POULTKY. 255 



hard and finely minced, or cnrd with bread crnmbf, boiled nettles, and 

 the green part of onions, parsley, etc., chopped very small, and mixed 

 together, so as to form a loose crumbly paste. Barley or oatmeal, 

 kneaded with a little water, and mixed with the pulp of potatoes and 

 Swedish turnips, to which chopped beet-leaves are added, may also be 

 given. They will require water; but this should be put into very shal- 

 h)\v vessels, so as to insure against the danger of the chicks getting wet. 

 Fresh milk is apt to disagree with the young birds, and is not needful. 

 ]>oth the turkey-hen and her chickens should be housed for a few days ; 

 they may then, if the weather be fine, be allowed a few hours' liberty 

 during the day; but should a shower threaten, they must be put im- 

 mediately under shelter. This system must be persevered in for three 

 or four weeks. By this time they will have acquired considerable 

 strength, and will know how to take care of themselves. On the first 

 drops of a shower, they will run for shelter into their accustomed place 

 of refuge, which should be warm and waterproof. As they get older, 

 meal and grain may be given them more freely. They now begin to 

 search for insects, and to dust their growing plumage in the sand. At 

 the age of about two months, or perhaps a little more, the males and 

 females begin to develop their distinctive characteristics. In the young 

 males the carunculated skin of the neck and throat, and the horn-like 

 contractile comb on the forehead, assume a marked character. This is 

 a critical period. The system requires a full supply of nutriment, and 

 good housing at night is essential. Some recommend that a few grains 

 of cayenne pepper, or a little bruised hempseed, be mixed with their 

 food. The distinctive sexual marks once fairly established, the young 

 birds lose their names of chicks or chickens, and are tei-med turkey poults. 

 The time of danger is over, and they become independent, and every 

 day stronger and more hardy. They now fare as the rest of the flock, 

 on good and sufficient food, if their keeper is alive to his own interest. 

 I again repeat it, that a man who keeps poultry on meagre, spare, in- 

 nutritious diet, will never rear fine poultry, and never repay himself 

 even for his niggardly outlay. Poultry should never be in bad con- 

 dition : let them not be kept at all, unless they are kept properly. 



THE WILD TURKEY is a noble bird, far exceeding its domestic relative 

 in neatness of foi'm and beauty. Crosses in America often take place 

 between the wild and tame races, and are highly valued, both for exter- 

 nal qualities and for the table. In districts where the wild turkey is 

 common, such crosses are quite frequent; the wild male driving away 

 his domesticated rival, and usurping the sultanship of the seraglio. 

 Eggs of the wild turkey have frequently been taken from their nests, and 

 hatched under the tame hen. The young prcvserve a portion of their 

 uncivilized nature, and exhibit some knowledge of the difference between 

 themselves and their foster-mother, roosting apart from the tame ones, 

 and in other respects showing the force of hereditary disposition. The 

 domesticated young reared from the eggs of the wild turkey are often 

 employed as decoy-birds to those in a state of nature. Mr. William 

 Bloom, of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, caught five or six wild turkeys when 

 quite chickens, and succeeded, in rearing them. Although sufficiently 

 -ime to feed with his tame turkeys, and generally associate wiUi them, 



