112 APRIL. 



assisting the chicks occasionally to escape from the 

 shell, and removing them, as they appear, to the 

 house, till the whole brood is hatched. In farm- 

 kitchens, in spring, we perpetually hear a chirping of 

 chickens, ducklings, goslings, etc. and see a basket 

 set near the fire, covered with a flannel ; or a wor- 

 sted stocking rolling about the hearth, like a great 

 snake, with here and there the head of a chicken 

 peeping through a hole. They have next to be 

 placed under a coop, which confines the hen till 

 they are strong enough to follow her, and are fed 

 with those various compounds which good house- 

 wives prepare. It is a common practice to give 

 each young turkey a peppercorn the first thing ; but 

 good judges disapprove of it, and prefer to feed them 

 with chopped docks and oatmeal. It is also very 

 requisite that young turkeys should be supplied with 

 good sharp gravel. Soft or friable sand will not 

 do. The most successful rearers of turkey broods 

 assure me that they found it impossible to keep them 

 from dying in great numbers till they gave them 

 pounded glass, or what is better, pounded pebbles, 

 since which they seldom lose any. Many broods 

 of young poultry, and especially turkeys, which, as 

 they are the hardiest of birds when grown, are cer- 

 tainly the most tender at first, must have a careful 

 lad to tend them, and to see that the hen does not 

 weary them by her wanderings, or tread upon them, 

 which she is very apt to do ; that they are not over- 

 taken by rain, or get into other dangers, not the 

 least of which is being carried off by weasels, or 



