THEIR CARE S

YM ANAGEMENT

roR EXHIBITION
OR FoR MARKET

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ARTIFICIAL INCUBATING AND BROODING —

Is the best book out on how to hatch chicks in incubators and how to raise them in brooders. It contains EIGHTY EIGHT pages; and OVER FIFTY
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It tells the man or woman on the farm, in the village, or in the city, how to start right im hatching and raising chickens and ducks by artificial means

end, what is more important, how to GO RIGHT after a start is made,
THESE ARE THE CONTENTS OF THIS GREAT BOOK.

Egyptian Incubatories. Breeding Stock—Incubating—Chicks,
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Natural Laws of Incubation. Use of Thermometers in Incubators,
Laying House with Scratching Shed. The Incubator in Operation.

Pullets vs. Hens as Profitable Layers. General Care of Incubator Hatehed Chieks,
Best Breeds for Broilers. Raising the Chickens.

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Suggestions on Building Incubator Cellars. Profitable Broiler Raising.

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Brooding House—Underneath Piping System. Pekin Ducks for Profit.

Brooding House—Overhead Piping System. Breeding and Feeding Pekin Dueks,
Single Row Reliable Brooding House. To Hatch and Raise Ducks.

Double Row Reliable Brooding House. Profitable Broiler Raising.

Description of House for Indoor Brooders.

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mouth Rocks, Sliver Laced Wyandottes, White Wyandottes, Buff Wyandottes, Light Brahmas, Buff Cochins, Single Comb and Rese
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TURKEYS...

ALL VARIETIES.

THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

Mating, Rearing, Exhibiting and Judging Turkeys—Explanation of Score-Card
Judging, with Complete Instructions.

A Collection of the Experiences of Best Known Successful Turkey
Breeders, Exhibitors and Judges.

FULLY ILLUSTRATED.

PUBLISHED BY
RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, QuINCY, ILI

1904

Two Goples Received
SEP 49 1904

“A turkey boiled

Is a turkey spoiled,
A turkey roast |
Is a nation’s boast,

But for turkey braized
The Lord be praised.’”’

Copyright by Reliable Poultry Journal Pub, Co., 1904

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*"NO.LSNHOL ‘df *S “MIN Aq patel S¥

3LVG OL SASMYNL 3ZNOYS HLOWNV EGTA CEG RUS

TURKEYS DOMESTICATED—INTRODUCTORY.

A Native American Fowl that for Utility Yields the Palm to None—Its Home, the Farm—Its Patron, the Farmer’s
Wife—Its Destiny, a Thanksgiving Feast.

MONG native American fowls the ‘turkey is
entitled to rank first. Proud and brilliant as
any, it possesses the additional attribute of
being the greatest among utility fowls. Al-

Wes though to an extent domesticated, it retains

the instincts of a wild bird, and this fact must be

recognized by those who desire to make a success of turkey
raising,

The farm is more and more becoming the home of the
turkey; its wide acres form a natural breeding spot and pro-
vide an abundance of food that is particularly palatable to
the taste of this king of the poultry kingdom. The nature of
turkeys is now so wel] known that few persons even attempt
to raise them in confinement.

In its wild state the male generally has only one mate,
but in some cases two females reciprocate his advances. In
domestication there is a wide difference in this respect, toms
being occasionally mated to twenty hens, and generally to
eight or twelve. Some breeders are glad to introduce wild
blood in their flock when opportunity offers, which is but
seldom. By such introduction the vigor and size of the birds
are increased and the plumage in some sections is rendered
even more brilliant.

Turkey breeders have not given the same attention to
line breeding asi have fanciers of the domestic fowl. With
hardly an exception they advise—‘Do not inbreed,” and per-
haps it is well, for the majority of turkey raisers are farm-
ers, or rather, farmers’ wives, whose sole aim is to produce
a marketable fowl and who have little inclination to attend
to the details of line breeding. The advice, “Do not in-
breed,” is therefore based upon the knowledge that vigor
would soon disappear from a flock indiscriminately inbred.
Prominent exhibitors to some extent do breed in line, but
they so often outcress that their flocks retain few character-
istics to denote a distinct strain. There is no absolute neces-
sity for line breeding in the case of this ancient fowl, for it
naturally breeds true to shape and color, and will continue
to do so if the standard makers will allow. A fowl known to
have been bred to its own kind for hundreds of years may
claim the right to be admittedly line bred, and nothing but
crossing can eradicate the tendency to breed true to shape
and color. During all these years the introduction of wild
blood has kept alive the wild nature in the domesticated
turkey. At the beginning of this period the birds were
totally wild, and for many years it was easier to procure a
wild bird than a partially tame one. The use of wild blood
was therefore frequent, becoming less common as years
rolled by, until now it seldom occurs. Year by year tur-
keys will therefore become more and more domesticated and
less inclined to range over a wide stretch of country. Wild
turkeys are becoming fewer, domestic turkeys more numer-
ous; and gradually the habits of the wild fowl will be dis-
placed, and the gobbler and his mate will be content to limit
their wanderings to the boundaries of the farm, while “the
better half” may be induced to deposit her eggs in any old
barrel, as the domestic hen does now.

So long as the tendency of the turkey is to be wiid, it is
best to adapt its surrounding and care to its desires and
constitution.

The custom is to allow turkeys to roost outside. A little
attention during their youthful days will induce them to
come home to roost.

In the case of young stock the general rule is to confine
them, and to be careful that they are not exposed to storms,
wet grass, etc. This is well, but it may be overdone. One
of our correspondents whose farm we have visited allows his
young stock to run with the mother over extensive grounds
where the grass is kept short. They are healthy and big.
Timbered lands are ideal spots for young poults if the vege-
tatien is not- dense and they usually thrive in such a loca-
tion. That dreaded “bowel trouble” which causes the death
of a large proportion of young stock is less liable to attack
birds raised on the range, because they are not as likely to
be overfed, and because lice do not multiply so rapidly as
when the birds are cooped.

There is a general impression among farmers that tur-
keys are difficult to raise; so they are if the same method
is adopted with them that holds good in raising chickens on
the farm, but if the habits of the wild turkey are studied and
the flock allowed to imitate them during the breeding season
there will be but few obstacles to success. The domestic fowl
when it hatches its brood of chicks is usually cooped for
a week or two, and when it is released it seldom wanders far
from the coop, so ihat in case of storms or change of tem-
perature shelter is easily reached. Not so the turkey. She
may be cooped for a time, but it makes little difference in
her habits, and when she is released it seems that the fur-
ther she can get from her late prison the better she is
pleased. The poults have hitherto remained near the coop
within call of the mother, they have been fed by the breeder,
and the change of life which the wandering spirit of their
parent renders necessary is entirely different from that they
have been accustomed to and calls for more robust constitu-
tions than they possess. The mother has passed that period
which cautions her to limit the exercise of her young, as she
naturally would do if at liberty when the poults are first
hatched, and instead of gradually increasing the length of
her rambles in search of food, she now forces her young
beyond their strength and runs chances of exposing them to
weather to which they have not been accustomed. It would
have been better to allow the mother her freedom from the
first. The very weakness of the poults when hatched would
keep them within reach of shelter for a time, and the
weather hardening process would be gradual.

We have heard old breeders say that the morning dew,
and dampness harbored by fields of hay and grain do not in-
jure poults that have had their freedom from the start.
Nevertheless if there is a choice between such a location and
pasture fields or woodlands take either of the two last
named. Turkeys with young will frequent the woods if
there are any in the neighborhood, and among the trees they
find sufficient vegetation to harbor insects, and the ground
is comparatively dry and free from long grass.

4 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

Half the battle of raising turkeys is won if the breeders
are allowed free range for some time before the breeding
season, and receive only an evening meal sufficient to induce
them to return home. This treatment renders them hardy, re-
moves the surplus fat that has accumulated during the heavy
winter feeding, causes the eggs to be strongly fertilized, and
the poults to be on the jump from the time they are hatehed,
Rearing healthy poults is a pleasure, not a hardship.

It is better to let turkeys imagine they are having their
own wild way in preparation for the laying season. There
is a happy medium between the continual struggle of the
attendant to make madam turkey lay in a hen’s nest, and the
struggle of the madam to deposit her egg on the next farm.
Coax her to think she has found a secluded nest, which of
course you will have arranged for her not too far from home.
This will need to be done a month or so before the laying
season, and is one way to avoid loss of eggs and poults.

“What is a farm without a turkey?” might well be the
plaint of the farmer’s wife who ‘‘once had” but now “has
not.” In days gone by she has watched them grow day by
day, looked for them to come home evening after evening
with their appetites allayed, and a store of animal and vege-
table food treasured up in their crops for the formation of
the bone and muscle which signifies size; and it has cost her
—nothing; the growing clover has been protected from in-
jury by insect pests; grasshoppers have hopped in vain
from the graceful gliding of the mother who quickly teaches
her flock that these pests may be turned to account; the
farmer seeing it, has been content to let them have their
way, and his wife has been happy in the thought iBalehe, SIL
shali wear a bright new bonnet.”

Imagine a little poult weighing only a few ounces, and
then picture to yourself the same bird after a period tipping
the scales at thirty-five or forty pounds. In this growth and
in the nearly perfect beauty of a matured tom lies the atirac-
tion to the turkey raiser.

The Brenze turkey is king of all varieties. The standard
places the weights high, but it should be understood that
this law of weights is but a safeguard to prevent loss of size
in the noble bird. Standard weights, are, we may say, the
lowest weights that may be possessed by Bronze turkeys bred
for exhibition. Certainly there are exhibited turkeys that
do not come up to the requirements in weight, but the ven-
alty in such a case is so severe that these cases are few. If
a Bronze turkey in the show room is two pounds under
weight its chances of winning the chief honors have gone.

Notwithstanding the importance of weight in the show
room, experienced fanciers prefer that their breeding pen
shali contain birds of less rather than greater weight. The
eggs will be better fertilized and the young birds more vig-
orous than if heavy weights had been mated. As, however,
the principal demand among turkey raisers is for birds of
great size, the fancier is forced to breed rangy birds in order
to satisfy this demand,

As a dressed fowl it is necessary that the outlines of the
carcass should net be marred by any deformity, and with
this in view, the’ American Standard requires that birds
having wry tails or crooked backs shall not be allowed to
compete for prizes in the show room; further, that a de-
formed keel shall receive a cut or penalty, which in pro-
nounced instances may be placed at three points. This, as
in the case of weight, is a wise law, intended to maintain the
utility qualities of the fowl.

So far as the plumage of the Bronze variety is concerned
there appears to be little trouble in securing magnificent
color. It seems to be a perquisite of the Bronze turkey, and
enables it to score far higher than other birds of parti-color.
This is a rule and not an exception.

To observe a matured tom strutting in the sunlight is to
see one of the most beautiful utility fowls that has been
created. No farm is complete without its flock. The range
they require is an obstacle to keeping them in large flocks
and the very fact that they are at home upon the range is
one of the reasons why they are so economically raised.
They require very little food during the growing season and
in the fall the farmer’s wife finds that she has at compara-
tively no cost, a flock of birds, which sell at $1.50 to $2 each.
This is the result of a little care and common sense, and
occasionally she realizes more profit on her flock than her
husband does on his farm.

The Bronze turkey is not alone in its marketable quali-
ties: in fact, we have been told by experienced breeders that
they prefer the Narragansett; it has been corroborated, too,
by local dealers who find that among their customers there
is more call for the medium sized Narragansett than for the
larger Bronze. The standard weights for the former range
from two io six pounds lighter than for the latter.

There are comparatively few Buff or Slate turkeys bred.
Their standard weights are alike, ranging from twelve
pounds in the pullet to twenty-seven pounds in the cock.

White Holland turkeys are second in favor to the
Bronze, notwithstanding the Narragansett is creeping up in
the race for the place. There has been difficulty in raising
White Holland turkeys of standard weight, but by careful
breeding and paying special attention to vigor we now find
among experienced breeders White Hollands that tip the
seale at weights above those required by the standard.
White Holland turkeys are favorite table fowls, the color of
their legs giving them an advantage over the Bronze, al-
though so far as utility requirements are concerned the
lines dividing leg color are not so distinctly drawn as in the
case of the domestic fowl.

The Black turkey is a variety seldom seen in the show
room.

It has been said that the number of turkeys bred in the
east is decreasing yearly, but we believe that statement has
only a local application. Speaking generally, there are far
more turkeys exported now than was the case a few years
ago, and we know the best of them do not all come from the
west. In the fall there is annually a round-up by turkey
buyers, and thousands of turkeys are killed and packed for
export in many an outlying town or village. These turkeys
never reach the central markets of this country and that
perhaps is the reason why it has been said that they are
decreasing in number. Breeders will welcome the news of
such a decrease. Export of turkeys means higher prices at
home, more demand, and what naturally follows—greater
profits. In the export business one mistake has occasionally
been made, and that is the holding back of stock for the
Christmas market in Europe. Such a course is bound to
cause a glut in the market, and a reduction in the profits.
There is, except during the summer months, a continual de-
mand in the old country for good stock at remunerative
prices, and this demand will dispose of all the surplus that
can be raised in this country for years to come.

ROBERT H. ESSEX,

STANDARD-BRED BRONZE TURKEYS.

An Illustrated, Detailed Description of What the Standard of Perfection Reauires in Bronze Turkeys—Male and
Female—With Instructions on Judging by the Score Card.

By Mr. Theo. Hewes, Breeder and Judge, with Special Charts by Mr. Sewell.

N THE breeding, care and management of tur-
keys, many excellent articles are written every
season. Reliable information from our most
prominent breeders has given the beginner a
good general idea as to the fancy and commer-
cial value of this the greatest of American
fowls, but the points that go to make up a fancy show speci-

men have never been so fully described that an amateur may,
with a reasonable degree of certainty, select the best speci-
mens from his flock. There is alwtys a doubt in the minds of

readers as to whether they understand aright from a written
description, but a chart showing perfection in markings can

be referred to at any time and this will give the amateur a
degree of confidence he can obtain in no other way. With
this idea in mind we present herewith two charts showing
the correct markings and shape of Bronze turkeys, male
and female. These charts hereinafter will be referred to

as Figs. 1 and 3 in our description.

We shall give the reader our idea of defects, placing the
same valuation on them that we would were we discounting
them in the show room. In a description of this kind there
is more or less repetition and the old breeders will find that
we are telling that which they already knew, but we trust
they will recall the time when they were beginners and bear
in mind that this article is intended more for amateur than
for professional breeders.

In describing and considering the Bronze Turkey we wi.l
follow the same plan we have in former articles on other
breeds, remembering always that the standard is the proper
guide. Our aim is to give the reader a correct impression
of the standard’s meaning, and to call attention to any
errors that in our judgment have crept in and become a part
of standard law. Let us now take up the Bronze turkey male,
section by section, scoring him the same as we would if we
had a live specimen before us, using chart Fig. 1 as our
model.

SYMMETRY OR TYPICAL CARRIAGE.

“Typical Carriage,” is the wording of the present stand-
ard. We maintain now as we have from the start that the
wording is wrong. “Symmetry” is proper and should be
used instead of “Typical Carriage.’”’ As we understand it,
“Typical Carriage” may mean any carriage that the bird is
accustomed to, but “Symmetry” means the harmonious join-
ing together of all sections so that we may have an ideal
outline, strictly typical of the breed it represents. All sec-
tions of a breed may be perfect in themselves and still be so
joined together that the symmetry or typical outline will be
wholly lacking. As we look at the matter, symmetry, prop-
erly understood, is the most important section in the stand-
ard and if we were purchasing a bird from a score card, and
were acquainted with the judge, we would pay more atten-
tion to the cuts for lack of symmetry than to all other shape
cuts combined.

Judges B. N. Pierce and F. W. Hitchcock are perhaps
the best posted American judges on the section of symmetry,
and if we were to see @ score card by either of these judges

on a specimen we were intending to purchase, we state em-
phatically that their cut on symmetry would decide the pur-
chase price. We are writing considerable on this section, as
we wish to impress on the mind of the amateur that the
proper interpretation of symmetry is of more importance
than any other one section, and if you get this fact fixed in
your mind you will have the shape problem solved.

Judges themselves do not give this section as close at-
tention as they should, some judges even ignoring it alto-
gether. This has brought the section into disrepute an@
quite often we hear the statement made that it should be
dropped from the standard; but when as reliable a system
of discounting symmetry is used uniformly as the one em-
ployed by Messrs. Pierce and Hitchcock, symmetry will be-
come the most important section and should be retained
always. Judges who are ignoring this section, or who make
light of it as is done in some instances, will realize their
mistake in time, for poultry associations will refuse to em-
ploy them as experts.

We now ask the reader to make a careful inspection of
the chart, Fig. 1. Here we have an ideal Bronze turkey
male, representing a bird over a year old or one that would
be classed as a cock. In him we see the perfectly rounded
outline, symmetrical and pleasing to the eye, together with
the massive body that goes to make up the forty-five and
forty-eight pound males, and it is just such birds as this
that we must breed if we are to reach the fifty-pound
weight limit, which seems to be the aim and object of a
number of prominent breeders. The symmetry of a show
specimen is hard to determine unless the birds are shown
in large, roomy exhibition pens so the one under inspection
can move about and assume natural positions without being
cramped in any way. If two or more birds are cooped to-
gether, as is often the case at small shows, it is next to
impossible to get them to stand as they would naturally,
and the judging of symmetry under these conditions is more
or less in the form of guesswork. The judges should refuse
to make out a score card until all but one of the specimens
are removed, so that he can get a proper idea of the outline
of the one for which he is making out the card. See repro-
duction of score card herewith.

The only criticism we would make on symmetry of the
Bronze male represented in Fig. 1 is in the body section.
The outline should be a trifle deeper back of the thighs.
Nearly all specimens are more or less defective in this sec-
tion. While it is necessary that we have a well rounded
breast, at the same time we do not want to overlook the fact
that we want something back of the legs to balance this,
otherwise it will make the bird look as though it were brac-
ing on its toes instead of standing squarely on its feet as it
sheuld.

In discounting for lack of symmetry we will call up some
of the numerous defects that we find in scoring, taking one
show with another. Where neck is too long or too straight,
one-half out; back too narrow or too straight, failing to
show the nice curve so much desired, one-half to one out;

6 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

tail too short or too long, one-half out; if carried too high,
one-half to one out; breast too flat or too narrow, one out;
breast not deep enough from shoulders to point of breast-
bone, one-half to one out; wings poorly folded so as to im-
pair the symmetry of the specimen, one-fourth to one-half
out; body too short or too narrow, one-half out; legs too
short or too long, one-half to one out, as in degree.

WEIGHT OF BRONZE TURKEYS.

This section is valued at fifteen points, and is of much
importance if the breeder proposes to exhibit his birds, and
equally as important if he is breeding for commercial uses
aud expects to compete with the breeders of heavy weights.
The standard weights of Bronze turkeys are, adult cocks,
thirty-six pounds; yearling cocks, thirty-three pounds; hens,
twenty pounds; pullets, sixteen pounds; cockerels, twenty-
five pounds. In the show room the standard instructs us to
cut three points per pound for any deficit from standard
weight, hence any one may readily understand that a bird
that is from one to two pounds under weight has a small
chance of winning prizes in keen competition. It is claimed
by some that we have the Bronze turkey weights entirely too
high, and that the breed would be better off if they were
bred smaller. The writer is of the opinion that the present
weights are plenty high enough and personally would vote to
reduce rather than increase them, At the same time the com-
mittee who revised the last standard had letters from the
National Turkey Club, requesting an increase in weight in
both male and female. The trouble with an increase is
that the market does not call for so large a carcass. Smaller
birds are in demand and at better prices, and it is well
for the breeder to look to the market side of the ques-
tion. While forty-five to fifty-pound birds are handsome
to look at and attract the attention of everybody, itis a

LP

self-evident fact that few, if any of us would care to invest
in one for table use, and the same rule will hold good with
every family in the country. The only practical use that can
be made of them is in large hotels, and there they are
classed as “‘soupers’’ and as a rule sell from one to three
cents per pound lower than smaller birds.

CONDITION.

This section is valued at six points, and refers not alone
to the health of the specimen, but the condition of its plum-
age. A bird should be placed on exhibition not alone in a
healthy condition, but
its plumage should be
carefully looked after.
Exhibitors should see to
it that no specimen is
allewed to be entered
that has broken wing or
tail feathers, or is in a
soiled or crumpled con-
dition, owing to the lack
of proper room in which
to exercise. A bird
showing signs of roup
or cholera should be

me
AT
Ga

Copyright,
Reese

IDEAL OR STANDARD BRONZE TURKEY MALE.

Fig. 1—Chart, Drawn by Franklane L. Sewell, Showing Outline and Markings
of Ideal or Standard Bronze Turkey Male.

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. vf

debarred from competition. This is the first duty of the
judge, that birds showing symptoms of either of these dis-
eases should be removed from the show room, thus saving
other birds that are liable to be infected. When a bird
shows a slight cold or symptom of canker, the cut is one-
half to one; if feathers are broken or the bird is in bad
shape from fighting, the cut is one-half to one and one-half.
Dirty specimens which show that no care has been given
them should be discounted one-half to two points.
HEAD.

Head is valued at five points, and is usually good, both
as to shape and color. The standard says that in shape the
head should be long and broad; in color a rich red change-
able to bluish white. About the only defect that is com-
monly found in the shape of head is to be noted in what is
called a bullet headed turkey. In other words, the head is
too short. It looks more like a marble and should be dis-
counted one-half to one and one-half, as in degree. If the
beak is too long or too straight, or is damaged in any way,
as is often the case in cocks that have been fighting, the cut
is one-half to one, as in degree.

THROAT AND WATTLES.

This section is valued at five points, and as a rule passes
without discount, especially so in color. However, the stan-
dard calls for heavy carunculations, while we sometimes
find a specimen that is almost smooth. In cases of this kind
the out is one-half to one.

NECK.

This section has a valuation of six points, three for
shape and three for color. In shape it should be long, curyv-
ing backwards; in color, a light, rich, brilliant bronze.
Please note the wording, “light bronze,’ but it must be bril-
liant and show a bronze sheen. The bronze shading on the
neck is not so deep as in other sections, and makes a lighter
bronze by comparison with other parts of the body. The
neck seldom receives a cut either for shape or color, but we
sometimes find a neck that is too straight and too long, and
it should be discountéd one-half to three-fourths. If the
color shades off to a brown on the back of the neck, as it
sometimes does, the cut is one-half to one.

BACK.

This section in a turkey, as in any other variety of fowl,
is of great importance, for without a well-balanced back the
specimen is of little value as a breeder. This section is
valued at ten points, five for shape and five for color. In
shape it should curve somewhat, rising from the junction of
the neck and the body, and extending in a gradual curve
towurd the tail. The color from neck to center of back
should be a light brilliant bronze, each feather terminating
in a narrow black band extending across the end. From the
center of back to tail coverts the color should be black, each
feather heavily edged with bronze. In describing the shape
of back we think the standard should say something about
proper length. As I remember the revision committee’s re-
port on this breed it read, “medium in length.” As it now
reads no preference may be given to a long, a short or a
medium length, so long as the general shape conforms to the
general description. The committee’s report (I refer to the
committee that met at Fisher’s Island) read about like this:
“Back—Broad, of medium length,” and then followed the
present description. As it now stands the most important
section of the bird, so far as the shape is concerned, is
passed without a proper description.

We next refer to a few defects in back that should be
discounted. If the back is too straight, failing to show the
curve above referred to, the out is one to one and one-half
points. If the curve is too prominent, giving the bird the
appearance of having a hump back, the out is one to two. If

the back is deformed or crooked, the specimen is disquali-
fied. In color, if the feathers fail in the narrow black bands
across the end, the out is one-half to one. There is some-
times a shading of brown on the backs of males. It is a
narrow edging on the outside of the black. When this color
crops out it should be discounted one to two points, as in
degree. With the poor description of back, as furnished by
the standard, I would suggest that the amateur study the
general shape of the back on the chart (Fig. 1) and take it
for his model. You will not go far wrong if you adopt this
as a practically ideal bird and try to breed to it.
BREAST.

From a commercial viewpdint this section has more real
value than any other section on the bird, while from the
fancy standpoint it is seldom good enough to pass without a

American Poultry Association Score Gard

Name of Association, Ft CATA OTE ie pitt cn wiee
--..--» John Smith
Date,....
eo SOXS ... Cockerel.
- Band (NOS. ~~ 2225 420s)
. Weight, .-

OM MOT ates ascerstens ces FORM SIA: Ve Meee
age LOmmeLO OMe
Breed,

Entry: Nostra rales cs

... Bronze Turkey...

wales LOS

SHAPE. | COLOR. REMARKS.

Typical Carriage,.......)..1..
WiGro hitter trie :

Breast
Body and Fluff...
ers and Reet, >.......-
Crest and Beard a eta
Hardness) of Peathers os \qeccie alse.

Total Outs,..84.. Score,..91%..

SUA GOS! ccvaereie.e DHEORELE WES a reet on

Reproduction of Score Card, Showing Sampie “‘Cuts’’ for Defects.

discount. It is valued at ten points, and like the back is
subdivided, five for shape and five for color. In shape it
should be broad, deep and full; in color, a light, rich, bril-
liant bronze. If the breast is too narrow or is flat, the out
is one-half to one and one-half. If it is too shallow or not
deep enough through from the shoulder to point of breast-
bone, the out is one-half to two, as in degree. If the color
fails in the narrow edge of the black, giving the surface a
dead sort of color, the out is one-half to one. If some of the
feathers on the breast show an outside edging of white, the
out is one-half to one and one-half, as in degree.
BODY AND FLUFF.

Like breast and back this section has a valuation of ten
points and is divided equally between shape and color. In
regard to shape, it has the best general description of any of
the sections described by the standard. The standard says,
“Body—Long, deep through the center and well rounded. In
color, body black, beautifully shaded with bronze, but not so
decided or so rich as that of the breast. Fluff—Black, each
feather ending in a wide black and bronzy band extending

8 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

across the feather, with a narrow edging of white or gray.”
The standard description of the shape of this section shows
clearly that there was an error either in the committee’s re-
port on back shape, or some part of their report on back was
lost before it was presented at the Boston meeting, for in
body section the standard calls for a long, deep body, which
would require at least a medium length of back.

In color of body and fluff the description is not so good.
We find that the most brilliantly colored specimens show the
tracing of white or gray on the outer edge from the thighs
back; in fact, the feather as shown on the thigh of Fig. 1
should have this white edge the same as is shown on the
breast of the female. See chart of female (Fig. 3).

If the body is too short or too narrow, the out igs one-
haif to two, as in degree. If flat, failing to show a well
rounded outline, the cut is one-half to one. If too shallow
through, that is, not deep enough from back to point of keel
bone, the out is one-half to two, as in degree. If keel is
crooked or slightly twisted, the out is one-half to cne; if
badly twisted or so much out of line that the crookedness

the thighs. With this exception we hesitate to criticise the
chart in any way as an ideal outline.

WINGS.

So far as color is concerned this is the most important
of all the sections, and it is seldom that a specimen passes
witheut a discount. The standard valuation is four for
shape and six for color. Owing to the importance of this
section from the color standpoint, the revision committee
tried to add more points to color, so as to subdivide the sec-
tion, but it was found that six points were all that could be
given without injuring some other section.

We again call attention to chart (Fig. 1) and ask the
reader to study carefully the wing feathers as illustrated by
Mr. Sewell. In order to help the reader to get a clear under-
standing of this important section, we give the standard
wording, and ask the reader to follow Mr. Sewell’s drawing
from wing bow to the end of the flight feathers. The stand-
ard says, ‘Bows black, with a brilliant bronzy or greenish

The Pride

can be seen when viewed from the outside, the out should
be the limit allowed by the standard, namely, three points.

While on this section, permit me to call the attention
of the amateur to the fact that while crooked breast bones do
not disqualify and will not invariably reappear in the pro-
geny, we would not advise their use if you can avoid it, as
this as well as other defects will be bred into the young if
used repeatedly in the breeding pen.

In color the body is usually good, although the fluff is
liable to run into a snuff color, bordering on a dingy brown.
This defect in color should be discounted one-half to one
and one-half points. If the white band fails to show up at
the end of the feather, leaving the feather black, the out is
one point.

If the body does not extend well out behind the legs, but
cuts off short in this region, giving the bird the appearance
of having too much weight in front of the legs, the out is
one-half to one and one-half. In our chart (Fig. 1) we would
add a trifle more to the length and depth of the body behind

of the Farm.

lustre. Primaries, each feather

evenly
barred across with parallel bars of black and white extend-

and distinetiy

ing the entire length of the feather. Secondaries, black or
dark brown, evenly and regularly barred, crossed with bars
of white or gray, color changing to a bronzy brown as the
center of the back is approached, with but little admixture
of white. An edging of white or brown in the secondaries
is very objectionable. Coverts, a beautiful rich bronze, the
feathers terminating in a wide black band, forming a broad
bronzy band across the wings when folded, and separated
from the primaries by a glossy black, ribbon-like mark
formed by the ends of the coverts.”

Note carefully the tracing of the bronze on wing bow.
Up near the top the feathers are solid black, but as they ap-
proach the wing-bar the bronze edging deepens, giving the
wing when viewed in the sunlight the color of burnished
gold. The description of wings might go farther and add
that the last bar on the primaries and secondaries should
end with black. This is correct, at any rate, and it will be

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 9

well for the amateur to make a note of it. Again, it is well
to remember that the tracing or barring should extend to
the end of the feathers. Quite often we find a specimen that
is unusually good in color, especially so in primaries and
secondaries, except that near the end of the feather the bar-
ring will stop and the last two inches will be solid black.
When the wing of the male is perfect in color, except this
black, mate him with females that show more white than
black in their flighis, and should you have one that has a
wing with the last bar white instead of black, she will be
all the more valuable as a breeder. In scoring the wing of
either male or female, when this black appears at the end
of feather the out is one point.

If the barring is irregular, showing zig-zag tracings
across the wing, the out is one-half to one, as in degree. If

examining this fowl carefully, and the photograph, while
good, does not do the bird justice. The photographer al-
lowed the lower end of the flight feathers to be taken in a
shadow, making the ends of the feathers look blurred. The
photographer was at fault, not the feathers, as we know
personally that the barring in this case extends to the ends
of the feathers.

TAIL,

This is another important section, especially as regards
color. In this respect it is next in importance to the wing—
in fact, a specimen with perfect wings would be debarred
from the breeding pen if it failed to show fairly good color
in this section. The tail has the same valuation as wings,
four for shape and six for color. As a rule, this section is

Fig. 2—Reproduced from Photograph—Showing Standard Barring on Wing of Bronze Turkey Male.

the barring appears only on one side of the quill the other
side showing black or a mixed up muddy color, the out is
one-half to two, as in degree. If the secondaries show a
slight tracing or edging of white or brown, the out is one-
half. If this edging is prominent enough to mar the beauty
of the wing, the out is oue to two. If the coverts fail in the
black band at end of feather, causing what would be termed
an unfinished wing, the out is one-half to one and one-half
points.

In order to show breeders the remarkable progress that
is being made in the breeding of this variety we refer the

reader to the half-tone of wing Fig. 2, on page 24. This
shows the wing of a bird owned by Mr. W. J. Bell. While

this wing is not absolutely perfect, for there is a slight
break in color at the lower end of the flight feathers at the
same time there have been few better wings shown in this
country, and Mr. Bell has a right to feel proud of this speci-
men, both as to color of wings and tail.

In Fig. 2 (this page) is shown the wing of a male bird
’ owned by Mr. B. F. Hislop. He is a grand specimen, both
as to color and shape. The writer has had the pleasure of

better understood by the average fancier than the wing, not
as regards breeding, but in regard to discounts and what
really constitutes perfect color. In shape the standard
says, “rather long.’”’ This is not a good description. In our
opinion it should read, “rather long and well spread,” as
a pinched tail on a turkey spoils the beauty of the specimen,
no matter how finely colored it may be, while a well spread
tail carries with it the complete curve of the back and shows
oft to advantage the fancy color in the coverts.

We again call attention to Fig. 1 and ask that the reader
study the markings as illustrated by Mr. Sewell, not alone in
the tail preper, but in the tail coverts as well. The standard
says, in description of the color of the tail proper, ‘each
feather irregularly penciled with narrow band of light brown
and ending in a broad black band with a wide edging of
white or gray, white preferred.’ We do not quite like this
wording, at the same time we hardly know how to make it
any plainer to the amateur, except in the description of the
end of the feather. The standard says, ‘white or gray, white
preferred.” I would suggest to the amateur that he make his
standard read “white,” as gray is not the correct color and

10 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

should be discounted. The black band referred to near the
end of the feather should be a rich metallic black and the
white a pure white. On a well bred specimen the two colors
are so pure and distinct as to give them the appearance of
ebony and alabaster joined together on straight lines, in
fact, it is doubtful if there is a fowl in existence, either
tame or wild, where the two colors, white and black, show
so distinctly and with so beautiful an effect as on the tail
and tail coverts of well bred Bronze turkey males.

The standard says, in describing the coverts, ‘“Coverts
black or dark brown, each feather irregularly penciled with
a narrow band of light brown, ending in a wide black and
bronze band extending across the feather with a wide edging
of white or gray, white preferred.” The more distinct the
color throughout the whole plumage, the better. Here again
our advice to the amateur is, drop the word gray and strive
to produce the pure white edging, which is the seal of beauty
of the breed and which, with careful selection of the breed-
ing stock, can be obtained in a large percentage of ihe off-
spring.

In chart (Fig. 1) you will note that the color of the cov-
erts shows black. The end color of the tail proper is hidden
by the coverts, but the fluffy portion of the feather is black.
Will say, however, that in the tail proper all of the web por-
tion of the feather should be penciled with straight bars as
shown on the chart. In scoring the specimen the judge al-
Ways examines the tail color, well down near the roots of

the feather, for many otherwise good specimens are found
to be defective there. One of the common defects to be found
at the root of the tail feathers is solid black; this defective
ecloring sometimes extends upward three or four inches
from the base, with no sign of penciling. Such tails should
be discounted one-half to one and one-half. Another defect
sometimes found at the base of the tail feathers consists of
broad bands or bars of pure white. As a rule, this is caused
by trying to breed too wide a band of white on the tail cov-
erts and on the ends of the tail feathers. Too much ‘‘White
blood” crops out at the base of
the tail, and sometimes it will
show at the base of the pri-
maries in wings.

Here we come upon the se-
cret of what makes the breed-
ing of fancy poultry so deeply
interesting. If we attempt to
mix our colors too strongly,
nature silently, but unfailing-
ly, steps in and blurs them up
for us. If these wide white
bars appear at the base of
feathers, the out is one-fourth
to one-half, as in degree.
Where the barring is
irregular on the tail

Copyright.
Re Phys

IDEAL OR STANDARD BRONZE TURKEY FEMALE.

Fig. 3—Chart, Drawn by Franklane L. Sewell, Showing Outline and Markings of Ideal or
Standard Bronze Turkey Female.

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 11

proper the out is one-half to one. Where the white outside
lacing is mixed with gray or brown the out is one-half to
one and one-half. Where the coverts fail to show a clear
edging, the out is one-half to one. If mixed with brown or a
dirty gray, the out is one-half to one and a half. A tail that
shows a decided edging of brown or red should be severely
discounted 1n the show room and be discarded from the
breeding pen, for it shows an outside cross with the wild
turkey, and is not, in color, a pure bronze.

On page 24 in Fig. 3 is shown a half-tone made from a
photograph of the tail of the same bird that is represented
in Fig. 2. This illustration shows the reader what remark-
ably good color Mr. Bell has secured in his breeding stock.
The tracing of the barring on the tail is not so distinct as
that on the chart, at the same time you can trace it by a
careful inspection of the photographs, and the outside edging
of white is as fine as the writer has ever seen.

LEGS AND TOES.

This section, while not valued high in the scale of
points, is really of considerable importance both to the com-
mercial and fancy breeder. The standard gives the legs and
toes a valuation of five points, and describes them in shape
as follows: ‘Thighs long and stout; shanks large, long and
strong; toes straight and strong.”

Once more we call your attention to Fig. 1. Here you
will find the pair of legs that the standard describes. Fig. 1
is meant to represent a full grown, up to weight cock bird,
and under him are just such legs as the judge should find
under all large, well-balanced specimens. In color the thighs
should be the same as the lower breast, although less rich
and decided. The shanks in young birds should be dark,
approaching black. In adult birds they are usually of a
pinkish hue or flesh color. Toes, same as shanks. How-
ever, the toes in matured specimens show less of pink as a
ruie than the leg proper.

In shape the legs should stand well apart, giving the
specimen a broad, massive appearance when viewed from
the front. The toes should be straight and well spread. The
legs should be of fair length so as to hold the specimen well
up in the air, but not so long as to make the bird look leggy;
at the same time they should be a trifle longer than medium.
If the legs are small in bone, giving the bird a feminine ap-

pearance, the out is one-half to one. Jf the legs are too
short or too long, the out is one-half to one and one-half. If
set too close together, the out is one. If knock-kneed, the
out is two. If the toes are crooked, one-half to one. If the
ends of the toes are missing, the out is one-half to two. If
the legs are in bad condition, that is, scaly or soiled, the
out is one-half to one. If off in color, the out is one-half to
one and one-half, as in degree.

BRONZE TURKEY FEMALE.

In Fig. 3 is shown the outline of a Bronze turkey female
that for shape and markings in all sections has never been
surpassed by any drawing that we have had the pleasure of
seeing. Mr. Sewell has done himself great credit in the exe-
cution of this chart. It is one of his masterpieces as tHe
world’s foremost delineator of fowls.

It is not necessary for us to go into extensive detail in
describing the different sections of the female Bronze turkey,
as the shape of the male and female is alike, except that
the cock has a more masculine look throughout.

What we have said in regard to color, markings and
shape of the male will apply equally as well to the female,
the only exception being on back and breast. In these sec-
tions instead of a rich, bronzy surface we should find on the
outside of feathers a narrow edging of dull white or gray. A
common defect in females is a brown or snuff color that
sometimes traces on outer edge to the white lacing on the
feathers of the back and breast. When this off-color appears
it should be discounted one-half to two, as in degree. An-
other section that :s more liable to show the brown or snuff-
colored edging on females than on males is the back of the
neck. Quite often they will show a stripe of brown and this
defect should be discounted one-half to two, as in degree.

It is not to be expected that we shall obtain as brilliant
color on the wings and tails of females as we do on males.
but our aim is to mate together each year the very best of
the flock until such time as we find on them the same bril-
liant color on wings and tail coverts as we do on our best
exhibition males. I believe that if the amateur will study
carefully the description of defects and our system of plac-
ing a valuation on same, together with the two charts, he
will be pretty well prepared to select and also mate his best
specimens. THEO. HEWES.

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

An American Wild Fowl that in Domestication has been Brought to an Advanced Standard of Excellence and Serves
Highly Practical Purposes—Standard Requirements of Different Sections—Mating to Produce
Exhibition Specimens—General Advice on Care of Flock.

By S. B. Johnston,

HERE are a number of turkeys bred in this part
of the state, so that we are generally well ac-
quainted with the different varieties, although
our work has been confined to the Bronze
variety. There are five varieties besides the
Bronze in the standard, namely the Narragan-

sett, Buff, Slate, Black and White Holland. Then there is a

white sport from the Bronze that is nearly as large as that

variety and that has more desirable features than the White

Holland, which is the smallest variety in the standard. The

White Holland is a good bird, but is too small and will not

bring the marketman as profitable returns as the Bronze or

Narragansett. I believe fewer people raise the Black

Turkey than any other variety, as it is not liked by shippers

on account of black pin feathers. Bronze, White Holland or

Buff Turkeys are easier dressed and pin feathers are not

evident.

The Bronze Turkey is the largest of all varieties. It
matures quickly, and by the holiday season will attain its
full weight It is docile and easily kept at home. It is said
by some that the Bronze Turkey is not easily kept at home,
but I have found that turkeys of any variety not having
proper care will stray away. In hardiness and vigor there is
no variety that can surpass the Bronze when properly bred.
The wild turkey is so near in color to the Bronze that by
carefully introducing new blood by wild hens the breeder
can get hardiness and vigor unequaled. Turkeys that are
hatched in April, May and June will begin laying the latter
part of March or the first of Apri! the next year. I believe
that all varieties of turkeys in the same latitude begin laying
about thé same time. In this latitude they begin about the
first of April more generally than in March. There seems
to be always a good demand for turkeys of all varieties. It
takes the Bronze variety about three years to get its full
weight—in other words, to get its heaviest weight, while
most other varieties attain their full weight by the second
year. There are more Bronze Turkeys raised than all other
varieties combined, which fact is proof enough that the
Bronze has more good qualities than any other variety.

RANGE AND HOUSING.

Turkeys do not do well in small and crowded quarters.
They can be raised to some extent on a small range, but such
specimens generally are stunted in size and of poor color,
just as is any other stock that is ill-kept. When the turkey
was first found it ran wild in the forest, hence the love of
range is about its first instinct and it will attain nearer per-
fection in size and color when it has freedom. Some writers
advocate the housing of turkeys, but in my experience I
have not found this best. I have learned that a turkey hen
can take care of its young better than either a domestic hen
or myself, as the turkey mother seems to understand the
little poults’ chirpings and knows what they need. I have
tried raising turkeys in coops and pens, keeping them close
to the house, but with poor success. When the season is not
too severe, turkeys can be given the run of the place, and

if they have good quarters in which to roost at night, under
bushes or something of that kind, and are looked after dur-
ing the day tor a few weeks, they will not need much food,
but will do better and grow faster than those kept close to
the house and fed from five to six times a day. Turkeys
raised in this way are less trouble, have better plumage and
are more vigorous, and in the fall when the corn is being
gathered they can be toled to the house to roost. Turkeys
kept close to the house and not extra well fed will stray off,
hence the advantage is ail with the one who raises his tur-
keys away from the house.

I have found that a roost built close to the ground is of
great advantage to young birds that are growing fast, as it
often happens that promising youngsters are injured in
flying from high roosts. I believe that a shed open to the
south and closed to the north, east and west is of great
advantage in severe weather in keeping turkeys dry and
free from drafts. Such a shed makes a good feeding place
when there is snow or mud, and would make a good roost-
ing place if the turkeys could be induced to roost in it. The
great trouble is to keep them from roosting on top of the
shed, but this can be prevented by running a two-foot wire
netting around the top. I should not attempt to raise tur-
keys on one or two acres of ground, but with proper care
a forty-acre farm will give ample forage for five hundred
birds. In these days it is a large flock that contains more
than one hundred turkeys. They do best when divided into
flocks of about fifty.

STANDARD REQUIREMENTS OF DIFFERENT SECTIONS.

In order to mate breeding pens correctly and to do jus-
tice by his customers the breeder should understand the
judging of fowls. To make this matter plain I shall take
the bird, section by section, and cut for defects as would
a judge when scoring in the show room.

Symmetry—Symmetry, or typical carriage, is first in the
scale of points and to be perfect in this respect a fowl must
have perfect shape in every section. I prefer the term sym-
metry to typical carriage. Symmetry means a perfect join-
ing together of all parts, thus making a symmetrical whole,
while typica] carriage may mean any pose the specimen
might take regardless of symmetry. Symmetry is valued at
eight points. So far as typical shape is concerned, if a bird
loses one point in this section he is cne-eighth bad; two
points, one-fourth; one-half point one-sixteenth. if the
bird is too narrow and fails to round out in breast, back and
body, with the tail too short, as is usually the case with
narrow birds, the cut should be from two to three points,
according to degree. The standard calls for a deep, long
body, handsomely rounded. When the legs are too long or
too short and stand too close together the cut should be
from one-half to one and one-half points. The weight clause
is valued at fifteen points. Standard weights are: Adult
cock, 36 pounds; yearling cock, 383 pounds; cockerel 25
pounds; hen, 20 pounds; pullet, 16 pounds.

Condition—Condition is valued at eight points and all

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 13

that goes to make a perfect, healthy specimen is considered.
If a bird show any signs of roup or cold it should be cut
from one-half to one point; scaly legs, one-half to one; if
head or wattles are torn from fighting, one-half to one point.

Head—tThis section is valued at five points and the
standard requires it to be long, broad and carunculated. The
beak must be strongly set in the head and have a graceful

curve; eyes should be bright, dark hazel and clear. Wattles
and throat are valued at five points. The head should be a
bright red, changeable to bluish white, and the beak a horn
color.

Neck—The neck is valued at six points, three for shape,
three for color. It should be long and well curved back,
with the plumage a light rich brilliant bronze. It is some-
times too short and too straight, and if so it should be cut
from one-half to one point, according to defect.

Back—tThis is valued at ten points, five for shape, five
for color. It should rise in a graceful curve from the neck
to the center of back and then descend in a like manner to
the tail. From the neck to the center of back the plumage
should be a bright brilliant bronze, each feather terminating
in a narrow black band; from the center of the back to the
tail coverts the feathers should be dark, heavily edged with
bronze. Common faults of
the back are too narrow be-

brown, irregularly penciled with light brown, ending in a
wide black and bronze band extending across ithe feathers
with a wide edging of white or gray, white preferred. Small,
short legged birds are apt to have a tail too short for good
symmetry, and the tail folded too closely. This should be
eut from one to two points. Defects in color of tail are
mostly found in the brown penciling. Some birds will have
splotches of brown and scarcely any penciling. Sometimes
brown appears between the white edging; and the black.
The white should come up to the black without any inter-
mixing of brown. When brown is found it should be cut
severely. There should not be any buff tinge in the white.

Legs and Toes—Legs and toes are valued at five points.
The thighs should be long and stoutly built and the plumage
a beautiful bronze. The toes should be stout and straight
and of a pinkish hue; color of young birds, dark approaching
black. Crooked or chalky legs and toes should be cut one to
two points. If the legs are too short or too long, cut from
one to two points.

Color of Females—The entire plumage of the female
should be similar to that of the male, but the colors are not
so brilliant nor clearly defined. On the edging of the feath-
ers is a duli white or gray. Note—Crooked keel or breast

bone should be cut from one-

tween the shoulders and too |
flat or straight. For these de-
fects cut from one-half to two
points. When the color ap-
proaches clear black or |
brown or gray it should be
cut from one to two points.

Breast—The breast is also |
valued at ten points, five for
shape, five for color. It should ©
be very broad and full, in
color a light brilliant bronze.
If too narrow, failing to
round out nicely, it should be cut from one to three
points. If black or brown in color, it should be cut one-
half to two points, according to defect.

