police la Europe always Investigate tbe staffs which continental beggars carry when they are arrested, la one case $3.SOo were found tn the bead of the staff of a beggar at Toria, Italy. la general, these miser choose hidlag-plaees In articles la constant nse, and nsoally something: In plain sight of everybody. One reason for this is that this enables them to keep an ere on their concealed wealth practically all the time and at the same time - such things are least like'y to bo suspected hy the pottos..

The sand la carried la wheelbarrows over temporary movable plaak tracks from adjoining sand banks to the surface of the bog. The bogs la most esse are too low and soft to allow the use of horses. Like other, economic fruits, the cranberry Is not often propagated by seeds, but propagates itself naturally by offsets. Commercial propagation Is carried on by the use of cuttings or layers. The cuttings with which new cranberry meadows are estsblished are usually 10 or 15 Inches long. Planting of new meadows Is done as early tn tbe spring aa cuttings ran be secured, usually about tbe first Of June, Once planted cranberries take cars of themselves In so far as cultivation Is concerned. About the only thing necessary for the grower to do is to keep down grass and weedy growths of all kinds. lu the early daya of cranberry culture harvesting was necessarily done entirely by hand, and this method Is still In vogue In many localities, particularly in districts where the meadows are of small size. However, as tbe industry expanded tbe Increased demand for plckera made It necessary that, la order to bold tbs cost of production within reasonable bounds, some device be found which would lessen tbe cosi of harvesting by Increasing the quantity oa Individual la able to pick. This demand has been met by two fern of cranberry rake. One Is operated by being forced through the branches, thus pulling off the fruit, while tbe other ts first forced Into the vines, the gusrd pressed down, and then, by withdrawing the Implement, the berrtes are stripped off, the shoots upon which the berries are borne being drawn between tbe iron finger of the picker. Either of these lageulous aids to cranberry harvesting enables a great saving of time and expense, as one person can gather TB or SO measures of six quarts each in an ordinary working day, while a band picker cannot gather more than half that quantity. For a time there was a prejudice among many growers against the use ef these bsrvestlng devices because of so much Imaginary Injury to tbe bogs, but within the past few years this prejudice has largely disappeared. Cranberry harvesttcg ts osually paid for by the measure. Each person Is furnished with a rake and -with pails or boxes tn wblch to place the berries picked. The meadow Is then laid off In sections or strips and each picker Is assigned to s division. By this arrangement each worker gets his share of both heavily and sparsely fruited plsnts, snd the grower Is certain of getting tbe product from all parts of the meadow. After the fmlt Is picked It Is carried to storehouses, where It Is allowed to remain until assorted In tbe trays la wblch It was placed at picking time. Most of these traya have a capacity of abont l quarts each. As the cranberries come from the field there are to be found among them many broken branches, leaves snd defective fruits. To remove such leaves snd branches there to employed sny one of a variety of cleaning devices stmllsr to tbe fanning mills used for cleaning grain. After having been winnowed in this fsshlon tb fruit Is spresd opoo. sssortlog racks. Operators sested upon either side of this sppsratus look over tbs berries in much the same meaner thst beans sre looked over tn bsnd picking. From the sssortlng table the berries go Into barrels, only a comparatively small portion being crated. The grower who cultivates cranberries on a large scale almost Invariably prorides storage buildings oa bis own lend. It is the prevailing practice to hold the fruit In the. storage-bouses st tb bogs until the market U ready, which la from six to weeks to three months after tbe conclusion ef the harvest. No artificial cold Is necessary in the storage-bouses, about the only precaution necessary being to prevent the fruit from freezing. Is the esrly daya It was thought necesssry to pack the berries In casks and core them with water tn order to prsstrrs them for any length of time, bat this Ides bss been sbsndoned sod the fruit Is for the most part stored tn small open boxes. The fruit as cleaned, assorted snd barreled, osually In ventilated barrels, ts placed on the market. Tb honsewtfs who visits the retell stores Is, perhaps, more accustomed to seeing cranberries tn bushel crates thsn In barrels, but this crating of tbs fruit ts done by tbe middlemen, who act as dlstrlbstiog sgents rather than by the producers. Tbe price of cranberries baa varied tremendously daring the past quarter of a century, la ne years the fruit has sold as tow aa $3.50 to $4 per barrel, even tn November, when the demand la keenest, and then again the pries has been above $18 The nana! price, however, ha been from $7 to $10 per barret Common sspposttkm is that delicacies for tbe table comprise the sum total of the housewlfes purchases st Thanksgiv ing time, and It mlgbt earprise many of our readers to lesrn how isrse s proportion of the whole holiday out ay goes for flowers. The major portion of this latter appropriation Is. of course, expended for tbe Thanksgiving flower the shaggy chrysanthemum. It Is at this sesson of the year that the popular "sss- sre st their best, snd tn tbe larger dtles tbe florists sre seldom able to secure enough of the white asd yellow blooms to supply the demand. Prices go sosring saacb after the fashion of the quotations tor Cllea st Easter, sad Instead of the assal prices of $1 to $12 per doses, tbs hens holder who desires a cluster of tbe appropriate posies for bis dinner table Is likely to be beld np to tbe tune of from $12 to $25 per dosen for choice sped men. WALDOS FAWCETT