THE BEEEDS OF TURKEYS. 31 



The rich red of its head and exposed neck, its white, 

 or flesh colored, shanks, and its pure buff plumage, fad- 

 ing into light cream on the wings, harmonize perfectly 

 and make its color scheme truly artistic. But, and here, 

 we opine, is the real difficulty, buff is a difficult color to 

 breed perfectly, and among Buff turkeys, as well as among 

 Buff fowls, there will be too much white or too much black 

 in the plumage. The result will be that out of many birds 

 but a few will possess the desired color characteristics. But 

 if one rears the Bronze, nearly every specimen will be 

 colored aright and the flock will possess the desired uni- 

 form appearance. 



THE SLATE TUEKEY. 



These differ from the Buff mainly in the color of the 

 plumage. They are good market birds, and when in prime 

 condition make a handsome appearance in the show pen. 

 The variety is also called Blue, Maltese or Lavender. 



THE NAEEAGANSETT TUEKEY. 



H. 8. BABCOCK. 



The name of this variety is derived from the beautiful 

 bay that extends from Newport to Providence, in the state 

 of Ehode Island. It is the variety which, in all proba- 

 bility, first gave to Rhode Island turkeys their world-wide 

 reputation. That reputation has remained, though the 

 variety has, to a considerable extent, disappeared from the 

 borders of the bay. The greater size of the Bronze turkey 

 has been a potent cause in the gradual disappearance of 

 other varieties. Yet the Narragansett is by no means a 

 small variety, it is nearly as large as the Bronze. The 

 standard weights are : For cock thirty-two pounds, for cock- 

 erel and hen twenty-two pounds each, and for pullet four- 

 teen pounds, and are the heaviest weights given to any 

 variety except the Bronze. These weights are not 