Body and Fluft—The body is valued at ten points, five
for shape and five for color. It should be long and hand-
some; in color black, shaded with bronze, but not so rich as
the breast. The fluff should be black, each feather ending
in a wide black and bronze band, terminating in a white or
gray edging. This section is seldom found faulty. If flat or
wedge-shaped it should be cut from ene-half to one and one-
half points; if it approaches brown or black it should be cut
from one to two points.

Wings—The wings are valued at ten points, four for
shape and six for color. They should be large, well folded,
the wing bows of a brilliant bronze or greenish lustre; quill
feathers evenly and distinctly barred, with parallel bars of
black and white, extending the entire length of the feather.
As it nears the center of the back the color changes to a
bronze brown with very little white in it. White or brown
on the lower edge of quill feathers is very objectionable.
The bar should run clear across, and as there is not one
judge in ten who euts for lack of this, it is a common fault.
If the wings are too long and lap on the back at tips the
specimen should be cut from one-half to one and one-half
points. The coverts should be a rich bronze and terminate
in a wide black band, forming a broad bronze band across
the wing when folded.

Tail—The tail is valued at ten points, four for shape and
six for color. It should be black, irregularly penciled with
light brown, ending in a broad black band with a wide edg-
ing of white or gray, white preferred; coverts black or dark

— — half to three points.
| MATING BRONZE TURKEYS FOR
| PRIZE WINNERS.

If I were asked the most es-
sential point for breeders, I
should say first of all vigor
then size, then fine markings
of plumage. The fancier must
consider size, because nine
out of every ten want size
first. It is not the rule, how-
ever, that the biggest turkeys
are the highest scorers, no
matter how well they may be
bred. To improve size, weight and markings, select ine fin-
est marked tom of good big bone, with typical carriage,
strong and vigorous, and mate him with the largest hens
possible, no matter if they are not so well marked. Then the
next season reverse the order and if you are so fortunate as
to get well marked birds of both sexes, mate them in the
following manner: For the females, select tall, rangy birds,
with long, deep bodies. broad backs, and full rounded
breasts, with as big bones, feet and legs as possible. In col-
or, the head and wattles should be a rich red, but under dif-
ferent circumstances the head is changeable to bluish white.
The plumage of the neck and breast should be a rich, lus-
trous bronze, the breast and back in front of wings showing
a narrow lacing or edging of gray. The back is somewhat
darker in color, as it shows a narrow black band across the
feathers as they near the lesser tail coverts, these ending in
a white or gray edging. The primaries and secondaries of
the wing feathers must be as near standard as possible.

I take it for granted that every breeder has the standard,
for it is the book of authority, and sets forth clearly the dis-
qualifications. I would say, however, that the white or gray
bars should be about three-sixteenths of an inch in width
with the black or brown bars about three-eighths of an inch,
They should be even and straight across the feathers. The
tail should be long and black, with pencilings of light brown
across the feathers, the feathers ending in a broad, black
band with an edging of dull white coming right up to the
black. The feet and legs should be dark, apprcaching black.
This is of less importance in the females than in the male.

The tom has more influence or shape and color of off-
spring than has the female. He should be as near perfection

A Flock of Bronze Turkeys on the Farm of S. B. Johnston.

14

in carriage and color of plumage as it is possible to get. He
should be of medium size and of good vigor. In my opinion,
the standard makes a mistake in calling for larger birds, as
this detracts from their profit as egg-producers. A good,
vigorous tom will mate with eighteen or twenty hens. As
to the best age for breeding fowls, I use a two-year-old male
and female one year old, or vice versa. Yearling turkey
hens will lay more eggs than an older hen, but the two-year-
old hen’s eggs will hatch stronger poults. Hens are profit-
able as a general thing until they are four years old. I have
kept some good layers until they were six years old. Asa
rule turkeys are not profitable after they are four years old.
Three to four-year-old tom turkeys usually become cross
and irritable and are dangerous to have about where there
are children.

I have the best success with pullets from sixteen to
twenty pounds, and old hens from eighteen to twenty-three
pounds. They lay more fertile eggs than larger hens, are
more active and healthy and make better mothers. Turkey
hens do not all commence laying at once, and generally by

the time ithe first layers want to sit the last ones to lay are |

ready to begin. Turkey hens should be carefully fed at the
laying season if fed at all, as they will pick up on the range
nearly all the food they need. If allowed to get too fat they
will not lay until ijate. It is a good plan to feed meat two
or three times during the month before you want them to
lay, as it will have a tendency to make the eggs more fertile.
Turkey eggs as a general thing are sure to hatch. I have
had hens lay as many as four clutehes of eggs in a season.
Turkey eggs will hatch in twenty-eight days, but with me-
dium sized turkeys it usually requires twenty-nine days, and
eggs from very large hens frequently run over to thirty days.
I have an eight-foot fence around about two acres on my
home place that I use for the laying turkeys in the spring.
I use boxes and barrels turned on the side for nests.

AT HATCHING TIME.

One should be very careful in setting turkey hens, as
they are of a wild nature. It is best to try a hen, if one has
valuable eggs, by giving ner a few nest eggs for a day or so,
then at night taking the nest eggs out and putting the good
eggs in. Be careful to have the bottom of the nest firm and
solid, so that the eggs will not roll about. Have the nest so
formed that it fits the shape of the hen. In this way the
eggs will all be the same distance from the hen’s body and
receive the same amount of heat. Sprinkle the eggs at sit-
ting time and two cr three times during hatching time with
Lambert’s Death to Lice, or some other good insecticide. If
your hen is gentle you might take the poults out of the nest
as they hatch. This leaves more room for those that are to

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

hatch. If the hen is inclined to be irritable, it is best to
leave her alone, as she may get excited and trample on the
poults. I have successfully used incubators for hatching
turkey eggs, but when it comes to putting the poults in the
brooders it is another matter. It is all right to hatch them
in an incubator if one has hens to which he can give the
young poults to be raised. I never feed my young turkeys
until they are twenty-four to thirty-six hours old. They are
first given grit, then some oatmeal or groats. I use very lit-
tle soft food. When giving soft food it is best to mix it with
sweet milk and give only what they will eat up at one meal,
as turkeys should never have sour food. Give table scraps
and any green food you may have. Cottage cheese is a good
food for poults and is particularly good with cut onion tops,
salted and peppered to taste. Oat groats are highly recom-
mended as 2 dry food for poults. Give millet seed, kaffir
corn, wheat and then cracked corn. Feed these grains alter-

nately.
AT MARKETING TIME.
I have found that winter feeding differs from summer

feeding, as in cold weather poultry needs corn on account of
its heating and fat-producing qualities. Turkeys on the
range in warm weather do not require much corn. If one
has a large range the turkey crop is almost clear profit. Tur-
keys intended for market should not be fed heavily until
within about two weeks of selling time, when they should be
given all the corn they will eat, with a change of food as
often as possible so that they will not tire of the corn before
they are fat. Make corn their main food.

The average price for turkeys on the market is eight
cents per pound. When stockmen get five cents per pound
for hogs and cattle they make a good profit. It does not take
anything like the amount of food to produce turkey meat
that it does to produce cattle or hogs, and it is very seldom
that the turkey grower gets less than eight cents per pound.
On the other hand, it is seldom that the cattle grower gets
more than four cents per pound for his beef or pork. When
turkeys are properly raised they are a benefit to the crop,
instead of a waste, as they destroy numerous insects. In
California turkeys are rented out to men who have vine-
yards, who turn the turkeys loose among the vines to de-
stroy insects. Turkeys do not require to be fed on a grain
ration until within a few weeks of marketing time, as they
get their living from the gleanings of the field. In this way
they get a large frame, which the grower can fatten when
seliing time comes. Turkeys should be fed away from other
poultry. Sandy or gravelly land is the most suitable for
turkey raising. Low, swampy land is not desirable, as it
creates rheumatism, to say nothing of the filth.

S. B. JOHNSTON.

SUCCESSFUL TURKEY RAISING

With the Minimum of Labor—Laying House for Turkeys—Hatching the Poults—Housing Turkeys with Poults—
Feeding Young Turkeys—Roosts for the Young Birds—Shipping Crates for Pairs, Trios and Pens.

By Mrs. M. L. Singleton.

AM AWARE that no two breeders manage their tur-

keys exactly alike, in fact, there are no iron-clad
rules in turkey raising. Our surroundings differ so
from those of others, that it is useless to formulate
rules that would be impossible for them to follow, but
there is one safe rule for beginners. No matter what
your environments may be, start with the very best stock
you are able to buy. If you have money enough to buy
a good pair only, do not spend it for a trio or pen. If you
ean spare ihe money for first-class birds, of course a trio
or pen is desirable. To the thoroughly equipped breeders
who have years of experience behind them, my methods
will appear crude, doubtless. It is not for the breeder of
experience that this article is written, but for those whose
advantages are not great and who must struggle perhaps
for years to gain the knowledge that will make them suc-
cessful turkey raisers.

[ learned several years ago that I had neither the time
nor strength to follow the hens around and hunt their eggs
in fence corners and hedge rows, so I had a laying house
built for them. It is not a very elaborate affair, but it
accommodates them very comfortably. A week or two be-
fore I think it time for them to hunt nests, I have them
driven every morning into this house. In this way they
become accustomed to going in and usually by the time they
begin to lay they will go without being driven. When the
turkeys lay from twenty-five to thirty eggs, I set them under
domestic hens, putting nine or ten under each hen. We find
that there will be as many poults as one turkey hen ought
to carry. Of course you have to use a great many domestic
hens where there are many turkey eggs to hatch, but it pays,
I think, as they hatch so much better for me than do the
turkeys. I do not set the first turkeys that get broody, but
break them up and let them lay a second clutch. By the
time the first turkey eggs have been incubated two or three
weeks, the last hens will probably be getting broody.

SETTING THE TURKEY HEN.

In the meantime, I arrange my turkey nests, which are
empty barrels, as I consider them among the very best nests.
I saw out two or three of the staves about half the length of
the barrel, that is, just below the middle hoop. I stand the
barrel in the corner of one of my poultry houses with the
open end up, because I think setting the eggs on the ground
causes bad results. By making the nest on the closed end
of the barrel the eggs do not come in direct contact with the
damp ground, and they are yet near enough to obtain suffi-
cient moisture. Tack an old piece of carpet or gunny sack
on the barrel over the opening and another over the top. Put
in a lot of new straw and shape it into a solid, but rather
shallow nest, and it is ready for the turkey. In the evening
I remove her from her old nest and putting her gently in the
barrel, drop the curtain over the opening. I have previously
put a few chicken eggs in the nest so if she is restless and
inclined to stand up at first, there will be no harm done. The
second day I raise the curtain and put food and water near
the barrel, but if she does not come off, I let her alone for a

day longer, and if she still refuses to come off, I lift her out.
After she has eaten, I see that she goes back on the nest.
When she has become accustomed to it, I lift the curtain up
so that she can come out into the poultry yard and dust and
pick around, always being careful to see that she goes back
on the nest. I arrange a number of these nests in the dif-
ferent houses to accommodate the different broods that come
off. A day or two before the little ones are due to hatch, I
remove the eggs from one of the chicken hens, putting them
under the turkey hen. When the little poults appear she is
just as proud of them as though she had done all the work
of incubating. As the little poults get dry and strong, I
remove them to a flannel lined basket in the house. When
evening comes, if the turkey is a very gentle mother, I carry
them back and let them remain with her, as the warmth
from her body strengthens them, but if she is a foolish old
hen, I wrap the basket warmly and keep them in the house.
When they are all dry and strong enough, I remove the
mother turkey and her little ones to their future home. It
is this home I wish to tell you about most particularly.
HOUSING THE TURKEY AND POULTS.

I do not remember to have read an article on turkey
raising in which the writer did not suggest that a nice, shady
orchard was a desirable place for turkey coops. Now I
admit an orchard is all right, provided it is located where
you can run out and look after the young turkeys at all
times, but when one has all the work of a large house on
one’s shoulders and cannot get any help that is worthy the
name, then I say most emphatically, don’t. Here at Elm-
hurst is a large, shady yard at the west side of a build-
ing which has a porch almost the full length of the dining
room and kitchen. A door opens cut of each of these rooms
on the porch. At the end of the porch is the pantry, which
has a window in the west side, so if I am in either the dining
room or kitchen, I can step out on the porch and see my tur-
keys, but if IT am in the pantry, I can lock through the win-
dow and see them, for it is in this side yard under the elm
trees that my turkey coops are placed. “Turkey coops in
the yard!” J hear some housekeeper exclaim. Yes, for my
turkey coops are very neat affairs and do not detract very
much from the beauty and neatness of our yard. The coops
are renewed each year, that is, I turn the last year’s turkey
coops over to the chickens and get new ones, because for
some reason my turkeys always thrive better in new coops.
These coops cost only twenty-five cents each anda little work
for they are dry goods boxes sawed slanting, so that they are
only about half as high at the back as they are in front.
There are beards nailed on to extend over the front and rear.
The lower boards are taken off the front of the coop and bat-
tens nailed on for the door, which slips back in place and is
fastened with a wooden button which is just above the door.
About six inches above the door another board is removed
and screen wire nailed on to ventilate the coop.

FEEDING AND CARING FOR POULTS.

Now we have the turkey hen and her brood ina nice new
coop under the elm trees where just enough sunlight filters

16 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

through to keep the ground dry,and not enough to hurt the
tenderest poult. The next thing is to feed them. For the
first day or two I give them nothing but light bread soaked
in new milk and pressed as dry as possible, with plenty of
black pepper sprinkled over it. After that I feed them
almost entirely on egg corn bread soaked in sweet milk, in
which is mixed raw egg. Right here I want to say, there is
nothing better for young turkeys than raw eggs. I learned
several years ago that they are far superior to boiled eggs. I
know that curd or clabber cheese is highly recommended by
a great many persons, but I have found it a very injurious
food for poults. I have believed this for several years, but
nevertheless, 1 com-
menced to feed spar-
ingly last spring,and
in less than two
weeks I lost five or
six poults, and in
every case but one I
found the curd pack-
ZA ed in the entrails.
The other case was
enlargement of the
gall bladder, caused
from indigestion.
Before putting the
hen and her brood in
Fig. 1—Coop for two turkeys, showing /ath at the coop, I cover the
top, over which the cloth partition anion ai Thay

hangs, and the lath at bottom a3
to which it is tacked. or straw, otherwise
is danger of

there
the hen injuring herself from slipping on the boards. I once
had a valuable turkey almost ruin herself in this way. The
young ones, however, get injured much more easily on the
straw.
two, unless the weather is very mild, and then I stake them
out in an open place in front of the coops. ‘This is done by
tying a stout twine, such as fleece or wool is tied with at
shearing time, to a short stake and driving the stake even
with the top of the ground. I measure the twine so that it
will not be long enough to wrap around any tree or shrub,
but near enough to the coop so that she can go in, but not
around it. The string I tie on the leg, just above the foot.
The hen will work and pull at the string for awhile, but she
soon becomes accustomed to it, and when I take her out to
tie her each morning she seems perfectly satisfied. This
way has a great many advantages to me over the old way ot
putting them in a pen in the orchard. In the first place, the
hen cannot kill the poults by jumping in and out. Secondly,
they are right in sight, where I can give them my personal
attention at all times. Third, if a rain comes up, I run out,
untie the hen and put her inside the coop. The young ones
rush up for the food I give them and I put as many in with
each hen as I think she ought to have, because you see I have
several of these families in the yard and one mother is the
same as another to them. By the time the rain comes, the
hens with their broods are all safely housed, for it only
takes a few minutes to attend to all of them. Fourth, by the
time I give them their liberty, which is not till the poults are
three or four weeks old, they have become accustomed to
their roosting place, and the flocks are usually running to-
gether. The hens never separate, but all come in at night,
bringing the whole drove with them. It is very seldom that
they fail to come up, but if they do, I go after them and
drive them up, because if they form the habit of staying out,
it is almost impossible to break them.
When they outgrow their coops and show signs of want-
ing to fly up to roost, I drive them into the turkey house,

I-keep the mother and turks in the coop for a day or:

which is well ventilated, where I have roosts made about two
feet from the ground. I do this for fear of sudden rains in
the night, for I am not strong enough to get up and carry
turkeys in out of the wet. I used to do such things in the
past when my coops were kept under a shady tree in the
orchard, but I realized that it was only a question of time
when I should ‘be compelled to give up the business entirely,
or keep the turkeys where they could have my personal at-
tention at all times.

When they are a few weeks cld I feed them any small
grain that I have, but the principal food is corn chops damp-
ened just sufficient to cause the fine part to adhere to the
coarse. As they get older and until they are sold, they are
fed almost entirely on corn. They must be well supplied
with grit and oyster shells. When I first commenced to
raise turkeys in such close quarters, I was told by all my
neighbors that I would stunt them so that they would never
recover from it, but as I raise the heaviest turkeys that have
ever been raised in this part of the country, my friends have
quit talking.

I have been asked what preparation I give my turkeys
for the show room, and my answer is, none whatever. From
the time they are four or five weeks old until they are
shipped to customers, they have the range of a one-hundred-
and-sixty-acre farm, and as soon as they are old enough to
withstand the hard rains at night, they are made to roost
outside in the open air. If during the winter we have deep
snows, and protracted cold spells, we drive them into the
barn and allow them to roost there until the weather mod-
erates. Managed this way, there is no danger of them con-
tracting colds and roup when being shipped a long distance.

SHIPPING CRATE FOR TURKEYS.

Seeing the forlorn and bedraggled condition of turkeys
shipped in pairs and trios to our station, made me wonder if
the turkeys I shipped to customers looked the same when
they arrived at their destination, and I determined to devise
some means of preventing them from picking each other and
breaking their feathers while on the journey. The crate I
use is my own invention, as I have never seen one anything
like it, and while it is a very simple affair, it answers the
purpose admirably. I use narrow cloth-lined crates for
shipping turkeys, making the crate for a pair just a little
wider than for a single bird, and for a trio a little wider than
for a pair. Any style of crate will do, but the ends should
be upright pieces so as to have something to nail partitions
to. In making a coop for a pair, after the frame is made
and before it is lined, nail on two laths lengthwise of the
erate, one the width :
of a lath below the
top, the other
against the bottom.
Nail them firmly to
the upright piece at
either end. These
laths are just slant-
ing enough to show
the space at one end
to be about twice the
width of the other.
When you have the
laths firmly in place,
take a piece of your lining twice the depth of the crate,
drop it over the top lath, tacking it firmly to the floor on
each side of the bottom lath. Now you have a good, firm
partition, one that will sway gently with the motion of the
birds, but keep them apart as effectually as a stone wall.
If you wish to ship a male and female, have the space on
one side of the partition a little wider than the other side,

Fig. 2—Showing coop for trio, with cloth
partitions in place.

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 17

as the male is always broader across the back. Make it just
wide enough for them to rise up and sit down comfortably.
When putting them in the crate, place the tom with head to-
ward the wide space at one end and the head of tke hen
toward the wide space at the other end, having their heads
at opposite ends. There is no danger of fighting, and the
space being wider at one end and narrowing down at the
other, there is no chance for them to turn around, which
I have seen them do in a narrow crate that is the same
width. In shipping a trio, follow the same general direc-
tions, having the wide end of the wide compartment and the
narrow ends of the side compartments at one end of the
coop, and at the other end, the narrow end of the center
compartment and the wide ends of the side compartments.
Have the middle space somewhat larger than the side spaces
and place the tom in it, with a hen on either side.. I believe

the same plan could be followed in shipping a pen, making
the crate wider and adding two more partitions. The crate
must not be lined until the partitions are put in, because
there is no room to nail.

No matter how you raise or ship your turkeys, be honest
in your dealings with your customers. In corresponding
with them, describe your birds honestly, sending a tail, wing
and covert feather. If your birds are well marked, the cus-
tomer can tell it by the feathers, but they have to depend on
you for correct weight, shape, etc. Remember always, the
golden rule and judicious advertising are the only safe rules
to follow in poultry culture. If you do not sell all your birds
this year or next, you will some time, and if you do, you
will not be ashamed to look your customers in the face if
you should meet them.

MRS. MARY SINGLETON.

UNSUCCESSFUL TURKEY BREEDING.

Frequent Causes of Lack of Success May be Traced to the Parent Stock—Introduction of New Blood Often Dis-
misses Disease from the Flock—A Device to Prevent Turkeys Flying Over a Fence.

From Rhode Island Experiment Station Report.

_. & HAVE been surprised to find how great a pro-
j portion of those who attempt to raise tur-
keys use small and immature birds for
breeders. Many kill their earliest and best
birds for the market and keep for breeding
those that are too small or too late to be salable. They kill
the goose that lays the golden eggs. In buying a new gob-
bler or a few hens to change the blood they choose late
hatched, immature turkeys because they cost less. The rea-
son sometimes given for this is that old hens are too cunning
about stealing their nests and that young turkeys lay earlier.
This practice is not confined to the poorest and least intelli-
gent people, as would be expected, but is followed by those
well informed and who appreciate and pay for a well-bred
horse or cow. If such a course were followed with horses
and cattle the best stock in existence would be ruined in a
few generations. Many who know that turkeys two years
old or older give the strongest and largest young, continue
to kill off the young hens for market after breeding from
them one season. There seems to be a dread of having some-
thing too old or unsalable left on their hands. To breed
from immature or poor specimens is to violate one of the
first laws of breeding. Selection of the best for generations
has given us the improved and most profitable breeds of
stock. The hereditary influence of such selection is of great
value. The most inferior bird out of a flock of such blood
may ‘throw back’ and breed very fine stock and do better
than a much finer specimen from a poorly bred strain, but
the repeated selection of inferior birds for a number of gen-
erations makes this inferiority hereditary.

“The future stock depends almost entirely on the parent
birds or their ancestry. If valuable birds are used for breed-
ing, their offspring will be like them and amply repay the
extra expense. The best are none too good and are the
cheapest.

“Crandall Brothers, previously mentioned as having used
western gobblers furnished by Mr. Vose, raised so many
more turkeys in consequence that they estimate the benefit
derived the first season at $100. It would have been econ-

omy for them to have paid $50 for the two gobblers rather
than use the kind of stock they had previously bred from.
This expesditure would have paid the first season, to say
nothing about the improvement in their breeding stock for
the future. Many breeding turkeys are over-fat in the
spring—have been overfed or given too fattening food. Quite
frequently they die at this time as the result of over-feed-
ing. The progeny of over-fat birds are less vigorous. Late
hatched hens that are growing all the time need more food;
cannot store up a surplus and lay earlier because they are
thin. Feed the old hens clover and less carbonaceous food
in the latter part of winter and they will give better satisfac-
tion. Corn is all right when turkeys can find their own
green food and insect ration to go with it, but when they get
little exercise and can get nothing else to eat they become
abnormally fat.

“If a turkey becomes sick and is allowed to roam with
the others, and eat, drink and roost in the same places, the
others will probably have that trouble very soon. If a flock
becomes diseased, the land which they wander over may be-
come contaminated and infect other flocks that occupy the
same ground. Therefore stamp out disease when it first ap-
pears. Let every turkey raiser be a board of health; quar-
antine or kill and bury deep all sick fowls and disinfect
what they have contaminated. Prevention of the spread of
disease is possible. Doctoring very sick turkeys is rarely
practicable. If turkeys are kept where they may drink from
stagnant pools in the barnyard, near the pig pen, privy
vault, or from the sink drain, sudden and fatal attacks of
bowel trouble should be expected among them. A running
stream is of great value on a turkey farm. If brine is poured
out and they drink it or they pick up pieces of salt, salt meat
or salt fish, death usually follows.

“In shingling or ‘boarding’ turkeys a thin board or
shingle, in which holes are bored, is fastened across the
shoulders of the bird by soft cords, tapes or strips of cloth.
When of the proper shape and the holes are in the right
place, if the cords are not tied too tight, they may be worn
twelve months without injury to the turkey. By this method

18 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

they may be confined to one field as easily as sheep. This is
better and surer than clipping one wing. The only objection
to it is that turkeys thus hampered are almost at the mercy
of dogs. When the board is first adjusted the turkeys try to
free themselves, but they usually accept the situation in less
than an hour and do not
seem to mind it afterward.
Various shaped boards are
used. The diagrams show
two styles and give the di-
mensions,

“The strings are usu-
ally tied on the top of
the board. In fastening
the western style the string is passed down through one
hole in front of the wing close to the body and around
. under the wing and up through the other hole and is tied
on top of the board. Mr. Barbee uses a board ten inches
long and five inches wide and fastens the strings under the
wings. An ordinary shingle is strong enough for most hens,
but large gobblers require something stronger and light bar-
rel staves are often used. In those that we have seen three-
eighths-inch augur holes were used. Some use a large gim-
let for making the holes.”

Mrs. B. G. Mackey, the

Rhode Island Pattern.

well-known Bronze Turkey

breeder, has the following to offer in regard to this subject:

“Tt is quite a problem training the turkeys to stay at
home. Last year J tied a man’s large straw hat on the back
of my turkeys with young ones. I made a hole on each side
of the rim at the crown, ran cloth strings through the holes
and tied the string around each wing. It was laughable to
see the hens at first. They tried to fly, they jumped up in
the air, ran forward and backward, but when they found
themselves securely fastened to the hats they finally accepted

Western Style.

the situation. Living on the publie road, I had to answer a
good many times the question, ‘‘Why do you put hats on
your turkeys?” The hat is much better than a board. The
crown prevents the hen from going through the fence, and
in a rainstorm the brim is a protection to the poults.”

TURKEYS ON FISHERS ISLAND.

Turkey Raising Profitable—They are Not Difficult to Breed under Proper Conditions—Wide Range Essential—
Half-wild Turkeys—Selecting Breeding Stock—Hatching and Raising Poults—Profits.

By E. M. & W. Ferguson,

T ALWAYS gives us great pleasure to write anything
pertaining to Bronze turkeys, and especially to our
turkeys, for our work with them has been produc-
tive of much satisfaction, not to speak of a very con-
siderable profit.

While we shall make this article chiefly a history of
efforts in turkey breeding, rearing and exhibiting and a brief
treatise upon our methods, we realize that all turkey raisers
have not the same environment and will endeavor to write in
such a manner as will be interesting and instructive to every
breeder wherever he may be and by whatever conditions sur-
rounded.

It seems to bean established fact that turkey raising in
this country, particularly in the east, is on the decline:
where years ago a flock numbering one or two hundred was
a profitable adjunct on the majority of country farms, now
these birds are found but rarely and then in flocks of a dozen
or less, tolerated rather than fostered. ‘The cause is hardly
‘apparent; the thickening settlements have not yet en-
croached upon the solitude of many a back-lying farm where
green pastures and sheltering woodlands offer ready for use,
the best possible food and shelter. True, they may damage
to some extent the growing crops, but they will render ser-
vices much more yaluable than what they destroy, in the
wholesale destruction of bugs and insects which threaten
the farmer on every hand and which they incessantly pursue
as the principal article of their diet.

We are sometimes told that turkeys are difficult to raise

and lack a strong constitution, but common sense, backed
by our actual experience, tells us that such is not the case.
In fact if they be allowed to indulge their natural desire for
a wide range and outdoor life the year round, and are prop-
erly bred, anything but strength and hardiness in their
make-up would seem well-nigh impossible. But where such
cases exist it seems to us that the cause must be found in the
absence of one or other of these conditions.

We believe that a wide range is very essential and that
although turkeys can be reared and kept in an enclosure of
moderate area, a much less percentage will reach the highest
development in size, shape or color. With this condition
provided and a lack of vigor prevailing an inherent weak-
ness must be present in the blood of the parent stock. This
may be traceable to indiscriminate inbreeding or unwise
mating. In no other domesticated fowl does deterioration so
closely follow careless breeding, and for a farmer to breed
the same small flock year after year with no further atten-
tion than is required to select the largest and fattest for his
Thanksgiving dinner, is to invite failure by the most expedi-
tious course.

Mistakes in adding new blood may prove equally demor-
alizing; in fact, we can cite cases that have come within our
own observation where a breeder has sadly depreciated the
value of his stock by adding a bird which, apparently strong
and healthy in itself, had an inherited weakness caused by
poor breeding. We speak of these matters not to discourage
the prospective breeder or the disheartened farmer, but te

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 19

emphasize the advisability of close adherence to the methods
that have proved successful and the value of a careful study
of the principles involved.

Some years ago we managed to secure at heavy expense
a flock of genuine wild turkeys, which, although purchased
for the purpose of crossing with our Bronze to make a better
foraging market bird, have proved to be of inestimable value
for infusing new vigor into run-down flocks, and we sell
every year a large number of toms for this purpose. The
half-wild make a market fowl par excellence; they are rapid
growers, carrying a considerable amount of fine-grained
meat, and support themseives almost entirely throughout the
year by foraging. When crossed on the pure Bronze as a
strengthening agent, reducing the wild blood to one-fourth,
the increased stamina is the only apparent effect.

SELECTING BREEDING STOCK.

The selection of breeding stock with us begins as soon
as the young turks are given their first food in the fall, say
the first of October, when any bird that gives particular evi-
dence of lusty good health and sturdy growth becomes an
object of especial interest to be carefully watched as it
matures and finally selected for use if it has constantly
maintained its robust health; but it is discarded if the
slightest evidence of weakness. has been detected.

The final selection is made usually in January when the
stock is at its best. We have found that one male to every
twelve females is about the right proportion, and we advise
that at least two males be allowed to run in the same flock
in view of the fact that occasionally a hen will refuse to
mate with a certain tom, but can readily agree with another,
and also to safeguard against loss should one of the males
be, or at any time become, wholiy or partially impotent.
When one recollects that the female is served by the male
only once in a season, the wisdom of this plan is obvicus.
But care must be taken to use toms that have been accus-
tomed to each other’s society and that agree, else it will be
necessary to confine One each day while the other runs with
the hens, changing them every night.

We endeavor to get our breeders in a condition of me-
dium flesh, as a fat bird never gives satisfactory results.
For this purpose we consider oats to be the best food, and it
is fed exclusively so long as food is required during the
breeding season.

When we began with turkeys we did all manner of
things supposed to contribute to their welfare, but we have
gradually given up trying to do what they are better able to
do themselves, until now we leave them pretty much to their
own devices and find the results far more gratifying.

THE TURKEY AND HER POULTS.

Occasionally it happens that two or three hens are found
laying in the same nest, a proceeding which is usually dis-
covered by the slightly different color of the eggs. In this
event we remove all eggs as laid, substituting a couple of
china eggs or duck eggs to guard against a change of nest.
When one hen begins to sit we give her a full quota (fifteen
to eighteen eggs) and confine the other hens for a few days
after which they will begin laying again in another nest. If,
however, the discovery is made after incubation has begun,
we prefer to let them sit together unless we can ascertain
unobserved that there is but one sitting of eggs. And we
will here state that we always try to make our visits at a
time when the hen is absent, otherwise she may become wor-
ried and give up her nest. When the hatch is complete, we
provide a little nourishment for the young turks in the form
of stale bread moistened in milk; this will assist them to
gain strength until they are well on their feet, after which

time they get their food from the earth and air. Occasion-
ally we find one weaker than the others, by reason of slow-
ness in hatching, which is unable to leave the nest with its
mates; such a one we care for until it is strong enough to
go with the hen. After they are all able to hustle about, we
put poults and hen out in the low bush with which the
Island is plentifully supplied, and pay no further attention
to them until well into the autumn, when we begin to get
them together for the fall feeding.

As they grow and develop through the late summer and
early fall they gradually form into several large flocks which
wander about together under the guidance of the old toms,
each flock having its own roosting place, generally at least
a mile from that of any other. In October they are found to
be in excellent condition and require but little feeding to fit
them for the Thanksgiving market. At this time they are
very suspicious of any one who tries to approach them, but
soon become reconciled to the presence of the feeder and will
surge around him with such force as to endanger his foot-
ing. Corn is the only food given at this season and as kill-
ing time approaches we feed them all they will eat.

The greater part of the market stock is devoted to the
Thanksgiving trade and is shipped to private families all
over the country; but there is always a certain number that
are not fit at that time and whicharereserved for the
Christmas season. By furnishing each year a very fancy
grade we find ready sale for all we have to dispose of for
table use at a considerable advance upon the highest market
quotation. These are carefully picked and drawn, the heads,
shanks and last joint of wing being removed, and are then
packed in clean boxes, in which they are shipped direct to
the residence of the consumer,

December usually ushers in the advance orders for
breeding and exhibition birds, in which we always do a large
and satisfactory business. Having so large a number to
select from (all of which are selected specimens from the
hundreds that we raise), we find little difficulty in filling the
most exacting order, and it is seldom that we receive a com-
plaint.

Although our business in turkey eggs for hatching was
very satisfactory, we decided to discontinue their sale three
years ago and have had no cause to regret our decision. We
find it far more profitable to set every egg ourselves and sell
the stock instead. In shipping the birds we know that the
purchaser will get full value for his money, while in selling
eggs too much depends upon various conditions.

PREPARING FOR EXHIBITION.

Our method of preparing turkeys for the show room is
simple indeed. It consists wholly in taming the bird and
getting it accustomed to being handled. Our turkeys com-
ing from a range of over five thousand acres are as fit as only
a free, wild life can make them, full of rich, red blood, which
sustains their vigor and spirits through the longest trip and
the tedious, weakening confinment of the exhibition hall.
They have a hard, smooth and wonderfully brilliant plumage
together with that robust development and noble carriage
that is never found in a turkey raised in confinement.

We select the birds that we are going to show about two
weeks in advance of the time when they are to be exhibited,
and always take up more than we expect to show to insure
having our full entry in case one or more of the birds be-
comes damaged in plumage or otherwise. These are han-
dled with the utmost care, as it is very easy for a struggling
bird to break a number of wing flights or to strip feathers
from its thigh, where a careless handler is almost sure to
get his grip.

20) TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT’.

PROFITS.

To any cne who has read the foregoing paragraphs it
must be evident that turkey raising as it is managed here—
and we know of no reason why our methods and success can
not be duplicated in almost any locality—is much more prof-
itable than any other farm crop that the farm can produce.
Any one who is apt at figures can easily figure out the possi-
ble profit to be derived in his own locality which will be goy-
erned by the cost of food, the area of the range available,

and the price that can be obtained for the product.

We would say in concluding that as many questions will
doubtless arise in the mind of the reader which have not
beer clearly answered in this article, we shall be glad to see
them at our farm, where we shall always be pleased to ex-
plain eyery detail of the business and where we can give far
better instruction verbally with the birds and their home to
iliustrate our words.

FERGUSON.

E. M. & W.

he SS TiRST AT Boston
eC yt
« 18%

‘‘Miss Alice,’’ a Bronze Turkey Hen, that Traveled Two Thousand Miles to Shows, and Never Was Defeated.
Owned by E. M. & W. Ferguson,

TURKEYS AND PIN-MONEY.

Raising Common Turkeys for Market Brings a Supply of Pin-Money to Many a Farmer’s Wife—Breeding Thorough-
bred Birds Means an Increased Supply—Methods Employed by a Successful

Woman Fancier of Bronze Turkeys.

By Mrs, F. A. Hargrave.

OME SIX years ago, much to my disappontment,
we moved to the farm, and a friend presented
me with a trio of Bronze turkeys of just or-

dinary breeding. This trio of birds, with
‘s=" some Barred Rocks, became a great con-
solation to me in my loneliness. From early childhood

I was not fond of the farm, with its many laborious tasks
calling one from early morning to late at night. Perhaps in

wisdom. You know one never really is wise till he becomes
conscious of the fact that he knows but little. My first
stepping stone to success in raising turkeys was in supply-
ing myself with poultry journals and books pertaining to
turkey raising compiled from the experience of other turkey
breeders.

Last spring a neighbor became very enthusiastic about
turkeys and started in the spring with nine hens and one

The Flock of Mrs. Hargrave.

the east one’s peaceful rest is not disturbed so early and so
late—I hope not. But here in the west we still display the
hustling nature inherited from our forefathers of a gener-
ation ago, and time has not much decreased it. Perhaps
this is the reason that in 1890 [Illinois ranked first in turkey
raising with 1,048,947 turkeys to her credit; Iowa, second,
940,849; Missouri, third, 928,751; Kansas, fourth, 530,397, and
Texas, fifth, 535,916.

My chosen occupation, teaching, took me early in life to
my coveted place of abode—the city. There I taught for a
number of years previous to taking up housekeeping and
poultry raising.

All women will understand from intuition why I took up
poultry raising, and especially the raising of turkeys. But
for fear the men may not guess aright, I will say it was to
replenish my empty pocketbook. I greatly missed my regu-
lar monthly income and took this method of overcoming my
loss. Pardon this personal reference, but I feel my case
does not difter materially from that of a thousand other
women who may read this book and my experience will per-
haps be of help to them in solving their problems.

MAKING THE START.

I lost two of that first trio, one hen and the tom, and I
raised nine out of the eleven that hatched—seven pullets
and two toms. During the raising of these I was gaining

tom, boasting that she would raise as many turkeys as her
neighbor. ‘The season passed and “turkey gathering” time
came. A flock of twenty-three turkeys was the result of
her season’s efforts, besides which she lost part of her breed-
ing stock.

Conversing with her one day, I said:
trouble?”

‘O, I don’t know, but when hatched, I put them in a pen
and the mother in a coop and tried to keep them there till
four or five weeks old, and they just kept dropping off till
they were nearly all gone.”

“What did you feed?”

“Anything and everything they would eat—the same I
fed my chickens.”

“Did you keep grit for them?”

“Grit? No, what do they need grit for?
my chickens any.”

“Do you take any poultry paper?”

“No, I am so busy I would not get time to read it and
besides I had put my money into turkeys and had none to
spare for a paper.”

“Did you ever raise turkeys before?”

“Some little, but I never kept only two or three hens and
a tom and they took care of themselves.”

Dear reader, this woman failed and condemns turkey
raising except for only those who are “lucky.” There is

“What was the

I never give

22 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

no such thing as luck in the poultry business. It is all good
common sense rightly applied, with labor, pluck and per-
severance to help crown your efforts with success. The old
adage, “Anything is easy if you know how,” is a good one.
However, you must remember there is no business that does
not have its obstacles to be met.

I should advise any one who has not raised turkeys to
get the cheaper grade of some thoroughbred variety you
fancy, and learn with them. Then if you have losses it will
not bankrupt you, and when you have mastered the details
necessary to raising these successfully you can invest in
birds of fine plumage and other fine points possessed by
fancy fowls, to the extent of your much enlarged purse—
never forgetting, however, that there is always something
to be learned.

For those who have had success in raising common tur-
keys and who wish to start with some special variety of
thoroughbred turkeys, I should advise them to get a pair,
trio or pen of the best your purse will afford and apply to
them your knowledge of care and feeding gained while rais-
ing the common birds.

BENEFIT TO GROWING CROPS.

Turkeys by nature are prone to wander over the fields
for a great share of their living, thereby gaining a healthy,
robust constitution and at the same time ridding the fields
and meadows of grass and weed seeds, grasshoppers and
other insects that are harmful to growing crops. This cer-
tainly is converting evil into good. They will do this in
the fall of the year when the corn is ripe and never disturb
the ears of corn. Mine do, but I always feed my turkeys at
home some. .

My reason for selecting the Bronze variety was on
account of their beautiful plumage, large size, hardy consti-
tution and their ability to obtain a great share of their liv-
ing by foraging.

The Bronze turkey is more generally bred than any other
variety of turkey, but there are other beautiful and profit-
able varieties that are growing in popularity.

From those first seven pullets that I raised, mated with
a tom not akin, I the next year raised 170—a number I have
never been able to quite reach since, because then I did not
sell eggs. I closed out everything that year and bought
fancy birds for the season’s breeding stock. In no year have
I fallen below the one hundred mark,

I have never had those heart-rending scenes of disaster,
with losses and crosses in raising turkeys that some record
they have had. For which success I am very, very thankful.
I attribute it to a great extent, as I said in the beginning of
this chapter, to posting myself upon the raising and man-
agement as given in our poultry papers, and to one turkey
book.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

I find it no harder to raise a large flock than a small one.
It means simply a little more setting of eggs, a little more
feeding, all at the same time, and a little more dusting.
When I raised the 170 I had no better conveniences for rais-
ing them than a farmer’s wife usually has who tries and
raises hundreds of chickens, but I immediately set about
having separate roosting coops, or houses, made from odds
and ends that were otherwise going to waste on the farm
and I succeeded wtih the assistance of a large dry goods box
or two, and grandpa as carpenter. These coops I have used
ever since and they are good for vears of service yet.

I now keep my breeding pens of ten to fifteen females
and one tom in yards inclosing from one and one-half to
three acres of land, which is mostly covered with orchards.
All that can be plowed of these pens is sown to rye every
fall, though I am trying clover this year. I mark the breed-
ing hens of one yard by clipping the right wing, and another

yard by clipping the left wing, and the outside pen, which I
train to nest in the barn, I leave unmarked on the wing.
This is far preferable to the old method of allowing the
stock to run at large. The turkeys do fully as well or better,
more eggs are saved, besides a great deal of labor in hunting
the eggs. There is one objection to clipping the wing, for
me, and that is it gives the wolves a better chance at the
turkeys when they are turned out of the pens. Dogs also
are more liable to catch them.
CARE OF SITTING HENS.

1 set my hens in goods boxes turned side down out in
the turkey pen, or bring the hen to a similar nest prepared
in one of my adjoining poultry sheds, using oats straw or
clover trash for nesting material, being careful that too
much is not used to prevent the eggs from turning and that
the nest is not too concave, causing the eggs to roll together
and become broken. They have easy access to feed, water,
grit, charcoal, lime and dusting box. I prefer for some rea-
sons having each hen shut in her respective nest box and
opening it regularly each day for her exit to feed, watching
till she returns. If the nest boxes are always open, often
two or more hens will return to one nest, breaking some
eges, perhaps, and leaving other eggs to chill. When set in
the pen she needs attention, as the laying hen may disturb
her and break the eggs.

My experience has taught me that my sitting and brood-
ing hens should have some grain, especially the pullets, in
order that they may develop into larger hen turkeys.

I have discarded the barrel for a sitting nest box unless
it be a large barrel or a small turkey. Too many eggs are
broken or shuffled out of the barrel.

CARING FOR THE YOUNG.

It would not be a turkey article if I did not say dust your
mother turkey while sitting two or three times with some
good insect powder, and the little poults at least every two
weeks, oftener if by examination you see it is necessary.
You will find the lice on the wing quills, around the vent
and on the head and throat.

I feed the little ones stale light bread softened with
water or sweet milk and squeezed dry, alternating with hard
boiled eggs and clabber cheese after they are a few days old,
and I always put in fine chick grit till they are ten days or
two weeks old, old enough to pick grit from the box them-
selves. I give a little pepper once or twice a day with the
food, occasionally onion or garlic tops, and lettuce if I have
it. They greatly enjoy picking the lettuce heads tied to
something in their little pen or run. I feed five times per
day, just what they will ciean up, gradually diminishing to
three meals per day, and by the time they are three weeks
old I begin giving them cracked Kaffir corn, wheat or other
small grain, adding cracked corn later, and whole Kaffir
corn. When old enough to go to the range for the day I feed
but twice—an exclusively grain ration at night.

I do not feed what I call the ‘‘baby turkey feed” so long
as I did a few years ago. I begin the grain earlier and find
they develop just as rapidly and with less expense and
trouble to me. Keep them growing, not fat, the first year
of their lives and the weight will be all right. Heavy feed-
ing to fatten for heavy weights when the birds are six to
eight or nine months old is detrimental to having a large
turkey when older. Asarule, those heavily fatted toms and
pullets that were stuffed to meet the demands of the show
room and the trade for thirty-two and thirty-three pound
toms in early spring never develop into as large birds as
those that were simply kept growing during this period. If
one is raising for market then begin to feed for fattening as
soon as the range runs low in September and Octoben and
keep it up till they go to market. MRS. F. A. HARGRAVE,

Secretary-Treasurer of the Western Turkey Club.

CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF TURKEYS.

Raising Bronze Turkeys in Canada—Best Soil for Turkeys—Inbreeding and Line Breeding—Shape, Color, Markings—
Roosting Houses Used with Success—Young Hens as Breeders—Setting the Hen—Care of
the Young—Diseases—Catching and Weighing—Selling Stock.

By W. J. Bell.

LTHOUGH I am aware that turkeys are raised
successfuily onall kinds of soils and in nearly
alllocations, I believe that sandy land or clay
with an abundance of gravel is a better place
thanheavy clay soil,especially if the latter is
not well drained. On two of my turkey farms

the scil is gravelly clay and there is running water all days of

the year and from those farms have come my largest turkeys.
When I moved to my present farm in 1893, which has no
sand or gravel in its compo-

sition, I noticed the poults a

day or two after they were

moved out on the ground
from the nest commenced to

look sickly. I could not im-

agine what was the matter,

as they were free from lice
and their treatment was the
same as previously given on
the home farm. In watching
them going around I noticed
they were picking at small
substances. I immediately
procured some fine gravel
for them, and an improve-
ment was noticeableinabout
a day’s time. This shows
what is gained by close ob-
servation and also that the
dying of poults is caused—
not by the food given, which
is usually the cause assigned
—but through overlooking
whet may seem unimportant
matters. I consider a fifty-
acre range necessary for
even a small flock.
BREEDING SHOW STOCK,
Some writers say that to
mate Bronze turkeys you

_—————————

same to be moderately full and well rounded. T haye no use
for the bird that carries his breast and body in a straight
line parallel with the ground. Fig. 1 is my idea of a good
shaped bird, either for the breeding yard or show room, ex-
cept that the feathers on the rear part of the back were
raised a little when the photograph was taken. Select a bird
with good, heavy ‘bones, and see that the toes are straight.
COLOR.

When you examine the different birds in the show room
you will find on breast and
heck almost as many shades
as birds. There igi the green
bronze, the black bronze, a
dull brown bronze and a
yellow bronze. The latter is
my preference, and what I

think is called for in the
Standard, although plenty
of judges favor the black

bronze color. The body and
back will be darker, with
bronze reflections. The legs
should be pink.

