596 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC, 



to cultivate and reseed. Green forage cannot be started in these 

 yards without confining the chickens or vacating the house. 



Double yards, with one located on each side of the pen, are 

 more satisfactory. They can be used alternately during the season 

 with chickens foraging on one yard while a fresh crop is being 

 started in the other, thus using the pen continuously, or the yard 

 may be used alternate years. Occasion may permit the combination 

 of two adjacent pens thus allowing yards of double width as in the 

 case of the commercial house with individual pens 18 feet in width 

 and the adjoining yards 36 feet. This arrangement reduces the cost 

 of fencing considerably and greatly facilitates the working of the 

 soil, and in addition affords the chickens a greater amount of rang- 

 ing area. By this plan all cross-fences can be eliminated should spe- 

 cial conditions permit. For long continuous houses double yards 

 are most satisfactory. (Mich. B. 266.) 



TURKEYS. 



No other kind of domestic poultry has come into such general 

 use throughout the entire world for Thanksgiving and holiday 

 feasts as has the turkey. Records show that in England, in 1541, 

 it was enumerated among the dainties, while in 1573 it had become 

 the customary fare of the farmer. It is well known that the Ameri- 

 can Bronze turkey originated from the union of the wild turkey 

 of North America with the domestic turkey of this country. 



North American Wild Turkey. This is the original species of 

 the Eastern United States, known as Meleagris americana, whose 

 colors are black, beautifully shaded with a rich bronze, the breast 

 plumage being dark bronze, illuminated with a lustrous finish of 

 coppery gold. This finish of bronze and gold emblazons the entire 

 plumage throughout as if burnished into brightness. In the rays 

 of the sun it shows a most beautiful combination of bronze, black, 

 copper, and gold. 



Mexican Turkey. The wild turkey of the southern, or Mexi- 

 can, country, called by some naturalists Meleagris mexicana, is 

 somewhat shorter in shank than the northern species, in body color 

 metallic-black shaded with bronze, its tail and other feathers being 

 tipped with white. This appears to be the species that was first 

 taken to Spain and other European countries. It is also thought 

 that the white markings of the plumage of this fowl show its in- 

 fluence on the variety of domestic turkeys known as the Narragan- 

 sett. 



Ocellated Turkey. The wild species known as the Honduras 

 turkey scientifically as Meleagris ocellata was originally a native 

 of Honduras and other parts of Central America. Some describe it 

 as most beautiful in coloring, equal to the Impeyan pheasant, if not 

 richer. The head and neck of this wild variety are naked and no 

 breast tuft is present. This is a beautiful brilliantly colored bird, 

 but cannot be successfully bred in domestication in the northern 

 climate. 



Domestication. There is apparently no contention regarding 

 the original transportation of the turkeys from America to Spain 



