22 HOW TO HATCH, BROOD, FEED AND PREVENT 



on, feed them alfalfa meal. Steam it or pour a little boiling water- over it 

 to moisten and make it soft. It is a cheap feed for either chicks, ducks or 

 geese, early in the spring, before there is any green stuff to feed them. Do 

 not fail to plant lettuce every week and plenty of it. You can almost raise 

 ducks on lettuce. It will lessen your expense for feed one-half. I have 

 never raised enough yet to do me, but if I live I shall sow it every week 

 this coming season. You can plant it in little nooks and corners of your 

 gardens and fields that would otherwise lie idle. If you buy your seed by 

 the pound you can get it a great deal cheaper. Ducks are more healthy 

 when given plenty of lettuce. The Pekin is the most profitable breed you 

 can raise; they grow fast and mature young. Keep plenty of fresh water 

 by them at all times. 



Mating, Breeding and Rearing Turkeys 



THE Mammoth Bronze turkey is the acknowledged king of all turkeys. 

 Plumage of the male on back and breast is a brilliant bronze hue, 

 which glistens in the sunlight like burnished gold. Wing coverts 

 are a beautiful rich bronze, the feathers terminating in a wide bronze 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. 



TAIL Each feather is irregularly penciled with narrow bands of light 

 brown, and ending in a broad black band, with a wide edging of dull white 

 or gray. In 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 is generally a dull white or gray. 



The Mammoth Bronze is the hardiest of all turkeys, and the most ex- 

 tensively raised of any breed. They are good layers, many claiming them 

 to lay over 100 eggs in one season. However, there are exceptions in all 

 things, but it is no unusual occurrence for a turkey hen to lay fifty eggs 

 during hatching season, say from April 1st to July 1st. Most turkeys do 

 not lay after the 1st of July. 



To get the best results in mating and breeding turkeys the most im- 

 portant factor is the relations of the breeding stock, which should be 

 strong, vigorous birds of both sexes, as we get enough weak turkeys with- 

 out breeding for them. So if strong, healthy turkeys are to be expected, 

 we must breed from the most selected stock that can be found. I am a 

 lover of the bronze turkey. They are the largest breed of turkeys found 

 and the most profitable, I think, of any turkey one can raise, although I 

 have been raising the white turkey for several years, as my neighbors were 

 raising the bronze birds, and I have had good success. Select the breed 

 that suits you best, then you will be more apt to give them better care and 