In the wings and tail are’
where the faults appear.
Spread the wing and look
for solid black feathers in
the primaries, irregular bar-
ring in both primaries and
secondaries and also a white
edge along the bottom of
each feather in the latter.
They are bad faults. Fig. 2
is a good wing. The tail,
which includes tail coverts,
is seldom perfect; in facet, 2
have never seen one. The
black bars near the end of
the tail coverts (I mean the
row of feathers lying far-

have only to “discard all
specimens disqualified by
the standard.” After thir-
teen years spent in breeding
these birds I must say I disagree with them, for I have found
‘the selection of the largest specimens and inbreeding them
to certain extent will increase the size instead of decreasing
it, but when carried too far inbreeding will impair the vital-
ity and produce deformities. Therefore, to properly mate
these birds is, I claim, as much of a problem as mating any
of the standard breeds of fowl. I wish the reader to remem-
ber that I am referring to the production of Bronze turkeys
for breeding and show purposes.
In regard to the shape of the male I like one that stands
well up. By this I mean one that carries his breast high, the

Fig. 1—Showing a Well-shaped Bird for Breeding or Show Purposes.

Feathers on rear of back were slightly raised by the bird’s excite-
ment at having his picture taken.

thest out of the tail proper)
are generally missing, and
two center feathers of the
tail proper always have the
white tip, the black bar and the brown barring more or less
mixed. I have noticed the latter peculiarity in the wild part-
ridge. Spread the tail coverts apart and look at the bottom of
the tail proper and in a great many cases you will find white
barring the same as on the wing. This is another serious
fault. Some breeders are satisfied with a tail which is all
speckled with black and brown so long as it has the black
band near the tip and a white tip. NowIam satisfied that a
feather regularly barred with brown and black, with the
broad black band and dull white or gray tip, is the proper

color. Fig. 3 is as good in color of tail as I haye seen,

Fig. 2—A Good Wing.
Bred and Owned by Mr. W. J. Bell.

I do not refer to all the shape or color sections, but only
to those which are usually faulty or in dispute. The above
wiil give you my idea of a good male to head a pen, except
on one point, and that one in my estimation is the most im-
portant, viz., you should insist on having a line-bred bird.
If you use a bird produced from two strains entirely different
in build and in a great many sections in color as well, what

“can you expect? My advice is to have a good male sired by
good males of one iine of breeding.

What I have said in regard to shape of male will apply
to the females also. The standard says of the female: “The
entire plumage is similar to that of the male, but the colors
are not so brilliant or clearly defined, and the edging of the
feathers dull white or gray.’ Now some breeders say that
hens should have a gray edge to breast and back feathers,
and I myst admit that the great majority of hens are
marked that way; still the meaning I take from the “color
of the female’ section in the standard is that they should
have the same color as the male, and I claim that the fe-
males in all our shows are scored too high. It is not impos-
sible to produce them, for I have produced quite a few and
find a great demand for them.

Young hens in my experience have proved the most sat-
isfactory breeders. The old hens in a great many cases (and
young hens sometimes) will lay soft shelled and misformed
eggs in spite of allI can do. I have starved them; have had
an abundance of old mortar and lime before them; have
given them free range and everything I could think of, but
I cannot stop them entirely. I consider it the only fault the
Brenze turkeys have. Usually I mate seven or eight hens
with one male, but I think more than that number would
still give satisfactory results. Any shed or building not too
warm will do for a roosting place for breeding stock. They
should be given free range during the daytime in all weather.
I would advise feeding the male pretty well, but the hens
only lightly.

SETTING THE HEN.

At this stage it is a good plan to have nests prepared, as

1 have noticed hens looking up nests a month in advance of

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

laying. Have them roomy, so the hen can turn and come off
without breaking the eggs, and place them in all the corners
and secluded places that you can find. By doing this early I
save myself the trouble to a great extent -of hunting the tur-
key nests. It is a good plan to watch which hen lays in a
ccrtain nest, and mark the eggs as you gather them, placing
them in bran in a cool room until the turkey wants to set.
Then dust the nest well with insect powder and yive them to
her—about seventeen eggs if she lays that many. Some
advoeate placing the first laying under domestic hens and
forcing the turkey to lay a second lot, but here in northern
Ontario the late Juiy hatches are seldom a success. About
two days before the eggs are due to hatch dust the hen and
nest well with insect powder. I consider this one of the
most important things to do, as a young turkey cannot stand
a dose of lice the first thing.

CARE OF THE YOUNG.

When you bring the young from the nest mark them on
the web of the foot with a small poultry punch. If marked
when about twenty-four hours old they seldom bleed and the
hole never grows together. By doing this and keeping the
hens’ eggs separate you can ascertain which hen is produc-
ing the best birds. I now come to a period in which my treat-
ment of turkeys radically differs from other successful breed-
ers, but I have had very few casualties under this system and
so I intend to continue following it, and, further, I can raise
them by this system just as easily as chickens. About twelve
hours after the last poult is hatched I take them to a larger
box—turkey and all. I feed them bread soaked in milk.
They will not eat much at first, but by sticking a little of it
around the sides of the box and working it on your hand
among them, they get started. I keep them in this box from
one to two days, depending on the weather, and get them
taught to eat off my hand. Then I change them to an A-
shaped coop with no bottom, and a lath front, and gradually
I substitute shorts for the bread in their food.

I feed them their shorts entirely out of my hands until
they are sold. I am very often told by my customers that
they are surprised at the tameness of my turkeys. Another

Fig. 3—A Fair Tail.
Bred and Owned by Mr. W. J. Bell.

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 25

advantage gained by feeding out of your hand is that there
is no food left on the ground to sour—a fruitful source of
bowel trouble.

Up till five weeks of age I feed five times per day and
eut dandelion leaves fine and mix with the shorts nearly
every meal. I occasionally cut onion tops instead of the
dandelions. Give plenty of milk—any kind—to drink, and
keep fresh water before them all the time. Something which
should never be neglected is to move the coop the breadth
of itself every day. In mixing the shorts it is important to
have them quite damp, but not sticky. There is one fine
grade of shorts it is impossible to mix properly. I am aware
some claim that feeding five times per day will kill the

cate placing the roosts on a level and about four feet from
the ground. All I have to do now is to place food in the
trough, drive the turkeys into the “run,” leave the sliding
doors open and they have plenty of light to see their food and
are compelled to roost inside. Then, again, if the weather
is warm the windows can be raised and the sliding doors
left open all night, and if cold all can be closed. Figs. 4 and
5 will give an idea of this building. Of course the rafters
are boarded over aud shingled.

DISEASES.

I shall touch very lightly on this part of the subject. I
have had very few turkeys die from disease. At one time I
housed them in a building much too small, and
they contracted roup. I tried doctoring, but
found it was not a success, and now use all my
energies in preventing disease. I firmly believe
if you let your birds have free range in daytime,

feed at regular intervals and keep them free

Fig. 4—W J. Bell’s Turkey House.
With roof cut away to show Interior Arrangement.

poults, but they surely have not tried feeding shorts and
milk. Shorts digest very fast and I believe is a preventive
of bowel trouble. At any rate I have found it a very slow-
killing process.

At about five weeks old I give the hen her liberty and let
them have free range of the farm and roost on the fences or
buildings until fall. I only feed twice per day during the
summer—shorts mixed with milk in the morning and clean
wheat at night. If grasshoppers are plentiful they will oft-
times refuse the wheat, but with me they never refuse the
shorts.

HOUSING,

When I first started I found great difficulty in getting
them to roost in a shed at night during winter. I would
spend over an hour keeping them from going on the fences
and buildings, so I thought of a plan which has worked sat-
isfactorily ever since. I built a lean-to on the south side of
my farm barn. Twelve feet from the barn and parallel
thereto four posts were placed twelve feet apart and seven
feet above ground. On these were placed a four by four-inch
scantling. Then to the side of the barn, twelve feet from the
ground, another scantling was spiked, and on these were
placed the rafters. The two ends were then boarded up
close and also the front, except what was required for doors
and windows.

Now the rafters were not cut off close to the building,
but extended over about four feet. Straight under the points
of rafters I placed four short posts twelve feet apart and two
feet above ground and boarded this two feet up solid. From
these boards to the point of rafters was strung poultry net-
ting. One and a half feet from the ground and against the
two-foot boarding was nailed a V-shaped trough the entire
length, thirty-six feet, and a door placed on the end of this
“run.” The inside or house proper can be divided into two
or three compartments as required, with roosts, and a large
sliding door and a window for each compartment. I adyo-

from lice you will have no more trouble than in
raising any other line of live stock. My greatest
troubles have been soft shelled eggs and fcxes.

CATCHING AND WEIGHING.

While our Provincial show was judged by
Score card and all birds were weighed, I was
generally asked by competitors to catch their
turkeys and place them on the scales, as I could
handle the birds more easily than any other. In
catcning a turkey, if on the ground, I stand on
left side, place my right arm over its back and
grab both legs. Lift by placing left hand under
the breast. It may try to break loose for a
second or two, but hold steady, and it will give up. If the
bird is on a perch, grab by both legs from behind—right
hand for right leg and left hand for left leg—and draw
quickly from the perch so its breast or wings will not strike
it; then hoid steadily while it flaps, afterwards it will re-
main quiet if held by the legs. In placing on the scales
hold its feet toward you with the right hand and breast with
the left. Lay it on its right side and pull its right wing
down towards its ‘breast as much as possible when with-
drawing your left hand. ;
Make your movements grad-
ual and quiet and you will
have very little trouble. [i is
almost impossible to get
their weight while standing
on their feet. In weighing as
above if small counter scales
are used it is advisable to
place a box of the same size
as the scales and about one
foot high under the scales,
as the head and tail of the
turkeys will droop a little ou
each side and having the box
under the scales prevents
them touching the floor.

SELLING STOCK.

It would require a whole
book to treat this subject
properly, as it includes ad-
vertising and making coops.
I think the best advice I can
give is to be perfectly honest and truthful. I have found
more persons lie about the weights of their turkeys than
about any other one thing in this world. I have bought tur-
keys at different times to be a certain weight and in almost

Fig. 5.
Runway in Turkey House.
Showing Feeding Trough and
Wire Netting.

26 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

every case have found them from five to ten pounds short. I
am aware that turkeys will lose about two pounds in transit,
no matter how short the distance, but seldom more. Then
again you will notice prominent breeders using cuts that
have been in existence for years as if said cuts were from
photegraphs of their stock. A case of his kind which
amused me and caused me not to trust a leading breeder
with my order was io find a cut on his envelope and under-
neath labeled “S——%rd, 1st prize cockerel at C——, 1899,”
and right in front of the cut in small type was “F. L. Sewell,
1897,” which showed that the cut was made before the bird
it was supposed to represent was hatched.

In regard to advertising, I would say try small ads in
different papers and then increase the space in those papers
which give best results. Do not try to make people believe
you have the only good ones on earth, but state just what
you have done in the show room and what you have to offer.
Showing comes under the head of advertising, and I find it
must be done or we drop out. I would say exhibit at the
largest shows, as it is not the amount of money you can
“clear” at the show, but the amount of reputation for good

stock that you can gain. Answer all correspondence
promptly and be careful to answer all questions asked as
far as it lies in your power. Upon receipt of an order ac-
knowledge by first mail, stating what day you will ship.

For shipping coops I use dry basswood. Take four pieces
one and one-half by one and one-half inches and thirty
inckes long for corner posts. Nail two pieces three inches
wide, two feet long and one-half inch thick on each end, and
two pieces three inches wide, three feet long and one-half
inch thick on each side. This will give you a light square
frame. Nail on a bottom of one-half-inch basswood and two
pieces three inches wide, one-half-inch thick on top. Tack
factory cotton all around the coop and after the cotton is on
nail lath about four inches apart around the coop. This
makes a light, strong coop in which to ship a pair of young
turkeys.

For old birds it would have to be larger in every way,
and for a single bird it could be narrower. I generally try

to ship by night trains, as the birds are quieter at night and
do not abuse themselves so much by breaking their feathers
and bruising their flesh.

W. J. BELL.

Fig. 6—Sweepstakes Bronze Turkey at Ontario Provincial Show, Guelph, 1900.
Bred and Exhibited by W. J. Bell.

POINTS ON TURKEY BREEDING.

Loss of Vitality in Turkeys and Lack of Fertility In Eggs—Injured Females—Food for the Young—Danger from Lice -
Their Causes—Care of the Layers and Sitters—Indigestion and Diarrhoea—Preparation for Market—
The Poults—Feeding the Breeding Stock—Advantages of Roosting Outside.

By J. F. Crangle.

RONZE turkeys are more raised than any other
variety, for several reasons. First, they are
the largest; second, they are hardy and well
“adapted to this climate; third, they are good
layers and the best of mothers; fourth, they are

most satisfactory for marketing, being full-breasted and

possessing the desired color of flesh. They will lay eighteen
to forty eggs a season under proper care.

Generally it is considered that one male will mate with
six to ten females. I have used one male for twenty-five
hens, but I do not think it well to risk using only one male
with your entire flock (especially if you have more than
eight or ten females) for the following reason: A female
usually allows the male to tread once. If from any cause
the male did not effect proper connection, the eggs would
not be fertile and the best part of the season would be lost
because the first litter is considered the best.

The hen after connection selects a spot for her nest and
a few days after it is made. This is usually done by
scratching up the earth so as to make a hollow place to keep
the eggs from rolling out. A great deal of the risk of males
not fertilizing the eggs could be avoided in the following
way: Use two toms alternately every day, but under no
consideration allow both toms to run with the females at
the same time. If you do you will, as a rule, have bad luck,
as the males will fight and at times hurt themselves, also the
females.

The lack of fertility in eggs and vigor in young poults
is one of the main reasons for the decline in turkey breeding
in the eastern states, and perhaps all over the United States.
In many of the eastern states, where a few years ago hun-
dreds of tons of turkeys were raised, they now have to im-
port, mostly from western states, to meet the demand, as it
seems almost impossible to raise them. I think the main
cause is in-breeding. There are many farmers who in the
past have not thought it necessary to obtain new blood, and
who thought they could save a few dollars by borrowing a
tom from a neighbor, in this way using the same blood
year after year. This has been done for so many years that
the vitality has been about bred out. For the past few years
turkey breeders no doubt have seen their folly, because
many of them are now looking months ahead for a good
male. The vitality had gotten so low that it created disease,
and I am sure that many of the turkey diseases with which
we have to contend have been caused by lowering the vital-
ity of the turkey. I believe there is no other variety of birds
in which-the vital forces decrease so rapidly by in-breeding
as in the turkey.

I think it possible under proper management to raise
turkeys in every state in the Union, and I believe if farmers
in general will be more careful about in-breeding and will
see that they have the proper kind of males to breed from,
such as wili introduce new, strong, hardy blood into their

stock, they will be able to raise turkeys as they have in
years gone by. To people who are having trouble in raising
turkeys I advise using a half wild male if they have large
range. It is almost impossible to get a pure wild tom in
this country, although you may happen to run on one by
accident. About all the people who claim to have wild tur-
keys have nothing but half-breeds, yet with a half wild tom
you can get enough new blood to make the offspring very
much stronger, and this will be noticeable the first season.

THE LAYING AND HATCHING SEASON.

After the turkey commences to lay, in many sections
of the country, the nights are cold and in many places the
thermometer goes down to the freezing point. When hens
are laying and you are afraid of frost, the eggs should be
gathered every evening and marked with the date. Then
they should be placed in a pan or basket in common wheat
bran with the big end of the eggs down, as by so doing you
will keep the air cell in good condition. Put them in a cel-
lar or any cool place and turn them every day. ite is
not best to turn them completely over; turn them only part
way over each day. It is safe to keep them ten or twelve
days, but I would not advise keeping them any longer than
possible, as they are liable to get stale, in which case not so
many of them would hatch. When the eggs are removed
from the nest a giass egg should always be put in. If you
do not put glass or wooden eggs in the nest the hen will
probably leave her nest and lay elsewhere.

A good mother will cover her eggs when she leaves her
nest; usually this is done with dry grass or leaves, so that
in looking for a turkey nest it is always necessary to be
careful, as otherwise one might step on it. An ordinary hen
will cover eighteen eggs. If she lays more than that num-
ber, take the extra ones and put them under a common hen,
setting this hen and the turkey at the same time. If you
have a good hatch and get out more than eighteen, leave a
few of the poults with the common hen. The turkey hen
can brood eighteen poults with safety. Above all things,
see that there are no lice on the hen when she hatches, as
the poults are very tender when hatched and if the hen has
lice the poults will have them on their bodies within a few
hours. When you transfer poults from common hens to
turkey hens dust them well with a good powder, as you want
to be sure there are no lice on them.

It takes twenty-eight to twenty-nine days to hatch tur-
key eggs. If the turkey does not leave her nest at that time
do not disturb her for at least twenty-four hours, because
oftentimes a few of the eggs are slow in hatching and she
stays on the nest several hours after they are hatched for
the poults to gain strength. It is always well to take a
piece of stale bread moistened with milk and put it near the
nest, near enough for the turkey hen to reach it. If the
poults are hungry, they will also eat. This food is very im-
portant because if the hen is hungry she may leave her nest

28 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

before she should, looking for food. We must remember
she leaves her nest only three or four times in twenty-eight
days. If she does not appear inclined to move to get the
food, do not disturb her, as it is a very easy matter to find
out whether she has hatched any young, for as a rule,
broken egg shells will be seen near the nest. At the expir-
ation of thirty days, if you see no signs of the young tur-
keys, it will be well to investigate the matter by raising the
turkey off the nest and ascertaining whether the eggs are
fertile or uot. If they should prove to be infertile, shut up
the female for four or five days in a coop large enough for
her to get a little exercise. Give her food and water and a
place to dust herself and in three or four weeks she will lay
again.

One of the best places in which to let the hen turkey
run with poults is a field where the grass is short. As a
rule, a pasture is very good; woodland is also suitable. Keep
them out of long grass and grain fields when there is a
heavy dew or it is rainy, until after the grain and hay are
harvested, because the wet vegetation is bad for the young
poults. It chills and sets them back in their growth and
often is fatal. You will always find the largest and finest
turkeys where they have free range. As a rule, turkeys will
wander some distance from home during the day, but will
come back to their home every night. Under proper man-
agement you can place turkeys anywhere you wish on the
farm, and by teaching them to roost in one particular place,
they will come to regard this as their home, and wiil know
no other; you will always find them wherever they have
been taught to roost. This can be done by watching them
a few nights in succession and driving them to the place
where you wish them to stay. Just before dark they will go
up in the trees or on a roost that has been put up for them.
With the right kind of breeding stock turkeys at Thanks-
giving time should weigh about as follows: Toms, sixteen
to twenty pounds; hens, twelve to fourteen pounds. [I have
dressed at six months old, turkeys weighing twenty-four
pounds, but they are rare.

FEEDING THE BREEDING STOCK.

There are two things which have to be done in order to
have success in breeding. One of them is to get the right
kind of breeding stock, and the other is to feed them prop-
erly. These are the two main things. The proper way to
feed preeding stock is to be careful not to overfeed them.
After your breeders are selected, feed almost entirely on
oats (scalded). I find they do better on oats than on any
other food. For a change, feed whole corn about twice per
week, and at no time feed more than they will eat clean.
Where turkeys have a barnyard to scratch in, you will have
to be careful not to get them over-fat, and as a rule, it is
only necessary to feed them at night. A good accompani-
ment to the food for turkeys is charcoal ground coarse. Put
it in a box where they can find it. They also need shells—
oyster shells are the best. On a farm they can ordinarily
find all the grit that it is necessary for them to have. If
the hen turkey has not enough lime to properly supply the
egg shell, it will be porous. I have known many germs to
die on this account.

DISEASES AND INJURED STOCK.

Under no consideration breed from a diseased turkey.
It is much safer io kill a sick turkey than to let her among
your flock of heaithy birds.

When the males mate with the females and they are
extra heavy and clumsy, it is well to see that the male does
not tear the female or hurt her back. A very good way to
prevent this is to file down the toe nails of the male. I have
secn them many times silp off of the female and rip open

the hips or side. It is very easy to discover an injured fe-
male by her actions, more especially the next day, as she
will be lame and her wings will droop. It is best to catch
her at oncé and examine the wound, as generally they can be
saved by sewing up the tear. This is not a very difficult
matter. Let one person hold the turkey and another do the
sewing. Pull all the feathers from the edges of the wound,
and with warm water moisten them so they will stay back
while you are putting in the stitches. Before sewing, the
wound should be washed thoroughly with castile soap, using
a small, soft sponge; then take a long, fine needle and with
white silk thread draw the edges of the skin around the
wound so that the parts meet as they were. Commence at
one end of the wound and gradually draw the edges of the
skin together over the wound as you stitch, until the tear is
all closed up. Many times I have taken as many as fifty
stitches in one wound. Bathe the wound with witch hazel
every day for four or five days. It is well to keep the hen
in a small pen or coop for three or four days where there is
quiet, and where yeu can catch her without running. If you
gave her free range she might tear out the stitches. The
period of confinement depends entirely on the size and
nature of the wound, but as a rule, after three or four days
she can be liberated with the rest of the flock.

FOOD FOR YOUNG TURKEYS.

As a rule, many young turkeys are killed by over-feed-
ing. On large farms where the hen turkey and her poults
have plenty of range, it is best to feed them only twice each
day, once in the morning and again at night. Young turkeys
can live on insects and many little grasses which they relish.
You will always find that food they get in the fields will keep
them in better condition than anything you can give them.
During the berry season, especially when wild strawberries
are ripe, it is a pleasure to watch the little turkeys pick and
eat them. In seasons when there is a good supply of grass-
hoppers, the turkeys will live almost entirely on them.

When young turkeys have to be fed the best food I know
of is stale bread, but be sure the bread is not sour. By stale
bread I mean wheat bread three to ten days old. Moisten
the bread with sweet milk, but do not get it too moist. I
usually press out all the milk that I can with my hands.
Clabbered milk is also good for young turkeys. Put it ina
dish on the ground where they can get at it easily. During
the warmest weather of summer it is best to keep all tur-
keys, young or old, on the hungry side, for if you do not,
there is great danger of their having bowel trouble.

I have tuld you how to care for turkeys on a large range.
If you are on a limited ragne, or for any reason you have to
keep your birds confined, I mean young poults, take three
boards twelve or fourteen inches wide and ten or twelve feet
long and make a triangular pen. In this pen put the old
turkey and her poults. Do not confine the hen. She will
jump out and in over the boards and will not leave her
poults. It is best to leave the poults in this pen for fifteen
to eighteen days, and then let them range with their mother.
Many persons think it is necessary to put the hen turkey in
a coop to keep her near her young, but this is not the case,
as the mother will stay withthe poults; you could hardly
drive her away. When the young poults are confined in a
pen as above described, it is necessary while so young to
feed them four times a day with stale bread moistened with
milk. If the weather is rainy and wet, it is sometimes well
to use red pepper enough to make the bread quite warm.
If any of your poults are drooping it will tone them up.
Clabbered milk is also good for them. Should you find that
the young turkeys are drooping and do not seem to pick up,
the very first thing to look for is lice. If your poults have
lice or ticks they will not do well, and it is almost impos-

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 29

sible to raise them. You will find at times a large blue tick
on turkeys and turkey poults; they are on the neck and head
only. If you should find any ticks on your poults, pick them
oif, then use clear lard on the head and neck. It will kill the
nits that would hatch if you did not use some preventive.
For the two other varieties of lice, use any good insect pow-
der, but always be careful that none gets in their eyes.
Hen turkeys generally keep free from lice if they can find
any place to dust themselves, but some are very lazy and if
these hens have poults they will be sure to be infested with
lice, too. In looking for lice it is best to examine the little
wings, as generally you will find them at the base of quills,
also around vent. For the terrible ticks, which are almost
sure death, look upon the neck, push back the feathers care-
fully until you reach the top of the head. You can easily
see them, as they are good sized, and the older ones are dark
blue in color, usually full of blood. If you keep your poults
free from lice you will have overcome almost all danger of
loss.

Stale bread moistened in milk should be fed to the
poults for three or four weeks, then gradually get them to
eat wheat and fine cracked corn. This grain should be
scalded, as it will then assist digestion, but do not feed it
until it has thoroughly cooled. Indigestion is very preva-
lent among turkeys, both young and full grown.

Jf your poults should have diarrhoea from any cause, one
feed of boiled rice will usually stop the trouble. Another
common but sure relief is to give them red pepper, say one
tablespoonful. Mix it with about two tablespoonfuls of
wheat middlings, then moisten it with water, but do not wet
it enough to make it sticky. Cut it up in about four to six
parts and roll the parts into pill shape, put them in an oven
and bake them hard. It is well to have a few always on
hand, as after baking they will keep for a long time in a
dry place. If I have a turkey, either old or young, with a
bad case of diarrhoea, I give one pill three times a day until
the droppings are improved. Then give a tablespoonful of
castor oil if the turkey is full grown, or a teaspoonful to a
young poult. It is very seldom that I cannot stop a case of
diarrhoea with this treatment.

FALL FEEDING.

I commence to feed all turkeys the first of October to
get them ready for Thanksgiving, as we all know there is
more demand for turkeys at that time than at any other.
They should be fed morning and night, but never more than
they will eat within a few minutes. Most of the trouble
we have in the fall is caused by overfeeding. At the time
you commence to feed for fattening use common sense and
feed lightly for the first ten days, gradually increasing the

food. The principal food from October to January first
should be corn, not cracked, and the older the corn the bet-
ter, as new corn will cause bowel trouble. I have seen large
flocks of turkeys knocked out by feeding new corn. If you
get their bowels out of order, it takes weeks to get them
in good condition again. As a rule, most of your turkeys
will be fat and in good condition to dress at Thanksgiving.
There may be a few late hatched broods that will be im-
proved if carried over to Christmas.

Many people advocate putting turkeys in a closed pen
to fatten. I have given this method a good trial many times
and under all conditions and find it a failure. Let them
have all the range they want. The results will be better
and you will avoid the sickness they will have if you con-
fine them. Many persons do not understand why their tur-
keys are not so fat as they should be, but almost invariably
you will find that they have fed them in confinement and
the turkeys could not stand it, especially for a period of sev-
eral weeks. They get off their feed and will not eat. In the
fall when the weather is cold, turkeys will not range far
from the farm buildings. They will eat their morning food,
then roam around after a little grit to help them digest it
and then lie down in a warm place out of the wind. Drive
all the turkeys you wish to kill in a barn or shed so as to
confine them twenty-four hours before killing with no food
of any kind. To look well when dressed, their crops must
be entirelv free from food.

THE BEST ROOSTING PLACE FOR TURKEYS.

Many persons who keep turkeys think they need shel-
ter in the way of a building. That idea is entirely wrong.
The best possible way of keeping turkeys in good health is
to have them roost away from buildings, in trees if you have
them. By roosting in trees they will not be in draughts,
as they would be if allowed to roost in sheds or buildings.
I have known turkeys to roost in trees with the thermom-
eter fifteen to twenty degrees below zero, and be much
healthier than turkeys that were inside a building. A tur-
key can stand any weather we have in the United States if
they are roosting in trees that are partly sheltered from the
wind. I have seen turkeys in trees during a snow and rain
storm with the wind blowing sixty miles an hour, and they
did not appear to mind it in the least.

A great improvement has been made in the size of tur-
keys, especially Bronze, in the past twenty years. The ordi-
nary turkey of some years ago, as bred by the average farm-
er, would weigh about as follows: Toms, twenty pounds;
hens, eight to ten pounds. To-day Bronze turkeys will
weigh: Toms, thirty-five to forty-two pounds; hens, eigh-
This shows what proper mat-

J. F. CRANGLE.

teen to twenty-five pounds.
ing will do.

IN NATURE’S WAY.

Selecting Breeders—Introducing New Blood—Raising Breeders—Avoid Crossing, but Judiciously Inbreed—Poults
in Nature’s Way—Range—Food—Housing—Difficult Sections to Breed Correctly.

By B. F. Ulrey, Treasurer National Bronze Turkey Club.

S I BREED only the Bronze variety of turkeys,
and a limited number of them for exhibition
and breeding purposes, and as I have had no
experience with any other variety and never

MR re sell on the market, except the culls of my

flock, I cannot give you much information on raising

turkeys for market. However, if I were to breed tur-
keys for market purposes, I should employ the same

methods as I do in breeding exhibition fowls, except that I

should not discard a good bird if it were faulty in color.

Most farmers, I notice, sell all of

flock. Save her eggs and mark her poults, and if they prove
good, you can use them successfully. On the other hand,
if you buy a tom of another strain (the male counts more
than half of the flock) to mate with your hens, and such
mating results in poor birds, you have lost the season. I
often see advertisements in poultry journals in which breed-
ers offer stock for sale produced from twenty-seven to
thirty-one-pound hens and forty to forty-seven-pound toms.
Such claims are intended to catch amateurs, for any breeder
of experience knows: that a hen that weighs twenty-seven

pounds never lays fertile eggs, and

the early hatched turkeys on the
market because they will bring
more money and they retain the
late hatched and immature poults
for breeding purposes. The conse-
quence is, they do not raise many
next season, because the breeding
stock has no vigor and the poults
no strength when hatched.

I have bred Bronze turkeys for
ten years and my method of rais-
ing them is entirely different from
that employed by anyone with
whom I have talked, or from the
methods of poultry writers which
I find printed in the poultry jour-
nals from time to time. In the
first place, I keep about fifteen fe-
males in each flock, seven hens
and eight pullets, headed by an
adult tom, assisted by a cockerel,
and I always have fertile eggs.

The Bronze turkey commences to lay when she is
about ten months old and she will lay from twenty
to twenty-five eggs before she offers to set, then if

confined for about a week or ten days she will commence
to lay again and wiil lay from twelve to sixteen more eggs
before she becomes broody. Most hens lay two clutches ina
season, though I have known some hens to lay all summer,
and I have one hen that laid ninety-seven eggs from April
first to September tenth. In selecting my breeding stock I
take females as near standard weight and color as possible,
having large frames and bones and such as are not too fat.
These are mated with toms that are a little above standard
weight, the cockerel weighing from twenty-eight to thirty
pounds at ten months old, the yearling cocks from thirty-
five to thirty-seven pounds, the adult from thirty-
eight to forty-two pounds. I am particular to have males
of the best color and shape that I can get. I find that the
female gives us size, while the male governs the plumage.
In changing males and breeding for exhibition purposes, |
always try to get a tom that is extra fine in the sections in
which my females aré defective. The best way to introduce
new blood is to sburchase a female from some successful
breeder and mate her with the tom that heads your own

Two Winning Hens, the Property of B. F. Ulrey.

Indiana Queen (at left), score 974%; Pride of Shaw-
nee (at right), weight at ten months
old, 23% pounds.

a tom that weighs forty-seven
pounds never fertliizes an egg.

HATCHING AND RAISING POULTS.

I allow the hens to have their
own way about their nests, al-
though I place barrels on their
sides along hedges and in secluded
places in the orchard and fence
corners, in each putting a small
quantity of straw. The hens gen-
erally nest in the barrels and I re-
move the eggs every day until the
hen is ready to set. I then give
her seventeen eggs and at the
same time put ten eggs under a
domestic hen to hatch. All the
poults are given to the turkey hen
to raise, as I find that a turkey
knows more about taking care of
poults than I do. I give her a good
feed of corn and a drink of water
and then let her go where she likes. If there
meadow or pasture within three-quarters of a _ mile,
that is where she will go. I have one hen that hatched six-
teen poults and I gave her nine more hatched by a domestic
hen and she raised twenty-two of them. I have never seen
a fence that will confine turkeys unless one wing is clipped,
then a four-foot netting with a barbed wire above will keep
them confined, but I do not wish to confine my turkeys ex-
cept occasionally for a short time. Once in a while I have
a hen that wanders too far from home to build her nest.
I have an orchard covering about two acres which is in-
closed with netting and barbed wire and in which I keep my
Silver Laced Wyandottes during the breeding season. I
bring the wandering turkey home, clip her wing and put her
in the pen described until she lays out her clutch. If a hen
and her brood get to running away and going to the neigh-
bors’, I put them in the chicken yard for about ten days,
after which I have no further trouble with them. I look
after the hens with poults on bad days when I cannot work
in the fields. If 1 find any weak poults I examine them for
lice, and if I find any lice I give the poults a good dusting
with insect powder. If the weather is dry, the poults find
enough dust in which to wallow to keep down the lice, but

is a

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 31

if it is wet weather you must look out for lice. I am satis-
fied that nine-tenths of the poults that die are fed to death
or are killed by lice.

RANGE—FOOD—HOUSING.

I give my turkeys unlimited range and feed nothing un-
til July 15th, then I drive them home every night and give
them a little corn. In about a week they will come home
at night for food and to roost and I have no further trouble
with them until I am ready to sell or show. Some writers
claim that wet weather and heavy dews are fatal to poults.
If such were the case I should not have a poult to-day, as
the past season was the wettest we have had in several
years. Still I have more poults now than I ever raised before

range, as they must have exercise and a variety of food,
which they cannot obtain except on an extensive range. If
you will examine the crop of a poult after September first
that has had plenty of range, you will find grasshoppers,
bugs and worms, together with several varieties of weed
and grass seeds, but very little grain. Some persons claim
that a turkey will eat more than a hog. I had a chance to
test the matter last winter when I had sixty-five turkeys
on hand and there came a severe snow storm which pre-
vented the flock from getting anything to eat except what
I fed them. The sixty-five did not eat a half bushel of corn
a day during the week I fed them.

Never discard a good bird because it is getting old. I
have known hens to be first-class breeders when seven years

Champion Jr. One of B. F. Ulrey’s Chicago Cup Winners. Score 97 Points by B. N. Pierce.

in one season. I have never had but two sick turkeys dur-
ing the years I have been in the business. One of these was
cerop-bound. I poured about a pint of warm milk down her
throat and kneaded her crop with my fingers for about ten
minutes, then gave her a tablespoonful of castor oil and she
was all right the net day. The other was a three-year-old
tom which dropped off the roost dead. I commence feeding
my turkeys all they will eat about November first and con-
tinue feeding until about February first, then I let them
hustle for their living and they will be in good breeding
condition.

I never house turkeys, as the trees and fences are the
natural roosting places for turkeys and I think that the
nearer they are raised as nature does the better the results.
Turkeys cannot be raised sucessfully without plenty of

old. The best tom I ever owned, both as a breeder and an
exhibition bird, I scld when he was three years old because
I thought he was getting too old for a breeder. The person
to whom I sold him used him two seasons and he proved a
successful breeder. Then this man sold him, thinking he
was too old for breeding or showing, but his new master
thought differently and showed him at Madison Square Gar-
den, New York, last winter when he was five years old, and
won the blue ribbon. Old ‘“‘Champion” has a record of eigh-
teen first prizes. He weighed thirty-five pounds as a year-
ling, forty pounds as a two-year-old and forty-three pounds
when four years old. He was the sire of the first prize cock
and second prize hen at Chicago, January, 1900, and to my
knowledge, was the sire of eleven turkeys that scored 97
points or better.

32 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

STARTING THE BUSINESS.

If I were to start in the business of raising turkeys, hav-
ing the experience I now have, I should purchase three or
four of the best females I could find that were near standard
weight and as nearly perfect in color as I could find. I
should also buy their sire if he had proved to be a good one
and should mate them to him. If I could not get the sire,
I should get a cockerel from the same mating that the fe-
males were from and should mate him to the females. Then
J should save the eggs from the best hen, mark her poults
and save a tom from her to mate with my flock the next
season. The pullets I should take to another farm and mate
to a tom from the home flock. In that way I could line-
breed and not in-breed too closely. When I saw there was
need of new blood, I should purchase a female from the
breeder of whom I purchased my original stock, and in that
way I would keep the same strain, but my birds would not
be near enough related to affect their health and vigor. AS
surely as you introduce a new strain in your flock, you will
lose both shape and color and it will take at least three
years of careful mating to get back where you were when
you made the cross.

I find that the breast and back are the most difficult
sections to breed correctly in regard to shape. As a rule, the
back is too narrow and too short. We want our birds broad
across the shoulders with a long back and full round breast,
rather long legs and large feet. In color we have the most
difficulty with the wings, tail and back. The standard says
in regard to color of wings: ‘Primaries—Each feather
evenly and distinetly barred across, with parallel bars of
black and white extending the entire length of the feather.”
Of the color of the tail it says: ‘“Black—each feather irregu-
larly penciled with a narrow band of light brown and ending
in a broad black band with a wide edging of white or gray—
white preferred.” Now I find if we get a clear white barring
in the wings we are sure to get white barring in the main
tail feathers, which is a serious defect. In fact, I should not
keep a bird for a breeder that had white barring in its tail.
I also find that if we get a clear white edging on the tail and
tail coverts we do not get a rich bronze on the back and tail
coverts, and if we get a good bronze where the standard de-
mands it, we are sure to get smutty white on the end of the
tail and smoky white on the tail coverts.

B. F. ULREY.

SEA

TURKEYS RAISED WITHOUT HOUSING.

Confining and Housing Turkeys—Turkey Eggs—Care of Poults—Feeding Corn—Diseases—How to Begin.

By B. F. Hislop.

FEW years ago when we finally concluded to
try turkey raising, we had already decided
that the Bronze was the variety which suited
us best, and we bought a trio in the fall in
order to be ready,for business the following
} spring. We had no experience, so we began
to read up on the subject and to question
our tieighbors about their methods of caring for the young.
We found that most of the neighbors allowed the turkey
hens to do all the work, and when winter came, if there was
a large flock of turkeys the farmer’s wife claimed all the
credit, but if the turkey hens failed
to raise large families,they had all
the blame. At first we raised the
poults with domestic hensand later
decided to try the turkeys, but
found the old ones so unruly that
we again gave the poults to the
domestic hens. We worked accord-
ing to rules, kept the coops well
serubbed, etc., and we succeeded
fairly well, raising as large a per-
centage of pcults as we have ever
raised since, but the work we did
that year, if applied to some other
calling, would have obtained us
far more money, and we concluded
if raising turkeys required so much
work we had better quit the busi-
ness. The time we wasted doctor-
ing colds that season would have
discouraged most amateurs. We
were afraid these colds might de-
velop into roup, and so labored
most patiently. We wish to say that we do not believe
turkeys ever have roup as chickens do. We think the
birds become debilitated from injudicious treatment from
the time they are hatched, and when autumn comes the
birds take cold, which develops into chronic catarrh. We
do not believe it is contagious, but a flock will be more or
less affected, as all the birds are exposed to the same causes.
It is hard to cure such colds, for if a man does not know how
to prevent his flock from taking cold he is hardly likely to
know how to enre them. There may be flocks that have
the roup, but we have never seen any, though we have seen
birds whose owners thought they had roup, but which we
believed to be suffering from a severe cold.

This year not one of our turkeys has a cold, although
this is the season for it, and we think we understand why
they have escaped. In the first place, we changed the blood,
as we believe inbreeding produces weak stock, although one
does not need to make too great a change. We do not think
that turkeys are as liable to be off in color as chickens are,
and so we have no hesitancy in putting a fine tom at the
head of our flock without tracing his pedigree. A tom will
do a large part in elevating a flock, but he cannot do it all,

First Prize Young Tom, Chicago and Indiana State Fair,
1900, owned and bred by B., F. Hislop.

because much depends on the females. The male, so our
experience teaches us, has much to do with the size, with
tke length of the bones, markings of the tail and wings, and
also the shape of the body, but if the females are too small
and poorly marked, one cannot expect anything first-class
from such a mating. A large percentage of judges are very
particular about the markings of the tails and wings of
turkeys, so one has to look after these sections. Somé
judges are very particular about having a good bronze, al-
though shape, size, etc., will help one out, but the best
judges want a bronze, not a black or brown. Many breeders
cannot see bronze in any but their
own birds, but when the birds are
all together in a show room, a per-
son, if he has an eye for beauty,
can select the bronze birds, and so
can the judge—which is one good
point for comparison judging.

CONFINING AND HOUSING TURKEYS.

We do not think turkeys can be
raised in large flocks without a
large range, although we have
never tried raising them in con-
finement. A turkey is naturally a
forager and in roaming about pro-
cures itS proper food. Even if a
person has solved the food prob-
lem (we do not think we have)
and confines his turkeys, intending
to feed them, he would prevent
them from taking the proper exer-
cise which they require as much
as they do food, if they are to at-
tain the greatest possible size and vigor. We find that the
lack of size and vigor is to be seen in poults raised by do-
mestic hens. We have been asked if it is best to house
turkeys. We.have never housed them curselves. They have
always roosted at night in the trees and lived around the
buildings during ihe day, but we intend to try housing them
someiime because from what we have learned we think it
would be a good plan. We shall use sheds open to the
south, with trees for protection on the open side. We have
a grove that is a great protection to our flock, but we think
they need more. When a bird stands around or a cold, bleak
day, all drawn up and then goes to sleep on a naked limb,
with the wind blowing a blizzard around him all night, we
cannot see that it is of any benefit io him. He has the same
sort of body that other stock has and if he has no shelter to
keep him warm, his food has to do it. Plenty of fresh air
does not mean that birds must be out of shelter. We co not
think that over seventy-five turkeys in one flock will do well
and we prefer fifty or less. It does not matter how early
turkeys are hatched. The hens in this climate will not com-
mence to lay much before the first of April, and the later
hatched will lay about as soon as the early ones, unless
very late hatched.

34 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

IN REGARD TO TURKEYS.

We do not keep the young birds for breeders because
they are not matured enough. Breeders should be at least
ten or eleven months old, the older and more mature the
fow is, the better the breeder. We may not get so many
eggs from ihe females, but we get better ones. The one
drawback to two-year-old turkeys and older is that we let
them get too fat in this corn country during the winter.
We have never been able to secure such large, clutches of
eggs as some claim. We get an average of twelve in the
first clutch and about ten in the second. Some hens will
lay more, and some will lay three clutches, but they are less
in number and we never count much on them, for the hens
usually hide their nests and we seldom bother about them.
Oceasionally a hen willl lay a large number of eggs, in fact,
wili lay all summer, but such eggs are seldom fertile. We
have mated fifteen females with one tom with good results,
and we do not believe there was any larger percentage of in-
fertile eggs than when we mated a tom with two females.
Turkey eges are usually fertile if the hens are not too fat.
We put our hens on “starvation rations,” as we call it, when
nearing the breeding season. At that time we feed mostly
oats, meat and vegetables. Turkey eggs incubate in twenty-
eight days, and when the weather is very warm a day or so
less time is required, but we do not remember ever having
one sit over twenty-eight days. Turkey hens seldom hide
their nests for the first clutch. In the second they make the
attempt, but we watch them and if they want to go too far
away we drive them nearer home and thus get them to com-
mence laying in a nest more convenient to us. We gather
the eggs and keep them in a cool place, placing them on the
small end, and if we should keep them long, we turn them,
but as a rule, we do not keep them long enough to take that
trouble, for if we do not set them ourselves, our customers
are waiting for them. We have generally had better suc-
cess in putting eggs under domestic hens, but we do not let
them raise the poults. We always have a turkey hen wait-
ing to take them. If a turkey has been sitting two weeks,
or even less, she will take the young if they are put under
her when a few hours old. We have tried putting pipped
eges under the turkey, but too many of them get masked,
so this year we waited until the poults were a few hours old.
If a turkey chooses to sit in the proper place, we put eggs
under her and set a domestic hen at the same time, but give
ail the poults to the turkey.

CARE OF POULTS.

We used to keep the poults and the mother hen penned
up for about ten days or two weeks, feeding the young tur-
keys three or four times a day on boiled eggs, dandelions,
curd and bread soaked with milk. They did very well, but
we think now it was a mistaken kindness, for we lost a
larger per cent of the young in the fall. We think that
with all our care we invariably overfed, but they did not
show the effects until fall. Now we make a practice of
keeping the hen and poults penned up four or five days, feed-
ing very sparingly on boiled eggs, dandelions or any green
plant, such as onions or lettuce, and a little bread. We
have discarded curds altogether as we think it is too much
work for the benefit, in fact, we have almost concluded that
it is a detriment to the turkeys, for when we fed it we were
bothered by the fowls having worms more than we are now.
This season we went to very little trouble to feed them after
the hen was set at liberty. If it were convenient we fed
them twice or three times a day, but if not, we looked after
them at evening to see where they roosted, and fed them,
giving them some kind of cooked food, oatmeal, and bran,
and later a mash composed of equal parts of corn meal,
middlings and bran, with a little meat meal, bone and vene-
sian red. The food we gave them was so little that we did

not consider it necessary, and as they grew older they «id
not have use for it, but we stili fed them in order to keep
them tame and teach them that they had a home. Never-
theless, we frequently had to drive them home. <A turkey
on a farm range will take care of her flock and raise them
strong and vigorous with very little food from the house.

There is much ado about young poults being killed by
damp weather and by being out in the dew. By the time a
turkey hatches in this climate it is not likely to be very
cola, and unless the ground is so low that the land is
flooded, there is little danger from rains. This has been a
very wet summer in our locality, and we had hens out in
heavy rains when the poults were but a few days oid and
we did not lose a poult nor did the young get wet. We have
a large orchard and grove that furnishes a great deal of
protection, but often the hen sat out as far from the trees
as she could get, not to entirely leave the orchard, still there
were no poults drowned. -We think during such wet spells
that the poults need to be fed more regularly, as they cannot
hunt for their food. We have lost more young by having
the old hen go into a coop with a part of the flock, the other
par! being left out and drowning, than we ever did when the
hen was out with the flock. After the frosts kill the bugs,
grasshoppers, etc., the turkeys require more food, and we
feed them morning and night a small ration, increasing it
as the food in the meadows and pastures decreases. In the
morning we feed a mash with the same ingredients that we
fed to the poults while young, with the addition of charcoal
and oil meal in small quantities. We also give them
cracked bone and grit, all they will eat of the latter, and at
night coarse cracked corn and soaked oats. Now if the
young poults are not fed to death, so to speak, there will be
little, if any, indigestion, and if a case now and then appears
lessen the food, and in individual cases give the fowl a full
tablespoonful of castor oil with from five to ten drops of
turpentine in it. If one dose is not enough, give two or
three, or even more, one dose a day, and search for lice. We
have invariably noticed that the debilitated fowl always be-
comes lousy and generally has worms, as these pests invari-
ably follow indigestion,

FEEDING CORN.
Do not begin too soon to feed corn. Last year we fed

our chickens considerable cracked corn in the outside
seratching pens. Our turkeys soon learned this and were
on hand by three or four o’clock, if they had not hung
around all day waiting for evening, and they got a large
share of the corn. As a consequence, we lost a lot of fine
birds from indigestion. We could not cure it, as we did not
remove the cause. We wanted fat chickens and we paid for
them with cur best turkeys, but we learned our lesson.
Keep your turkeys going out on the range as long as pos-
sible. Drive them away in the morning if they will not go.
When the weather becomes cold and the proper time for fat-
tening comes, then feed corn and heavy grain. We would
never fatten the birds intended for breeders if the purchas-
ers did not demand heavy weights, as fat is a detriment to
the birds. We cannot blame the purchasers, as this is about
the only way they can be sure of getting a large fowl and
so they call for actual weights; but the tall, rangy, well-
shaped, long, coarse-legged turkey, even if he dogs look
slim in the fall, is the one that will be a large bird. Our
first turkeys purchased were low, blocky birds, and they
were almost as heavy in the late fall as they ever got. We
thought them fine at first, but it did not take us long to
change our minds, so that the next autumn we purchased
a trio of birds from a well-known breeder. When they came
the fowls were but a pound or two heavier than our old
stock, but they were long legged, awkward, green looking
birds, and we were pleased with them, for we could see into

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 39

what they would develop and we were not disappointed.
Since then we have known better what to purchase. Turkey
raising is like a great many other things. One can read
a great deal about it, but the actual experience is necessary.
More than that, it can never all be learned, nor does one
person possess more knowledge than all other turkey raisers
combined. The longer one is in the business the less con-
ceited he becomes if he has any success.

