16 TURKEY CULTURE. 



our breeding stock seems to be necessary, to prevent de- 

 cadence of vitality, and to insure thrift and health in our 

 improved breeds that is, for those who raise turkeys for 

 market. 



THE BBONZE TURKEY. 



H. 8. BABCOCK. 



The Bronze is the largest variety among our turkeys. 

 The standard weights are : For cock 32 Ibs, cockerel 24 Ibs, 

 hen 22 Ibs, and pullet 15 Ibs. These weights, though high, 

 are often exceeded by the birds. Forty pounds and even 

 more are reached by the old toms, and we know of one hen 

 turkey which weighed, when we saw her, twenty-nine 

 pounds, and her owner expected her to reach thirty pounds 

 in a short time. 



There is some obscurity about the origin of this variety, 

 although there is reason to believe that it resulted from 

 crossing the Wild turkey, the original of all the domesti- 

 cated varieties, upon the Black turkey. Early references to 

 the variety show that it was at first known as the "Black 

 Bronzed," but the term was too long and it became short- 

 ened into Bronze. This variety is interesting as showing 

 that, after a marked departure from the early color, it has 

 come back to very nearly the color of its Wild original. 

 The Black had departed a long distance from the rich hues 

 of the Wild turkey, but the lines are restored in the Bronze 

 variety. 



The male has a long head, with good breadth of skull, 

 the rich red skin being carunculated. The strong beak is 

 well curved, and is of the color known as horn, darkest at 

 the base and growing light as it approaches the tip. The 

 eyes are dark-hazel in color, contrasting with the rich red of 

 the face and jaws. The wattle, or snout, is of the same 

 color as the face and of good size, and hangs down from 

 above. The long curving neck is clothed in plumage of 

 rich bronze. The back of the male, starting from its June- 



