1 88 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



Place of the turkey in domestication. In discussing the 

 history of the turkey in domestication much has been said of 

 the influence of conditions on the type and on the vitality of this 

 bird. The case of the turkey is peculiar, because it seems as 

 capable of being tamed as the fowl, the goose, or the duck, yet 

 does not thrive under the conditions in which it would grow 

 tame. It is peculiarly sensitive to the effects of soil which has 



FIG. 158. Bourbon Red Turkeys. (Photograph from owner, C. \V. Jones, 

 Holmdel, New Jersey) 



been contaminated by the excrement of animals, and so instinc- 

 tively avoids feeding places on which other animals are numerous. 

 Thus it requires a large range and, if permitted to follow its incli- 

 nation, spends most of its time at a distance from the homestead. 

 The successful growing of turkeys depends upon the watchfulness 

 of the caretaker and the absence of their natural enemies. This 

 will appear more clearly when the methods of managing them 

 are described in the next chapter. Turkey culture is not well 

 adapted to the more intensive methods of farming which become 