MARKETING TURKEYS.

In catching poults or old turkeys, one must catch them
by the legs, holding them just below the hocks with the
legs together, laying the birds across the arm if you wish
to curry them, or on something else if you do not. The cost
of feeding a turkey on a farm does not amount to more than
50 cents per head, even with all the extras a breeder needs,
and the farmer’s wife who lets the turkey do the raising is
out so little one cannot estimate it. We purchase food for all
our poultry together, using as we need it, and conse-
quently when the time to balance comes we simply count up
our expenses and income from all our flocks and look for
the gain or income. When turkeys are raised for market,
the heavy ones will pay the most profit fattened and sold
for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the younger and
lighter weights that are not in as good condition as they will
be later, can be marketed any time during the winter, as
the turkey market does not fluctuate so very much for good
stock. We have had dressers of poultry tell us that the
Bronze turkeys were the finest they handled, but we do not
believe they comimand a higher price than other varieties,
all conditions being equal. Goed dressed turkeys bring
from eleven to twelve and one-half cents a pound in Chi-
cago. Every breeder should dress his own fowls, as it will
pay him jn all instances. Have the fowls fat and do the
work nicely and you are sure of the top price.

LICE ON TURKEYS.

We have not touched the lice question in regard to
young poults. We are not much in favor of greasing, ex-
cept in using a little lard on the old hen when first taken
from the nest and ou the tops of the poults’ heads as a pre-
ventive of head lice. We dust the old hen two or three
times while she is sitting, and thoroughly when we give
her the poults, then watch the young and aS soon as we see
lice on them, dust them with good insect powder, avoiding
the white, as it makes them look shabby. We do consider-
able dusting, once a week for a few months, but oftener if
the lice compel us io. Dust the old hen, too, for when tne lice
are destroyed in this way at the beginning your trouble is
over. We catch the young by having a box trap. Feed
them in a bunch and when they commence to eat set the
trap over them, the top of the box being laths with a little
trap door in it so we can take the poults out one by one, dust
them and let them go. In this way none are missed. It is
not so easy to catch the old bird. Occasionally she escapes
a dusting, but we manage to get her often enough to prevent
trouble. We seldom have a sick poult, so we never experi-
enced pulling wing feathers. Our trouble heretofore has
been, as we said, in the fall, and we think we can steer clear
of that better than we have.

DISEASES OF TURKEYS AND RANGE.

In Our experience the diseases of turkeys are brought
about by impaired digestion. If one can build up the consti-
tution and remove the causes of the trouble one can cure
many of them, but when the constitution has become thor-
oughly broken down you might as well use the ax and stop
the misery. Do not be too hasty, however, as many ci them
may be cured and marketed. Colds are not necessarily
fatal, nor is rheumatism, although the latter is worse, but
when a turkey gets the black head he is often dead before
one gets a chance to doctor him, so the best way is to begin
right and avoid such trouble. A large flock is more difficult
to handle than a small one. We do not aim to raise over
seventy-five in our home flock, as the range is not good on
the prairies and the pastures are too small. We all know
that a large cattle pasture is an ideal range, but they are
not to be found in a locality like ours, where land is high
and it is all under cultivation, besides one’s neighbors do
not like to see another man’s turkeys in their oat fields
or corn fields in the fall, although it is a well established
fact that turkeys eat more injurious insects than they do
grain and they are a benefit rather than a detriment, but
you cannot make many farmers believe it, and it is useless
to try. We are trying to console cur neighbors by compen-
sating them in some way for the imagined damage, but with
all that the yellow cur puts in his appearance occasionally
and chews up a fine bird. It is not all clear sailing in the
turkey business, and as we are located, if it were uot for
the pleasure we take in seeing a fine flock of the mammoth
beauties, we should quit the business.

We do not think swampy ground would be a good place
for turkeys, especially during a wet season.

FOR THE AMATEUR.

Were we to Start in the turkey business, knowing what
we do now, we should buy the best breeders we could find
thai were for sale at a price we could stand and would not
be afraid of a few dollars if we could afford it. We should
build a shed for them, and if we did not have some kind of
a grove we think we could ill afford not to build. We
should start with the Bronze, for considering all we know
of other breeds, we still like them best, and think that
we can make the most money out of them. The market
man prefers them for their size and the fancier for their
beauty. Judging from the numbers shown in our exhibi-
tions, they are the most popular variety.

A word to purechasers—when you wish to buy, first se-
lect a reliable breeder and if you want breeding birds you
can easily purchase them at a reasonable figure, but if you
want show birds for breeders (which are the best) do not
expect them at common breeding stock prices, for no man’s
whole flock is composed of show birds, even if many of his
old breeding stock were once show birds. If the breeder
tells you that his hirds were never beaten in the show, im-
mediately learn where the birds were exhibited, whether in
a local show or in a show like Chicago, New York or Bos-
ton. No person has made a clean sweep at many large
shows unless the competition was very small indeed.

B. F. HISLOP.

THE FARMER’S BEST FRIEND.

The Mammoth Bronze Turkey So Proclaimed by One who Formerly Would Not Allow a Turkey on His Farm—
Turkeys as Pest Destroyers—Selection of Breeders—Hatching and Raising Poults.

By Mrs. J. M. Randolph.

CONSIDER the most important thing in turkey
raising is good, healthy breeding stock. In se-
lecting a tom I look for good markings on wings
and tail, a long body, large legs and feet, and as
the standard requires heavy weight, as large a
bird as I can get that meets these requirements,
although in my own judgment a thirty-two pound
tom is large enough. [I think most old turkey breeders will
agree with me that there was a great mistake made in de-
manding such heavy weight toms. As I believe the poults
get size from the hens and markings from the tom, I select
the hens with regard to size first, but with markings as good
as I can get on large hens.

About the middle of February or when the hens begin
to cail—a sound familiar to all turkey breeders—and show
signs of mating, I remove them to a young orchard enclosed
with poultry netting, and clip the right wing of each hen, but
I never clip the tom’s wing, as be will not give trouble by
trying to fiy out as a hen will do if her wing is not clipped.

In this yard they have plenty of range, blue grass and
clover and I never Jet them out until the breeding season is
over. I believe every breeder should have an enclosed yard
or park for turkeys. Much as I should dislike to give up
raising turkeys, I would do so befcre I would go back to the
old way of letting them have the run of the farm. I caunot
forget long, weary, ofttimes fruitiess searches I have had
trying to find their nests, only, perhaps, to have them move
again in a few days.

We have a great maDy oSage orange hedges in this part
of the country and these hedges seem to be a favorite place
for turkeys to hide their nests. I have had them follow the
hedge more than a mile and then make their nests. Being
in an enclosure not only ensures your getting all their eggs,
but they can be gathered often and thus avoid having them
chill during the early spring months.

TURKEY NESTS.

Turkeys in this locality usually begin to lay the latter
part of March. After confining them to the park 1 take
some evergreen boughs and lean them against the poultry
netting which adjcins a hedge fence on one side of the park,
thus making a scheduled place for them to nest. I do not
leave a very large opening, put let them creep in, and they
think they are hiding their nests. Usually I keep about
twenty-two bens and most of them will lay their first clutch
of eggs in two of these nests, but later on when the grass
grows knee high they will steal their nests and sometimes
elude me for severai days or a week, but by that time it is
warim encugi so that the eggs will not chill.

HATCHING THE POULTS.

Although turkey hens seem to be expressly desigued to
take care of their offspring and know how to do this part of
their work to perfection, I have not found them to be as
good sitters as domestie hens. For several years I have not
waited until I had a turkey want to sit, but as soon as I
have enough eggs for several sittings I place them under
domestic hen. About two weeks before they are due to
hatch I put some hen eggs under a broody turkey hen and

when the turkey eggs begin to hatch I placed one or two
eggs under the turkey and she would own them without any
trouble.

Last spring I kept breaking my turkey hens from sitting
in order to keep them laying and so at one time some turkeys
were to hatch in a few days and there was no turkey inother
for them. About that time I had another turkey want to sit,
so [ gave her, without moving her from the nest, two or
three small Barred Rock chickens to see if she would own
them, placing them under her just at dusk. Next morning
she was hovering them and was very proud of her suddenly
acquired family, so the next night I moved her to a
building and gave her eighteen little turkeys, of which she
seemed just as proud as if she had sat four weeks. This
was a new idea to me, but I thought why not use that plan
altogether and thus keep the turkey hens laying. I did so the
balance of the season with eight or nine turkeys, giving
them broods when they had sat only a few days and in some
instances only over night. Just one hen out of this number
refused to own and care for her brood, the others acted as if
they had sat the allotted time. I shall try it again this sea-
son and I feel confident it will work all right.

The best success I ever had in raising poults was in a
small lot with very short grass and+a very large coop or
small building in which they could roost. They were kept
shut in on rainy days and in the mornings until the dew
dried off, until they were four to five weeks old. Then they
were turned out to range, being driven back to their coops
at night. For the first few weeks I find clabber cheese and
green onion tops, pinhead oatmeal and millet seed to be good
food for them. A little bone meal and small sharp grit also
is put in their food once a day. I find sand and old plaster
is good for them and a load of sand is hauled and
placed where they can run to it. No one has any idea what
a lot of sand young poults will eat until he undertakes to
carry it to them as I did one spring.

At this season we always have plenty of milk and so I
give them new milk every day, first boiling it to prevent
bowel trouble. When the little poults are just one week old
I pull out all the flight feathers in their wings. By the time
they grow out again the little birds have more strength to
stand the strain of growing them. Since following this plan
I have had much better success in raising them.

I also go over them once a week and treat them for lice,
rubbing a very little lard on top of the head, in the quill
feathers on the wing and just below the vent. I lost a great
many turkeys before I knew that when lice and mites were
around the Jast named place they were most fatal. Remem-
ber I said a very little iard, for smearing the body with
grease is sure death, as I learned by sad experience. Occa-
sionally I use Lambert’s Death to Lice instead of lard.

After they shoot the red and can be driven to the pas-
tures and meadows it is surprising to see how they will
thrive and grow with only a little food to induce them to
come home at night. A more beautiful sight in poultrydom
than a large drove of Mammoth Bronze turkeys with their
bronze plumage glistening in the sunlight, I cannot imagine.

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 37

TURKEYS AS PEST DESTROYERS.

Years ago I used to raise the old fashioned mixed tur-
keys, but my husband grumbled so about what they de-
stroyed that I gave up raising them when he said if I would
do so he would give me his note to pay me as much each fall
as a drove of turkeys would bring. So I did not try to raise
any for several years. ‘Then a neighbor wanted to exchange
some turkey eggs for some pure-bred Buff Cochin eggs and
I made the exchange to accommodate her, besides I wished
to raise a few to have for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I
raised five very nice ones and killed two of them, but decided
I could not manage any jonger without turkeys and so kept
atom and two pullets to raise from the next year. The next
fall I sold them all and bought six pure-bred turkey hens
and a fine tom and went at it in good earnest so that the
next year I had a fine drove.

Near the house we had forty acres in clover and the
grasshoppers were so plentiful that the turkeys seldom went
more than half way across the field until they had all they
wanted. The result was that when the clover was cut for
seed it was found that only the part where the turkeys had
ranged was of any account. The grasshoppers had ruined

the other part. That convinced my husband that turkeys
were a good thing to have around, in grasshopper season at
least. It was wonderful how those turkeys grew.

This season we had cur clover for seed on another part
of the farm a mile or more from the house, and I had a
drove of over one hundred turkeys. The grasshoppers ate
up all the clover seed. Every day my husband would say,
“T do wish those turkeys could get to that clover field, for
the grasshoppers are ruining it, and I shall have to buy my
clover seed.” And so he did and he had to pay a good price
for it. He said that after this experience he would try to
have his clover for seed near the house. A prominent tur-
key breeder told me afterwards that I could have trained the
turkeys to go to the field if I had begun to do it when they
were first turned out to range. In a ease Of this kind again,
I am going to try it.

I hope this article may help some farmer’s wife, whose
husband, like mine did, does not think turkeys pay, and
who, iike myself, has need of some loose change. Perhaps
the husband, like mine, will become convinced that turkeys
are the farmer’s best friend.

MRS. J. M. RANDOLPH.

SOME PRACTICAL HINTS.

By O. E. Skinner.

HILE I have not had as much experience in rais-
ing turkeys as a good many others, I have had
continued experience with them for over thirty
years, but my remarks on the turkey will be
from a practical standpoint and I shall leave

the fancier’s portion io scme expert judge.

In the first place, everybody knows that turkey eggs, as
a ruie, hatch well, but the rock that wrecks all hopes is the
art of raising them after they are hatched. One of the most
successful turkey raisers I ever knew handled her young
turkeys about as follows: She never let them out while
there was the least particle of danger of getting their plum-
age damp, even if she had to confine them a whole day. I
was there once after a heavy rain and she had them closely
confined in a smail box. I made the remark, “You will
surely kill every one of them confining them in such a
place.” But upon visiting her a few months later she still
had every turkey that had hatched. I believe this is the
great secret in turkey raising—keep them absolutely dry
and free from lice and nature will do the rest.

Another neighbor who is just about as successful han-
dies his the same way, only he uses turkey hens for mothers.
He follows the same plan about keeping them from getting
their plumage damp when young. He has domestic hens sit-
ting on the eggs, but he keeps giving them at night to the
turkey hens until they have some twenty-five or thirty each.

The cry nowadays is for as large turkeys as possible.
This is,all right provided you retain the full breast and good
shape generally. If you will observe the daily market re-
ports, you will notice that the quotations say that scrawny
turkeys (poor shape) are either not wanted or will be taken
only at a big discount. So after all it is the shape that sells
the turkey rather than the overgrown size. I have always
made it a point to breed for fuli breast and good shape more
than for Oversize. The cockerel shown in connection with
this article is five and a half months old. As an indication
of his size when grown, notice his throat wattles. This, if
large, is always a good indication for size when the bird is
matured, .

As to feed, I do not believe it cuts much figure if the

other sanitary conditions, noted above, are closely followed.
Plenty of sharp grit I believe necessary for best results,
O. E. SKINNER.

however.

Bred and Owned by O. E, Skinner.

EASY TURKEY RAISING.

Perhaps the Soil and Climate of Some Localities Make it Possible to Leave Turkeys to Mother Nature’s Kindness
While in Other Parts of Our Country They Need Much Fostering Care.

By W. A. Moon.

BELIEVE there is no branch of the poultry business

more profitable than the raising of turkeys, and for

the true turkey fancier I think there is no branch of

the business from which we derive more pleasure. I

take more delight in my beautiful flock of Bronze
turkeys than in any other poultry I ever raised. But I am
writing this article to give my experience in order to help
others if possible who are about to start, so I will begin
to talk business.

I think the best way to start is to buy stock. It is better
than buying eggs unless the person who buys the eggs has
some kind of turkeys to hatch and raise the young poults. I
will state right here that I never was successful in laising
young turkeys with domestic hens. In buying stock buy the
best you can get. Do not make the mistake of buying in-

A Superior Wing, as Grown on a 48-pound Winner, Bred by
Ed. Isley.

ferior stock because it is cheap. I know the prices of any
leading fancier seem pretty high to a beginner, but his
birds are almost always worth all he asks for them, which is
also true of the cheap birds offered on the market. They
are worth about what is asked for them and no more. If
you start with inferior stock it will take you several years
to reach the point at which you might have started by the
payment of a few more dollars.
HATCHING OF THE POULTS.

In this latitude turkey hens usually begin to lay about
the first of April. One can usually tell when they are seek-
ing a nest by their peculiar call. I always have barrels laid
down around the yard fence and in the corners, with straw
placed in them for nests. Turkeys like a secluded place in
which to lay. Boxes laid down close to the fence so they
can creep in between the box and the fence to enter the box,
make excellent The turkey hen will usually lay
twelve to fifteen eggs before she offers to sit. I gather the

nests.

eggs every day and keep hen or china eggs in the nests for
nest eggs.
Along toward the last of the clutch the turkey hen will
egin staying on the nest at night, but don’t trust her with
a sitting of eggs yet. She will frequently do that two or
three nights and then be off all day and perhaps all night.
She is just beginning to get broody. Let her get thoroughly
breody and then give her the eggs. I generally set them in
the same place where they get broody with this exception, I
always set them on the ground. If they have been laying
in a barrel, I remove the barrel, hollow out an ob-
long place in the ground about two inches deep, line
it nicely with the nest out of the barrel, make it
seciuded by covering with boards in some manner, and
she is ready to go it alone. I frequently set a domestic hen on
she is ready to go it alone. I frequently set a chicken hen on
turkey eggs at the same time and then give all the poults to
the turkey hen, which plan usually gives her twenty or more
poults, which ig enough. She should not have more than
this, for after they grow a few weeks it is difficult for her to
cover them. I have found that as a general rule, the greater
the number of poults with one hen the greater is the percen-
tage of loss

I used to put the turkey hen in a coop or pen and keep
her up for about two weeks. This last year I tried a new
plan. I just let them come off the nest with their little ones
and go, and I believe that is the better plan. I keep watch on
them that they do not stray clear away and let them range
in the fields all the time. Do not be alarmed every time it
rains a little for fear your turkeys will all drown. A turkey
hen hardly ever allows a iittle turkey to drown, unless she
has too many. She selects a suitable place and hovers in
such a manner that it is impossible for them to drown.

Last spring I bought nine eggs from a leading fancier.
From them I hatched five fine poults. A small hole was
punched in the web of the foot and they were given to a tur-
key hen with some others hatched the same time and
she was allowed to go with them. I did not know them
any more from my own turkeys until this fall when I caught
all my turkeys to put on leg bands and take a record of
them, and I found four with a hoje in the web of the foot. I
only lost one of them. I paid $5 for the eggs, but those four
turkeys are easily worth $20. So it sometimes pays to buy
eggs,

Young turkeys roost on the ground until about the time
the red begins to show in the head. They then fly into a
tree or on a fence somewhere. Then if you will see to it
that they roost about the home you will not likely have any
trouble with them straying away.

They will get their entire living in the fields until about
September, when I generally begin to throw out some corn
to them morning and night. It is a pleasure to feed them
from this time on. They will meet you in the morning with
such a chorus of ‘Gobble, Gobble,” and they grow so fast
that by Christmas the young toms weigh from twenty-five to
twenty-eight pounds and the pullets from fifteen to eighteen
pounds. W. A. MOON.

TWELVE YEARS WITH BRONZE TURKEYS.

A Successful Breeder Entertainingly Writes About His Experience in Raising Bronze Turkeys—For the Benefit of

Beginners He Tells How to Start in the Business, and How to Raise and Show Turkeys.

By Ed. Isley.

OU ASK for my experience in raising Bronze

turkeys, how I started in the business, and so
. on. I have no inclination to air my opinions
j ea in print, nor do I wish to get into any contro-

Vise’: NGA versy ar argument with those who differ with
me. They are entitled to their opinions, and I to mine. But
for the benefit of those who may like to know, I will give
my experience with the bird in question.

IT began twelve years ago by purchasing eggs from a reli-
able breeder, at what then seemed a fabulous price. I
risked so much and was rewarded with a poor hatch at the
end of four weeks. The few that did hatch made fine mar-
ket fowls only, and they were sold at market prices. Soa
whole year was gone and I had no turkeys for my labor.

Were I row to make a start in the business, having my
present knowledge to guide me, I should purchase a fine pair
or trio or breeding pen, as this would be much the quicker
way of getting into business. Do not understand by this
that I am opposed to buying eggs, for I am not. The choice
between eggs and stock must be governed entirely by one’s
means. If the capital is very limited buying eggs offers the
cheapest way of entering the business, although I believe
the purchasing of stock to be the better plan and more satis-
factory to beth buyer and seller. The buyer is able to know
positively just what he is breeding and his satisfaction de-
rived from this knowledge is greater than if he buys eggs
even though the poults hatched from the eggs prove to be
the equal of those bred from the stock. If one feels able to
do so he might invest in a sitting or two of eggs also. Then
wher the poultry show season comes in the fall and winter
he would have both old and young stock to show.

THE BREEDING STOCK.

In selecting breeding stock give the preference to shape
and color, rather than size. My experience has proven to me
that abnormally large birds are unprofitable and disappoint-
ing except as show birds. A young tom weighing from
twenty-five to thirty pounds and adult tom weighing from
thirty-six to forty pounds are as large birds as can be used
without injury to the hens. Young hens weighing from fif-
teen to eighteen pounds and adult hens weighing from eigh-
teen to twenty pounds are more prolific and better mothers
than those which attain a great size.

One tom and ten females make a nice flock, but if it is
desirable to keep more hens in one flock two toms may be
used by keeping each in a small yard on alternate days,
allowing the hens io have their liberty, as they need the
range and variety of food which they obtain in that way.
Were the same food offered them while confined in a yard,
they would not eat it. Turkeys require range. They are
restless and will not eat nor lay well if deprived of their
liberty.

I find that very early laying in this latitude is not desir-
able, because many of the eggs are liable to be chilled and
the poults cannot be hatched to advantage before the latter
part of April or the first of May. Sometimes we have a cold,

rainy spring that lasts even later, and little turkeys seldom
live through a storm. ‘The hens are less likely to lay early
if the quantity of food is lessened as the severity of the win-
ter decreases. Another objection to early laying is that it
eptails late laying, and a hen sometimes will leave her brood
when half grown to raise a second brood—which is fatal to
beth because the first poults need a leader and protector
until nearly full grown, and the poults of the second brood
are too small to stand the cold weather. It is natural for the
turkey hen not to lay until spring weather is certain, and
she never will desert her progeny. With our cultivation and
civilization we sometimes get too far from Mother Nature.

RAISING YOUNG TURKEYS.
There is a great diversity of opinion in regard to the best
way to raise young turkeys. After twelve years’ experience

A Tail that is Above the Average—It Belongs to a 96-point
Young Tom Shown by Ed. Isley.

I am decidedly in favor of the turkey hen as a mother. I
use the hens for hatching,setting a domestic hen at the same
time, and give all the poults to the turkey because she makes
the best mother. If the hens are to act as brooders, never
clip their wings, because they will need them for protec-
tion of their young from dew and storm.

Great care should be taken not to feed the young poults
too much at one time. This is the rock, if I may be permit-
ted to use this figure of speech, on which the frail barks of
thousands of poults have struck and gone down, together
with the planus and hopes of their zealous but misguided
owners. The natural habit of turkeys is to hunt for their
food and they do it slowly and deliberately all the long day.
Thus the process of eating and digesting are simultaneous;
but when they are fed with a lavish hand they gorge them-
selves and in a few weeks fall victims of their own greed.

AO AN UNIRE CIE NE SAN SUIED IES, (CNTR
THE SHOW ROOM.

Preparizig Bronze turkeys for the show room is a very

simple matter if the birds have had good care during the

summer and fall. I Go not mean by this that they should be

fattened, but they should be kept in a thrifty condition—just

such condition as you would like to have them in if you were

Kk AND MANAGEMENT.

buying instead of selling. Washing their feet if they are
dirty, and putting a numbered leg band on the leg, is all the
preparation that is necessary. On no account attempt to
wash the plumage, as the brilliancy will be greatly injured
by soap and water. A turkcy takes perfect care of his own
feathers. ED ISLEY,
Proprietor Cherry Grove Poultry Farm.

THE WATCHWORD OF SUCCESS.

Experience, Watchfulness and Common-sense Are Necessary to Raise Prize-winning Bronze Turkeys—Something
About Coops for the Mother and Her Poults—Do Not Overfeed.

By Mrs. Nellie Bullock.

ERE I to begin the breedingof fancy turkeys
and could have the benefit of my present
knowledge, I think I should buy stock, the
very best my purse would allow, even if L
had to limit my flock to a pair. We bought

eggs at different times from three noted fanciers, but
something went wrong each time, either the eggs were in-
fertile, or not strong enough to hatch, or the poults would
manage to die. So I think the quicker way to secure a good
fiock would be to purchase hirds. Turkeys are hardy after
they are half grown, and most persons would sell cheaper
then than after they are grown. It would not be a bad idea
to invest in half-grown birds.

Raising the poults is the hard task for most beginners,
and some of the more experienced ones have their hands full
when they try to raise a large per cent. Practical experi-
ence, watcbfulness and plenty of common sense applied to
the varying circumstances, are necessary to success. Our
plan is somewhat as follows: First, we require a roomy coop
with a dry floor, covered with timothy or clover chaff. Con-
fine the mother, either a chicken or a turkey hen, on rainy
days. On ary, sunshiny days, tether her to an apple tree
limb, having the coop near. Clean the floor twice a week at
least. If the earth is dry, it will serve very well as a floor,
otherwise, a raised board floor would be better. Dust both
the mother and the poults thoroughly twice a week with
Persian insect powder. For dusting the poults, I keep a two
gallon, flaring earthenware crock. We put a handful of
powder in the crock, then hold the poult by the feet over the
crock and dust it until] it looks yellow all over. I do not
have sO much trouble with lice as I did when I put the pow-
des on in spots. Keep the water dishes clean and full.

We try not to overfeed, and neither do we starve them,
for one is as bad as the other, We console ourselves if occa-
sionally a poult dies, or several of them die at one time, with
the thought that our neighbors, too, lose poults and that
very few, no matter how much knowledge they have on this
subject, can raise all that hatch.

TURKEYS AS HATCHERS.

There was an interesting item in the Reliable Poultry
Journal some years ago over the initials C. H. A., which we
reproduce:

“A great deal is being said lately about using turkeys
fer hatching hen eggs, so I will give my experience. It has
been really comical to see the look of doubt on the faces of
people when told that we had turkeys which had never laid
any eggs, sitting. Too polite to dispute the statement, their
looks plainly said, ‘Does he expect me to believe that story?’

“When I first read in an English poultry book of the

French method of using turkeys to hatch and care for chick-
ens, I had no incubator and concluded to try the plan. Late
in the fail I sent out in the country aad bought a late
hatched hen turkey for very little money. In February we
prepared a box (with plenty of chaff over a layer of horse
mature) that could be shut up to exclude the light. Did not
give either wine or whisky, but in two or three weeks she
was sitting quietly on the china eggs and when taken off the
nest to be fed, would voluntarily return. JI then filled the
nest with hens’ eggs, removing them as soon as they began
to pip to keep the turkey from wanting to leave the nest and
putting in cther eggs. After sitting three months she was
put in a yard with chickens for the rest of the summer, We
put chickens of different ages with her and she received
them all with equal kindness.

“This year we have two turkeys, besides an incubator,
and after hatching three sittings of eggs we thought best to

Ideal Turkey Coop for Hen and Poults.

take them oif the nest, but one watched ker chance and went
back on the nest till I filled it with eggs again, so I let her
stay. The other is laying and will be ready for work later
if needed.

“They make careful, patient mothers, are equal in that
respect to any hen, and it is a wonder that farmers do not
make more use of them than they do.”

We have a coop for turkeys and poults which we find
almost ideal. It is two feet high in the back and three feet
in front; six feet long and three feet wide. The door is
large enough to allow a turkey hen to walk in and out with-
out inconvenience and the coop is large enough to allow a
turkey hen and twenty poults to walk around when they are
confined during a rainy day. We use two doors, one made
of lumber for stormy times, the other of inch mesh wire net-
ting for warm nights. Thus plenty of fresh air is admitted
and small rats or larger animals are kept out.

MRS. NELLIE BULLOCK,
Woody Rill Poultry Farm.

TURKEYS IN NEW ENGLAND.

Dressing and Shipping Turkeys for Market—Difficulty of Raising Poults—A New England Turkey Farm—General
Information on Turkey Culture in the East.

By Geo. H. Pollard.

JFTY years ago turkeys were common enough or

New England farms. The cock birds gobbled

and strutted and told love stories under the

shade of the hay stacks, while the fields and

woods were traversed alike by young and old.

About the only foes they had were the wily fox and the

poorly trained dog. Sickness and disease were practically

unknown. The flocks were made up of healthy, hardy birds,

without any great pretentious to aristocratic forebears, but

with the sturdy grit and get there which were characteristic

of all New England life at that period, whether horses, poul-
try or people.

Most flecks traced their lineage back to some brave
brood hatehed in the freedom of the primeval forests.
Doubtless much of their hardiness and self-sufficiency were
inherited from this source. Certain it is that barring the
moving accidents of field and flood, together with the perils
from the depredations of mink, fox and such like vermin, a
brood of young turkeys hatched meant sure good cheer for
the Thanksgiving board and Christmas gathering.

Unfortunately these conditions are now greatly changed.
The New England turkey growers of the present day find
troubles, not only such as are due to depredations of wild or
unruly animal life, but also suffer greatly from the various
d.seases and sicknesses which seem to be part and parcel of
turkey raising under present conditions. Instead of wholly
producing her own supply and exporting large numbers to
otner parts of the world, she is now dependent upon an im-
ported crop of alien birds, a crop which comes from nearly
all parts and sections of this country, while many are
brought even from Canada. All, however, is not lost, and
we are still able to produce in southern Rhode Island, east-
ern and southern Connecticut and in Vermont and New
Hampsnire, such turkeys as delight the appetite and senses
of the most fastidious of epicures, Their reputation is not
confined to New England, but covers the whole country and
reaches to foreign lands.

Nowhere else in the whole world are produced turkeys
of such flavor and quality as go out from Rhode Island and
Connecticut under the common name of Rhode Island tur-
keys. So well known are these birds, and so highly es-
teemed are they, that not only the president’s table at
Washington, but the tables of many of the leading diplomats
and officials who congregate in that city of high living and
epicurean appetites are supplied at holiday and other times
with choice specimeus of the turkeys raised in this section.
Tbe Boston markets handle a large share of the stock pro-
duced in these states. Considerable numbers are also sent
abroad to serve as central dishes at holiday and other elabo-
rate banquets. Some of the leading men of Rhode Island have
for years made it a custom to send to friends in England and
on the continent as perfect specimens of the native Rhode
Island turkey as can be procured. The fame which has come
to these Rhode Island flocks may thus be seen to easily lead
that of any other section or state. It is hard to say what
gives the perfect flavor and delicious cooking qualities. Epi-

cures disagree as to the cause, while all agree that the qual-
ities do exist..

Hard pressing the Rhode Island and Connecticut turkeys
come the Vermont birds. Ranging generally from two to
three cents per pound lower in price, they are yet fit feasting
for the very gods of poultry. These Vermont birds mature
quickly, and when dressed show plump, yellow skin and
breasts wihch appeal to the eye no less than to the taste.

DIFFICULTY OF RAISING ' OULTS.

The causes which haye lead to the decay in production,
aside from the old-time troubles from dogs, foxes and simi-
lar vermin, are not well understood. For one reason or
another it has become yery hard to raise the young birds.
The breeding birds are hardy, strong and in every way vig-
orous. The females are good layers. The eggs are perfect
in shell and shape. There is no trouble from lack of fer-
tility and there seems to be abundant vitality in the germs
which leads to good hatches. Notwithstanding this appar-
ent vigor aud strength, the young poults do not live and
thrive as they should. Every precaution has been taken to
assure good results. Wild and half wild males have been
brought from the south and west and mated with the native
females for the infusion of fresh blood and stamina. Whole
flocks of western birds have been brought here and tried,
So far the results have not been satisfactory. Although the
leading breeders and poultrymen have studied the matter at
close range, and the state colleges, assisted by the United
States government, have helped in the work, the problem is
as yet unsolved. While the roving proclivities of the birds
make them rather undesirable in the more thickly settled
parts of the country, there are hundreds of farms which
might be made to produce an immense number of turkeys at
very profitable prices, if only the art of growing the young
could be re-discovered, or successfully practiced. There is
a demand for this product which cannot possibly be filled.
Prices are high and are growing constantly higher for the
best grades of birds raised here in New England. Until
some decided change comes there is no probability of any
drop in prices or of any very great addition to the amount
of stock which will be marketed. In addition to the demand
for the holiday trade and the usual sizes, there is a con-
stantly growing call for small, early-hatched turkeys to be
used as broilers. The price for these birds at two pounds
to two and one-half pounds each ranges from $3 to $4 and
sometimes $5 per pair. These are prices which are ex-
tremely profitable, and could the young birds be hatched and
supplied in sufficient numbers, it would be a very profitable
undertaking for the producer. Nothing stands in the way
of realizing this success save the difficulty in rearing the
young birds.

Nearly all the turkeys raised in New England are
Bronze, or the one time popular Narragansett. Some White
Hollands are bred, but the great bulk of the breeding flocks
is made up of Bronze, either pure or grade. Of course there
are all sorts of mixtures made up of these breeds. In this

42 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

respect they in a measure resemble the ordinary barn yard
flock of hens. The best producers and breeders, however,
stick pretty closely to the pure breeds and in this way are
able to carry the type ana quality of the birds to a more sai-
isfactory result in market poultry than could otherwise be
attained. There.is no question that in all branches pure-
bred poultry though not necessarily bred to the feather, will
produce market birds more even in size, shape and table
qualities than any mixture which comes from the indiscrim-
inate breediug together of various kinds, types and sizes.
DRESSING AND SHIPPING MARKET TURKEYS.

Where do they come from? Every state where turkeys
grow contributes io the array. Many used to be brought in
from Canada. These came both alive and dressed. They
used to be shipped in alive by the carload and were fattened
and killed for the market. Sometimes they were not held
for fattening, but were killed immediately upon arrival,
Unier the present tariff this importation has practically
ceased. About the only poultry now brought across the line
from Canada are geese, and they do not count in this stcry.
The Boston market is unquestionably the most fastidious
poultry market in the country. While, of course, much peor
stock does come to this market, there is nothing like so
large a proportion of poor poultry shipped to Boston as is
used in other large eastern markets. The best turkeys, aside
from those raised in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont
and New Hampshire, come from the west. The best western
turkeys come from Wisconsin and Michigan, These birds
are all good sized, are perfectly dressed and the carcasses
are fat and meaty. A very good quality comes from Iowa.
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Nebraska also ship immense
numbers. Missouri sends quite a good many turkeys, but her
principal shipments are geese, ducks and fowl and chickens.
From the Virginias come large numbers, while Kentucky is
sending birds of the very best quality. The southern birds
cannot be shipped to good advantage except in the coldest
mouths.

The present methods of shipping are a very great ad-
vance over those in common use only a few years ago. Then
all poultry from a distance had to be shipped by the regular
passenger expresses, or come through on the slow freights.
Shipping by freight was possible only in the coldest months,
and the numerous delays and the consequent inability to tell
when the goods would be received, made this method of
shipping very unsatisfactory. Since the advent of the freight
express With refrigerator cars and other conveniences for
keeping the temperature at a low degree, it has become pos-
sible to ship all kinds of poultry long distances on schedule
time thus assuring prompt receipts in good condition. Much
of the far-away poultry comes through in the warm months
packed in ice. That is, an ordinary sugar barrel is used;
a layer of ice is put in the bottom of the barrel, this is cov-
ered by a layer of turkeys, followed by another layer of ice,
and so on till the barrel is full. Then it is covered by burlap
and shipped by freight express direct to the eastern market.
If by chance the shipment is delayed, the carrying company
re-ices the barrels, and in this manner prevents serious loss
of quality. There is little doubt that poultry thus iced loses
some of the flavor which it would otherwise have. The con-
stant soaking for perhaps days at a time, while it keeps the
birds sweet and free from taint, nevertheless takes some-
thing from their fine table qualities.

The shape of the package has changed as much as the
quality of its contents-and the method of shipping. Ten
years ago most of the turkeys came through in boxes of all
sizes, Shapes and conditions. No attention was paid to uni-
formity, anc second-hand shoe, hat, coffee and canned goods
and such other boxes as were available were used, together
with barrels of varying sizes and conditions, from the little

western apple barrei up to the coffee and sugar barrels. The
result of this method of packing was not altogether inviting
to the eye of the buyer. Gradually more attention was given
to the matter and a steady improvement has been made un-
tii at the present time boxes are made especially for the pur-
pose. Barrels to scme extent are also used at the present
time, but not nearly so commonly as iN years past. The
size of the packages has also changed. The rule used to be
to get as large a box as possible, cramming in as many tur-
keys as it would hold without splitting. Im some ways this
made business good for the wholesale and jobbing houses, as
there were many small dealers who were unable to handle
full packages, who had to pay an extra profit for the privi-
lege of selecting such birds as they needed. It is a question,
however, if on the whole there was much gain to the whole-
sale handlers, as there were generally enough odds and ends
left to seriously detract from the profits as a whole. The
demand for smaller packages came to be felt by shippers as
well as wholesalers and commission men and steps were
taken to supply the want. At the present time the boxes
rarely weigh more than 150 to 200 pounds each, and great
numbers are packed in boxes holding from ten to fifteen
selected birds, while a less number hold from eight to
twelve. This makes it possible for the small marketmen
and provision dealers to buy a full package without any
extra cost for breakage or selection, and at the same time
does away With a great deal of work and with much of the
waste which was prevalent in the old method of packing and
shipping.

The common method of packing birds is to make one
layer of tom turkeys in the bottom of the boxes, while the
upper layer is made up of females. This gives a selection of
sizes, ald is better for the retailer than where they run
pretty nearly one size throughout. The best shippers are
known by their private shipping marks and it is understood
just how the birds may be expected to turn out. Generally
the case is marked so many hens, so many toms, and if any
old hens or old cock birds are in the package, they are speci-
fied on the outside so that the buyer may know just exactly
what he is getting. In the long run honesty in packing
makes returns in dollars and cents and there is no other one
thing which tells better for a shipper than a reputation for
honest methods of boxing.

The way of dressing has changed from time io time.
Years ago a good many turkeys were shipped from the west
undrawn ané@ with heads on. They did not altogether suit
the fancy of the trade. Unless unusual care was taken, they
were pretty apt to arrive in a blood stained condition, due
to the blood which oozed from the heads, and where the
heads were wrapped in paper before shipping, the whole pre-
sented a mussed and unfinished appearance to the eye of the
dealer. Of late years the custom has settled into a pretty
general method of drawing and heading the birds before
shipping. They are thoroughly bled out, the carcasses are
kept until the animal heat is altogether dispelled. The
heads are removed and the skin drawn down over the end of
the neck bones and is neatly tied, making it impossible for
the birds to get at all stained or bloody in transit. Great
care must be taken that all the blood is drained from the
neck before tying else it will accumulate in the cavity at the
end of the bone and next to the string which ties the skin,
and will coagulate and turn the color of the neck to a dismal
purple which will rapidly change to green, giving a decided-
y bad look, and if left any time, a worse flavor to the whole
carcass.

In the good old days the nearby turkeys, those from
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and
such as were raised in Massachusetts, were brought to mar-
ket nearly altogether by teams over the country roads. Many

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 43

of the producers marketed their own birds. They used to
leave their homes from one to three days before the holiday
season and drive overland to Boston, Providence, and the
larger New England cities. The whole family assisted jn
dressing the turkeys, and the wings were generally ieft on.
In fact, at the present time, a good many Rhode Island tur-
keys come to market with the flight feathers left in the tip
of the wing. They are in great demand by old-time house-
wives to be used as bruslies, and are famous for some special

the commission huuses and either from stands erected by
themselves, or from wagons ald push carts, make such sales
as are possible to ihe more gullible of the city’s population.
Their greatest trade comes, as a rule, from the lower classes
of Italians and Other imported peoples. The board of
health furnishes an inspector whose duty it is to look up all
cases of unfit poultry and other market products. It often
seems that, in the case of poultry at least, this inspection
must be made with not more than one eye and without any

COPYRIGHY . BY THE
RELIABLE
POULTRY
JOURNAL,

Down-to-Date Bronze Turkeys—By Sewell.

kitchen us In some cf the best markets there is a con-
tinuous demand for turkey wings to be used for this purpose,
At the present time, as in the past, any farmer or poultry
dealer may, by making application to the superintendent of
markets in Boston, procure the right to certain stands where
his wagon may be drawn up without interference from
others, and such stock as he has may be retailed direct to
the consumers. Not only the farmers and regular dealers
take advantage of this permission, but many cheap dealers
also avaii themselves of the opportunity, and ring in under
the pretense of being growers of poultry and other produce.
These men buy the cheapest grades of poultry which come to

sense of smell. However, from the apparent health and ani-
mal thrift of the buyers it is evident that no great harm is
done through the ccnsumption of this ill treated and over
ripe sort of poultry.

Another factor which has influenced the poultry market
in New England is the entrance of the western beef dealers
into the business of killing and dressing turkeys and other
poultry, and shipping direct to their branches in the larger
eastern towns and cities. Whereas, only a few years ago,
the small middlemen and dealers were to be found in every
such place, now the trade is largely given over to these
branch houses,who combine the poultry sales with their beef

44

business, aud through their ability and inclination to extend
credit to tre small dealers, have crowded out the men who
formerly made the handling of poultry a special business.
Like changes have come in the larger city markets. Time
was when the poultry dealer in the large markets handled
only poultry and game, beef dealers handled beef products,
while mutton, pork, fish and other food products were
handled by dealers in each line as a specialty. Of late years
the lines have not been so closely drawn, and at the holiday
season it is no unusual thing to find turkeys for sale in all
kinds of places, and by dealers in all sorts of goods. It is
sometimes said that there is only one more step to be taken
and without doubt within the next few years the Thanks-
giving and Christmas seasons will find turkeys and a mis-
cellaneous assortment of poultry for sale in the large dry
gcods and notion stores and that poultry, shoes, patent med-
icines and corsets will vie with each other as to which meets
with readiest sale, At the holiday seasons many old toms are
shipped to market with their plumage intact. They are hung
by the heels at doors and windows and used as Signs by re-
tail and wholesale places alike. Occasionally, in the more
reckless sections, they serve to invite the attention of the
passers by to some raffle or game of chance which is being
carried on within. This custom used to be more common
than it is at the present day.

There has been a choice lot of turkeys grown on Block
Island, which is some thirty miles off the coast of Rhode
Island. So many fish are shipped from this place that the
term “Block Island turkey” is more generally understood to
apply to cod fish than to the feathered biped to which it be-
longs. In most parts of Rhode Island at least a man calling
for a Block Island turkey would find that a salt cod fish
would be promptly weighed. out and charged to his account.
This concrete application of the joke has dimmed the gen-
eral knowledge of the value of the genuine turkey crop of
the island.

A NEW ENGLAND TURKEY FARM.

Probably more good turkeys are shipped from Westerly
than from any other point in New England. While the
numbers which are now sent out from this place do not by
any means €qual the quantities shipped in past years, yet
they far exceed those from any other single point of Rhode
Island or Connecticut, and probably of New England as well.
In this little section of southwestern Rhode Island and ex-
tending across the line into southeastern Connecticut, which
is hilly and rocky and looks altogether like a sample of New
Hampshire dropped into the lap of Rhode Island, the turkeys
seem to be unusually thrifty and to develop the best flesh
and flavor to be found anywhere in this country. Why this
should be so is a puzzle for the wise men of the poultry busi-
ness to solve. Wheiher it is the climate, the quantity and
abundance of the insect life or something pertaining to the
quality of the soil is unknown to the producer. Perhaps, in-
siead of speaking in a general way of the customs and meth-
ods in use in this section it will be better to take an example
from the custom of one of the best known breeders, allowing
it to stand as a fair illustration of the way the business is
conducted by practically all. Of course different producers
vary in detail, as do producers of other varieties of poultry,
but in the main, each locality follows pretty much the same
neighborhood routine with about the same results.

For purposes of discovery we visited the plant of Mr. H.
D. Miner. Mr. Miner is one of the oldest turkey dealers and
raisers in this turkey country, and is known far and wide for
his suecess in producing, not only market birds, but show
birds as well. The house and other buildings of this place
are situated near the center of the 300 acres which go to
make up this farm. Situated in a hollow surrounded by hills

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT,

cn all sides except the south, and with a live stream fed by
springs back in the hills and flowing freely at all seasons of
the year, the conditions and situation are the most ideal for
all kinds of poultry raising of any plant we have ever seen.
The Bronze turkeys are kept exclusively with the exception
of some wild birds, which are imported to breed with the
native turkeys, thus giving an infusion of new blood and
adding stamina to the flocks. White Holland turkeys and
Narragansetts are also kept in the neighborhood, but
Bronze, either pure or grade, is thought to be on the whole
best suited to the conditions and to produce better poultry
than other breeds. Turkeys have been bred continuously on
this farm for over fifty years, and very little trouble has
been had from sickness or disease. An occasional fox comes
down from the hills and works havoc among the young, but
otherwise little trouble is experienced, although the birds’
have free range of the whole 300 acres, and besides some
hundreds more acres are available as extra play grounds if
desired by the birds.

The females generally lay from fifteen to twenty eggs in
a litter and commonly lay two litters in a season, though
occasionally a bird goes one better and lays three litters,
with a less number of eggs in each successive litter. The
birds are mated, as a rule, with one male to ten or twelve
females. Mr. Miner thought that females in excess of these
numbers were too many, aid that where only one male was
mated with eighteen or twenty females, low vitality was apt
to crop out in the young from such mating.

