26 TURKEY CULTURE. 



they are just suited for ordinary family use. The largest 

 breeds are too large for most families, hence the smaller 

 breeds command readier sale. The great 40 to 46 Ib toms 

 must be sold on the holidays or Thanksgiving market if 

 sold at all. A plump young turkey dressing 8 to 15 Ibs will 

 sell readily at almost any season. Certainly the same size 

 can be had in any of the breeds, or with the common stock 

 of the farms, but not so readily, as a rule. I have on sev- 

 eral occasions seen large flocks of Bronze turkeys of a uni- 

 form size in which the hens weighed about 10 or 12 Ibs, 

 and the males 15 or 16 Ibs at Thanksgiving. White Hoi- 

 land turkeys have been so often extolled for their domes- 

 ticity, that it seems almost like sacrilege to tell a different 

 tale. And yet, after keeping several of the best-known 

 breeds for years, as well as the subject of this sketch, I find 

 that there is little if anything to choose between the sev- 

 eral breeds on the score of tameness. It has frequently 

 been said that White Hollands are weakly and hard to 

 raise, but I have known instances where every egg of a 

 clutch hatched, and every poult lived to maturity. A cor- 

 respondent says: "They must be hardy, or I could never 

 have raised any last year on this place, which is so damp 

 and cold that it is unfit to raise geese, or much less a ten- 

 der thing like a turkey." But hardy as I believe them, let 

 no one expect to find them of whalebone or iron, for they 

 are not. They will die if exposed to too much cold and 

 dampness, just like any other turkeys; they must be kept 

 free from lice, or they droop and die like any fowl ; and 

 they must be fed proper food in proper quantities, or they 

 will never live to grace a Thanksgiving table, or call forth 

 words of praise at the Christmas festive board. Then, too, 

 it must be remembered by all who should 'attempt to raise 

 White turkeys, that if hardy poults are wanted the breed- 

 ing stock must be hardy, well matured, properly kept, and 

 not closely related. More weak poults come into the world 

 to worry their owners during a brief existence, on account 



