PRIZE ESSAYS Otf TURKEY CULTURE. 



Faults in the parentage show their result in the young 

 in two or three weeks, or as soon as the wing feathers begin 

 to grow nicely. The chicks do not seem bright as usual. 

 Their wings droop, their steps are uncertain and tottering, 

 and they stand sleeping in the sun much of the time. 

 They grow very weak and die in two or three days, 

 though, strictly speaking, they have been dying since 

 their birth. There was not life enough in them to carry 

 them through the feathering-out stage. No medicine on 

 earth could have saved them, nor any care availed. 



But suppose you have satisfactory parent birds, and 

 have followed the rules for their keeping given above. 

 Well, then, late in February, roll some barrels or boxes 

 into out-of-the-way places, or stand a few sticks and 

 boards tent fashion, among some shrubbery. A hen tur- 

 key likes to tread an intricate path to her nest, so it is 

 well to pile up brush carelessly about these desirable nest- 

 ing places. You should then throw a few leaves in each 

 nest, or some old weedy hay, and you may put an egg in 

 the nest or not, and then do not visit the place when the 

 turkeys are in sight. Most hens begin to lay in March, al- 

 though some lay in February, or perhaps not until April. 

 If the egg is removed, the hen usually lays from eighteen 

 to twenty-five eggs before hatching. If the eggs are un- 

 molested, she will only lay as many as she can cover, 

 which is about fifteen. If more are given, she will destroy 

 them. Therefore it is best to set the extra eggs under 

 fowl hens, and add them to the turkey's brood when both 

 are hatched. A fowl hen makes an undesirable mother, 

 as she frequents cowyards and the poultry runs, wher* 

 young turkeys do not flourish. She also leaves th^m a* 

 coo early an age. 



When the turkey oegins to hatch, go every morning, 

 and throw her some corn or wheat, and see that she has 

 water. She will thus become accustomed to you, and not 

 exhaust your patience later, by hiding herself and brood 