The breeding birds have free range at all seasons of the
year, and have no house shelter whatever, roosting on poles
or tree branches, even in the worst blizzards and the severest
cold nights. No pains are ever taken to shelter them in the
least from the inclemency of the seasons, and their roosting
place is the same whether in July or January, in heat or
cold. They naturally take no hurt from the storms and cold
except in rare instances a heavy sleet storm may come up
and sleet gathering and freezing on the plumage of the birds
makes them very Heavy and awkward, and in case the wind
is very high at such times, there is a possibility of their be-
ing blown from their roosting places and suffering injury
from the fall which they get. When we remember that the
males weigh from twenty-five to forty-five pounds it is easy
to see that this weight encumbered by an added weight of
sleet and ice would come to the ground with one of the dull
and sickening thuds with descriptions of which story writ-
ers are wont to grace their pages. It is not strange that such
falls frequently result in the death of the bird.

The breeding birds are fed through the winter consider-
able quantities of corn. This is a measure necessary from
the fact that young and old run together until the surplus
birds are marketed and all have free range and are fed alike.
After the market birds are culled out and only the breeders
are left, the rations are changed more to oats and wheat and
less corn is fed. Too much corn leads to over-fatness in
the breeding birds, and this tends to unfavorably affect the
breeding, Roughly speaking, about four quarts of feed
would be given to twenty birds at both the morning and
night feeds. Considerable cabbage is fed in the winter time.
This is all the green food which is used and it is very much
reiished by the birds at seasons of the year when it is impos-
sible for them to pick up grass in their ranging.

DISEASES.

The oid birds ave seldom sick. Whenever there is any
trouble in this direction it is generally from colds, or roup,
or black head. lack head is the common name for the
complaint which carries off more turkeys than all other
causes combined. It is most prevalent among young poults.
Its cause is not well understood. Much attention has been

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 45

given to investigation and research, but the trouble contin-
ues. The Rhode Isiand College has devoted considerable
time to the subject, and has had the help of the United
States Bureau of Animal Industry. The circular bulletin
‘No. 2 was issued on the subject. After extensive examina-
ticns and investigations Dr. Smith found that “the hitherto
undetermined disease of turkeys was due to a micro-organ-
ism belonging to the protozoa, which places the malady
‘among the infectious diseases, so that the idea that it is
tuberculosis. or due simply to improper feeding, must be
given up.” This very lucid explanation of the cause of the
disease would doubtless be of considerable interest to the
various producers if they only knew what it meant. It cer-
tainly has upset the whole business of turkey production in
this part of the country, and until some way of averting the
trouble is found the business will not flourish as it other-
wise would.

SETTING THE EGGS—RAISING THE POULTS.

The hens generally begin to lay from the middle of
March to the first of April, although sometimes one may
begin 4o lay eartier, the severity of the weather and early or
late coming spring having much to do with this. The wild
turkeys do not lay as early in the season as the domesticated
birds. The hens lay in all sorts of out-of-the-way places,
oftentimes under a leaning rock or in some slight cavern in
the hillside, and are allowed to sit in the same kinds of
places. They do better when handled in this way, than
where too much care is taken to give them the more com-
plete surroundings which are generally considered necessa-
ry to successful hatching by ordinary every day fowl. The
eggs are all set under turkeys, from seventeen to twenty
making the average size sitting. Where the stock is prop-
erly mated nearly every egg hatches, and the young poults
come out strong and sprightly and show a natural genius as
grasshopper chasers and all-round bug catchers. For the
first two or three days after hatching they are shut in a coop
with the mother turkey to give them time to get their rang-
ing legs on, and to make sure that the mother does noi take
them on too long rambies before they are fully up to the
task. This, however, will not do with the all wild turkeys,
as the confinement is very much against their liking and
they will dash about so wildly that they are very apt to in-
jure the young birds.

The poults are fed finely sifted, cracked corn which has
been soaked for several hours in milk. Great care is taken
that the mixture shall not be sour when fed, although sour
milk in itself is not a bad food. When, however, the mixture
has been kept so long that the corn becomes soured, it is
unfit for food and is never used. The poults are fed three or
four times a day all they will eat within a reasonable time.
After the period of confinement is past, the hen and poults
roam at pleasure and have no confinement either night or
day. This constant ranging and roaming gives them fresh
ground, and every opportunity to gain the strength and
stamina which is so necessary to carry any poultry success-
fully along to the best results, either in a market or breed-
ing sense. Fresh water in clean vessels is always to be had
from the time of hatching. The vessels are cleaned at every
watering time, and fresh water given not less than three
times daily. After the roving period is reached on Mr.
Miner’s farm they lave free access to the running brook and
to this pure water supply Mr. Miner attributes much of his
success in raising turkeys as well as other poultry. He
thinks much of the disease and sickness which seems to fol-
low the poultry business may be found to originate in stag-
nant water and unclean drinking fountains or vessels. Mr.
Miner is in the habit of from time to time putting a tea-
spoonful of fine table salt in the watering vessel in the pro-

portion of one spoonful to about eight quarts of water. This
is a practice which he has followed for years, and which he
thinks is highly beneficial to the poultry.

SIZE OF TURKEYS DIFFERENT SEASONS DEMAND.

The early hatched birds reach a salable size, and are
ready for the Thanksgiving market, while the later hatches
come along successfully and are marketed according to the
season and ruling prices. There is an increasing demand
for the broiler turkeys and this is in a measure met by ship-
ments which come ihrough from the west packed in ice. The
birds are killed by sticking and bleeding from the mouth.
A rope is hung from a pole or beam in the picking house, a
noose is made in the lower end and this is slipped over the
feet of the turkeys. The cut is made and they are allowed
to bleed thoroughly before the feathers are pulled. Too
little bleeding leaves the carcass less clear and inviting in
appearance, and the keeping qualities are not so good as
when properly bled out. They are generally picked clean
except that sometimes upon the request of the buyers the
flight feathers are left in the wing tips, and these are pre-
sented to the various customers. The skin does not tear
easily in picking and the feathers are pulled as quickly as
possible after bleeding. The carcass is hung up to cool and
usually is not put into water, nor wiped off with a wet cloth,
but is allowed io hang perfectly dry. They are drawn while
warm and the careass is generally left hanging for about
twenty-four hours, when ihey are packed with heads off or
on, according to the market to which they are to be shipped,
The wild turkeys bred in this section are conceded to have
the finest flavor and the juiciest, tenderest flesh. Wild males
crossed on the Bronze females give a very superior quality.
The birds have large size and a very fine flavor. The wild
males seldom weigh over twenty pounds, and the hens from
eight to ten pounds, the Bronze males weight from twenty
to forty pounds, the hens from fourteen to twenty pounds,
this of course for old breeding birds, the young birds being
proportionately lighter. The best market sizes are from
eight to twelve pounds. Nine out of ten customers, when
asked what size turkey they want, will answer, ‘“‘about ten
pounds.” Anyore having ability to turn out ten-pound tur-
keys at will would have the biggest kind of a mint, which
wouid turn them out a fortune in short order. At Thanks-
giving time the old toms and old hens are, as far as possible,
worked off and what are not gotten rid of at this season gen-
erally find their finish at Christmas time. It is only at the
holiday seasons that extra large birds sell at all readily, and
when marketed at other times the sale has to be forced and
the prices very much reduced. There is a limited demand for
young turkeys weighing from fourteen to eighteen pounds,
but where there is one call for a fifteen pound turkey there
are very many for such as weigh from ten to twelve pounds,
and later in the season, as the spring months approach,
there is an increasing demand for birds weighing from
seven to nine pounds. This want is met by storing away in
the freezers in times of plenty birds of this size. They are
held in cold storage until the later demand comes, when
they are withdrawn, and in this way the supply is made to
approximate the demand.

Were it not for the cold storage facilities which have
grown up within recent years, the poultry business in its
present proportions would be impossible. Before this sys-
tem came into generai use such shipments as met with slight
delay in selling, or had to be held for any cause beyond a
few days’ time, rapidly lost value because of the inability to
keep the poultry sweet and free from taint. This was espe-
cially true of the spring months. The proportionate loss
during March and April oftentimes took up the profits which

46

were made on the sale of goods. It also confined shipping
from the west to the coldest menths of the year. Under the
present conditions, however, birds may be shipped in refrig-
erator cars, or packed in ice, and upon arrival, if the market
is dull and sales slow, or if the price falls below the ship-
pers’ figures, the entire shipment may be placed in cold stor-
age and held indefinitely without deterioration in sweetness,
though after thawing they will not keep so long nor so well
if they have been kept frozen for any great length of time.
We know of one lot of chickens which were recently taken
ont of the freezer which have been so stored for three years.
They were perfectly sweet when taken out and the appear-
ance was good. They lacked keeping qualities, and had to
he very quickly disposed of after thawing. As is well known,
poultry in these freezers is kept solidly frozen, and the car-
casses are covered with white frost. If, after removal, they
are to be quickly thawed, the common custom is to throw
them into a tub, barrel or tank of cold water, where they are
allowed to stay until the water has taken the frost com-
pletely out of the carcass. It is not uncommon to find little
lumps of ice floating in the water which have been formed by
the frost which is drawn from the poultry. Most consumers
of the well-to-do classes profess antipathy to all frozen poul-
try. The facts are that, when the poultry is fresh killed and
in verfect condition, cold storage does not seem to make
much difference in its flavor or appearance. Where it has
been kept until in danger of spoiling, or is imperfectly
dressed, it does not appeal to the fastidious taste after hav-
ing been frozen for an indefinite period and then thawed.
The flesh lacks juiciness and fiavor, and to many it is alto-
gether unpalatable as food. Rhode Island turkeys seidom or
never reach the freezer, but are generally sold within a few
hours Of their arrivai in the market. With western turkeys
it is very different. Many whole shipments go into the
freezers rather than to sell at market quotations and a great
many are bought on the low market and held by the various
dealers to be used through the summer months. Roast tur-
key is as common in July and August at many of the sum-
mer resorts aS any other kind of poultry, and this is only
possible beeause of the modern storage facilities.

Several experiments have been made in shipping western
live turkeys to New England, where they have been kept and
fed and, when in suitable condition, killed and marketed as
Rhode Island turkeys. This, however, has rarely proved to
be a paying venture. The birds come through in very thin
and poor condition and whether from the change of climate
or because of unfamiliar surroundings, they are slow to take
on flesh, and a great many are lost from one complaint or

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

another. Those which‘do reach the killing period by the
ordinary stages do not turn out as good poultry, nor com-
pare at all favorably with the native stock of this section.
The turkey is naturally timid in disposition and it is doubt- F
ful if they ever can be handled and changed about from one
place to another in large numbers without deterioration in
market qualities.

The future suecess of turkey production in New Eng-
land depends upon the ability to cope successfully with black
head and kindred complaints, which now weigh so heavily
on the industry, and perhaps in the majority of cases dis-
hearten the growers, and eventually cause them to give up
the attempt. If, therefore, through experiment, study and .
hel» of the colleges and different stations, this trouble may
be overcome, it will result in a decided boom in New Eng-
land turkey culture, and wili add decidedly to the money
making possibilities of the more remote and far away farms.
Of course, in the more thickly settled farming regions the
extensive production of turkeys will probably never prevail.
The bird is a natural rover and does best when allowed to
ramble and ream without let or hindrance. Where the farms
are hear together and consist largely of garden plots and
cultivated grounds, a roving band of turkeys may, and will,
make disastrous work over a considerable tract. To avoid
too much trespassing and consequent ill feeling, some keep-
ers, in the old days, used to resort to a contrivance which
was called a yoke, and which consisted of a thin board
through which holes were made and which fastened by strips
of cloth across the turkey’s back, the strings passing under
the wings, fastening the board to the back, thus preventing
the birds fiying, and they could be kept in any desired en-
closure. The custom seems to have gone out of use. It is
doubtful if any mechanical arrangement which makes un-
natural conditions for the birds will ever prove altogether
successful. Probably the only way to profitably produce
large numbers would be free range, great attention to breed-
ing stock, extreme care of mating, and the introduction of
new, strong blood and the numerous little details which
come to the knowledge of all poultry breeders. It is doubtful,
in fact, if production in iarge numbers is altogether practi-
cable. The greatest success and the largest proportions of
profit are made with small flocks of from ten to twenty
breeding birds. These require very little attention, no extra .
facilities, and the product counts largely as profit, and if
these flocks could be scattered broadcast over New England
farms it would resuit in the addition of many thousands of
dollars in extra revenue with very littie increase in cost.

GEORGE H. POLLARD.

= +H il (DD $S-—

SUCCESS WITH TURKEYS.

Time and Method of Making a Start—Housing and Feeding Breeders—Nests and Food of Sitting Turkeys—Care of
Poults—Lice—Fattening Stock for Market—Preparing for the Show Room—Diseases of Turkeys.

By Mrs. Bettie Glover Mackey.

RULY there is more interest taken to-day in poul-

try culture than ever before in the history of the

American people. There seems to be an awaken-

ing to tne fact, long proclaimed by a few,that

there is money in poultry. The question is sel-

dom asked now, “Does poultry pay?’ The form has changed

and the question now is, “How can I manage my poultry to
get the best returns?”

It seems to me that the poultry business, and especially
turkey culture, is one belt which reaches around the globe.
America is sending fine turkeys to foreign countries, and
the west is furnishing the east with her best turkeys. I have
shipped turkeys and eggs from ocean to ocean, from Canada
to Mexico. The turkey is one American bird that will thrive
in any land, will grow on aiuy soil, or in any climate, and is
considered a iuxury by all, from the king on his throne to
the humblest laborer in his hut.

There are more specialty fanciers than ever before, and
in no department of poultry culture is there more interest
taken than in the turkey department, Of the many varie-
ties, the Bronze is the leading one now bred. It is hardy,
easy to breed to standard, has fine style and is a beauty in
color. It is of quick growth and will attain immense weight
if fed for flesh. The objection is urged that the Bronze is
more roving in disposition than other breeds. This disposi-
tion to roam is not confined to the Bronze alone, and the
roaming turkey is more healthy than the one which hangs
around the back door. Whether any other one will ever
supercede the Bronze in popularity remains to be seen, Of
one thing I feel assured, and that is that no breed now in
existence will ever rival them. What may be produced by
a cross we do not know.

While there is general admiration for the turkey, and
a desire to raise them, there seems to be, among those who
have never handled them, an impression that turkeys are
very hard to raise, very expensive to keep, and difficult to
manage as te disposition, that is, that they are such a roving
and wild nature it is almost impossible to keep them at
home or tame them. This last impression has grown out of
the first. For years it was the custom, when turkeys hatched
on the farm, to take them as far from the house as possible
and put them in a place of security from vermin, and the
only person who went near them were those taking them
food. This was said to be the only way in which they could
be raised, for if they were kept near the house they would be
sure to become unhealthy and die. I well remember when
I thought this true. Of course, turkeys thus raised became
timid and ran from every thing or person they saw. They
were generally fed until six or eight weeks old and then
allowed to make their own living. Naturally of a roving
nature, they did not seek quarters near the house, and I have
seen them fly to the highest trees whenever they were ap-
proached. They would tear down shocks of corn, for how

else were they to get their living?’ No one thought of feed-
ing them.
WILD TURKEYS IN VIRGINIA,

I do not agree with persons who think turkeys are hard
to raise and keep healihy. But they cannot be raised in a
haphazard manner. Follow nature as nearly as possible and
tne poults will do better.

Wild turkeys abound in warm, woodland countries. In
the pinelands of Virginia (my mative state) wild turkeys
grow id large flocks. This is a mountainous region, rocky,
abounding in springs of crystal water. The pine trees are in
ali forests, and it is said that there is more or less of the
properties of turpentine in the water. Even in rainy seasons
the rocky hills are not very wet and there are such large,
sheltering tvees the hen turkey can protect her young in the
hardest storms. The seasons are mild and the pine trees are
said to be a preventive of vermin. As turpentine is sure
death to lice, I think it reasonable that the pine will prevent
them. There are abundant seeds and wild food for the fowls,
with plenty of ilisects and grit. .

Following this lesson in nature (where the wild turkey
thrives and iarge droves of tame ones are raised) I draw the
conclusion that a hilly, rocky slope is a good locality; that
turkeys must be kept dry, have plenty of pure water and
fresh air, and at the same time not be allowed to become
chilled. Either they must have a place where there is plenty
of grit or it must be supplied to them. I do not favor giving
poults or chicks hot feed. It is not the natural way ard we
cannot improve on nature. I have succeeded in raising
strong, vigorous, gentle turkeys. That it is their nature to
roam cannot be denied, but this may be greatly overcome by
the treatment they receive.

BEGINNING WITH EGGS.

Frequently I am asked which is cheaper to begin with,
eggs or stock. This question can be truthfully answered—
Eggs and stock. Circumstances and surroundings largely
decide which is cheaper. If you have the money buy a trio
of turkeys; if not enough for a trio, then a pair; but if you
have not money enough to buy the turkeys, buy a sitting
of eggs. I have made some very profitable investments in
eggs.

I have been asked if turkey eggs will hatch after being
shipped? I reply that where eggs are rightly packed and
fairly handled there is nothing in the shipping to prevent a
hatch. But there is a great deal in the hen under which they
are set. From exactly the same lot of eggs set at the same
time one hen will hatch several hours before the other and
will hatch every egg, while the other hatch will be very
poor. If you break the eggs decide whether it is the fault of
the egg—an infertile egg will not rot, but will be as clear
at the end of the hatch as when set. Turkey eggs are usual-
ly better fertilized than chicken eggs.

Follow these directions when sitting shipped eggs: Al-

48 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

low them to rest twenty-four hours after receiving them;
longer will not hurt if kept in a cool, dry place; put them
under a quiet hen in a quiet place and disturb her as little as
possible. If the weather is dry sprinkle the eggs with warm
(not hot) water a few days before they are due to hatch; be
sure they are clean. If an egg should be broken the others
must be washed with a clean cloth in clear rain waiter; be
sure there is no grease about it, aS grease will prevent the
eggs from hatching.
BEGINNING WITH STOCK.

I should advise the beginner not to buy more than a
trio. The mistake of almost all beginners is that they want
to start with too many.

When writing for breeding stock state just what line of
business you are in. Do you wish to sell your stock on the
market or as breeders? Do you wish to raise exhibition
birds or simply good pure birds? Much of the unpleasant-
ness between customers and advertisers would be obviated
if each inquirer would make his wants clear.

Mrs. Mackey and Her Turkeys at Home

I think from the 25th of November to the first of Febru-
ary the best time to buy breeding stock. The sooner it is
purchased after the first of December, the better, for at that
time fanciers have plenty of good birds, while later you may
have to take what you can get. Turkeys always pay, and
while it may seem expensive to pay for a tom to change
blood, it will pay in the vigor of the young turkeys next year.

Do not hunt for the cheapest, but try for the best. This
is not always the heaviest in weight, but the best bodied and
the best in quality. Look out for healthy, vigorous stock.
Do not wait until the weather is too cold to have the birds
shipped without getting the roup. You may think this
strange advice when I teli you my turkeys roost in trees all
winter, but I have noticed that if you take a turkey that has
been used to the cold and put it into a warm place and then
expose it to the cold it is liable to take cold. This is what
is done when turkeys are shipped in bitter cold weather.
They are put into warm cars and exposed to the cold after
being taken out and changed into a new home. Buy your
breeding stock early and turn it out and let it get acclimated
and used to the new home by breeding season,

The most important part of turkey culture is to start
with strong breeding stock. I will not breed from a fowl

of any kind that is delicate. If I have weakly chicks or
poults hatched I am always glad when they die. Yet it is
true that a chicken or turkey may take cold and have a sore
eye or head for a short time and not be materially injured
as a breeder. But when the disease becomes very bad or
chronic, better kill the bird, for the progeny from a bird
With a chronic disease will never be of any account.

INBREEDING AND LINE BREEDING.

In selecting or buying breeding stock, do not buy inbred
turkeys. If you do you will lose by it. Possibly you may
get better markings, but can you afford to sacrifice the vigor
of your flock for these?

I have been asked if I think it will do to breed from the
same tom two years. The question, I presume, has reference
to using a tom with his pullets. There may be circum-
stances where this could be done to advantage. In order to
secure certain points it might be done, yet I think not with-
out loss in the number of turkeys raised. Demand, when
ordering a trio of turkeys, that the breeder send male and
female not related.

I advocate line breeding and practice it. But this may
be done very easily without close inbreeding. I do it by mat-
ing on different farms every year. By looking up every sale
and the yard from whick the stock was taken, I avoid selling
related stock. If a pen or trio is ordered, the tom is taken
from one yard and the hens from another, These are
booked, and if the same customer orders again he gets new
blood. To introduce new blood, I buy eggs and use the toms
in cne yard, the pullets in another, thus keeping my own
line, but introduciug new blood. If necessary, I import a
tom at the breeding season.

One who has common turkeys would like to know
whether it would be best to grade them up or start with
thoroughbreds. I think this is simply a matter of what you
wish to do with them. If only for market, the cross with a
full Bronze tem will increase the size and beauty as well as
the vigor of your flock. But why not get the best and sell
your toms as breeders to your neighbors? If you have the
full blood and are the first in your neighborhood to get
them, you can more than replace the cost in the excess of
the price over market turkeys.

Another asks, “How can I get larger turkeys? I have
the Bronze, but they do not get as large as some I see ad-
vertised.”

Very often those advertised are never seen except in the
advertisement. But it is a fact that the size of turkeys may
be increased by breeding from not only good individual
birds, but from birds of good stock. The greatest reason for
production of smaller turkeys is in the breeding. To save
the price of a tom, a breeder decides to use one from his own
flock, year after year. I do not know that using the same
tom two years would cause the turkeys to degenerate in size,
but the habit of inbreeding is injurious.

Again and again comes the question, ‘‘Do you prefer an
old tom or a young tom?” I can truly say, yes and no. It
all depends on the conditions. I let the purchasers have
their choice, but I always give to customers preferring young
toms those which were bred from either yearling toms or
yearling hens, and often both. Where young toms are bred
with yearling hens or pullets of large bone and large ances-
tors, I see no difference in the size of the young. Still in
my own breeding yards I use the old toms, for people want
eggs from the largest stock to be found.

VIGOR, SIZE AND FANCY POINTS.

Several have written asking which I think is the most
important point to consider in breeding stock. My reply is,
first vigor, then size, and then fancy points. The reason I
consider strong, vigorous birds the first point to be looked

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

after is patent. If the parent stock is not strong, the young
will not be so. Mind, I do not say weight, but size. Turkeys
that are not large framed birds may weigh very heavy, espe-
cially young stock, but after they are fully matured the little
boned birds will not weigh so well.

Why do I say I consider size first? Simply because the
standard requires weight and cuts harder for lack of weight
than for anything eise, and if we have to be governed by the
standard we must come to consider size in breeding stock.
If you were to ask my personal preference, I might give a
different reply. The fancier must consider size in order to
win in the show room, ard then the turkeys are ‘“‘cut all to
pieces” on weight which they lose in shipping. Again, the
fancier must consider size because ten customers require
large turkeys where one requires fancy points. But the fan-
cier must combine the size and fancy points and this takes
study in mating. It is not the rule that the largest turkeys
in the flock score the highest. be they ever so well bred.

1 will never believe that the demand for immense
weights required by the standard and turkey raisers is wise.
I have lost the heaviest turkeys I ever owned simply from
being over fat, and I do not feed very much for flesh, either.
It is not unusual for me to lose sales because I cannot quote
as Leavy weights as are demanded, yet I have as large tur-
keys as any fancier. I know over-fat stock is not good for

. breeding purposes, and sO does every one who has given the
subject any careful attention, yet a turkey must weigh so
many pounds regardless of consequences. If the would-be
purchaser would be satisfied with standard weights then
there would be some reason in the demands, but I have often
received inquiries in November for young toms weighing
from thirty pounds up to sixty, “sixty preferred.’ Now
everybody with common sense knows, or should be taught,
that in this climate it is almost impossible to make a young
tom weigh thirty pounds in November or even December,
and that to do so is an injury to breeding qualities. From
January to March young toms may weigh from twenty-eight
to thirty-two pounds without any special effort at fattening
them. I prefer a pullet from sixteen to eighteen pounds
rather than One heavier, and I know that I voice the senti-
ments of some of the best fanciers in the United States. The
over large hen does not lay so many eggs, nor are those she
does lay so fertile.

It will not be many years before this demand for exces-
sive weights will be greatly modified. Market poultrymen
say our Bronze turkeys are too large for their trade, and the
market poultrymen must control the turkey trade. If we
continue to increase the size of the Bronze, some other breed
will take its place, and when this happens the Bronze turkey
fancier who has tried to excel ali others by breeding the
heaviest weights will see this error.

I hope I will not be considered as advocating small tur-
keys, for I am not, and [ could call hundreds to testify that I
stand for large boned turkeys. The weights of mine as
adults have not been excelled in the west, but what I do
plead against is the demand for the pound of flesh, which is
far easier to put on the short legged, small boned turkey,
than on the tall, majestic fellow, that will, as a yearling,
weigh from thirty-five to forty pounds. The extremely
heavy weights are fit only for the show room and the fan-
cier’s yard, while the medium sized bird is the better turkey
for all purposes. I do not like to breed from excessively
large turkeys, neither does any other fancier, and yet the
fancier has created the demand for these birds by advertis-
ing excessive weights to catch trade, and the farmer has
caught the spirit, and without really knowing what is best,
demands what he sees advertised.

If I were a farmer raising market poultry I would want

49

turkey pullets weighing from fifteen to seventeen pounds,
good large-boned birds, not fat, and young toms weighing
from twenty-four to twenty-eight pounds, or yearlings from
thirty to thirty-five. I would hatch my turkeys early and in
the fall they would be as good market turkeys as anybody
would want. I would keep the pure Bronze turkeys, for
nothing has ever equalled them. I would not do as some
have done—inbreed until I decreased both vigor and size of
my birds, nor would I save the late small, runty turkeys to
breed from. I would save nice pullets and yearling hens
and buy a tom from some fancier every year; or if I were
short of money I might keep one two years, though I prefer
changing stock every year. One tom is sufficient for twelve
hens, and more may be used with perfect safety. I would
keep more hens than most farmers’ wives do, and instead
of breaking them up from sitting, I would let them sit on
their own eggs, or if preferred, I would set the eggs
part under the domestic hen, giving all the young to
the turkey hen, and if I cid not care to keep over so many
hens I would sell the surplus after they had laid the early
eggs. I raise late turkeys, but if I were not a poultry fan-
cier, and were raising market poultry, I should not raise
late turkeys; early ones are much more profitable, they are
much hardier duriug the summer, and are not so apt to be
affected with the disease which takes off hundreds of young
turkeys in the fall.

The farmer should learn that he needs good, strong
large-boned, vigorous breeding stock, such as will take on
flesh when he wishes to market them. Nobody wants a poor
turkey to eat and if the ten-pound one is fat and brings more
by the pound than the twenty pound one it still pays to have
the twenty-pound one, but when the marketman says he can
scarcely use the forty-pound ones at any price because only
hotels and large restaurants want them, the farmer has no
need for forty-pound young turkeys, as some demand.

BREEDING FANCY TURKEYS.

As to shape of tom and hens to breed from—lI select
large head and feet, long body, long neck, held well up, and
a broad back and breast, with long shanks. A short turkey
wiil fatten earlier and look larger when not fully matured
than the rangy one, but the latter will make the weight at
maturity much heavier, and will produce larger turkeys. I
select hens the same way, yet if they are specially well
marked and good in weight I would not discard them if not
quite as tall as I like them to be when pullets. I am some-
times disappointed in pullets, but cannot remember that I
ever have been in a tom—pullets sometimes are no larger
at two than at one year old. They often stop growing at
one year, while a tom never does. Other pullets grow until
they are two and three years old.

My method of mating is simply this: Select the very
best tom possible, and in females do net discard a very fine
marked one because it is not quite as large as desired. By
this I do not mean that I breed from small boned females.
There are some larger than others in all flocks of the same
age, and I should not advise the use in the breeding pen of an
undersized female, or a runt. Nor should I discard from my
breeding yard an extra large female because she is not quite
up in faney points for the reason that the tom will overcome
to some extent the defects. The well marked female will
produce large stock from the mating with a large tom, and
the one not so well marked will produce evenly marked
young from the mating with a well marked tom. Yet these
must be exceptional cases, for it will not do for a fancier to
have many females in his breeding yard that are not well
marked and not very large. By undersized, we mean pullets,
for if at two years old a hen is not of average size I should
discard her unless there were some special point I wanted to

50

impress on my flock. I think young turkeys get size from
the maternal side, even more than from the paternal. Never
should a fancier use a late, small-boned tom, or a poorly
marked one. As a rule toms get very thin in summer if
mated with hens, and they do not eat a great deal until cold
weather. I have known a tom to weigh twenty-six pounds
in November and thirty-five by January. Turkeys will gain
two pounds a week in cold weather, unless there is snow on
the ground, then they will stay on the roost and will not eat.

I once had a red legged turkey pullet. She was not large
when young, but her legs were almost too deeply colored to
be called pink. I bred from her as long as She lived, or, I
should say, until she was stolen. I could tell the turkeys
from her eggs. They were a good size and invariably had
pink legs when young, though not as deeply colored as were
hers. From this hen I got that line of breeding which gives
in some of my yards pink legs in young stock. [I can tell it
wherever I find it. But this is the only female I ever kept
that was undersize after she was a pullet. The rule is that
the shanks are dark when young. Some of the best hens in
size have dark shanks always, while others get very bright
pink—I prefer the pink legs, other things being equal. But
I am candid when I say that I make size and not weight the
first consideration in breeding stock.

Never breed from a turkey with a natural deformity. I
once bought a sitting of eggs from one of the foremost fan-
ciers I know. The only pullet raised had a crooked toe, but
she was so fine I felt I could breed from her. Every year
there would be a lot of turkeys with crooked toes, and these
were the very best otherwise. It took several years to get
entirely rid of crooked toes.

While there are fewer culls among turkeys than there
are among chickens, it is also true that under the present
standard some of the very best breeding birds are not first-
class exhibition turkeys. For instance, all turkey raisers
know that there is a tendency to brown edging on tail cov-
erts in some specimens, and it is a notable fact that these
specimens are usually very strong in wing barring and that
they are decidedly larger boned than those which possess the
standard gray and white edging. Now such a bird cannot
be sold for exhibition, but if one is raising turkeys for mar-
ket and selling toms to other market breeders, what better
breeder would he want than this same brown tailed turkey,
for as the market poultryman pays for pounds, it is the tom
with size that one raising for market must get. Again, one
may be poor in wing for exhibition and fine as a breeder.
Yet I am sure that at least ninety per cent of the best bred
Bronze turkeys can be put on exhibition when fully up in
weight, and whether they win a prize or not they do credit
to the owner. The main thing in breeding is to select
healthy, vigorous breeding stock of good size and shape,
with the very best markings possible. Don’t expect perfec-
tion, but try to attain as near it as possible. Patience, per-
severance and knowledge will bring success.

CARE OF BREEDING STOCK—EGGS,

When once you have your stock, be sure that you get
your turkey eggs. To do this I keep my turkeys penned. I
would prefer letting turkeys run at large if I could do so
with much convenience to myself. But to follow from twen-
ty-five to thirty turkeys to their nests is too great an under-
taking for me, and I keep them in a large pen until after
they have laid. Each afternoon about 4 o’clock I turn them
out in an orchard of blue grass. After a few days they will
come to the gate and call to get out. If I forget, they do not;
but they always go back to the pen to roost. I find grass
very essential both to the fertility of the eggs and to increase
the number, and also to keep the turkeys healthy. If I were
so situated that I could not let them out.to eat grass, I would

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

feed wheat bran with flowers of sulphur in it every other day
in small quantities. There must be sulphur to insure fertil-
ity, but the grass supplies it. Plenty of lime, gravel and
grass, with wheat twice a day, is all turkeys need. If too
closely confined turkeys will not thrive and I believe that
the freer the range the more eggs the turkey will lay, but
when they lay where you cannot find the nest and you lose
both hen and eggs, as I have often done, you will prefer to
get the eggs they do lay in the pen.

My turkey house is sixteen feet long, eight feet wide and
has two partitions, making three rooms in it. It is made of
barn boarding sixteen inches wide. Two of these boards are
put together at the bottom, but as they go up cracks are left
so that the air can pass through; however, they are too close
for animals to get through. It is one-half foot high in front
and three feet in the back and is set out in the orchard
where the poults will have a seven acre range of their own.
This turkey shed has proved a success, and my young tur-
keys have seldom failed to come up at night. I think the
large, airy roosting place provided has had something to do
with their coming up, for in small roosting places I was al-
ways compelled to drive them in, while all I do now is to
turn them into the pen and they go to roost themselves.

The fence is the best I have ever used. It is made of
straight farm fence wire, with stays and locks. The wires
are Only three inches apart at bottom, and the distance apart
is increased as they get higher. .

I do not like to cut the wings of large turkeys for they
often get up in trees and when they fly down they hurt
themselves. My show birds are often spoiled by cutting the
wings. They do not always grow out in time for the show.
I do not cut the wings of the toms because they will stay
with the hens.

The natural instinct of the turkey is to roost high and
in ordinary weather I think it is best for them to be out of
doors. My experience is that the first turkey to get droopy
is one roosting low in the same place night after night, un-
less the droppings are either removed frequently or the im-
purities counteracted by frequent applications of either air
slaked or quick lime.

I am often asked if one living on a small place can be
successful with turkeys. If by small place is meant a town
lot, certainly not. If an eight, ten or twenty acre place is
meant, you may be successful with a limited number; and if
you trespass on your neighbors and they allow it, you may
be successful with a larger number.

It is no longer a question whether turkeys can be kept
on small space successfully, for so many overworked women
are penning the birds and so getting eggs with much less
labor, proving that with proper care the stock will be just as
vigorous. We do not claim they lay quite as many eggs,
but we get more of them.

' My experience has been equally divided between a farm
and a small place for raising turkeys. I have lived seven
years where my turkeys had unlimited range and seven
years on an eight-acre place. I give the farm the preference
after the turkeys are grown. Until they are six or seven
weeks old they do as well on a small place, but from that
time until they are grown the larger the range the better for
the growth of the young turkeys, and yet the finest turkeys
I have ever raised were raised on the small place; but this
is not an argument in favor of it, for they could have been
raised with much less labor and expense on a larger one.

HOW MANY HENS TO A TOM?

I make twelve hens the number for one tom, as a rule,
but once I kept twenty hens with a tom that was two years
old in May or June, and never. had eggs hatch better. The
question of how to manage when more than one tom is de-

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 51

sired in the same yard, is a troublesome one. The most sat-
isfactory way in which I have managed it is to let only one
tom in the yard ata time. Let one stay in the yard several
days, keeping the other where he cannot be seen or see the
turkeys in the yard. Then change, putting the one in the
yard in confinement and letting the other out. Some advo-
cate changing toms every day where changing is practiced
at all, but I prefer letting each tom stay in the yard several
days ata time. Where more than twenty hens are kept, two
toms should be used as above directed if all the hens are kept
in the same pen. After the hens begin laying one tom may
be disposed of if so desired. After the first clutch of eggs is
laid I find that all the hens never lay at the same time dur-
ing the season. Some are sitting, some stop laying and

‘ begin again, and some carry turkeys, so that one tom is suf-
ficient after the first fertilization. But it is always safe to
have the second one at command if one should die.

How long can a tom be used, or when is he too old for
service? I do not know. I use them two years and have
sold yearlings that were kept three years. I never go to
extremes in mating, that is, do not keep too old or too
young breeding stock.

FEEDING THE BREEDING STOCK,

The breeding stock should never be excessively fat. All
stock raisers will agree with this assertion. There is noth-
ing more productive of soft shelled and infertile eggs than
over-fat hens and toms.

What to feed for the production of eggs has been a ques-
tion. I confess that I have lost faith in hot mashes for
either chickens or turkeys, and I never feed hot food to
either young or old. Neither do I give hot drinking water.
I was first forced to adopt the cold feed from sickness. I
could not get anyone to prepare a mash that did not make it
sloppy and I soon learned whole grain was far more health-
ful than sloppy food. If turkeys have free range during lay-
ing season they eat very little that you feed them. Keep
grit and lime on hand in abundance and sow wheat for them.
If it is laid in a pile they often leave it, but if scattered
broadcast they will pick all day. Turkeys in their normal
condition do not sit around during laying season; they are
active and want to roam and pick as they go. I often scatter
the food after they go to roost, as they are early risers and
begin picking before I have time to give them their break-
fast. One thing you may depend upon and that is, to have tur-
keys lay well, and Jay fertile eggs, they must have an egg
producing diet in some way. If they run at large they will
get this without any trouble to the owner, but if they are
confined it must be given them. One year I fed soaked oats
with excellent results, but I would not give oats without
soaking them. I mix shipstuff with them so they are not so
wet. Wet food sours in the crop.

When should turkeys begin to lay? The rule in my
yards is, about the middle to the last of March. I have once
had turkeys lay the last of February. My mother told me
the “old-fashioned turkeys’—by that she meant the com-
mon ones—laid earlier than the Bronze. I think the climate
may influence the habit of earlier or later laying. In a
southern climate they lay earlier than in the northern,

If you want many eggs, you must breed from yearling
hers and pullets. Old hens do not lay as many eggs, and
extra large ones do not lay as many eggs aS smaller ones. A
tall turkey will lay more eggs than a short one. Why? I
do not know. I think the last eggs laid by the hen before
sitting sometimes produce poults with less vitality than the
others.

Will the eggs from yearling turkey hens hatch as well
as those from pullets? [ think they ‘will, the greatest dan-
ger of infertility lying in getting them over-fat. They must

be kept vigorous and healthy, but do not overfeed in order
to get weight.

I am often asked how many eggs a turkey hen will lay.
One of mine last year laid eighty, which is the largest num-
ber I ever could vouch for. Of course she was not allowed
to sit.

One asks, “Do you think July too late to hatch turkeys?”

We have two toms which weighed in March twenty-eight
pounds without having been fattened; they were hatched
July 3.

July and August hatched turkeys of large vigorous stock
make good breeding birds the first year, and excellent ones
the second year, but unless scarce of breeding stock we
usually farm out the late hatches the first year, and put
them in our breeding yards the second. From these late
hatches we give Our turkey dinners during the winter.

I dispensed with the barrels this year, having only one.
I put straw in the hollows and covered them over with
brush, allowing the turkeys to think they were stealing their
nests. From twenty-six hens I got seventeen eggs per day,
showing that confining the hens as I do does not materially
lessen the egg yield. When the eggs are removed as they
are laid, and I think it should be done every day, either nest
ege gourds, china nest eggs or real eggs should be put in the
nest. Few turkeys will continue to lay in a nest after all
the eggs are removed from it. I usually put three or four
infertile eggs in the nest as soon as I find a a turkey has laid
in it. This often saves much trouble, and yet with all my
care every year I lose both hens and eggs, for either a rain
washes out a hole, a wind blows down the fence or they fly
out after their wings grow Out and steal nests.

CARE OF SITTING HENS—EGGS—NESTS.

How many eggs will a turkey hen lay before she sits?
Some lay more than others, but I never had a hen that laid
more than fifteen or sixteen eggs before she wanted to sit
and I have many more that lay only twelve than I have that
lay fifteen. A turkey hen may easily be broken from sitting
if she is taken in time, and by this means I often get twenty
to thirty eggs before I allow a hen to sit. A hen will lay in
ten days after she is stopped from sitting and sometimes in
shorter time.

If you do not wish to make the nest as suggested above,
then use not a flour nor lime barrel, but a salt barrel. I
turn the barrel down on the side, putting it under a tree or
in a shady place. Tre turkey will scratch the nest up for the
first few days, but the barrel is a temptation she cannot
resist and she will lay in it. I always put down several bar-
rels, though I find the turkeys all like to lay in the same one.

If the hen is thoroughly dusted with a good insect pow-
der when set, and the top outside of the barrel lightly
painted with a good lice killer, she will be free from lice
when the hatch comes off. Be sure in using this that
you do not put it where it will touch the eggs or feathers of
sitting hens. If you do you will in all probability fail to get
a good hatch.

I set from seventeen to nineteen—never more. If the
hen is large and the nest well made, nineteen eggs may be
put under her safely.

Usually I have a turkey and domestic hen hatch the
same time and give all the turkeys to the turkey hen. I
have not been as successful with domestic as with turkey
hens until this season. I know two other breeders who
raise turkeys altogether with domestic hens, and they are
very successful indeed. As a rule, however, the turkey hen
is the better mother, especially after the poults are seven
weeks old, for other hens wean them too early. I think
a very good plan is to let both chicken and turkey hens
have young turkeys the same age, and when the chicken,

52 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

hens wean those under their charge the turkeys will let
them follow them and care for them all.

Do not set your turkeys where there will be anything
to disturb them. When they hatch to be careful to handle
them very gently. If I iind I have one cross turkey about
to hatch, and I have a gentle, kind one not due to hatch,
I exchange the eggs and let the gentle turkey hatch the
brocd. I find to prolong the period of incubation tones the
refractory disposition and often a turkey that will be fussy
at the end of four weeks, will be gentle at the expiration
of five.

Few people, comparatively speaking, know how to set
a turkey or domestic hen, or how to catch either a turkey or
chicken. When you find your turkey broody, let her alone
until night. Have your nest prepared in some quiet place
where she will be undisturbed by other fowls. Make the
nest with care. I like the grass nest better than anything
else, but as I do not have a bountiful supply of this I use
wheat straw. I do not like hay nests at all. Make them
very much the shape, but not so deep, as a wash bowl.
If 1co deep the eggs will roll over each other and either
be broken or they will not be kept of an even temperature
during incubation. Make a full, thick nest, for four weeks’
sitting will mash the straw down very much. Put two
or three hen eggs, aS they are not so valuable as turkey
eggs, in the nest. At night go to the hen very quietly and
put both hands under her, taking her firmly by the leg,
close to the body and lift her straight up. Don’t drag her
out of the nest. Put her head under your arm gently, talk-
ing to her all the time. Place her on the new nest very gen-
tly and set a blind firmly in front of it. The next morning
you may peep in. It will be an exceptional case if she is
not sitting as well as she did on her old nest. I look at
her again about roosting time. If I find her restless I let
her off. If she is kept on the nest in this restless, nervous
state, she will break the eggs and likely will not sit at all.
She will probably try to get to her former nest, but as dark
approaches she will go to the new one; or if she does not
allow her to go to the old one and remove her as before.
I have often had to do this several times with one hen.
As a rule, however, the second time is enough. You
may say that it is a great deal of trouble. I do not
call it trouble. It is work, and I learned very early
in life that to be successful in anything required patience
and work.

After the hen has fully decided to accept the nest given
her then put the turkey eggs under her. So many people
waste by haste. What difference will two, three or four days
make in the age of the poults? But what a calamity to have
a sitting of turkey eggs spoiled by a restless hen.

I usually give my turkeys the opportunity of getting off
the nest every day. I find this much more satisfactory than
keeping them so long without allowing them the chance
to get off. Often they do not come off for several days,
and I had one hen that never came off in four weeks except
as I took her off the nest. I then had to put the blind up
in front of the nest and force her to stay off long enough
to eat. I thought that I certainly would have a good hatch
from this hen, but I had only ten poults from seventeen
fertile eggs. She had smothered the turkeys by sitting so
close. ‘Turkey eggs hatch better than chicken eggs, but
they require more moisture.

If the weather is wet I do not moisten the eggs, but if
dry I sprinkle them the last week. When the eggs have
heen setting until within three or four days of the time
to hatch, put them in clean, warm water—100 degrees is
about right, or if it goes to 104 it will not hurt. All the
eggs which have live poults in them will move very per-

ceptibly. Those which sink to the bottom have dead poults,
and those which float without any jerky motion are spoiled

or infertile. However, the infertile eggs usually sink.

TURKEY EGGS IN INCUBATORS.

Will turkey eggs hatch ih an incubator? They certainly
will. I once told a lady that from fourteen turkey eggs in
an incubator I got fourteen turkeys. She in all seriousness
replied that “a hen would do as well as that.” If you ex-
pect more than one turkey from an egg an incubator will
likely disappoint you. I do not hatch turkey eggs in an
incubator because I do not wish to raise the young in
brooders; but if an egg gets broken I put it in an incubator.
Last season the finest young turkey I had hatched was
from an egg with quite a large piece of shell broken off of
the large end and I cut a piece of cotton cloth just a little
larger than the hole and made a flour paste, just touched the
edges of the cotton wih it and placing it over the cavity, put
the egg in an incubator and it hatched in due time. The
reason I used cloth was—it is nearer the texture of the shell.
Paper is net porous enough. Flour paste is better than
glue; use only just enough to make ihe cloth adhere to
the egg. With a clean, damp cloth I wiped off all surplus
paste after the cloth was put on the egg. This would not
have hatched under a hen, as she would have broken
the egg. *

Usually I do not care to have turkeys hatch until after
the cold spell in May. But it is all right earlier if the
weather is warm. Yet if they come out any time in May
they will get the weight for the December and January
shows. This is one advantage southern breeders have over
western. Weship turkey eggs south as soon as the turkeys
begin to lay. When one has a large number of early hatched
turkeys I would not advise the raising of late ones un-
less they can be entirely separated from other fowls of
every kind. But if for any reason you have failed to have
early hatched ones, hatch them late. They make fine table
fowls.

Years ago I bought a sitting of eggs from a prominent
turkey fancier. I was sorely disappointed when I opened
them as I had never seen such small turkey eggs. I made
another order to another fancier and never saw larger eggs
than I received. The turkeys hatched from the small eggs
grew to be larger at maturity, though of course they were
not so large when hatched.

One tom’from the small eggs weighed forty-four pounds
at two years old and one hen twenty-four. Those from
the large eggs never got so large, though they were fine
turkeys. In speaking of this to an old lady and my sur-
prise at results, she replied: “I don’t see why you should
be surprised. Nature does not vary much, whether in lower
animals, the feathered tribe or the human family. All
depends on the blood.’’ I believe the old lady was right.
I prefer medium sized eggs, both in turkeys and chickens.
I find the very large eggs hatch large young, but they are
not generally as well formed and often are weak legged
and while medium sized ones hatch smaller young they
seem more vigorous and grow much faster. Of course
there are eggs that are small to deformity—so are
there those that are large to deformity. Often the last egg
laid before a hen goes to sitting will be so small it will
have no yolk at all. It is also true that the largest eggs
are not always laid by the largest hens, though as a rule
puliets lay smaller eggs than hens.

Many do not know the difference between an infer-
tile and a rotten egg. A rotten egg is never clear and an
infertile egg is always clear at hatching time and does not
have an offensive odor. Eggs may rot from age or because
they are not sufficiently fertilized and the germ dies be-

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 53

fore maturing, and they may rot under hens which sit
well, but do not have sufficient body heat to hatch them.
Again they may be set where there is too much dampness,
which causes them to rot.

We are often asked if fanciers do not sell eggs too
high. We think not, for several reasons. First, customers
often write that from five dollars’ worth of eggs they sell
ten dollars’ worth of turkeys and have a good breeding
pen left. Second, fanciers are at great expense to hold
stock enough to supply egg orders, and run much risk in
holding Over so many turkeys which could be sold in the
spring. Third, the customers build their reputations on
the fancier’s work, and certainly this is worth something.
You are not simply buying eggs from the fancier, but you
are buying the experience of years.

CARE OF POULTS—FEEDING—LICE,

I would by all means prefer a turkey hen to carry
the turkeys. The natural mother is the turkey hen. She
seems to understand turkey nature better than the domestic
hen. There is only one advantage gained by letting the
domestic hen carry the poults; they do not wander so far
from home, though I think this is counteracted by
the disposition of the domestic hen to wean them when they
need a mother’s care as much as when first hatcHed. And
the turkey hen never pegins to wander so far until the
poults are as old as they are when domestic hens wean then).
[ find that it is the poults which lead the mothers away;
they go and the mother follows.

It is a mistake to give a turkey so many poults; of
course she may raise them all, but the chances are much
better for her to raise all of twenty than they are for her
to raise thirty to thirty-five.

When the poults hatch be careful in your management
of both the young and the hen. I try to have the nest
fastened very securely $o that the little ones cannot get
out, for they will get out of the nest and get chilled.
Sometimes they hatch a day ahead of time. I look in the
nest the night of the twenty-seventh day and if there are
any poults I take out the shelis and if there are oniy three
or four pouits I leave them in the nest; if there are six or
eight I take them out and keep them in a fiannel cloth in
a basket in the house, aS so many left in the nest will cause
the hen to sit off the eggs in a hovering position. If you
take out only a very few they may get chilled. In the morn-
ing I go again and remove the dry poults and egg shells.
By night she will be done hatching, but as some of the
poults are weak I just put a few of them in the nest with
her so she will not refuse to take them in the morning. In
the morning I have a quiet’ place ready for her and I give
them to her.

I think I have at last gotten the ideal turkey coop. I
found that the large coops with divisions in them were all
right when the poults were very small, but when from five
weeks old to the time of going on roosts, they were too
crowded in the division coovs. I now have coops four
feet square, with height of back four feet and height of
front five feet. The sides are of screen wire, the back and
front of plank, with a tight board roof. These are set in
the orchard and are moved to a fresh grass plot every
week when the poults are very small, and every two or three
days as they grow older. I have board roosts put in them
as the poults want to go on roosts, and let‘ them roost in
these coops until all danger of drowning from heavy rains
is past. Turkeys must have plenty of air. They cannot
Stand confinement in close coops. ‘These I now have are,
so far as air is concerned, as good as if they sat out, and
they are safe from ‘‘varmints.”

FEED FOR POULTS.

I have tried almost every plan I ever heard of aad
have finally settled down into one way of feeding. I be-
lieve the nearer we imitate nature the more successful we
wili be in poultry culture, I feed very little of anything
to poults, especially very little bread.

I never feed my poults until they are from twenty-
four to thirty-six hours old. Then [ put them out in a
grass pasture in a large, roomy coop, with grass runs
attached. The first feed I give is milk curd with onion
tops and tongue or pepper grass cut very fine, seasoned
with black pepper. I give this morning, noon and night.
As they grow older I add other things to the food. Table
scraps are splendid for them. If I have infertile incubator
eggs later experience teaches me the raw egg broken in the
food from the first is good food, better than hard boiled
eges. I never use a fresh egg, simply because I do not
consider it at all necessary. I give milk instead of drink-
ing water when it is plentiful. Milk has all the elements of
fool for the huma. or poultry race, hence I feed all I can
spare to my poultry. Heat the milk, but do not boil.

I keep grit constantly before them. Wheat is one of
the finest of foods for young turkeys, but it must be pure
wheat, not cheat. Cracked corn is splendid when they are
older. My rule has been to mix grains Of wheat in the
feod from the first, so that when they are old enough to
change from curd to grain it will not be hard to change
foods. ;

I have used corn chops and ship stuff, equal parts, put
in the stove and made very hot, then pour cold water over
if and have found it very good. Still I believe I must have
some wheat mixed in. Lime should be kept where they
can get it at will, but it should be lime that has been
slaked a long time. [ believe fresh lime will kill old and
young turkeys.

As soon as they are old enough to eat whole corn give
it to them, for nothing makes them grow faster and gets
them ready for the show room quicker.

It is very hard to get a young turkey to change its
habits of eating. If you commence feeding them in a plate

it is hard to change to a pan or on the ground. The same

holds true of the diet. Whatever they learn to eat at first
is what they want until they are grown. If the food could
be scattered and the turkeys allowed to hunt for it, it would
be much better for them.

The great trouble is not so much what to feed as
what not to feed. Turkeys should not be overfed; this is the
mistake made by so many amateurs. They think the more
they feed the faster the little ones will grow. If it were
possible to raise the turkeys and keep them from the
elntches of “varmints’”’ (there is nothing more expensive),
the very best way to raise them would be to give them to
the hen and let her take care of them during the day and
feed them just a littie in the evening to keep them gentle
and make them eome home.

Do not allow your poults to.become wild. If when
you go to feed them you will call them and talk to them,
tney will learn to come to you anywhere. My turkeys and
my Leghorns are gentle, and will come to me whenever they
hear my voice. If possible, let none but a gentle hen carry
young turkeys. A tmild mother makes mild turkeys. “Like
mother, like daughter” is certainly true of turkeys.

I find that cracked wheat put into the stove and
browned as we used to brown our coffee, with just enough
cold water or sweet milk poured over it when taken out
of the oven to dampen it thoroughly, makes a very fine
food for poults. I grind the wheat in a coffee mill. This I
mix with milk curd and fine chopped onions.

54 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

Until I have fully tested it I will not give my opinion
in favor of doubtfui foods, and I confess I was afraid to
give the corn chops used as chicken food, though I be-
lieved it would be good if fed judiciously. One season I
began when the poults were four weeks old giying corn
chops at night. I just dampened with cold water and I never
saw turkeys thrive better in my life. Be sure you do noi
get that ground with the cob. Ii is not fit to feed either to
chickens or poults.

I used blood meal one season and liked it very much.
I think in order to give it 1 shall feed soft food at least
once per week durifig the year. I am sure that for grow-
ing poults and chicks it is very fine. It seems to be of great
benefit to them while feathering.

After turkeys are ten weeks old all that is necessary
on a large grain farm is to see that they are protected at
night. They will glean their own living from the fields,
and while the ‘“gude man” may complain, yet if he will
only watch them closely he will be convinced they are a
benefit to his crop instead of an injury. Last year the
turkeys saved the corn, but the chinch-bug killed the tur-
keys in many localities. Turn a flock of young turkeys
when from two or three months old or even five or six
weeks old in your potatoes and cabbage; they will not hurt
them, but will keep them free from bugs. Yet there is one
kind of potaio bug they seldom pick; if they do it kills
them. But the cabbage worm does them no harm and they
do not when young hurt the cabbage. They clean the corn
of grasshoppers and glean after barvest in the wheat fields
what everything else has overlooked.

Poults will not bear handling. Mine are very gentle
and eat out of my hands, still I never handle them in my
hands if I can avoid it. It will not do to try to raise young
turkeys in the same yard with other fowls. They are so
tender that chickens run over them. One snap from the bill
of a domestic hen will kill a very young turkey.

What do you do with your little turkeys during a cold
or wet spell?

We shut them up in the house they roost in and let
them stay there if it is very wet or cold, but if not very
cold we let them out on our front lawn. The grass is never
very high, and as a rule the hen will hover them and keep
them better than in a crowded spot. Keep little turkeys
dry and warm, for if they once get wet or chilled they sel-
dom recover. Some hens are more restless than others, If
possible to avoid it never let a restless hen foster turkeys;
however, one good feature about them is that they are gen-
erally of that spiteful class that will protect their little
ones. 2
It does not hurt them to turn’them out soon after a
hard rain if the sun comes out warm and bright, but if it
is cold and cloudy they wili die from exposure and being
chilled.

But if at any time they should be caught out and some
seem dead when found, make a fire and warm and rub them
well. Oftea I have brought both chicks and poults to life
that seemed perfectly dead. Keep them near the fire, but
do not let them get too hot, until they are entirely dry. Give
each of them a cracked grain of black, or a seed of red pep-
per. This warms them and stimulates them.

Do not put the young turkeys out near ant holes, as the
ants if swallowed sting the crop and kill the fowl, and often
the ants sting the poults on the body and kill them.

Poults are greatly benefited by having their wings and
tails cut. I find they get about so much better, and if a
rain comes up they do not seem to get as wet, or if they do
they dry so much faster. It takes so much strength to sup-

port the lonz wing and tail feathers that if they are kept
short until the turkeys are two months old they will be
much stronger than it the wings and tail are left to grow
without cutting. I cut the flight feathers about half, and
the tail about the same.

There is very little expense attached to rearing tur-
keys, but as a rule there is a great deal of work until they
are ten weeks old.

Summing up the requisites for success in raising poults
may be done in the following simple words:

First, have vigorous parent stock, not over fat.
Take care that the poults are not chilled the first two
or three weeks of their lives. Be careful not to overfeed the
poults, They require very little food for three weeks; after
that time feed all they will eat three times a day until they
are ready for market. If, however, you have grain fields
for range they will eat very little of your food after they
are six weeks old until late in the season. Be sure to keep
them free from vermin. It is almost impossible to cure a
dreopy poult. If une is droopy, try to find the cause and
remove it before the entire flock becomes afflicted. Young
turkeys will do better with no human attention than with
teo much. ;

FIGHTING LICE ON POULTS AND ADULTS.

I find that whitewashing the house in which my fowls
are kept and keeping it thoroughly clean has been a sure
preventative of vermin on my young turkeys.

Use tobacco stems and tobacco dust as follows: Smoke
the roosting places with the stems and sprinkle the floors
with the dust. If the coop in which the hen is put with the
poults is whitewashed inside and outside before she is put
in, she will not become lousy.

I swept the roosting coop every day and dusted it once
a week with air-slaked lime. Lime must be dusted spar-
ingly, for if too much is used it willemake the feet sore.

When the nest has been well prepared and dusted there
are seldom any lice on the little ones when hatched. But
I dust the hen with Persian insect powder when I take her
from the nest, being very careful to shake the dust well out
so that it will not get into the eyes of the little ones, as it
may make them blind.

The turkey louse is about the color of the poult and
is very hard to find by one not experienced in the art of
hunting them. They are between the quill (flight) feathers
and are often in solid knots, and at first glance will not
be discovered, as they do not move until disturbed. A
little clear Jard oil will kill them, but it must be very care-
fully used. I prefer using it at night. Dust the hen well with
insect powder when you turn her out in the morning. I
know most persons say at night, but I have found the
powder gets into the eyes of the poults.

One thing is certain and that is that poults must be
kept free from lice and mites. Then it is equally certain
that if not careful in the use of remedies for these the poults
may be killed. A little pure lard on the head, around vent,
and on the wings, where the flight feathers come out, may
be used io advantage, but too much is absolutely fatal. I
would not adyise the use of sulphur in lard to grease the

, heads. The lard is sufficient and the sulphur takes away

proper use of legs; it is also liable to cause blindness. Use
clear lard or thick cream. Liquid lice killer is equally danger-
ous if not carefully used. It may be put on the outside of the
coops or a little on inside after they are a few weeks old,
provided it is done in the morning and the coops are aired
well during the day. Never put it on the floors, for if the
hen sits over it, it will suffocate the poults. This is equally
true of little chicks. I have tried it and know from ex-

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 5d

perience. Yet there are no better insecticides than these
liquid lice killers if properly used. They will kill mites and
chiggers and everything in that line, even bedbugs, which
infest hen houses in some localities.

Southern turkey breeders complain that many poults
are killed by chiggers, which do more damage than any
other one thing.

We presume this is the little grass chigger which bur-
ies itself in the fiesh—at least it does on people—and is
very hard to exterminate and very painful to endure. We
had never thought of this. The only remedy known to us
is grease, and 100 much of that is fatal to the poults.

In the late fall ‘and winter lice are hard on turkeys—
they cannot find good dust baths as they can in summer,
hence it is necessary to use our best efforts to kill the ver-
min on them, for they cannot thrive with vermin sapping
their strength.

PREPARING TURKEYS FOR MARKET.

Many persons wish to know when to begin to prepare
turkeys for market. The best time to begin is when they
are hatched and keep up the preparation until they are put
on the market. If you live on a grain or stock farm let
your turkeys have free access to the feeding stalls and grain
shocks and they will take care of themselves. If you, like
myself, are limited to a small place, the feeding must be
kept up ali the year. It will not do to increase the food
too rapidly at first. During the summer feed adult turkeys
only once a day, but about September I begin feeding them
twice a day, morning and evening, all that they will eat,
or rather, as I keep the parent stock in the pens, my plan
has been to scatter the food in the morning so that they
shall be kept busy all day hunting for it. At night I give
a full feed where they can get it without any trouble, and
gradually increase the quantity of food as the cold
weather approaches. I find that both old and young turkeys
thrive better and eat more when the food is scattered than
when it is given to them in pans. I have long since Giscard-
ed feeding troughs in my poultry yards. They were a dis-
advantage to both old and young. In my opinion much of
the so-called cholera is traceable to the feeding trough.
Turkeys especially are naturally inclined to take a small
quantity of food at a time and when fed in troughs they
will fill their crops and do not take enough exercise to cause
good digestion.

For fattening I prefer corn to anything else, unless it be
crushed corn. Feed whole corn on the ear or scatter it in
straw so they must work to get it.

If you have never noticed the necessity of lime for
turkeys watch them pick whitewash off the sides of houses.
“Make this difference in the treatment of those intended for
market and those kept to breed from: Put all the food be-
fore the market fowl it will eat; make it as fat as possible—
but if you get your breeding stock too fat, infertile eggs
will be the result.

Be sure you do not wait until the day before Thanks-
giving to try to sell your stock. The highest prices are us-
ually obtainable the week before the holiday feasts. As a
rule there is a great rush to market with turkeys two days
before Thanksgiving. The rush often causes the price to
drop just when the most was expected. I have known the
highest prices to be obtained between Thanksgiving and
Christmas and in February. Of course the locality has
something to do with the price, and there may, in the same
locality, be different influences at different seasons. We
have to do as our husbands do with their stock, watch and
sell at the most propitious time. If I had only a few I would
sell all at once, but if I raised from seventy-five to a hun-

dred I should seli at different times. One can sell the
oldest first, thus giving the younger ones a chance. Mar-
ket birds can not bs too fat, but they may be too heavy
for the highest prices. A few farmers in our county un-
derstand this, and do not buy the largest toms to breed
from; others run to the other extreme, inbreeding and buy-
ing culls until their turkeys are too small to be profitable.
I should prefer large breeding stock to small, even if I
sold on the market, for if I get a lower price the difference
in pounds would more than make the difference in price.

How much ought young toms to weigh at Thanksgiving,
is a question often asked me. That depends on when they
were hatched, An early hatched, say one hatched in May,
will weigh from twenty to twenty-four pounds, and some
few will go higher. One market poultryman says that an
average of eighteen and twenty pounds is the rule, while
those going above that are the exception.

I have been asked if I think it better to dress turkeys
or sell them on foot; “which is the most profitable?” The
answer to this (as most answers are) is dependent. I have
a friend who dresses her turkeys about the middle of Feb-
ruary for the St. Louis market. She says she makes money
by so doing. I know others who say it does not pay them
at all.

The cause of the difference of opinion lies in the dif-
ference of surroundings. The lady who says it pays her
to dress her turkeys for market does the work herself and
Says she makes fair wages at the difference in the price be-
tween dressed turkeys and turkeys on foot. My opinion is
that the average farmer’s wife had better sell her turkeys
on foot, but this is a question upon which there is a dif-
ference of opinion and one which each one must decide for
herself.

me never sold a dressed turkey, yet I know how farmers’
wives dress them for our market, and I dress them for my
own table the same way. We cut the heads off and let
them bleed well and then dry pick them and remove their
entrails, washing them thoroughly with cold or luke warm
water. Plump the carcass by pouring boiling water over it,
then salt and let it freeze before cooking, if possible. Very
few salt them to put them on the market.

Talk about turkeys eating their heads off! If a man
selis hogs at five cents a pound he thinks he is doing a
fine business, says he is getting fifty cents a bushel for his
corn, but when a woman sells her turkeys even at eight
cents a pound she is doing far better and is doing her hus-
band a double favor; it is a favor to him for her to pay
her own and part of his bills; besides she gets eight cents
a pound for grasshoppers, which but for her turkeys would
destroy the corn fodder and injure the hay as well as ruin
the cabbage.

PREPARING TURKEYS FOR EXHIBITION.

This one thing I never lose sight of or forget—the show
room. Not alone for the scores I wish to receive on my
birds, but on account of the remembrance of what I gain at
the shows in point of knowledge and the pleasure I derive
from association with the many noble men and women to
be met there.

Many timid ones are deterred from entering the show
room because they dread coming in competition with the
moguls of the poultry business. To such I say, come! You
have nothing to lose by the comparison and you may be
a winner of the prizes. At any rate you will know what
the judges think of your birds, and will learn how to im-
prove your stock. The show room is an educator and we
need all the education we can get if we intend to stay in
the business. Nor does it follow that because they fail to

56

wit a prize, your stock is poor. You will learn what it takes
to make a prize bird and what constitutes a good breeding

bird. Attend a poultry show or two each year if it is pos-
sible for you to do so.

On large farms il is not necessary to begin heavy
feeding until the weather begins to get cool. But where

one Eas limited room they must be fed the year round. Do
not select show birds until they are through molting, if old
birds are exhibited. A breeder of thoroughbred iurkeys,
for sale as fancy slock, must feed his entire flock with an
aim to getting them in condition for winter shows either
in his own hands or in the hands Of his cuseomers.

Generally cocks may be depended on molting true to the
markings of the cuckerei, but heus often are not as good
in markings as they were as pullets. Still, I think turkeys
are more regular iu their markings after molting than
chickens.

If a turkey is in healthy condition the feathers will be
glossy, if not, they will not be. ’

I think that to keep turkeys healthy and gentle and
weil fed is about all the preparation turkeys need. It will
not do to put them in confinement longer than ten days,
and then it wili not do to have them in a strange place,
as they will not eat. Give them all the corn, grit and lime
they will eat, with pienty of grass and water, and they will
fatten.

How do I manage to feed my turkeys to get them in
weight for the shows and not get the entire flock too fat? I
keep only a few turkeys on my home place at one time, not
more than fifty to seventy-five in winter and only my breed-
ing stock in summer. As [ am continually shipping them I
select the best in size and that leaves the smaller ones a
better chance to grow. I cannot separate those intended for
the show room from the others, so I feed all alike and take
the heaviest to the show, no mattér if they are not so well
marked as the others, for it is the heavy turkey which wins
in the show room. In fact, I have only a few times taken
my best marked turkeys to a show.

I have had very few persons. come to my yards who
knew how to catch a turkey or chicken. I can pick my
turkeys or chickens up anywhere in the yard with the as-
sistance of one whom [ have trained. In the first place [
am very gentle with my fowls. [ talk to them when I feed
them. You may wonder what I say. Well, I find they are
like the human race, susceptible to flattery, if flattery it may
be called; I do not intend it as such, for I mean every word
of it. I call them pretty things—tell them they are the
prettiest turkeys anywhere around—talk to them about go-
ing to the shows, and tell them how they must behave to
appear well; in fact, I am never at a loss for something to
say to my fowls. When I want to catch one I prefer to go
out in the yard, look the flock over while they are out, se-
lect the one I want, call my assistant, and point out the
turkey. Then I begin to feed, and usually I can catch the
one I desire while they are eating. Never rush into the flock
or shoo a turkey. Very quietly step up behind it and catch
it by the legs. Be sure to take hold of both legs as you
catch one, then you can easily pick the bird up and it will
not flap its wings and hurt itself. If there are several to
catch and you do not wish to put them in different coops
it is better to catch all you need before cooping any. A
child can hold a forty pound tom if he knows how. Just
lay him flat on his side or breast and hold his legs close to
the thighs and he will not attempt to get away. I have
often released one after holding it in this manner, and it
would lie still for one or two minutes before getting up.

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

PACKING EGGS FOR SHIPPING.

It may sound egotistical, but I believe I can pack eggs
that will go around the globe without breaking, that is,
with reasonable handling; yet last year the only chick eggs
reported broken did not go two hundred miles, and had they
not been sent to a relative as a present.I presume I should
have heard about them with no uncertain sound. They evi-
dently had been pitched off the car as baggage and crushed
under some heavy body.

First line the basket with paper, then put in an inch of
hay chaff in bottom if it is a large basket and many eggs
are to go in; if it is only a peck basket, three-fourths or a
half of an inch will be sufficient, but it must have a soft
padding at bottom. Reline with a good heavy paper. Wrap
cach egg with paper, but do not wrap too tight; use plenty
of paper and do it nicely. I always pack with the small end
down, because the white is inthe small end and the yolk
will not break if allowed to float upon it, while if the large
end is down there is nothing to prevent the yolk breaking
from the jar of the travel. Of course if the yolk is broken
the egg cannot hatch.

DISEASES OF TURKEYS—CANKER.

I receive a great many questions as to what to do for
sick poults. I am a poor doctor for little turkeys. I really
believe that where the parent stock is not related or inbred
that it is poor management where there are sick poults.

Canker is more prevalent than many persons suppose,
and while often a fowl may die before it is discovered, the
rule is it becomes droopy and refuses to eat. The discharges
become yellowish green, sometimes looking like the yellow
of an egg. The canker extends often to the throat and fre-
quently forms on the tongue at the opening of the wind pipe
and stops the air passages.

To cure canker I have found Mustang Liniment better
than anything else I have ever used. If this cannot be ob-
tained, wash in a strong copperas water and grease with
carbolized vaseline, in which put a few drops of tincture of
iodine. This is an effectual cure, but it takes longer treat-
ment and is more trouble. But the fowl, turkey or chicken
wili need a tonic to correct the digestion and tone the sys-
tem. I give a liver pill, any that I would use for a person.
Give this at night and a two-grain quinine capsule in the
morning. A little copperas and extract of logwood in the
drinking water usually cure the trouble. Use whatever
poultry tonic or cholera cure you may deem best mixed
in food. Make into long rolls and put down the throat,
then give the water from a boitle. I also put grit in food.
Feed oniy once a day while the food must be given, but
when the turkey can pick food, give twice a day and sepa-
rate from other fowls. If I use Mustang Liniment I put
a few drops down the throat, for I think often the canker
extends through the system.

If I am sure there is no canker I omit the treatment
for that and give the other treatment. Do not let the fowl
have anything to eat or drink which is not medicated until
you know it is well. The quinine capsule may be given
every moruing for a week, the liver pill every other day un-
til three are given.

I have never lost a turkey under the foregoing treat-
ment when I have been able to give it regularly. And sey-
eral customers have reported that under my directions they
have saved their turkeys.

GAPES.

To prevent the aisease I use a little turpentine in the
drinking water. A dash of flowers of sulphur in the food once
a week will be beneficial until they are well feathered. Cop-
peras in the drinking water and onions in the food will gen-

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 57

erally prevent gapes. Turkeys having vermin are more like-
ly to be affected. I have been advised to use sour cream in-
stead of lard to grease young turkeys.

If I find the poults have gapes I put Dalmation or Per-
sian insect powder in the food and have no further trouble.
I sprinkle the powder into the food just as I would pepper.
I have cured several chicks of the gapes by first puffing the
powder in the wind pipe. This kills the worms, and I ex-
tract them with a gape extractor made of a piece of soft
grass. If the worms are taken out the chicken will recover
unless it is injured by the operation. They are easier to
take out dead than alive and I find the powder good, but one
has to be careful not to get too much in the wind pipe or
the poult or chick will not be able to breathe.

AIR PUFF. k

One night I noticed that the neck of one of my young
turkeys was so badiy swollen it could not get its mouth to
the ground to eat. [| picked it up and found its whoie body
in the same €ondition. The skin only seemed puffed. I took
a pair of sharp scissors and clipped the skin in several
places. The air escaped and the turkey began to chirp. I put
it with the others and it ate heartily. I put a teaspoonful of
coal oil in the drinking water with a few drops of carbolic
acid.

The next morning [ noticed its wings drooping down
and it was as badly puffed as before. I repeated the clipping
and this time I clipped around the neck; I went deeper
than I intended and the neck began to bleed freely. [I felt
that this would kill it, but I knew it would die anyway
if not relieved, so I did not grieve. I took a feather and
dipped it in tar aid covered the bleeding wound, then I
greased it with pure lard. My husband said: ‘You have
killed that turkey.” I replied: “Yes, I think [ have, but
I was trying to save it.” To my astonishment it came up
that night as lively as any of the others. I cut both wings
and in the morning I showed it to my husband. We were
both surprised. Ten days afier it was as strong to all ap-
pearances as ay of the others and it never puffed after-
ward. I concluded the bleeding was good for it, yet I would
not know just how to advise it to be done, as I did that by
accident,

BUMBLEFOOT.

Bumblefoot is a hard place on the bottom of the foot
which often becomes very sore and contains pus. It is
claimed that it is usually caused by the fowls roosting high
and coming down on the ground with such force as to
bruise the foot. I am inclined to favor this theory, though
some high in authority deny it. At any rate, turkeys and
chickens are often found with feet in this condition. I
wait until the sore becomes soft, open it with a sharp knife
and squeeze it until all the pus and the core, if I can get it,
run out. If the core does not come out it will run out in a
few days if the foot is bound up with a good salve.

I find one of the best salves I ever used to be vaseline,
turpentine, a few drops of crude carbolic acid and tincture
of iodine. I cannot give the proportions because I do not
measure or drop by count. [ generally make about a tea-
cup full in the fall or early winter and it lasts me all sea-
son. A friend told me that resin would add to its merits.
I put the ingredients all on the stove and mix them together
and the next time I make this salve [ think I shall add the
resin.

Saiva is also good for sore head, but it is better to wash
the head with copperas water before using the salve. If you
can afford to buy Mexican Mustang Liniment it is even bet-
ter thar salve, but one often does not Have the liniment at
hand and can make the salve.

BOWEL TROUBLE.

The coops in which the poults roost must have plenty of
fresh air as well as be rat proof. If the weather is cold
and damp tuey must be kept in pens, so they can be hov-
ered by the hen. If she is at liberty she is liable io walk
around in the weeds or grass and the poults will chill and
become locse in the bowels. And they generally die when
this disease is caused by the above treatment. However,
if they are not too much ehilled, pen them up, make a very
weak pepper tea and give this for drinking water. Sweet
milk is a good remedy for bowel trouble with poults.

If you do not over feed your young birds nor give them
too much water while young, and do not let them get wet
and chilled, thereby contracting cold, they will not have
bowel trouble. They are not as apt to drink too much
where they can run at large as they are when kept in con-
finement. When running at large I keep water where they
can have access to it, but when penned up I give them a
drink only three times uw day.

Do not let the poults get wet. I am trying to plan a
way to have them roost on a dirt floor, yet not on damp
earth, I think the dampness of the ground gives them rheu-
matism, or makes them delicate, but the hen mashes the
poults on a plank floor. J think if the dirt can be thrown
up around the coop, so as to keep the ground dry, it will
be better.

Where milk curd, seasoned with black pepper and salt,
is fed for the first ten days, there will be no danger of loose
bowels, provided other health precautions are observed.
Lice will cause bowel trouble, as will too much heat. When
caused by heat give a teaspoonful of carbolie acid in a gal-
lov of water.

Keep the drinking fountains clean and fresh. This can
be done by washing them out with carbolized water.

Logwood is excellent for loose bowels. I have used and
recommended it for years. There is no danger of using too
much and there is nothing better for ordinary bowel trouble
either in chicks, poults or grown fowls. It comes by the
pound in boxes and sells here at ten cents per pound. I put
a lump of it in a glass fruit jar, using as large a lump as I
can get into the jar and pour warm (not hot) water over
it. Every morning [ put just enough of this into the drinking
water to color it and it keeps the bowels in a healthy condi-
tion. If fowls are sick I use it stronger.

Overfeeding produces indigestion and indigestion causes
bowel trouble. Vermin and overfeeding kill more poults
than all other causes. Lice will produce all the symptoms
of disease. When a poult dies from overfeeding a post mor-
tem wiil usually disclose the liver swollen and probably
splotched. When it is in this condition there is no chance
for the poult. If taken in time a radical change of diet will
effect a cure.

HOT MASHES.

A lady in Maryland writes: “I can’t agree with you that
hot maShes cause roup, tor in my native home (Canada) I
fed my turkeys hot mashes from the time they were a few
weeks old until they are grown, and so did my neighbors,
and we raised large fiocks and were never troubled with
roup. Here I have not fed the mash and have the roup.”
Roosting in trees may be the cause of roup in her flocks
now, aS she says they never bad it when roosting under
shelter. I agree with her that in extreme climates a shel-
ter is better. She 2iso gives me a preventative for fighting
whieh I certainly shall use. I give it to the readers of this
book: Tie a small bell around the neck of toms showing a
disposition to fight. The noise attracts their attention so
they forget to fight.

58 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

CROP BOUND.

In the early spring the trouble most to be dreaded with
turkeys is crop bound, caused from eating dry grass. No
one can prevent this unless they have green fields or grain
for them to run in, rye or wheat fields. Even then some-
times they will fill their crops with the dry grass, which
forms a hard ball in the crop and unless it can be made to
pass, it will kill the fowl. Sometimes it will pass out
after a while without any treatment. Some recommend
cutting the crop, taking the substance out and sewing up the
crop, and they say it never fails to cure. This may be
true with experts at the business, but with me it is a
total failure. I tried it and thought it was a success, but
several weeks afterward I discovered that the crops had
never grown together where they were cut open and the
thread rotted out, so they died. I have lost some of the
finest turkeys I ever owned from this trouble and have cured
others seemingly as bad off.

I have not found an infallible cure and the most ef-
fectual cure I have found is very tedious. I give the tur-
key a dose of castor oi] or Epsom salts as soon as I find it
has the trouble. I hold it and pour all the water into the
crop I think it safe to give and I also put a tablespoontul
of mica crystal grit in some soft food, make it in long
rolls and put down the throat. Turkeys are easily choked
and unless the food is made in long, slender rolls they are
liable to choke. The reason I put the grit in the food is
that it is liable to go down the wind pipe if poured into the
mouth alone. Then I very gently get hold of the ball in the
crop from the outside and work it with both hands, having
someone else hold the turkey. I can generally soften the
ball very perceptibly the first time I treat the turkey. The
grit in the food gets into the softened parts and helps divide
the ball, the oil takes ali that it is possible to get out of the
crop, out of the system so that it does not clog in the giz-
zard, as it is liable to do if not worked off immediately.
Tne working must be very gently done, as it bruises the
crop. I repeat this process every morning at first and give
plenty of soft food and grit during the day.

lf I discover, as is often the case, that the turkey is
getting weak, I give a two-grain capsule of quinine every
morning. This increases the appetite and gives strength
to the bird. [ give plenty of onions in the food. The treat-
ment must be kept up until all the ball has entirely passed
out of the system. i do not give the oil more than once a
week after the first few days.

One of the best toms I ever owned, a full brother to
“Champ Clark,’ who scored from 97 to 98 by every judge
who gaw him, was crop bound, and as I had sold “Champ
Clark” I was anxious to save the brother, which I consid-
ered just as good. 1 thought he was entirely cured, and
he was to all appearances well. He had gained flesh and
was aS hearty as any bird on the place. I fed him at night
and noticed how well he looked. The next morning I
found him dead under the roost. He weighed forty pounds
and of course looked finer after death than I had considered
him in life. My only consolation was that he had waited
until after the breeding season was almost over before he
died.

On examination I found that a ball (not a very large
one, either) of dried grass had lodged in the vent, which
prevented anything from passing, and this caused his death.
He had ‘been from under treatment about two months and I
believed if I had continued the oil once a week he would
have lived.

Once I noticed a turkey with the same symptoms, but

all my treatment availed nothing and he died. I examined
him and found the gizzard packed with dry grass and so
nothing could have saved him.

“My turkeys are affected with what I call pendant crop.-

The crops hang down like a bag, sometimes low enough
to interfere with waiking and is filled with dark liquid. The
turkeys eat. but are pale about the head. What shall I do
for them?”

Give them a teaspoonful of baking powder; soda will
not do. This is a dose for one old turkey. I do not find
the baking powder an infallible cure, but it is the best
thing I have tried. Two doses usually cure. Keep the tur-
key inclosed and do not feed until the powder has been in
the crop an hour or two; then give soft food, wheat bread
made into long rolls, and put down the throat. The roll
must not be very large. Do not give any water until the
liquid has passed out of the crop. A little salt mixed in
the food will assist in carrying the impurities out of the
system. Epsom salts are better than oil for crop-bound
fowls. You will have to be very careful to keep’ water from
them until they have entirely recovered, or the crop will
refill and the second attack is always worse or more stub-
born than the first. It is very unusual for this trouble to
arise in summer. It is prevalent during the latter part of
winter and early spring.

CHOLERA.

The cry of cholera among turkeys comes to me from
many persons, and these are not confined to a given local-
ity or state. From Mississippi, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania,
Iowa and many other states I have received letters reporting
cholera among turkeys and often they say there are no
symptoms of the trouble among the chickens. The fact
that the turkeys linger for days and sometimes even weeks
is one reason for believing it is not cholera. Another is
that in many instances the chickens and turkeys are in the
Same yard and the chickens are not affected; then again,
about the only symptom common to all inquiries is that
the droppings are a yellowish green. Some describe the
heads as black, saying they mope around and will not eat.
Others say the head is red to the last and they eat up to
a few minutes before they are seized with an attack like
convulsions, and still others say they have puffs under the
eyes. while another fiock has a white substance floating
over the eye.

It is a fact that almost any disease of a turkey will
cause the dropping to become yellowish green, showing that
disease in turkeys, like disease in the human family, sooner
or later affects the digestive organs.

Often indigestion is the cause of the trouble. I am
not quite positively certain that I ever had a genuine case
of cholera in my yards, though I well remember when I
thought every chicken or turkey that died had it.

I have been informed by one of the R. P. J. correspon-
dents that there is 2 much larger per cent of deaths from
what is known as black head than from cholera, and that it
is infectious. He says what has often been pronounced
cholera is black head. He also informs me there is abso-
lutely no remedy for it which can be relied upon to be even
comparatively a cure, and that the cause is unknown. This
he wrote me some time since. He said that Lee’s Ger-
mozone is the best remedy known to him. I had some ex-
perience with the trouble in the flock of a neighbor, and
I decided it was caused from overfeeding while young, and
then turning them out without any food; at least I found
when I examined after death that the liver was perfectly
soft and the gizzard twice the size it should have been.

I find many persons use a great deal of red or cayenne

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 59

pepper and soda in turkey food. Because I had been taught
to do this I did like my neighbors when I commenced rais-
ing turkeys, but I soon began to use my cOmmon sense
and I wondered how cn earth anything could live, es-
pecially a wee bit of a turkey with the crop filled with
pepper, soda, sulphur, copperas, also custard, milk, curd and
many other things I was told I would have to feed to be
successful. I said: “I shall try a way of my own,” and
whenever I have had the sense to do my own way I
have succeeded in keeping my flock healthy.

Red pepper is a good tonic for chickens in cold weather
if given in minute quantities.

I find carbolie acid in drinking walter, a teaspoonful to
a gallon of water, is one of the pest things to keep their
bowels in good condition I have ever tried. Epsom salts and
salt, a teaspoonful ai each to a gallon of water, is also good.
Too much salt will throw a turkey into fits, so will too
much tobacco, but they will recover from the tobacco dust
as soon as they get the fresh air, while from salt taken into
the system they do not recover.

Whenever the droppings look yellowish I use my Chol-
era Cure—not that I believe they have cholera, but the drop-
pings indicaie indigestion.

RHEUMATISM.

Several letters have come in, asking what to do for
lameness in little turkeys, describing the poults as being af-
fected with swollen joints. I think this trouble arises from
dampness. Wither the poults roost in damp places or exceed-
ingly wet weather has been conducive to the disease. The
trouble is doubtless rheumatism and the best remedy I know
is elder bark prepared as follows: Get the bark and scrape
off the outside skin, cut in small pieces and put in apple
vinegar. It does not matter how much bark you put in,
but the stronger it is the better. Put in a half gal-
lon fruit jar and add a piece of alum as large as a
walnut and the same amount of copperas. Put all
the bark in the jar you can get in, pouring the vine-
gar over it. Put enough of this liquid in the drinking water
to make it taste of acid, but not enough to be unpleasant
to the taste. I am sure this will prevent the trouble if it
does not cure it, and I think it will cure it, provided the
poults are kept free from dampness. I should use Mustang
alsO or any good liniment that I would use for myself. A
little tincture of iodine in the drinking water is good as
a tonic,

I should feed either a little black or red pepper in the
food for several days. In that time if I found I could not cure
the fowl I would kill it, but if it were getting better I should
continue the treatment.

Once I noticed one of my poults could not walk, one leg
seemed to be perfectly straight and the poult held it so
that it appeared to be behind it. I tried to bend it and it
seemed stiff in the joints. But I bent it several times a
day for four days when it was able to walk on both feet.

ROUP-CANKER—SWELLED EYES AND HEAD.

I have cured several cases Of so-calied roup in the fol-
lowing manner. I made a strong salt water just as hot as
I could bear my hand in comfortably and dipped the tur-
key’s head in it, completely immersing the head. I use an
old tin can for this purpose. I let the head stay in the
water as long as I thought it safe for the turkey. I then
take it out and give it fresh air, press the nostrils between
my thumb and forefinger. If there is any secretion, tnis
will start a running at the nose. I open the mouth and
insert a mop made by wrapping a soft cloth on a small
stick, into the opening in the roof of the mouth, dipping it
first into sait water; then I dip in coal oil. I make a salve

Mustang Liniment to the affected parts.

of carbolic acid, a few drops of lard, spirits of camphor,
a teaspoonful, a teaspoonful of tincture of iodine and an-
oint the eyes. head and fill the nostrils and opening in roof
of mouth. With a clean cloth I wiped the head as dry as
possible, (I tried not wiping the head and found it made
the turkey too cold) then I rubbed it hard until it was dry.
Put a little salt and Epsom salts in the drinking water. This
will almost invariably cure the roup in its first stages. If a
turkey has arrived at an advanced stage of roup befcre it is
noticed I would kill it as the only sure cure.

For ratiling in the throat I find nothing better than
coal oil with a little molasses in it.

Sometimes canker is caused by fighting. I had a tom,
for which I paid $10, that got to fighting and had canker
on the side of his mouth, caused by the bite of the other
tom. All I did for him was to paint his mouth with iodine.
He was a vigorous, healthy bird and produced strong poults.
I also advise the use of Mexican Mustang Liniment, used ac-
cording to directions.

Sometimes turkeys have a soft, swelled place under the
eyes. The first thing is to put them by themselves. With
the finger press the soft swelling, letting the pressure go
towards the bill. The phlegm will go out at the nose in most
cases. Take a sewing machine oil can and fill with warm
water, into which a few drops of tincture of iodine have
been dropped; if ihe water is almost hot it will be all the
better. After washing the head in strong salt water as hot
as can be borne, inject the water from the can into the nos-
trils and the opening in the roof of the mouth. Make a
salve of lard, turpentine, crude carbolie acid, copperas melt-
ed in the lard and flowers of sulphur. Anoint with this. If
this is done once a day for a week the turkey will be well
uniess it is incurable. If there is pus, an incision made
with a sharp knife to let the pus out will be necessary. But
the bird wiil need something to cleanse the system, and
Cusnman’s Roup Cure will be very fine.

However, the trouble is likely to return if you turn the
turkey out in the cold. If it is worth the trouble it is better
to keep it in the house until cold weather is over. Feed
onions, soft food, corn and plenty of grit. I find Littell’s
liquid sulphur will do for flowers of sulphur in almost every
case where fiowers of sulphur is needed. I think simple reme-
dies will cure almost any trouble if taken in time. Do not
fail to give cnions once a week during the fall and through-
out the winter. They are a safeguard against roup and any
diseases caused by cold.

For canker sores try putting a little alum in the drink-
ing water one day and copperas the next. Apply Mexican
Conkey’s Roup
Cure in the drinking water will be beneficial to the general
health.

WORMS

“My turkeys are dyiug fast and I found worms in the
droppings. What must I do for them?”

If the entire flock is sick, give turpentine in drinking
water and in the food—a tablespoonful of turpentine to a
gallon of water and a teaspoonful] to a quart of food; also
add a tablespoonful of Epsom salts*to a gallon of water.
Give both the turpentine and salts at the same time. If
only one turkey is thus affected I would catch it and give
it a teaspoonful of castor oil, into which put five or six drops
of turpentine; then feed as a tonic cholera cure.

MISCELLANEOUS.

I quote from an old number of the R. P. J. from an
article on “Turkeys as Hatchers”:

“When I first read in an English poultry book of the
French method of using turkeys to hatch and care for chick-

60 * TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

ens, I had no incubator and concluded to try the plan. Late
in the fall I sent out in the country and bought a late
hatched hen turkey for very little money. In February we
prepared a box (with plenty of chaff over a layer of horse
manure) that could be shut up to exclude the ligat. Did
not give either wine nor whiskey, but in two or three weeks
she was sitting quietly on the china eggs and when taken
off the nest to be fed would voluntarily return. I then filled
the nest with hens’ eggs, removing them as soon as they
began to pip to keep the turkey from wanting to leave the
nest and putting in other eggs. After sitting three months
she was put in a yard with chickens for the rest of the sum-
mer. We put chickens of different ages with her and she
received them all with equal kindness.

“This year we have two turkeys besides an incubator,
and after hatching three sittings of eggs we thought best
to take them off the nest, but one watched her chance and
went back on the nest till I filled it with eggs again, so I
let her stay. The other is laying and will be ready for work
later if needed.

“They make careful, patient mothers, are equal in that
respect to any hen, and it is a wonder that farmers do not
make more use of them than they do. (Cou ee Ars

FARMING OUT TURKEYS.

I am often asked if I find it satisfactory to farm out
my turkeys. It is perfectly satisfactory, because I haye no
one to raise turkeys for me who is not in all respects reli-
able; besi des they hatch them earlier than I can, ag the
twenty-five or thiriy hens kept at home do not lay eggs
any faster than I have calls for them from the time they

begin laying until the first of June. I have young turkeys
now out oa the farms that one has to look at the second
time to be sure whether they are hens or young turkeys.
Farm-bred turkeys do net get very fat, consequently do not
weigh as heavy when I take them’ as I would make them
weigh to please those who demand the pounds of flesh, but
the frame is there. Be sure you know with whom you are
placing your stock and you will have no difficulty.

Hach season teaches us some lesson that is profitable to
us for the next. I have learned to take only one flock of
hens and pullets and ancther of toms on the place at one
time. When two or more flocks are brought in at the same
time they fight so they will not eat and do not fatten. I
find it better to pay board for a few flocks on the farms
than to bring them together on the home place. [I could
not raise all my stock at home and furnish pairs and trios
not related, nor could I ship as I now do to the same cus-
tomers every year and insure a change of blood.

To those persons who have written me, asking if T think
it will pay to raise turkeys, I cam Only say that I have never
heard any One who has given it a fair trial say that it
does not pay. Still I would not advise one to undertake
to raise turkeys who is not willing or physically able te
expose himself to all sorts of weather, both hot and cold.
Turkeys must be kept dry while young and gotten home
early in the afternoon.

How shall you succeed with turkeys? The best way to
succeed is to keep on trying. If you fail this year, get more
in earnest and try again next year.

MRS. BETTIE GLOVER MACKEY.

RAISING

TURKEYS.

By J. C. Clipp.

HE laying stock should be the first thought. It is
best to use rather old hens mated with young
but matured gobblers, or old gobblers mated to
young hens. We prefer the first mentioned mat-
ing. As it nears the laying period more care
should be devoted to the food. We use little corn

and give a soft maSh with one part meat and bone to six
or eight parts mixed food. Give the turkeys full iiberty
and give only half rations. If the range is good feed
morning and night. Give soft food in the morning,
wheat and oats at night. Care should be used not to
have the young turkeys too fat, and keep a constant
lookout for lice. Be sure to have a tight board bot-
tom to the coop. ‘This bottom should be cleaned and then
dusted with dust or sand, or sprinkled with bright wheat
straw every day.

Cut the grass short where the coops are located, and
for some distance around. Always place the coops on
ground that fowls never run over; keep everything very
clean. Always feed on a clean board, and never feed more
that-the turkeys will eat up clean. Keep a supply of good
drinking water and wash out the drinking vessel every day.
It is best to keep sharp grit and coarse ground bone in
dishes close to the feeding boards.

Keep the young turkeys confined close to the coop the
first week, then let them run at will, but never let them
get caught in a shower or run in the dew. Jf a young tur-
key once gets wet and chilled it is hard to restore it again.

The first week we feed hard boiled eggs, into which is
mixed a little ground black pepper. As soon as we remove

the young from the nest we give each a grain of black
pepper. When they are one week old we remove the board
pen and let them run at will, but always train them to come
up morning, noon and night for meals. We prepare soaked
bread in a little sweet milk, with onion tops cut fine and
mixed with their food, just enough to flavor nicely, and we
enjoy that moon feed as much as the turkeys, to see them
coming through the wood pasture meeting us, and we notice
that they always clean up the onion tops first.

When lice make their appearance dust the turkeys with
insect powder and grease their heads with lard, using grease
carefully. We have been told not to give the young turkeys
any drinking water, but this is all nonsense. We give our
turkeys all the fresh water they will drink, but care is used
that the vessels are clean and a few drops of carbolie acid
is used to each gallon of water.

In the spring we purchase a few sittings of eggs from
the best heavy weight and laying strains of Mammoth
Bronze turkeys that we can get, in order to build up our
stock and keep them hardy and never inbred. We prefer
the Mammoth Bronze turkeys because they grow larger and
are very hardy.

We always raise with domestic hens, as they do not
wander far from home and always bring their flocks up at
night. s

The secret in raising turkeys successfully is in having
strong, healthy fowls, using clean food and fresh water and
keeping the young free from lice and out of storms.

J: sG@iuleb:

ADVICE ON RAISING TURKEYS.

Description of the Mammoth Bronze—Turkeys Need Room—tare and Management of Young Turkeys.

By Mrs. S. A. McClellan.

F ALL branches of poultry keeping, raising
idurkeys is perhaps the most interesting,
as well as the most profitable. We feel
that we have accomplished something
when we take a downy little poult weigh-
ing only a few ounces, and by care and

attention raise him up to be a strong bird that will tip the

scales at thirty pounds or more at less than a year old. I

have heard af young males weighing much more thau this,

but if mine reach thirty pounds without extra pushing or
fattening I think I am doing pretty well.

Of the several varieties the Bronze is at present the
favorite, and justly so, it would seem, when we consider
their many excellent qualities. The Bronze possess the hand-
somest plumage, attain the largest size, take on fat readily,
and being gentle and docile in disposition, are easily con-
trolled: while the young poults are healthy, hardy, grow
rapidly and are easily raised.

Pure-bred stock I would have by all means to begin
with as they mature early, which is desirable for home use,
as well as for market purposes, and if the strain be brought
to anything like perfection, there is always a demand for
young stock for breeding as well as for hatching. A fine

specimen of Bronze sometimes scores as high as 98% points’

out of a possible 106.

Although a great deal has been said about the weight
of Bronze turkeys, yet when selecting the stock one should
be guided nearly as much by the symmetry of the bird and
the beauty of its plumage as by its weight or size. The
body should be long and deepest at the center, with a full
breast, broad back, stout thighs and shanks of moderate
length. In young birds, the shanks are a dead black, but
they grow lighter with age until they finally become a sort
of pink or flesh color.

TURKEYS NEED ROOM,

No one should attempt to raise turkeys who has not
sufficient space for them; for it is useless to attempt co raise
turkeys in limited runs. This is where many poultry breed-
ers make their mistake, and when failure meets them they
put it down to every cause except the right one. It must
be remembered that the turkey is really the last of our
domestic fowls that has been brought from its wild state
and placed under domestication.

You must not be afraid of work when you go into the
poultry business, either with turkeys or chickens. It takes
all the patience and perseverance possible. But turkeys
will pay you well for your trouble, and when six weeks old
the most of the work and danger are over and you will be
proud of them, for after that they will be things of beauty
and joy while they last. It is pleasanter to feed turkeys
than chickens. They know when they nave enough and can
be satisfied with a reasonable amount; that is, all except
the gobbler—he never stops eating as long as there is any
food in sight.

A great deal has been said and written about turkeys
still, to the uninitiated, raising turkeys is a great mystery—
so much so in fact that after one or two futile attempts,
many give up ip despair. The scientific poultry raiser of
course knows exactly how it is done, but the wife or
daughter of the farmer in moderate circumstances can afford
few of the conveniences which tend to lessen the labor and
which are considered absolute necessities by the professional
poultry raiser. To he sure it requires a considerable amount
of exercise to keep up wih a large flock of turkeys when
they have the whole surface of the broad earth to range
over, but then it is heaithful exercise; it takes us out of
doors into the wholesome fresh air, and sends us back to the
house with glowing cheeks and a hearty appetite.

The exact degree of restraint to be placed upon turkeys
at laying time requires for its solution the nicest sort of
judgment. If entirely left to themselves, the most secluded
spot at the farthest limit of their range will probably be
selected as a nesting place. Then sometimes they will con-
ceal their nests scarcely a hundred yards away, and be so
cunning about it, with their sudden appearances and dis-
appearances, as to keep us in the dark for some time as to
its whereabouts.

If we knew that a hen would keep the same nest dur-
ing the laying of one clutch of eggs, and that the crows
or varmints would not find the eggs and destroy them, we
might be more willing to humor her in regard to its location,
even though it should cost us quite a lengthy walk in visit-
ing them. (Sisters, did you ever think how near, in sweet
communion you could come to God during those long walks
in the early twilight, when all nature is bowing to the Li-
vine will?) But the greater number of people err at the
other extreme, and confine their turkeys to a close pen from
sun up to sun down.

Of the two methods the latter is to be avoided more than
the former, as the hens thus kept in confinement not only
produce a fewer number of eggs, but a larger per cent prove
infertile. But there is in this as everything else a happy
medium. Have a good-sized inclosure in a rather secluded
place: make partly concealed nests of old boxes and barrels
turned down, with a nice nest in them made of straw and
leaves; shut the turkeys in every morning for two or three
weeks before they commence laying, and most of the hens
will willingly accept these nests.

TURKEYS NOT HARD TO RAISE.

While the turkeys are laying gather in the eggs every
evening, leaving two or three hen eggs in the nest. There is
little more time or jabor expended in rearing a flock of sev-
enty-five turkeys than so many chickens, and the result is
much more satisfactory—turkeys being subject to fewer dis-
eases and, barring accidents, one ¢an usually succeed in rais-
ing nearly every one hatched.

If the hen lays in a suitable place for sitting do not
remove her; but should you desire to set her somewhere else

62 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

you can easily move her by letting her stay on the nest two
or three days or until she becomes real broody; then after
dark sprinkle her with a good insect powder and gently
move her to the new nest previously prepared for her and
fasten her in. Then do not let her out for two or three days.
Feed, water and watch her to see she goes back on the nest.
It is best to keep her shut up for several days for fear she
will come off and go to her old nest. After yous take her
off several times and she goes back willingly you can leave
the nest open, providing there is nothing to disturb her.
Some hens stay so close to the nest as to scarcely come off
at all during the twenty-eight days. Hens that are not in-
clined to come off or are shut up should be gently and
quietly lifted off every third day and given a good feed of
shelled corn and fresh water 1o drink.

In setting turkeys do not give them too many eggs. If
they are of good size fifteen is plenty. At the same time
give nine to a domestic hen, and when hatched give all
poults to the turkey hen. Turkey eggs usually hatch well
an you will probably get twenty poults, which is enough
for one turkey.

Two days before time for them to hatch sprinkle the
hen again with insect powder, working it well into her
feathers. When she begins to hatch it is best to remove the
little poults and all shells. Take the little downy things to
the house and wrap them in warm flannel. After dark take
them back and quietly slip them under the hen for the night.
Should she be restless it would be best to remove most of
them the second day.

When she is ready to leave the nest I move them to
what I call the turkey pen, which is made of boards twelve
inches or more high. In size eight by twelve to sixteen feet
is a good size for one hen. For the pen select a sunny spot
with short green grass, and on high ground that naturally
drains itself. In one end have a large box or coop made
of boards with a door that will fasten up close at the bottom
so aS not to leave a hole large enough for a little poult to
get out, but give plenty of ventilation at top of coop. In the
bottom of coop place a little straw, which can be removed
when soiled and clean straw put in.

In making the turkey pen be sure you do not leave a
hole at the bottom large enough for a little turkey to crowd
through, for the first few days it seems to be like an incuba-
tor chick, does not know enough to stay with its mother,
and if they get out of the pen they are liable to wander off
and be lost. After | make my pens I take a spade and throw
dirt up on tke outside at every place where the boards do
not fit down close to the ground.

FEEDING YOUNG TURKEYS.

Young turkeys need no food at all until ‘the second day,

or until they are from twenty-four to thirty-six hours old.

Then I feed them light bread soaked in sweet milk. Feed
five times a day and give them fresh water in a fountain,
for little turkeys must not get wet. Should you have no
small regular fountains, make one by taking an old tin can.
Drive a nail through one side, near the top. (A few trials
will teach you exactly where to make the hole.) Fill a can
with water and turn it upside down in a saucer. The hen
can scarcely drink from the saucer, but I set in an old tin
can filled with water for her. C

When the poults are three or four days old, turn them
out for an hour or two in the afternoon, providing the
weather is suitable and the grass dry. Watch them to see
that the hen does not rove too far with them. Should she
be inclined to lead them off, watch them awhile and
then put them back in the pen and allow the hen to go out
and in as she pleases. Do not turn them out when the grass
is wet, as long as the footboard will keep the little ones in.

When they are a week or two old I begin to feed them
curd and corn bread softened with sweet milk; and if the
weather is fine and they have good range three feeds a day
will do them until they are large enough to go off ard stay
all day, then a feed early in the morning and one at night
to bring them home is all they need. Some let them go
without any food, but I think they grow faster and get out
of danger sooner to feed them.

I feed bread and curd most of the time until they are
able to eat whole corn, then give part bread. My turkeys
are usually spoiled children. When I give them grain they
won't eat much of it, but stretch up their necks and tell
me they want what’s in that pan.

Never allow your turkeys to roost away from home. If
they do not come, go after them, and they will generally
soon come of their own accord, and when near home they
will raise their little wings and fly to their feeding ground,
for they are as glad to get home as children let loose from
school and bring with them quite as good appetites.

After they are a few weeks old do not put them up at
night but let them roost out of doors in the open air. Tur-
keys do not like to be housed. Just drive them near the
house, and every night know exactly where they are roost-
ing, so ‘that should a hard rain or storm come up in the
nignt you can go out and get them in. I have often gone
out at such times with a lantern and picked them up. Nor
did I always get them before the rain was on me.

Never try to raise turkeys with a domestic hen, and en-
deavor to keep them away from all other fowls on the farm.
And do not neglect to watch for the lice, for they will soon
kill the little poults. Dust often at night with insect powder.
Keep crushed oyster shells before them, as well as other
poultry. MRS. S. A. McCLELLAN.

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FEEDING AND CARING FOR POULTS.,

By Mrs. Julia A. Tapscott.

N THE early spring I watch my turkey hens and as

soon as I find they are wanting a nest I put them up in

a large house built entirely of logs, the cracks left open

so they can get pure air just the same as if they were

out of doors. I put them up early of mornings and keep

plenty of food, water and grit in the house for them. I

keep them up until 5 o’clock in the evening and then turn

them out for exercise, and after being put up a few mornings

they will go to the house and wait for some one to open the

door and let them in. I have nests made on the ground next

to the wall and keep some chicken eggs in the nests for nest-
eggs. I keep from ten to sixteen hens to one tom.

I do not have any trouble in hunting turkey nests and -

losing the eggs by the crows. When the turkey hen goes
to sitting I find the best way is to move her to some place
where I can keep her shut up until she is satisfied. I set
her on chicken eggs and put all the turkey eggs under gen-
tle domestic hens, for they do not break them so badly. As
soon as they begin to pip I take two or three and slip them
under the turkey hen, let her hatch them out and she will
then own the entire flock. As fast as they hatch out under
the domestic hen I take them out of the nest and wrap them
up in a flannel cloth in a basket, and keep 'them until they
are about twenty-four hours old before I put them with the
turkey hen or give them anything to eat. Then they are
strong enough to keep out of the hen’s way, and if she is
gentle she will not mash them.

I put from twenty to twenty-five little poults with one
hen in a good tight-floored house. I feed them on milk curds
and a little chopped lettuce and onions, with plenty of fine
grit until they are two or three weeks old. I give them
water in a very shallow pan and as soon as all have drunk I
take the water away from them, for they love to play in
the water and will soon drabble themselves.. I have a small
yard fenced with plank around their houses, and I keep
them in the yard until they are ten or twelve days old. I
have grass in the yard and they pick the little tender shoots

and seem to enjoy them greatly. When the weather is rainy
and bad I keep them shut up in their houses. These houses
have windows with screen wire and outside shutters, and
if it is warm I open the shutters,

When they are ten or twelve days old I turn them out
and let them go where they please over the farm, but I call
them up and feed them at noon every day. ‘They soon learn
to come up just at the same time every day to be fed. After
they are two weeks old I feed them corn bread made of
white meal, buttermilk, soda and eggs baked in the oven
until thoroughly done. I let the cake get cold before feeding.
If it gets tco hard and dry to crumble up for the little poults
soak it in sweet milk or water and squeeze dry. I chop up
green onion tops twice a week in their food, and as soon as
they are large enough to eat corn I feed shelled corn and
wheat. I never allow them to roost from home when they
are little. I drive them to their houses every night and
they soon learn to come themselves.

Just as scon as they are large enough to sit on a plank
and roost at night I have trestles set in their houses and lay
nariow strips of plank across. I set the poults all up on the
planks and the old hens up with them. These trestles are
two and one-half feet high, and the little fellows will soon
learn to fly up on them. I keep them in their houses at
night until there is no danger of their drowning, then let
them roost on the planed fence. I sweep their house floor
every day, sprinkle air-slaked lime all over the floor and
sides and then sweep all the lime out. Once a week I sprin-
kle the floor and walls with carbolic acid, and twice a week
dust all the turkeys with insect powder until they are full
feathered, then I dust them only once a week.

This may seem 10 be a great deal of work, but I think I
was well paid for my labor last year, as I raised over a hun-
dred nice turkeys. I have never kept a tom three years, but I
have kept hens until they were six years old. I find the older
the hens the better mothers they make, and the little poults
are larger and stronger. MRS. JULIA A. TAPSCOTT.

THE HAPPY MEDIUM.

By Stanley Williams.

White Holland turkeys originated in Holland, from
which they derived their name. Their plumage is snow
white throughout, except the beard, which is jet black.
The head and wattles are bright red, which makes the bird
very attractive and much admired. They are very gentle
in disposition and do not wander away from home like other
breeds. Careful investigation shows that instances where
a flock of this variety of turkeys failed to come home to
roost are very rare. They are the most hardy turkey
known, except the wild turkey, and they are equal to them.
The hens are exceedingly prolific and have been known to
lay aS many as seventy eggs in one season when given
good care and food. The little ones are the strongest and
easiest to raise of all domestic turkeys. They are espec-
ially adapted to smalJl places, or where one has near neigh-
bors. The quality of the flesh is sweet and tender and
their feathers are more valuable for commercial purposes

than those of other varieties. They mature early, and while
they do not attain as great weight as some of the dark
colored breeds at maturity, they are as large when six.
months old as the majority of turkeys, and larger than
many of the so-called Bronze turkeys. They are a happy
medium in the turkey line, as it is the medium sized
“plump” birds that sell the highest in market. Being white
in plumage, they have no dark pin feathers to show and
present a finer appearance when dressed than any other
breed. The chicks are very rapid growers, and if given
a good range and well fed during October and November
they will weigh at December 1st, toms fifteen to eighteen
pounds, hens from ten to twelve pounds. The standard
weights of the White Holland turkeys are: Cock, twenty-
six pounds; cockerel, sixteen pounds; hen, sixteen pounds;
pullet, ten pounds, ; a
STANLEY WILLIAMS.

TURKEYS FOR PROFIT.

Turkeys in Demand—Varieties—Enclose the Breeders—Fencing—Mating and Housing—Overfeeding—Late Hatched
Turkeys—Green Food for Growth—Ffreeing From Lice—Results of Line Breeding—Supply
Grit—Observation and Care Necessary to Success.

By Mrs. Charles Jones.

URKEYS have been raised longer than the
memory of those now living can trace and
still the business is in its infancy. People

most profitable crops of poultry that can be
raised on a farm from a market standpoint.
From the fanciers’ outlook they are making such great
strides in size, weight and plumage, and command such high
prices that they are doubly profitable.

If the exhibit of Bronze turkeys at the Chicago show
Was any criterion, the business of raising Bronze turkeys has
reached a point that nearly eclipses all other departments
of poultry raising. When one yearling tom will bring $50
and a pair of young turkeys $75 it proves the value of the

A Winner From the Yards of Mrs. Charles Jones.

goods, and these were the prices asked and paid for some
fine specimens at Chicago. Immediately breeders put up
prices on eggs from 50 cents to one dollar apiece. From
these facts one can safely conclude that the Bronze turkey

* business is booming, especially when the last year has seen
more turkeys shipped to foreign countries than were ever
sent before. The turkey has been basely slandered and has
been considered to be about as stupid aS a mule. I have

- never had any experience in trying to teach a mule to keep
his hind feet on the ground when his best friend stood be-
hind him, but I have taught turkeys to respect my wishes
and stay on one plantation.

Seeing a four-horse load of turkeys going to market gath-
ered from four farms, I said, surely I must go and wake up
Rip Van Winkle, so that he may see what the despised “Old
Woman’s hen business” is now. When he went to sleep
about twelve hens and one rooster was the poultry equip-
ment of a farm, and turkeys were wild in the forest. If per-

ave realizing each year that it is one of the -

chance a hunter brought one down for Christmas or Thanks-
giving that was all the people of those days expected.

The newsboys of Chicago were presented with over two
thousand turkeys this season, and I really do not know
which to pity most, the turkeys or the newsboys. At the
mayor’s banquet in Paris over 2,000 pounds of turkeys were
consumed, and still the demand increases. The poultry busi-
ness as Swift’s poultry packing houses in Chicago promises
to equal, if not exceed, the hog packing industry.

As our population increases the great tracts of land
used for grazing will be taken up into farms and the great
droves of cattle now raised on them will be a thing of the
past. Pork is not good for a steady diet, and the people will
demand an immense number of turkeys, chickens, ducks and
geese to meet the deficit caused by the lack of cattle.

WHITES, BLACKS, BUEFS AND REDS.

I am-frequently asked how many varieties of turkeys
we have bred. I have only bred the old-fashioned scrub and
the Bronze. I prefer the Bronze to any variety I have ever
seen, as it grows so very much larger, is so hardy and it is
such a pleasure to have a flock of these brilliant beauties
around. I think it is easy to get a good Bronze near to
standard requirements in markings, brilliant plumage ard
weight, although there has been added pound after pound
to the weight ‘clause, and one has to get them almost as
large as a calf to answer the requirements in weight. I
think the weight is too high, as a turkey will shrink from
one to two pounds while en route to the show. I have had
them weighed in the show room where they have shown a
shrinkage of over three pounds. It is a settled fact that
the Bronze turkey matures slower than other varieties, as
they grow until four years old. I think the Black turkey
comes next as a desirable turkey; they nearly equal the
Bronze in size and beauty. I breed the Bronze now for size
and beauty as well as for their popularity. There is a great
demand for them. The White Holland comes next in pop-
ularity. They are liked by people who have small range,
as they are what one may call a domestic turkey, not given
to extensive wandering, and possess very little of the wild
spirit. I am quite partial to white fowls, but on account of
hardiness and great weight, as weil as beautiful plumage, I
prefer the Bronze.

I once owned a trio of black turkeys for a short time
In one of my orders for turkeys to go to Europe I had a
call for a trio of Black turkeys and a trio of Buffs, and as
I did not breed them I had to find some good enough to
ship across the pond. I sent to a well known Ohio judge and
he sent me a Black tom that had never been beaten in the
show room, a pullet that took first premium at the Ohio
state fair, and another equally as good. Well, that trio
was so dazzlingly beautiful that it almost shook my alle-
giance to the Bronze. If ever I should change my breed
of turkeys it would be to take up the Black turkey. I also

or

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 65

got a very fine trio of Buffs from a reliable breeder in our
own state and those with the trio of the best of my Bronze
birds made a shipment that any turkey breeder might be
_ proud of. The honor did not all belong to me, however.

I am in receipt of a very interesting letter from a lady
in Ohio in regard to the Bourbon Red turkey. She has bred
them only one year. Her tom and hen were both young
and to that she attributes the weakness of the poults, but
as only one died a natural death it goes to show they are
quite hardy. They were very large when first hatched and
very pretty. They are about as hardy as the Bronze when
raised under similar conditions, and make beautiful birds
when grown. They are marked something like a peafowl,
are very quiet and not much inclined to wander and want
to be left entirely alone to attend strictly to their own
business. My correspondent thinks that for a market fowl
a cross of the Bronze and the Bourbon Red would give good
results.

If any one knows the origin of the Bourbon Red I should
be glad to obtain a knowledge of the subject.

MATING AND HOUSING.

I am often asked which is the best way to mate tur-
keys—young toms with hens or old toms with pullets. I
like an old tom, but sometimes one suffers a serious loss
among the hens, resulting from injury caused by a vigorous
male. I always make cots for the spurs the same as a finger
cot, and wire them on the legs with a fine copper wire. If
the spur is very sharp we saw the sharp point off and cut
the toe nails very blunt. [I find this an indispensable treat-
ment if one expects to escape loss.

A correspondent asks how many turkeys she ought to
keep, and how many hens and toms she should buy to begin
preeding on forty acres of land. She is building a house for
them. I wrote and told her not to build a house for turkeys,
an open shed is all they ever need. A high shed eovered
with prairie hay or anything that will keep out rain and sun.
I think when the ever ruling hand made turkeys He made
the sky their covering. I really do like an open shed for
rainy or stormy days and when the terrible blizzards sweep
Over the country, but you might as well try to chain the
lightning or hold a cyclone in the hollow of your hand as
to attempt to make turkeys break the laws of nature that
made a roost on the topmost branch of the tree an ideal
place for them to spend a cold night. While we cuddle
down in a warm bed, they are taking a constitutional on the
tree top, swaying in the blast and they come down full of
vigor and with an appetite that almost equals the ostrich.
I never try to control them as to their quarters for the night
unless we have a severe ice storm, or one of our terrib!e
blizzards. The rest of the time they are left to ‘paddle their
Own canoe” at night. When the Creator put into turkeys
the instinct to sleep in the open air He knew more about
raising turkeys than I do.

As to the number of birds my correspondent should be-
gin with, I would under no circumstances get more than ten
hens and one tom. I started with three thoroughbred hens
and a tom, even theugh I had raised turkeys for some years
before this. I always advise inquirers to begin upon a
small scale in any branch of poultry raising. One may
work into the business and will not then lose the money
invested, nor think the business is unprofitable. One turkey
hen will lay two litters of eggs in a season, and this is all
it is profitable to have her lay, for if she laid a third litter
it would be too late to bother with them. She usually lays
about thirty eggs in two litters, sometimes more, some-
times less. If this lady raises one hundred and fifty tur-
keys from ten hens she will be doing well, as the eggs will
not all hatch and the poults will not all live. There are

always some that are weak when first hatched. One hun-
dred and fifty turkeys will be as many as should be kept
on forty acres, for they are not like chickens, they must
have range and must hunt for the larger portion of their
food if it is desired to raise them to perfection in size, vigor
and plumage, and of course it is.

Turkeys raised on a large range are best to use as breed-
ers, aS they develop on nature’s plan—bone, muscle and
frame, and that is what we want instead of heavy weights
and small frames. Some people think weight is the criterion
of excellence in turkeys. I wish I could take them out with
me In my morning rambles and show them the points of ex-
cellence my birds are developing by roving around and pick-
ing up the food that nature contributes so lavishly for their
benefit. The large, long legs and well proportioned bodies
with the morning sun glancing from their brilliant plumage
make a sight worth seeing. Exercise and the right kind of
diet go a long way towards making a perfect turkey.

The Bronze turkey does not develop until four years
old, and it stands to reason that a bird which develops slow-
ly and healthily will make a better breeder and produce
healthier and larger stock than those which are pushed io
maturity, and which attain great weights simply by over-
feeding and lack of exercise. First secure good health ard
a large frame, then let nature put on weight at maturity.
If this course were followed we would not hear so much
about diseases and non-success in raising turkeys. They
were created for a special purpose and intended to be
healthy, and when we undertake to run against nature there
is war at once and we have to pay the penalty.

YARDING AND TRAINING TURKEYS.

I raise turkeys and like the business and attribute much
of my success to keeping my turkeys yarded through tke
breeding season. People generally think it a great expense
to build a fence that will keep turkeys in, though I do not
find it so. A three-foot woven wire fence with barbed wire
above to make the fence four or five feet high will keep
them confined if the flight feathers of one wing are cut. I
keep the young turkeys yarded in the same yard until they
are six weeks or two months old, which makes it conven-
ient to protect the young poults from the wet and I can
look them over once a week for lice, and never have to be
hunting up my turkeys.

People ask me if they are not hard to raise. I raise
a larger per cent of those hatched than I do of chickens.
For the last two years I have raised over 95 per cent of all
turkeys hatched.

I have found that fifty turkeys in a yard or field are
enough to do well. If you keep more than that together they
are apt to pile in together and smother after they are about
a month old. When I get a flock of fifty I start another
drove in another field. I set four or five turkey hens and
at the same time give to domestic hens as many turkey eggs
as I think the turkeys can take care of. If possible I sot
an incubator with chicken eggs. When they all hatch I
give the turkeys all the poults and the domestic hens all the
ineubator chicks, and that makes business lively all around,
and keeps me very busy.

I raise from three different flocks of turkeys, ten hens
and one tom, in each flock. We have from one acre to three
acres fenced in with a three-foot wire netting, three-inch
mesh, with barbed wire at the top, making the fence five
feet high. Turkeys will never try to fly over a barbed wire
fence. They will crawl under if the wires are not close
together, but they will never try to fly over it. If they ever
attempt it they are almost sure to run a barb through their
foot and one experience of that kind is generally enough.
I have had them caught that way and hang until dead. I

66 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

use the breeding yards for the young turkeys until they are
large enough to drive out on the range, putting fifty in
each yard. At six weeks or two months they are driven
onto their summer range, driving them home at night un-
til they have learned the trick of coming home to roost.
There is considerable work getting them started to run out
on the range and come home at night. If you allow them to
run at large and stay out at night they will wander away
to neighbors and sometimes go miles from home, but if
they are driven home nightly for a week or two they will
soon come home of their own accord, and then your work
in the turkey yard is nearly over, as they can take care of
themselves, only you must watch that they do not forget
to come home.

Turkeys like a large range as they grow older, but whiie
young, one to three acres makes plenty of range. You will
soon find out when they get dissatisfied with their quar-
ters, as they will crawl out or fly into your garden or yard,
showing that they are anxious to start on their foraging
expeditions. If the hay and oats are cut so ‘that they can
get around without trampling things down, or finding ioo
much to hide in, we turn them out.

Turkeys can be made to go almost anywhere their
owner wants ‘them to by driving them to the farthest fields
when they are first started out, but they must be brought
home nights until they learn to come home, I bought a tel-
escope to Save steps and I find it a very great help, espec-
ially as I have to watch my turkeys on account of the rail-
road track. In the early dry part of the season I had a
great deal of trouble with my turkeys wandering so far that
they could not get back at night. We discovered that they
invariably went where they found water last year, and we
concluded it was water they were after, so we took large
dishes and put out where we wanted them to run, and then
they only went about one-half mile away and stayed on our
own place. Their going where they found water last year
shows that turkeys have memories. I believe animals have
much more intelligence than we give them credit for. Only
their language and way of giving expression to their wants
is all Greek to us.

To show how turkeys measure time our turkeys invar-
iably start for the house in time to reach the west edge of
the pasture at four o’clock, and it takes them until about
sundown to reach the house near where they roost. Now,
how can they tell the time of day, which they seem to do
as well aS we do?

I did not learn in a day nor in a year the art of raising
nearly all the turkeys hatched, nor until I had lost hun-
dreds each year, I acting as pall bearer and chief mourner,
and I assure you I filled the position of mourner admirably,
weeping copiously over buried hopes (and those hopes were
of a well filled purse).

I hope I shall not have to meet those turkeys in the
next world and be held accountable for my unpardonable
ignorance, but perhaps by sincerely repenting my past mis-
takes the sin of ignorance will be forgiven me. If I can
be of any help to those who raise $50 and $75 turkeys it may
help condone ‘the past. May our great American Thanks-
giving bird soar still higher and grow bigger and reach the
thousand-dollar mark. He is sure to have his praises sung
in foreign tongues, and the fun of it all is, how is he ever
with his stupid brain going to learn those foreign languages,
and when they call him to breakfast, dinner and supper,
how will he know what it all means?

INDIGESTION.

A turkey grows very fast and has an appetite like an
ostrich, but without an ostrich’s digestive ability. As the
natural way for a turkey to eat is to pick up a grain here

and there in such a manner as to give the digestive organs
a grain at a time to digest, then the digestive mill grinds
slowly without being clogged. This method of feeding keeps
up a steady circulation and the turkey keeps growing larger
and stronger, the digestive organs being developed as the
turkey grows, and they are therefore better able to do their
work when more food is required to be digested to build
up a large frame. On the other hand, when the poults
are overfed, the machinery is clogged and there is a gen-
eral smash-up, the effect being similar to that caused by
throwing a bushel of corn into a corn sheller. The machine
will do its work all right if fed slowly, so will a turkey’s
digestive organs. A turkey is a voracious eater and will
eat as often as you feed it.

There are other causes that will bring death with very
nearly the Same symptoms. One is lice and one is lack of
sharp grit. A turkey cannot grind its food without grit any
more than a miller can grind wheat without millstones;
we might as well try to chew our food without teeth.

A neighbor told me that her turkeys were dying and I
sent her word to come and get some Mica Crystal Grit and
give them, as I knew she was not giving them any grit. I
advised her to put a little in the food every morning. She
did so and her turkeys are no longer dying. It was the
absence of sharp grit that caused them to die.

I have adopted a treatment for turkeys and chicks that
has proved a great success. If I see them act as though they
were not feeling well I give a calomel pill. These I buy
from the druggist, each pill to contain a tenth of a grain
of calomel. I give the pills one a day for three days, then
foliow with quinine pills twice a day until the birds are
well. If noticed and treated when first they show symp-
toms of not being well I have never failed to effect a cure.
The calomel stirs up the liver and gets it to work, as
most cases of sickness among pcultry commence with 4
disordered liver. After the system has had a thorough
cleansing the quinine acts as tonic to build the birds
up and gives them appetites, then nature does the rest. By
this course of treatment you ward off what might termi-
nate in serious sickness and death. I have used similar
treatment in the human family and saved a great many doc-
tor’s bills, to say nothing of long spells of sickness and
suffering.

OVERFEEDING CAUSES DEATH.

Overfeeding is a common cause of loss in young tur-
keys. I feed only three times a day for the good reason
that I could not possibly find time to feed oftener with the
large number I raise. I find it sufficient. They take more
exercise if fed less, then when they are fed they are hungry.
The time between feeding, too, allows the food to digest
and gives the digestive organs a little rest.

I feed more green food than most people do, as I find it
has the same effect on turkeys that it has on ducks. It pro-
duces a large frame. I chop dandelion leaves for them in
the morning and at night chop up onions, tops and all. I
notice there is never a scrap of the green food left when
they are through eating. They make rapid growth when fed
this way, besides it is a cheap way to feed them.

I give a little sharp grit in their food every morning.
I use grit and oyster shell, the larger part grit, as turkeys
to be healthy must have it. I have lost hundreds of turkeys
I know by not having plenty of grit with which to grind
their food. If they get a little sharp grit in their focd
every morning it keeps their grinding apparatus in perfect
order. Very young turkeys do not find 'the grit of their own
accord,and as they grow older they are liable to gorge them-
selves with the grit as Soon as they discover its use, thereby
clogging their digestive organs, while a small quantity

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 67

in their food each morning keeps them in excellent condi-
tion.

I have my little poults so they will fly over a board a
foot high when but a week old. There are more turkeys
killed by overfeeding and lice and want of grit than all
other things combined. If you do not keep them near the
house so that you can run them under cover when a heavy
storm comes up you are liable to lose a large per cent. I
find a large shed with a board floor is fine to run them in in
ease of sudden storms. Of course you must stay close at
home to meet all these emergencies. It is not more con-
fining than other occupations. The merchant, lawyer, doc-
tor, mechanie and farmer have to confine themselves closely
to business, and the poultry raiser, whether for the fancy or
market, must make it a business and work on business prin-
ciples.

EVILS FROM LACK OF EXERCISE.

I learned something about exercise for very young tur-
keys this year. I hatched some under hens quite early;
it was wet and cold and of the two evils I decided I would
not turn them out to run through the day, so I kept them
cooped a week Or more. When I went to feed them I found
one that did not seem to have the use of its left side. I
thought it had got hurt in some way and would soon be
all right. It got no better and I still kept them cooped,
as it was so cold and wet; then another got that way. They
would push themselves around with their right foot as they
lay on their left side. When the third one was taken sick
I decided it was paralysis of the left side, brought on by lack
cf exercise, and so [ turned them out. Those that had Deon
affected died. It was still cold and wet when my other tur-
keys began to hatch, and I kept the first lot of chicks cooped
perhaps five days, when one of them acted in the same way
as the early hatched birds. I turned them out to run through
the day and that was the last of it. This convinced me that
it was paralysis brought on by lack of exercise. The pecu-
liar part of it was that it was alwavs the left side affected.
My turkeys are making rapid growth out on the range.
I feed them a little grain when they come up at night, and
we have such quantities of apples that I put the small ones
in a box and chop them up with the spade and feed them
to all the poultry, and they do enjoy the cool juice these
hot, dry days, and the apples keep them in such good health
and are so much better for them than green food or even
grasshoppers exclusively.

The only road to success with turkeys is to keep them
healthy. Give them plenty of exercise, commencing to let
them run through the middle of the day at three or four
days cld; keep the lice off and give a little grit in their
food every morning, with good, clean water to drink and
they will have very few diseases. Exercise they must have,
but very young turkeys can have sufficient exercise on an
acre or two, and a great many young turkeys can be saved
by enjoying this exercise under your control. Coop at night
until they begin to want to roost.

PUNCHING THE POULTS.

IT always mark my young poults when I put them out on
the range, as otherwise they would be forgotten or neglect-
ed. With care there will be found web enough to allow a
good mark and it will not grow together if, as sometimes is
the case, you cut into the edge of the web. It will do no
harm and will always show the mark. It is different with
ducks, the mark will grow together if made in the edge
of the web, but if several punch marks are made you can
always see the scars, as the webs cf their feet are very trans-
parent. Sometimes I make so large a hole in a duck’'s foot
that it does not grow together and I often find them with

a weed run through the hole. In their efforts to release
themselves they get twisted and hang there until they die if
not released.

PULLING WING FEATHERS.

I am asked if I pull therwing feathers of sick poults to
improve their health, and I reply—No, not to improve their
health, but to prevent too much strength being taken from
their systems by the extreme growth of flight feathers. I
usually pull the first flight feathers on the wing when the
turkeys are from three to six days old, as at that time they
come out so easily that it almost seems as if nature in-
tended those feathers to be pulled. Sometimes I cannot get
the time to attend to it, and I notice the quill feathers are
making such rapid growth that they hang down, almost
drag, and the turkeys appear much weaker than those that
have had their feathers pulled; after this period, too, they
are much harder to pull and the poults have lost all the
strength that it took to grow them. They should be pulled
almost as soon as they start to grow, then your turkeys will
put growth into the body and the other feathers. ‘This
greatly increases our chance Of success.

A thought was suggested at the last Chicago Show. Does
the second growth of flight feathers make as finely marked
a Wing as the first, or is the reverse the case? I had never
thought of if in that light before and shall experiment this
summer and let the readers know. This much I do know
after years of experience, the little turkeys certainly
are stronger and stand a better chance of living if
the first flight feathers are pulled; when they are from
three to four days old, and they come out so easily
at this time that it has no eyil effect.

LICE AND MITE DESTROYERS.

Another correspondent asked about carbolineum, wish-
ing to know if it is the same as carbolineum avenarius. It
is the same article. It was originally manufactured in
Germany and sent over to this country in barrels. Some —
claim it is still made there, but I am of the opinion that
what we use is an American product. Its original use was
as a wood preservative for painting fence posts where they
are set in the ground. It is claimed that if posts for corn
eribs are painted with it, it will keep rats out of the crib,
although I have heard this contradicted. She asks if it is
dangerous to use. The only danger is, it will cause the
face and hands to swell if it is used in strong sunlight.
She also asks if it is lasting in its effects on mites and lice.
It is a wood preservative and penetrates right through an
inch board in a very few minutes, and it is there to stay so
long as the board lasts. For this reason it has been found to
be one of the best preventives of lice and mites that is
known. I gave it enough of a trial to know it will do all
that is claimed for it. I painted all my turkey and chicken
coops with it and never had healthier birds. I painted my
coops only once. It costs ninety cents a gallon. I painted
all perches and intend to spray my houses with it, as it is
not expensive when used with a fine sprayer, such as can
be bought for $1.

However, I do not trust entirely to any one thing. I
paint a box, which i keep for the purpose, with Lee’s Lice
Kilier, and put turkeys and chicks in it for an hour or
two, leaving sufficient provision for fresh air. I also use
Lambert’s Death te Lice on the little chicks and turkeys.
Whether or not carbolineum avenarius or Lee’s Lice Killer
is dangerous to use on old fowls in the way recommended
I cannot say, but there is one thing certain, it will not
poison them. Any strong insecticide will kill little tur-
keys or chickens if they are shut into a box which is painted
with it and allowed no fresh air. This I know by sad ex-
perience. For spraying houses and painting perches I pre-

68 TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

fer the carbolineum, but I like Lee’s best for painting a
box in which to place the birds. I use Lambert’s Death to
Lice for the very young birds.

DIARRHOEA AND LICE,

A lady wrote that she hatched sixty-six little turkeys
and had only ten left. Her turkeys had a diarrhoea, a thin
yellowish discharge. This might be from lack of grit. She
said she greased them once a week for lice. Too much
grease will kill turkeys. I only grease their heads a little
for the large headlice, and dust them with Lambert’s Death
to Lice. Most of the lice will be found between the quill
feathers, below the vent, and on large turkeys on the
thighs.

TINCTURE OF IODINE FOR LICE,

I have been in the habit of using tincture of iodine for
lice. I take a feather (but intend getting a small brush)
and brush the top of the head and across the quills of the
wing feathers, under the wings, and the fluff below the vent
with the tincture of iodine. It is a fact that I have proved
time and again that those treated with iodine for lice out-
grew those treated with other remedies, the only objection
being the expense, but if one will send and get a large bottle
at wholesale price it will not be expensive.

When turkeys are making very rapid growth, I find
the lice are making rapid growth also. When I take the
old turkey off the nest I paint a box with lice killer, put
her in and leave her for two hours. I do not shut her in
an air tight compartment, only close enough for the lice
killer to thoroughly fumigate her feathers. This kills all
the lice and nits. I grease the heads of the little turkeys
to destroy the large head lice; I also dust them thoroughly
with Lambert’s Death to Lice and paint their coops with
carbolineum, but with all the precautions I find I must look
over them once a week for lice. One of the most essential
things during July is to keep the turkeys free from lice.

The first of July generally ends the turkey egg business,
Occasionally turkeys lay a third clutch of eggs after that
time, but I never consider them of much value, as they do
not hatch well and the young turkeys never grow very
large. I remember one exception to that rule. I had a
brood of young turkeys come off about the first of August,
and a pullet from that flock weighed sixteen pounds on the
10th of December. I took first premium with her at Dixon,
Ill., before the weight was raised in the standard. That
was one pound above standard weight on a pullet ten days
Over four months old.

The work for August in the turkey yard is very light as
the turkeys are, or should be, out on the range on farms.
I only feed them a little in the morning so that they may
be induced to run out in search of food, and a little at night
to get them to come home. After they have started out, all
I have to do is to bring them home at night and keep on
the watch for lice. They go through a corn field and I have
noticed the old turkey and young ones stop and wallow in
the loose dirt to dust themselves, so I hardly ever have
much trouble with lice when they are out on the range.

In November I have watched them with a great deal of
interest to see how they make up their bill of fare for
breakfast. They work lively, for they have voracious ap-
petites and have nearly cleared the place of grass-
hoppers. Now they make their breakfast of weeds or grass
seeds with occasionally oats that have been left lying on
the ground. I notice as the fall advances they spend a lot
of time in the corn field, picking corn from ears that have
been ‘blown down.

The following is a good story, although I do not youch
for its truthfulness: A farmer in Kansas has started a

noyel plan, based upon the prevalence of grasshoppers. He
has about one thousand turkeys. After his neighbors saw
the way his fields were cleared of grasshoppers they pro-
posed hiring one hundred turkeys by the day to eat their
grasshoppers, so he divided them into flocks of one hun-
dred and hired them out at $2.50 per one hundred for a
day’s work, which made $25 income a day for the use of one
thousand turkeys, and what turkeys those turkeys will be
this fall. This of course settles the grasshopper question
in Kansas and Nebraska. If they can settle the rainfall
question as easily, the two states will never hold the emi-
gration that will rush there.

INBREEDING AND NEED OF RANGE.

Turkeys deteriorate quicker by inbreeding than any
other animal. Inbreeding indiscriminately for a long time
weakens their constitutions. Turkeys, like horses, in their
wild state, elected their leaders, or rather the leaders elect-
ed themselves by their prowess. When an old leader began
to show signs of feebleness a young turkey tom challenged
him to mortal combat. If the old chief was equal to the
combat the young aspirant was compelled to fall back to the
rear or remain where he fell. When the old chief showed
renewed signs of feebleness another young aspirant for
royal honors stepped out of the ranks and the old tom rarely
came off conquerer. One of our hunters who goes west every
year to hunt has often told me of seeing the footprints of
an enormous wild turkey chat he had tracked and had oc-
casionally got a glimpse of. He described him as being as
large as a calf. That old tom had evidently ruled supreme
for many years and had grown too smart to be caught
napping, so the hunter could never get a shot at him. Tur-
keys in their wild state range in large flocks, but when
they are domesticated it is necessary to keep them in
smal! flocks. I think eighty acres little enough range for
150 turkeys. They could be bred in and left to run in
flocks of three hundred if they had a range of three hun-
dred acres. The reason large flocks cannot be kept on small
range is that they do not find sufficient insects and the thou-
sand other things that they pick up to make their bill of
fare. Fifty can be kept on from one to three acres until
they are six weeks or two months old, then one just simply
cannot keep them in a small enclosure, as they will crawl
under or through or get out some other way, for they are
growing fast and must have what nature demands. I al-
ways make a virtue of necessity and turn them out on the
range.

I change males every year. I do not go out of the strain
I am breeding, but take another branch of the same line
of blood, and have found that I do not impair their vigor
in the least, but am building up strong, healthy birds with
plumage that for years has kept my whole flock above a
score of 98, and that in a flock of one hundred and fifty
birds. Last year 94 was the lowest. While I have improved
them in shape and plumage I do not find one sick turkey
in twenty-five throughout the season.

LINE BREEDING.

At the great Chicago show just passed two things were
very strongly impressed on my mind; one was strain or line-
breeding of turkeys. The two leading strains exhibited there
have been line bred to my certain knowledge; one at least
ten or twelve years (perhaps longer, but I am speaking of
what I know), the other from information gained in differ-
ent ways I am led to believe has been line bred the same
length of time. They have formed two distinct types; both
strains very large birds and beautifully bronzed, but with
this difference in color of plumage—in one strain the bronze
or gold band across tail coverts, and in fact throughout the

|
:

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 69

whole plumage was 4 greenish golden color; in the other it
was just the color of gold without the greenish hue. From
what I know these two strains have won most of the premi-
ums in our leading shows from Madison Square to Chicago.
Upon comparing the plumage after the premiums were
awarded the exhibitors were convinced that the birds rep-
resented two distinct species of the same bird. ‘The strain
that had the pure gold color had the gold band the entire
length of the back. This was absent in the other strain.
The prevailing idea in looking over the Chicago show
was that the old avoirdupois way of mixing blood was out
of date, and if we expect to get to the front, the blood must
be weighed by apothecary weight, or better still, on the al-
chemist’s scales, although the alchemist, I believe, has never
been able to brew in his caldron ingredients that turned out
gold. One breeder proved beyond a doubt that he could
put a clear, even gold band on Bronze turkeys, and the in-
ference is that he has been for years using the alchemist
seales to reach this much to be desired point of excellence.
The Bronze Turkey Club had an enthusiastic meeting;
elected new officers and decided to push the Bronze turkey
interest strongly to the front by every means in their power.
If the exhibits of Bronze turkeys continue to grow I am

afraid there will have to be erected a new Coliseum for the
turkey exhibit alone.

A member of a turkey club in Kansas thinks the Bronze
Turkey Club a little too exclusive in not fostering all kinds
of turkeys. I think it a good idea for each variety to be
represented by a club, aS variety is the spice of life. If we
all bred Plymouth Rocks and there was only one breed and
one club, the poultry business would be tame and we would

‘lose our incentive to strive for our ideal in the variety that

met our fancy. Now if the admirers and breeders of each
variety of turkeys were to organize a club to push the in-
terest of their particular breed, to look up their origin and
write up the good qualities that commend them to breeders
the turkey husiness wouid be pushed to the front in a way
that could not be accomplished by an indiscriminate pushing
of all varieties combined.

I think there will be more turkeys raised in the future,
as they are most profitable poultry and when sold on the
market for Thanksgiving Day cost little to raise, pesides
being a benefit to the farmer in eating insects and weed
seeds. I wish turkey raisers the best of success in matur-
ing their succeeding crops of turkeys.

MRS. CHARLES JONES.

Bronze Turkeys on the Farm of Mr. Chas. McClave.

DOWN-TO-DATE WHITE HOLLAND TURKEYS—By SEWELL.

WHITE HOLLAND TURKEYS.

Beautiful in Shape and Chaste in Color, They Form an Excellent Foil for the Brilliant Hues of the Bronze Variety
While Their Many Excellent Qualities Make Them Worthy Rivals.

By Mr. John R. Garbee.

EARS ago we raised only the common turkeys
and we counted ourselves among the lucky ones
if we, or rather I should say the old turkey
hens, raised sixteen or twenty a year. If the

Ley as young turkeys weighed when dressed in No-

vember eight or ten pounds they had done well. Along

about 1890 I developed a severe case of “poultry fever.” I
have been a reader of the Reliable Poultry Journal ever
since it came into existence. I have a complete
file of it down to date, which fact is explained when
I say that I consider it the leader among poultry papers.

I also read other poultry and farm papers, and soon
I was convinced that better poultry and turkeys ought to be
raised on farms and that turkeys could be managed so that
there should be good profit in
them. Hunters were killing our
common turkeys for wild ones
because they wandered so far
from home, thereby causing us
considerable vexation and loss.

We never had seen a pure
white turkey, but we read
about their gentleness and that
they did not roam like the
other varieties. So we soid all
our common ones and pur-
chased a trio of White Holland
turkeys from an R. P. J. ad-
vertiser, paying $7.50 for them
and $2 expressage—which seemed a big price then. Since
then we have paid more than that for a single bird. These
first birds were rather small, though pretty. Up to this time
I never had seen a standard, but I soon bought one and
learned that my birds were under weight, and feed them
how I would, I could not get that trio up to standard
weight,

I soon learned where I could get large White Holland
turkeys, and I bought some more, still keeping the little,
plump hens. The next season the young poults were larger
than their mothers—the result of using a large tom. The
results have been about the same whether I used a large
young tom or an older bird, provided the young males were
big boned, blocky fellows mated to good blocky hens or pul-
lets. Still, I prefer a tom from two to five years old. I
wish to state here that when I began breeding this variety
of turkeys the toms at their best weighed only sixteen
pounds and the pullets and hens eight to ten pounds, but

‘during the past three or four years, by following my Own
rules of mating as given here, my turkeys have doubled
these weights, so that now my young toms and pullets weigh
from fifteen to twenty-four pounds.

I use both pullets and hens as breeders, though I am
careful to select the best shaped ones—those that are blocky
and in first class health. The first eggs that are laid are

\( aioe
|e

i
fe

A Flock of White Hollands, the Property of
Mr. John R. Garbee.

given to domestic hens (eight or ten to each hen) or are
put in an incubator. We get successful hatches either way,
but we never have had success when we put the poults in
a brooder. It may be the fault of this particular make of
brooder, as I never have thought well of it, though it is
a high priced one. So we give the poults to hens. Now,
it is easy enough to hatch the poults, the main trouble is
to raise them. I am free to confess I do not know it all,
but some things I have learned from experience. [I know I
have lost more poults from lice, overfeeding and chilling
than from all other causes combined. Lice are the poults’
worst enemies, and next they suffer from overfeeding. Our
rule for feeding chicks is ‘“‘any sound, wholesome food, fed
a little at a time.” This rule applied to poults works equal-
ly well. We are most success-
ful when the weather is fair
and the food is given to them
three times a day, and not
faster than it could be digest-
ed. We find cottage cheese is
gocd for them and they like it,
but judgment must be used in
feeding it.. I repeat that any
clean, wholesome food fed in
moderation is good for them.
We find a varied diet—corn
bread, cracked corn, wheat,
chopped vegetables, table
scraps, even corn dough occa-
sionally—works all right, while some breeders claim success
on one straight diet.

After the second and third clutches of eggs are laid
we set the turkey hens. We always prefer to move them
to a suitable coop or barrel nest in the yard or near a poul-
try house, so they can be protected and cared for better.
They can be moved with but little trouble when broody.
They are confined to the nest for a few days by a slat coop,
after that they get off and on at will, food and fresh water
being kept near them. Remember always that lice are the
great drawback to successful turkey raising, and try to
have your sitting hen absolutely free from lice, mites or
jiggers when the eggs hatch, and then keep her free. Watch
the poults, too, and do not let’ them suffer from lice. A
clean coop and pure water are essential to success.

Do not overfeed nor underfeed either. Provide a com-
fortable place for the hen and poults, so that the latter
may not get unduly chilled, and give the hen all the food
she will eat, so she will not be restless, but put her food
out of reach of the poults. Note how the latter will grow
with this care. By the time they are feathered and large
enough to roam they will be but little care and they will
get a large share of their food from the fields, but if you
follow the method I have outlined they will always come
home for supper and will be very gentle.

ADVOCATES WHITE HOLLAND TURKEYS.

Their Beauty and Market Qualifications Make it Both Pleasant and Profitable to Raise Them—Preferred Weight
of Turkeys Inbreeding—Black Ticking on Feathers.

By Mr. J. A. Leland.

FTER five years of experience with White

Holland Turkeys I have come to the con-

clusion that there is no better variety for

beauty and utility. The standard weight

45 for adult toms is twenty-six pounds, for

adult hens sixteen pounds, for young toms
These weights

sixteen pounds, and young hens ten pounds.

shanks should be bright pink or flesh color, the former much
to be preferred from a beauty standpoint, and rather large
feet. My turkeys are never housed, nor should they be,
except for convenience in handling, but we consider it best
to have them roost some place sheltered from severe winds
and storms.

I would clip the flight feathers of one wing so that an

White Hollands, as Bred by Mr, J. A. Leland.

are often exceeded, but not as a rule to the advantage of
the breed, although the majority of fanciers try to produce
the heaviest birds possible for show purposes. In our ex-
perience young stock must reach these weights when about
six months old if they ever attain standard weight when
mature. Very heavy specimens are not prolific breeders
and stock weighing standard in breeding condition is gen-
erally to be preferred.

Inbreeding is a thing that turkeys cannot stand, there-
fore, it is imperative that new blood be obtained each year
if we wish to raise a large number of hardy, heavy boned
fowls that will top either the market or show room. As
to color I have never seen a White Holland turkey that did
not show some black ticking in its plumage during some
period of its life. However, there is a great difference in
specimens in this respect and we should breed from stock
as free from this fault as possible, if we ever expect to cor-
rect it. We believe an ideal White Holland should have a
very full, round body (an egg with large end forward gives
a good idea), neck of good length, rather long tail and
pure white plumage. They should have stout legs, the

ordinary five-foot fence that they could not get through
nor under, would confine them. :

We would not consider it profitable to raise large num-
bers of turkeys in small enclosures as they require-a large
range, where they obtain the greater part of their food at
no cost. If all food were bought the cost of production
would be too great and turkeys do not thrive in close con-
finement,

About the middle of March we place boxes and barrels
for nests in out of the way places about the farm buildings.
The hens find them and soon begin to lay. If turkeys are
not furnished suitable nests they are apt to choose them in
places exposed to crows and vermin. A crow will watch
a hen half a day to get an egg and generally finds the nest,
while I have found hens dead on their nests, killed by minks
or skunks. If their first clutch is taken away they will lay
another and sometimes a third. The broody hens should be
confined a few days if their eggs are taken, as they some-
times will sit on their nests all the rest of the summer and
may die while molting in the fall. It is often a good plan
to set the first clutch under domestic hens, as the conditions

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 73

in early spring are frequently unfavorable to outdoor incu-
bation, and these hens are more easily handled in confine-
ment. It is best to let the turkey hatch her second laying,
as the third comes too late, if at all, and early hatched
turkeys are most desirable.

BREEDERS AND POULTS.

Ordinarily I mate six to twelve hens with a tom and
find the eggs are very fertile, but I think that as many as
twenty might safely be mated to one male. Only one tom
should run with the flock during the breeding season, but
it is well to keep an extra one to use in case of accident,

My breeders have the run of the farm and get only what
they pick up about the buildings, which amounts to con-
siderable in winter, but to almost none when good weather
comes and then they glean the bulk of their food in the
fields. Turkey eggs are very fertile and hatch in twenty-
eight days. At hatching time the hen should be closely
watched and, if necessary, the poults taken away when
dry until all are hatched in order that she shall not leave
the nest with them and so chill the other eggs.

During incubation and at hatching time the hen should
be frequently dusted with some good insect powder, so you
may be sure she is free from lice, which, with filth and
dampness, are the worst enemies of young fowls. Should
this be neglected and the poults become infested, a mixture
of kerosene and lard—just a few drops of the former, as
it is so strong, will usually rid them of the nuisance. Apply
it around the head, under the wings and about the vent.

After the poults are hatched place a coop with a good
roof and slatted end over the hen. This will allow the poults
to range about, but keeps the mother from tiring them out
or leading them through the wet grass. When the dew has
dried the hen may be given her liberty, but should be care-
fully watched and driven to her coop in the evening, or in
case of showers. These coops should be moved each day,
so that the young will roost on clean ground. The first
feed may consist of infertile eggs boiled hard and chopped
fine, or a little-cracked zrain—oats or wheat preferred. A
mixture of coarsely chopped or ground grains with a little
millet should be fed until they are from four to six weeks
old, when they will be able to eat whole grain. From now
On, in good weather, they will need only a little grain in
the evening, which will serve to bring them home at night
and keep them tame. They will get their food in the fields
until frost comes, after that they should be fed all the corn
they will eat to prepare them for market.

MARKETING TURKEYS.

Young turkeys command good prices by the first of No-
vember or even earlier in our large cities, and all the heav-
iest, old and young turkeys, should be marketed between a
few days before Thanksgiving and Christmas, because after
that time heavy stock is at a discount. Through January
the demand is usually only fair, but it is a good time to dis-
pose of any heavy turkeys that were not in condition to
market earlier. Let us add right here that marketing thin
poultry is throwing money away, as we might almost say
that the difference between thin and prime stock is the
profit. From March on the only demand is for medium
to small turkeys, and that is when spring hens can be mar-

White Hollands at Woodside Farm Mr. J. A. Leland.
Proprietor.

_ |The two at the left are old birds, winners of Ist prize as pair at the
Illinois State Show. ‘The others are young stock. |

keted best, for they are then scarce and consequently bring
a good price. It will pay well to dress them if the work is
properly done.

As with other poultry, good, healthy stock must be
used, it must have good care, be fed regularly and con-
stant attention must be given to every detail of the business.
Given good stock and suitable surroundings success depends
largely on the Owner or caretaker. Common sense must
be relied on to carry us over the hard places.

In closing I will say that I believe there is no more
hardy and profitable turkey than the White Holland. They
meet all market requirements and their dressing qualities,
flesh and beauty are unexcelled. J. A. LELAND.

THE GREAT MARKET TURKEY.

The Claims of the Narragansetts to This Distinction—Inbreeding—Care of Poults—Nine-year-old Breeders—
How to Begin.

By Mr. S. T. Jones.

BREED all varieties of turkeys, the Bronze, Narragan-
sett, Buff, Slale, White and Black. The Whites are
the easiest to breed to standard requirements on
account of their color and the Narragansetts are a
close second, because they breed so true to color.
: T find the Bronze are the hardest to breed up to the
standard, as it is very difficult to get a good color through-
out and when the birds are under a year old they are not
matured. They are tall, leggy and look light in the breast.
If you breed what the public demands, and you must do
that, you have to breed the leggy kind, because four out of
five letters inquiring for young Bronze turkeys demand
size. ‘That is the cry—size, size. “We want them good
in wing and tail color and great, big, heavy weight fel-
lows.” If you breed the plump, early maturing kind you
cannot make forty or forty-five pound toms out of them.
You must breed the big, tall, leggy kind, and when the
toms are two and three years of age you will find that they
will weigh forty, forty-five and even forty-eight pounds,
and then, truly, you have the most magnificent bird in
America. But the Narragansett, Buif, White and Slate vari-
eties are the best market turkeys, for they mature early.
The Narragansett heads the list and is usually ready for
market at five or six months of age. The Buffs and Whites
are next in order. The standard weights for Narragansett
males (thirty and twenty pounds) are too high. The cocks
and cockerels should weigh the same as the Buff and Slate
turkeys, viz.: Twenty-seven and eighteen pounds, for they
are short legged, plump and mature early.

INBREEDING—RANGE.

I introduce new blood into my flock every two or three
years. I do not think it necessary to do so oftener, as I
keep from two to six flocks of each variety, but I never
inbreed turkeys, as I find it will not do. I breed all the
varieties for exhibition, and when getting new blood I aim
to improve in all sections, both in shape and color. The
breast, body and back are the most important sections in
shape and the wings and tail the most important in color.
We do not raise turkeys in confinement. They must have
a large range if we are to attain best results. I never house
my turkeys, as I think they do better when raised in the
open. The nearer we come to raising them in the natural
way the better it is for them. I do not try to fence against
them, but give them unlimited range. We keep only one
variety on a farm and give that variety the run of the en-
tire farm. ‘Turkeys that are hatched in the spring will lay
the following spring, and different turkeys will lay a vary-
ing number of eggs. The Narragansetts lay more than any
other variety and the Buffs are next. I have had turkeys
that laid the entire season and did not offer to sit, while
others will lay from ten to fifteen eggs and become broody.
We keep from five to eight hens with one male, as we think
that we get better results as a rule than we do if we have

a greater number of females, though we haye had from
twelve to fourteen hens with one male and the eggs were
ali fertile. Probably 90 per cent of all turkey eggs are
fertile unless the turkeys are overfed, and consequently are
too fat. Let them get their own food by roaming over the
pasture and stubble lands.

CARE OF POULTS.

It takes from twenty-seven to twenty-nine days to hatch
turkey eggs. We have not tried hatching them under hens.
For the first twenty-four to thirty-six hours after they are
hatched we feed very small grit or gravel, and then we feed
clabber cheese dry and some corn meal, a little millet seed
or small cracked wheat. We keep the hen and poults in
a small pen for eight or ten days and then put them out on
pasture land. They need very little food from this on, and
should not be fed more than once or twice a day for the best
results. Turkeys get nearly all their food from the fields in
summer ald fall. Pasture and stubble land are the best
places for them to run. In the fall begin feeding corn, or, if
you are feeding cattle or hogs, the turkeys will get all the
food they need, for they always manage to find the feed lots.
The main secret in successfully feeding turkeys is to give
them their feod regularly, but be careful not to give too
much. Move turkeys are fed to death when they are young
than die from any other cause. Nine out of ten breeders
feed their poults until they kili them. I have had persons
teli me what they teed young turkeys and then say: “My
turkeys do not seem to grow well, and I know I feed them
well.”’ I do not see how they manage to raise any at all.
Iam sure I could not if I fed as they do. Remember to feed
lightly, always using the best of food and never feeding
any damaged grain at all. A bushel of corn will feed a tur-
key from sixty to seventy days if it has the range of the
farm. Turkeys Sell here on the market at from 8 to 12%
cents per pound live weight at Thanksgiving. The dealers
want turkeys weighing from ten to sixteen pounds and not
over twenty pounds. :

A PREMIUM ON NARRAGANSETTS,

There is a difference in the quality of ‘turkeys and I
claim that the Narragansett is king. There are turkeys that
can beat them on weight, but when it comes to quality, no
other breed can be compared to them. I sell most of my
market turkeys here at home, and sell them alive if I can.
One firm here buys most of my turkeys and they always
engage all the Narragansetts I have to spare and ask me
why I do not ‘breed them exclusively. I get a premium of
2 to 2% cents per pound on Narragansetts. The Buffs are
my next choice.

Any turkeys that are off in color or the least bit out
of shape and all of the late hatched and under weight tur-
keys are classed with our market turkeys. Before market-
ing I feed all that they will eat in order to have them fat,
and market all that are ready at Thanksgiving time and the

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 75

balance of them at Christmas. As a rule, yearlings make
the best breeders, but I have kept some breeders until they
were eight or nine years old.

A turkey is most delicate from the time it is hatched
until it is six or seven months old. If I were to name the
two principal causes of the mortality among turkeys I
should say overfeeding and lice. They should never be al-
lowed to live on low, swampy ground. It is not fit for tur-
keys or any other kind of poultry. We raise from three
hundred to a thousand.

If I were about to embark in the business of raising tur-
keys and had the benefit of my present experience, I should
buy from some reliable breeder a tom and four to six hens
and should insist upon getting good ones. I should not
begin by buying eggs. I should also insist that the tom
and hens be not related, and I should never inbreed.

Writing for the Reliable Poultry Journal on the sub-
ject of turkeys, a prominent eastern poultryman said the
following about our favorites:

“We have always had a particular liking for the Nar-
ragansett turkey. It is nearly as large aS the Bronze and
equally as good for the table. Its plumage is very striking,

giving one the effect of a black and white barred plumage;
and as a resident of Rhode Island, the writer feels that the
state which has the beautiful Narragansett Bay ought also
to breed quite largely the beautiful Narragansett turkey.
But it does not. Patriotic as Rhode Island is in other re-
spects it does not let its patriotism extend to any great ex-
tent to its selection of turkeys.

“The Narragansett took its name from the Indians who
once dwelt here, and was at one time more extensively bred
in Rhode Island than now. We are reactionary to the extent
of wishing for a return of the good old times in turkey
raising, when the Narragansett turkey was the favorite
breed, although, gentle reader, we will confess that any
Rhode Island turkey, once bred and fattened here, if stuffed
with Providence River oysters and nicely roasted, has a
very satisfactory effect upon our palate. It may not equal
a genuine Rhode Island clam-bake, but it comes when
clam-bakes cannot be had, and it is so good that one can
say, after eating of such a dish:

““Let the world do its worst,
I have dined to-day.’ ”
Ss. T. JONES.

BLACK TURKEYS.

An Experienced Breeder and Judge Writes on Their Present Standing, With Reference to Size and Color.

By Mr. Charles McClave.

OULD the writer impress upon the minds of farm-
ers in general the importance of this branch of
farm life there would be more homes made

x beautiful and tasty where now the means io do

this are lacking. ‘There is no branch of poultry
raising in which one ean realize more from the capital in-
vested. To raise turkeys successfully and for profit they
must be hatched early. It is best to use turkey hens, as
they invariably make better mothers, caring for the young
poults much more carefully than domestic hens.

One of the most promising varieties, the Blacks, are
being bred in large numbers in some sections at the present
time. The modern Black turkey is nearly equal to the
Bronze in size. The old style Blacks were not only inferior
in size, but poor in quality; however, by careful breeding
and handling and with an infusion of new blood, they have
been greatly improved in size and general make up. To
attain their present weights and general characteristics
there is no question whatever but more or less Bronze blood
has been judiciously used.

From a market standpoint there is no question but the
Blacks will dress yellower and even plumper than any other
standard variety. The standard weights of Black turkeys
are: Cocks, twenty-seven pounds; hens, eighteen pounds;
cockerels, eighteen pounds, and pullets, twelve pounds. At
the present time these weights are entirely too low except

on hens. We have no trouble at Christmas time in having
pullets from fourteen to fifteen pounds, cockerels twenty to
twenty-four pounds and cock birds thirty or over. The
standard requires males and females to be lustrous black
throughout, but it is a difficult matter to secure young birds
with solid colored plumage, as more or less feathers in
Wings will invariably be tipped with white. This will
usually disappear at maturity. Good strains of Blacks are
strictly hardy, their eggs hatch well, and they are fully as
good layers as the Bronze or White. They are very docile
in their habits and are not inclined to ramble as much as
other varieties. The young grow rapidly from the start,
and at selling time always command the top of the market.

The head and beak should be long and broad and of
good shape; eyes bright hazel; neck of medium length and
well curved; back broad, of good length and highest in the
center and curved the shape of an egg. The breast should
be broad, deep and full; body of good length and round in
outline; wings of good length and snugly folded against the
sides; tail of medium length and when folded comparatively
small. Thighs, shanks and toes should be of good length
with strong bone and perfectly straight. When the good
qualities of the Black turkey become better known we pre-
dict that they will rival their Bronze and White cousins in
popularity.

CHARLES McCLAVE.

CATCHING, HANDLING AND SHIPPING TURKEYS.

Building a Trapping Pen for Separation of the Flock—Using the Catching Net—Training for Exhibition—Coops for
Local and Foreign Shipments.

By H. A. Nourse, Associate Editor Reliable Poultry Journal.

T IS wise to separate from the flock in the fail the
birds intended for sale, as constant raiding of the
flock for birds to ship not only keeps the breeders
wild and suspicious, but makes it extremely difficult
to make an intelligent selection.

The best device for “rounding up” that I have seen is a
covered yard or trap about thirty feet long and twenty wide.
Sometimes this may be built between two of the farm build-
ings, using the buildings for the two sides, thus avoiding
the necessity of setting posts and erecting sides of the en-
closure. The poultry netting which forms the top and one
end of the trap may be stretched between the ‘buildings and
fastened to them, supported by several pieces of heavy sin-
gle wire drawn tightly from one building to the other. The
other end, which is the entrance to the trap, is left open
and provided with a drop which will be described later. The
turkeys will not distrust the farm buildings and will more
readily enter a trap between them than one separate from
them. A wing should be constructed of poultry netting five
feet high to extend from one corner of the entrance to a dis-
tauce of fifty feet outward or away from the trap, tc form
an extension of the side, unless one of the buildings happens
to be so extended. The turkeys may be driven gently along
the side of the building towards the entrance and wing, and
an oceasional handful of corn may be thrown down to occu-
py their attention until they are at the entrance to the trap.
Here the wing on the far side of the entrance prevents them
going beyond and they may be quickly turned into the en-
closure.

Constructing a trap in an open lot with no building is
quite different. Four strong posts should be set up to form
the corners of a space say thirty feet long and twenty wide
and no other wood should be used. The posts may well be
old ones, or those not carefully trimmed, and with the bark
left on, so that there will be little about them to attract at-
tention and arouse the turkeys’ suspicions. It is not best
to use bright wire or to turn up much earth for the
same reason. The posts should stand five feet above ground
and have a heavy single wire like stock fence wire stretched
around their tops and also diagonally across the tops from

corner to corner to support the wire netting which is
stretched over it in forming the top of the trap. More net-
ting is stretched around the sides and one end. This is
tightly wired to the top and its lower edge is firmly

pegged to the ground. One end is left open to serve as an
entrance and is rigged with a drop. A piece of netting large
enough to cover the open end is loosely wired to the strand
ot heavy stock fence at the top of the entrance. At the op-
posite side of this netting, which reaches to the ground, a
heavy cord is attached, put through pulleys at the base of
the entrance posts and carried to a distance of sixty or sev-
enty-five feet directly in front of the entrance. By pulling
these cords the drop will be hauled from a position on top
of the trap down over the front, closing the entrance. Two
wings will be required for this trap, for there is no building

to assist in guiding the turkeys in. These wings, or leaders,
as fishermen would call them, should extend one from each
side of the entrance, spreading laterally to form a sort of
funnel into the large end of which the turkeys may be toled
and then driven into the trap.

The posts supporting the structure must be set deeply in
the ground and all the wire stretched very tightly or it will
be pressed out of shape by the flock running against it when
trying to get out. Sometimes the trap may be built in a
grove of trees and the trunks of trees used in place of posts,
at the same time securing the benefit of the branches and
possible iow brush as a screen to partially hide the trap. If
it is convenient the turkeys should be given their daily al-
lowance of grain in this pen and when it is necessary to
handle them the drop can be closed and the flock confined,
thus avoiding the necessity of driving them in; but if they
are trapped too often they will not go in, and cannot be
driven or coaxed. ‘Three times in a season should be enough
to do all the selecting necessary.

CATCHING THE BIRDS.

For the actual capture a net of heavy twine eighteen
inches deep hung.on a stout iron ring eighteen inches in
diameter, which is attached to a handle seven or eight feet
long, is the best contrivance [ know of. This if put sud-
denly over the head of the bird and quickly drawn back will
hold it so securely that it cannot struggle and damage its
feathers. Always grasp the turkey by the shanks. If by
mistake you take hold of the thigh almost every feather
will be stripped oif. After obtaining a firm hold, quickly
remove the net and swing the bird clear of all objects until
it stops struggling; then, retaining the hold on the shanks,
take the turkey under one arm in such a way that its wings
will be heid tightly against its sides. This has no applica-
tion when the bird is tame enough to be easily handled,
which, however, is 1ot often the case with turkeys on wide
range.

PREPARING FOR EXHIBITION.

The preparation of the turkey for the show room con-
sists principally in taming and training the subject to ap-
pear to the best advantage in the coop. If the birds are wild
it requires some days to teach them to pose. For this pur-
pose large coops covered with canvas, or in some manner
constructed so that the bird cannot cut or bruise its head
trying to get out, should be provided in a light, well venti-
lated room, without drafts, where the temperature ranges
but few degrees higher than outside.

Tronts of strong slats or rods having no sharp edges or
rough surfaces, with doors of generous size, are better than
those of wire because they offer more chance to make friends
of the birds confined and less opportunity for the occupants
to injure themselves by dashing against it, as they frequent-
ly do when introduced. A little patient work with the birds
will win their confidence, but the attendant:should be care-
ful not to frighten them when feeding or when cleaning the

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 77

coops or the good work will be undone. If the specimen
will allow the handler to turn it around in the coop with the
hand or judging stick, without becoming nervous and re-
treating to the far corner of the cage, it is fairly well trained
and will show for what it is worth under the judge. Too
long confinement tires the bird and detracts from its ap-
pearance, if it does not make it actually sick. The wisdom
of this coop training is evident to any one who has studied
the turkey exhibit at the large shows. Frequently a bird
is so frightened at any person approaching the coop that it
will crouch in a corner or dash against the top of the cage,
making it practicaily impossible to fairly estimate its qual-
ity. Young toms are more prone to nervousness than fe-
males or old toms. :

COOPING FOR TRANSPORTATION.

Coops for shipping to exhibitions should be large enough
to allow the bird to stand upright, without rubbing its head
against the top, and either so narrow that the occupant can-
not turn around or wide enough so that it can turn wjthout
breaking its tail. I believe in the wider coop, for it is less
likely to damage the plumage by constant friction. Coops
for this purpose can be used season after season and should
be solidly constructed of three-eighths inch lumber over
frames of inch square stuff; it need not be heavy, but it
must be strong. The top may be hinged and provided with
hasp and staple to be hooked or locked. Ventilation may
be provided in the pack of the cover by an open space one
inch wide and as long as the coop, and another space of
equal size along the front of the coop two or three inches
below the top. These will admit plenty of air for birds
shipped in cool weather, will not make a draft and the tur-
key cannot get its head ont and get hurt. Handles conven-
iently placed should be on all large coops of this kind to
facilitate handling by the expressmen and in a measure pro-

tecl the birds from the rough handling to which large coops
not so equipped are sometimes subjected.

For shipping breeding stock to points within a few days’
journey a wood coop, with solid sides and slat top for cold
weather and slat sides and top for warm weather, three feet
long, three feet high and fifteen inches wide, is right for
toms and large hens, and one six inches less in height and
length will suffice for small hens and pullets. Coops of this
size allow the birds to stretch to their full height and they
arrive in much better condition than when closely hemmed
in. Shipment to long distance points and to foreign coun-
tries should be in more roomy quarters. Foreign consign-
ments should be forwarded in coops three feet long, three
feet high and three feet wide for each bird, with a little
extra length added when large toms are to go in them. These
coops should be made with solid sides if they are to go on
deck when crossing the water, with a space an inch wide
left for ventilation near the top of the front, but may have
slatted sides if to zo below decks. The only door should be
at the bottom of the front, just wide enough to admit the
turkey turned down on its side, and should extend the length
of the side and be hinged at the top to open outward. Clean-
ing and feeding may be done through this door with but
slight chance for ithe turkey to escape. The water dish
snould be placed well up in the coop with provision made
for filling it through the sides.

Unless special arrangement is made, a bag of grain and
a few heads of cabbage should be forwarded, marked the
same as the coops. Very good eare is accorded consign-
ments on board vessels and if the shipper supplies food
and utensiis he may rest assured that the care*taker will do
his part. These instructions apply to consignments for-
warded in cold or cool weather; it is not safe to attempt
long distance shipments in the hot weather of midsummer.

H. A. NOURSE.

KILLING, PLUCKING AND MARKETING TURKEYS.

The Money Value of Attractive Appearance in Market—The Manner of Killing and Plucking—Saving the Feathers
for an Added Profit—Cooling and Cleaning the Carcass—Packing for Shipment to Dealers—Dressing
and Packing for the Family Trade—The High Prices Obtained from Private Customers—
The Advantage of Knowing the Market.

By H. A. Nourse, Associate Editor Reliable Poultry Journal.

GREAT deal depends on the manner in which
{ turkeys are killed and prepared for market.
Frequently it makes the difference in price
between the highest and lowest quotations.
Be the live specimen ever so fat and well
fleshed, if it is carelessly picked and improp-
erly packed it is often passed by for a bird not quite so well
fattened, but presenting a better appearance when it reaches
the market stalls. Obviously no producer can afford to send
to market any bird that is not in good condition.

It is.not difficult to properly flesh and fatten healthy
turkeys. If they can be confined in a covered pen of good
size, without becoming worried and losing their appetites,
they will take on the most flesh, for the grain fed, in the
shortest time. But young ones that have been accustomed
to a wild life upon a large range do not take kindly to con-
finement and can seldom be improved if enclosed.

As the supply of bugs and other food gets short in the
fields the old hens will lead the young birds to the feeder
and a good ration of whole corn each day for two or three
wecks will put them in good flesh, with sufficient fat to give
the meat and skin a bright, attractive appearance.

There is a flavor belonging to the meat of a range fed
and fattened turkey that cannot be found in one raised in
confinement or one that has spent its days near the build-
ings eating with the chickens. The diet of grass, roots and
berries not only produces flesh at less cost per pound, but
improves the quality. .

Before killing, the stock should be kept for eighteen
hours in a clean, airy place where no food can be obtained.
They may have water up to within eight hours of the time
of killing, for water gives a healthy look to the skin and
cleansing the digestive organs of matter which
A short, stout club,

assists in
would become sour and taint the flesh.

L.of C

78- TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

a long, sharp steel blade, a strong arm and a quick hand
are required for the operation of killing.

THE MANNER OF KILLING AND PLUCKING,

The bird should be suspended head downward with its
feet in a noose of strong cord, far enough from the walls of
the house and other objects so that it cannot injure its wings
when it struggles—as most of them do at some time. After
stunning by dealing a sharp blow at the base of the skull
with the club, pass the left arm around the body of the fowl
under the wings, which usually drop down when the bird
is stunned and the muscles relax, holding the side of the

“‘McKinley,’’ a Superb Bronze Turkey, that was sent to President McKinley by Horace Vose, who for
thirty-five years has each season presented the President of the United States

with a Thanksgiving Turkey.

breast towards you. Grasp the head in the left hand and
forcing the bill open with the thumb and fore fingers,
thrust the knife blade in through the mouth to just back of
the brain and mak= a sharp cut directly across the roof of
the mouth, severing the arteries. Then holding the bird
firmly with the left arm and hand in the same position, be-
gin at once to remove the feathers with the right hand, be-
ginning at the juncture of neck and breast and working up
over the breast and body, then giving the bird a ‘turn which
presents the back to the operator, begin at the neck or be-
tail. The short
tail, and neck are picked next
and the long feathers of the wings and tail, if removed at
all, are plucked last. As a rule the feathers of the last joint
of each wing are left on and are much appreciated by the

tween the wings and pluck towards the

feathers of wings, shanks

purchaser of the bird to use about the kitchen in place of
brushes. The long feathers of the tail are removed or not
as the market for which they are intended requires.

While the skin of a turkey is less likely to be torn when
removing the feathers than that of a chicken or duck, it is
needful to be careful and none but experienced pickers can
safely attempt to hurry the work. The thumb and fore-
finger do most of the work by firmly grasping a few feathers
and removing them by a quick jerk which begins upward to-
ward the tail and terminates outward, which movement is
accomplished by a quick twist of the wrist. This motion first
loosens the feathers in their sockets by starting them the
way they grow and then re-
moves them at an angle which
is least likely to tear the skin.

A well grown turkey is very
powerful and requires to be
held firmly yet with due care,
for if the wings are graspcd
by their extremities or are
held too firmly in any posi-
tion the bird may struggl2
and break or wrench them out
of joint, making the carcass
unfit for sale.

Careful handling after pick-
ing is very desirable, for a
bruise will cause discoloration
which is very detrimental to
the appearance of the flesh in
market.

SAVING THE FEATHERS.

If many birds are killed it
pays to save the feathers,
especially those of the tail and
wings. Those of the tail
proper and the lower
joints of the wings are salable
at fifteen to thirty cents per
pound and can be saved by no
more extra labor than is re-
quired to toss them into a
clean receptacle when picking
and later dry them by spread-
ing upon the floor of a ‘loft
where there is a good circula-
tion of air. The shorter and
body feathers seldom
mand more than 4 to 6 cents
per pound and most turkey
men do not care to save them
for so little. remuneration.

two

com-

COOLING AND CLEANING THE CARCASS.

Marketing is usually done in the cold weather of late
fall and during the winter and cooling can be done by hang-
ing the picked turkeys in the open air, out of the sun, long
enough to allow the escape of all animal heat, but not long
enough to freeze or become stiff if the temperature is low.

Most markets do not require the turkeys to be drawn,
while some will pay less per pound for stock so prepared.
It is always best to find what your market wants before
killing, for if drawn turkeys are shipped where undrawn
stock is wanted the loss on a consignment is considerable.
Feet and heads should be washed clean and wiped dry and
all blood removed from the mouth and throat. If care is
used when killing and handling it will not be necessary to
wash the body of the bird and the skin will retain its bright,

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

yellow appearance longer than it would if dampened or if
cooled in water rather than by the air.

PACKING TO SHIP.

Packing is as important an operation as picking, but
not so tedious. All consignments should be packed tightly,
not jammed, in clean boxes and sufficient packing put in
before the cover is nailed on to prevent shifting enroute.
Birds of different sizes, but not of different qualities, may
be packed in the same box and the contents of the package
should be correctly described on the outside of the cover.
If the description says “Ten young toms and ten young
hens” and the dealer, on opening the box, finds one old tom
and perhaps some old hens, he of course loses confidence in
the shipper and does not dare to
recommend his goods. But if the
contents of the package never fails
to tally with the description the
goods are satisfactory to handle and
the returns as a rule are better.
Large boxes are inconvenient to
handle and less desired by small
dealers than boxes weighing from
one hundred and fifty to two hun-
dred pounds and the smaller pack-
ages reauire to be vacked less solid-
ly and the contents show less evi-
dence of hard pressure in the box.
If the market catered to favors
drawn stock it is easiest done before
the bird is hung uv to cool. The
incision made should be as small as
possible. A sharp knife should
be used to cut the skin close around
the vent and cut away the fat
around the intestine, making an
opening into the cavity. Through
this the entrails must be drawn
carefully, the ~ operator reaching
with his fingers into the cavity to
free the upper end from its at-
tachment. Nothing else need be
removed.

DRESSING AND PACKING FOR PRIVATE
TRADE.

If the stock is intended for a
high price family trade, all the
birds should be picked and han-
dled with extreme care, the intes-
tines drawn and the shanks and
feet and the head removed. When
cutting off the heads considerable
blood will frequently be found clotted in the neck and unless
removed it will turn black and show through the skin. If it
happens that there is any food left in the crop it is wise to
remove it before cooling. This is accomplished by pushing
back the skin of the neck and working the crop out under it
with the thumb and fore finger, taking care not to tear the
crop in separating it from the tissues surrounding it. Re-
moving the crop dees not leave the breast looking quite so
well as when the crop is empty and left in because its ab-
sence allows the skin to sink deeper in front of the breast
bone; but if the food remains it will show black through
the skin and mar the appearance of the bird. The skin should
be drawn well over the end of the neck and tied with a clean
string. Each carcass when thoroughly cooled should be
wrapped in clean wrapping paper and packed in excelsior
in a clean, new wooden box to be shipped to the consumer's
kitchen door. Paper without much color should be used or

79

at the end of the journey the color will be found to have
deserted the paper to cling to the skin of the turkey, which
will give it more the appearance of the “tattooed man” in a
circus than that of the mainstay of a family feast.

The family trade is usually very profitable, paying well
for the extra labor and other expense involved. One estab-
lishment, noted for the show room quality of its turkeys,
has been furnishing private customers in several states
with Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys of the finest
grade for several years. These are prepared and shipped in
the manner described above, the weight is taken as soon
as the feathers are off and the bills for them call for thirty-
five cents a pound. No exceptional ability is needed to figure

that there is money earned by properly growing and fat-

The Thanksgiving Turkey, illustrated on the opposite page, dressed and ready for shipment to

President McKinley.
specimen, which he has just dressed, to assist in bal-

Mr. Vose, the donor, is holding also another choice

ancing the weight of the larger one.
tening, and carefully picking, packing and shipping turkeys
at that price.

FINISH KILLING AT NEW YEAR’S.

It is well to kill all stock unsalable for breeding or ex-
hibition at or before the New Year. Occasionally, however,
the poultryman will be caught with a few very late hatched
poults presented by some wily old hen that hid her nest so
well and was so cautious in her “comings and goings” that
it was not discovered until she brought off a brood contrary
to her owner’s wishes and intentions, Some breeders kill
these late hatched ones on sight, believing that it is nothing
but time wasted to look after them. Others allow them to
run with the hen until cold weather and then house them
with the chickens, giving them the same care. They appear
to do better when confined in cold weather than in warm,
but they seem to breed lice faster than chicks and must be

80

continually dusted for body lice and their heads and necks
greased frequently to discourage the head lice. If the young-
sters take kindly to confinement they will make very good
growth and sell readily in the spring to the trade calling
for small sized turkeys. These birds should never be kept
for breeding, for they seldom make very strong birds and
do not molt in the proper season.

TURKEYS—THEIR CARE AND MANAGEMENT.

Every turkey raiser who markets any considerable num-
ber each year can well afford to study his market closely;
to find just what it wants and when it will pay most for it,
and then bend his energies to furnishing the right stock at
the right time.

Marketing often determines the profit.

H. A. NOURSE.

MARKETING TURKEYS IN THE WEST.

By Mr. P. H. Spraque.

HERE is no more expense in raising good stock
than poor, and for that reason we advise those
who intend to raise turkeys for market to invest
in good stock. Bronze turkeys sell best on this
market. They dress better, make a better appear-
ance after they are dressed and sell better than

other breeds. In fattening turkeys it is not a good plan to

shut them up in close quarters. It is best to let them have a

small range, as they never do well when fattened in coops.

We do not think the food used in fattening the turkeys has

any particular effect on the flavor of the meat. The main

thing is to have them fat before they are killed.

———

Until the weather gets cold turkeys should be shipped

alive, but it is best to ship them dressed as Soon 2s the
thermometer reaches the freezing point. In dressing it
is advisable to kill only the fat birds, as poor, thin stock
will bring two or three cents per pound less than the price
of good stock. Old turkeys and large young gobblers should
be marketed for Thanksgiving and Christmas, while small
'sobblers and hens sell better after New Years. The trade
looks for large turkeys for holiday dinners, while later in
the season Small ones are in better demand.
{ It is impossible to tell how many turkeys are marketed
in: Chicago during the season, as there is no record kept,
put it will run up into millions of pounds. While as far
as we can learn there has not been an over supply on the
market this season (1900-1901) there are more turkeys in
the country than ever before. Last year the standard price
on dressed turkeys was ten and a half cents per pound
for number one stock, but this year we look for it to be
aboul nine cents per pound.

PREPARING TURKEYS FOR MARKET.

A great deal of attention should be paid to the manner
of dressing turkeys to command the best price in our mar-
ket. Before killing and dressing them they should be kept
without focd for eighteen or twenty-four hours, but during
that time they should have plenty of water, as stock dresses

out brighter when well watered. Full crops injure the ap-
pearance of the birds and are liable to sour. Never kill
turkeys by wringing their necks or cutting off their heads.
Kill by bleeding in the mouth. To properly dress turkeys
they should be first hung up by the feet with a rope properly
adjusted; then stick in the mouth with a sharp knife, hang
a weight to the head and let the blood run into a barrel.
Turkeys should always be dry picked and the feathers pre-
served. By allowing the blood to run into a barrel as above
described it will not stain the feathers. Feathers should
be removed while the turkey is bleeding and, in fact, before
it is dead, as they can be removed a great deal more easily
than after the bird is dead. After the body feathers are taken
off remove the tail and wing feathers and keep them separ-
ate in bunches. The body feathers can be packed in sacks.
Tail feathers are worth 25 to 30 cents per pound; wing
feathers from the first two joints, from 15 to 20 per pound;
pointers, that is the slim feathers from the tops of the
wings, are worth 5 to 7 cents per pound; body feathers, 3 to
4 cents per pound. It pays well to save ‘the feathers.

It is sometimes advisable if poor turkeys are killed to
scald them, as they look better scalded than dry picked, but
dry picked turkeys always sell from one to two cents per
pound more than the scalded birds. After the turkeys are
picked they should hang for at least twelve hours before
being packed, until they are dry and cold, but not frozen.
The animal heat should be entirely out of the body, because
if they are packed before it is out they will spoil very quick-
ly. After the birds are thoroughly cool pack in boxes or
barrels. Boxes that hold about two hundred pounds should
be used. Pack snugly and straighten out the body and legs
so they will not arrive bent and twisted out of shape. Fill
the boxes as full as possible to prevent them moving about.
Boxes are preferable to barrels, although barrels will do if
boxes cannot be procured. Mark the contents of each ship-
ment on the outside, giving gross weight and weight of
package. If these directions are followed carefully turkeys
will always bring the top price of the market. Yours truly,

P. H. SPRAGUE.

THE EASTERN MARKET.

By Mr. Phillip Quigley.

The first active demand for turkeys is during Thanks-
giving week. For that trade small hen turkeys, ranging in
weight from eight to twelve pounds, and young gobblers
weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds, are the most desir-
able. After Thanksgiving small turkeys are wanted. Dur-
ing Christmas week any size will sell readily. That is the
only time when old toms and other heavy turkeys will sell
to any advantage. After the Christmas trade is over heavy
turkeys are very dull and the price is low. During Janu-
ary, February and March small sizes are the most desirable.

Turkeys should be dry picked, as scalded stock must

be sold at a concession of two to three cents a pound. The
entrails should not be removed and the head and feet should
be left intact. This applies to all dressed poultry intended
for this market.

Barrels or boxes may be used for packing, as the ship-
pers prefer. Each package should be so well filled that
the contents cannot be shuffled about in hauling. Care must
be taken in packing, and no bird should be packed until all
the animal heat has escaped. If packed while warm they
are liable to turn green and so be unsalable.

PHILIP QUIGLEY.

Is a book of 112 .9 x 12inches i: , thi ins,
SUCCESS WITH POULTRY [0i.2o°t.of1l pepes.92 2inches in site, that contains, we
on the subject of ** Poultry for Profit ’’ than any other book published. Gives the cream of estab-

lished facts. Written and compiled by the editor of the RELIABLE POULTRY Journwat, who has
given many years of careful study to the poultry business. Pri ce $1 re) (e}
os “ °

Is most up-to-date and most practi-
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATING AND BROODING % most vp-to-dete and most practi
It is contributed to by the leading authorities of this country. It has 88 Ppages.ecach x9 inches, with
many illustrations, including a number of designs of modern brooder houses, laying houses, and
incubator cellars. Complete instructions on the use and abuse of incubators.
How to start right and go right in raising chickens by artificial means. © Price 50e
BARRED, WHITE and BUFF PLYMOUTH ROCKS 7histoox conststsot 118 pa¢cs,
elegant color pees of Barred, White and Buff Plymouth Rocks, shown in their natural colors, sepro-
duced from oil paintings made by the world’s greatest poultry artist. Franklene L, Sewell, Among ff
the contributors are the following: A.C. Hawkins, RE. B. Thompson. Bradley Bros., A.C. Smith, J. K.
Felch, D. J. Lambert, U. R. Fishel, Robt. H. Essex, C. H. Latham, F. W. Richardson, Theo, Hewes,
P. W. Hitebcock, W. 5. Russell, C. A. Emry, S, 8. Noble and others, ) a Price 50e

THE WYANDOTTES Sliver, Golden, White, Buff and Pertridge. A new publication
treating extensively upon this breed. The frontispiece is a handsome

feproduction from Mr. Sewell’s oi! printing of * White Wyandottes to date,” representing the win-

fullepage drawings of Silver, Golden, Waite on Bal Wess ee oa ee

ull- D ite Cy a es, &

pages fully illustrated. soe ego, Wyandottes, ~~ Price SOc

11 All Verietios. This publication will delight fanciers of that widely bred
THE, LEGHORNS and mtrag fowl—the’ Leghorns No br wiley tk to be without the

inf ation written by guch judges as 1. K. Felcb, |. Marshall, H.S. Babcock, #. H, Shellabarger,
Theo. Hewes, D. T. Heimlich, C. A. Emry, Chas. McClave, Ezra Cornell, W. S. Russell, P, B. Zimmer,
Wm. Ellery Brightand others. Twolve iull-page illustrations and many others, Price §0c

Is made ap of contributions from experienced and successful
EGGS AND EGG FARMS brecders. Fe gives their methods of housing, breeding,
end feeding fowls with a view to increasing egg ee - The fengthy chapters on Pedi
Breeding will be found invaluable to breeders of exhibition or utility fowls, An P i e +50
80-page book, fullyillustrated. - - += 2© «© © «© © «© « - Price Sc

DUCKS AND GEESE 7e!!s how the most successful breeders of the day peaney their enor-
mous flocks and derive handsome profits; gives detailed instructions
for breeding, rearing and feeding, and presents the best and most reliable information selating to

details of management and profits on Ducks and Geese. It is fully illustrated
with up-to-date cuts ofthe big farmsandthelr stock, » + . Bice (Ne Price 50c

TURKEYS Their Care and Management. The most complete book written upon tarkey culture, It)
treats of every branch of the subject, Among the prominent breeders who have Peder time

effort in preparing ertiches for this book sre. Mrs, Mackey, Mrs, Jones, Mrs. Hargrave, Mrs. Singleton,

F, Jones. The colored teprocuction $4 un oll petating te Seed abioN ey wes eae eens and S,
. Jones, Te ion of an n re Qum :
stones makes this the very best turkey book published, = +s =: Price 60c

INTICRC 7 tal
POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES Sposists of 2 terse pages. 0x12 fnches, and containg
rity lot, the village acre and the farm; slso complete and conv. it houses for the Price 25e

fancier and plans for building extensive poultry farms. = - 2
t &

U a P ” P
Ba boo! blished in this coun-
THE BANTAM FOWL tyr ite sop cores, and breeder, spent meny onthe caeclng

nd writin y the matter, and over sixty.copyrighted illustrations were made expressly for this boo very
poecin interested in Bantams a> pets or for profit will wantacopy. - =. * «+ - = - ~ Price SOc

aches, points out the caused, describes the symp-
RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES (omens ives ticd remedies lor soup colds, theese eanben iaanesten con.

bation, , Congest!
rt Ciias deceased tenia Contains ful)

Ty hicken , black rot, crop-bound, scaly legs, bumble-foot
tains ful Fijstructions on care of poultsy to prevent diseases’ | Price 25¢ ‘

These books are sold ON APPROVAL. If not satisfactory, they can be immediately returned in good order and the

tates or Canada. Address all orders to’?

RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB. CO., QUINCY, ILL.

Bhogal money will be promptly returned.{f Whe above prices include payment of postage to any address ir United

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