mer number is probably the safest, to prevent 

 sterility in the ostjsi. which is frequently the 

 case with those of turkeys. Eggs should never 

 be entrusted to the care of a female until slie is 

 at least two years of age, and they may be kept 

 for the purpose of incubation till they reach their 

 tenth year. The largest and strongest hens 

 should always be kept for this purpose. Dui-iug 

 the time the hen is sitting, it becomes necessary 

 to place food near her ; as otherwise, from her 

 assiduity, she may be starved to death, as turkey- 

 hens seldom move from their nest during the 

 whole time of incubation. 



Where farmers rear turkeys in great num- 

 bers, they do not indulge the hen by allowing 

 her to sit as soon as she has done laying, but 

 keep them from her until all the other hens 

 have ceased to lay, as it is of consequence that 

 they should all be hatched about one time. — 

 When hens are unhappy during this intei-val. 

 they may be indulged with hens' eggs. When 

 they have all ceased to laj', each of them is pro- 

 vided with a nest Vauged close to the wall, in a 

 bara or other convenient place, and each is sup- 

 plied with from sixteen to twenty of her own 

 eggs. The windows and doors are then closed, 

 and only opened once in the twentj'-four hours 

 for the admission of air, and for the purpose of 

 feeding the hens. They are taken off their 

 nests, fed and replaced, and again shut up. — 

 On the twenty-sixth day. the person who is en- 

 trusted with the management of the birds exam- 

 ines all the eggs, and removes those that are 

 addled ; feeds the hens, and does not again dis- 

 turb them till the poults have emerged from 

 their shells, and have become perfectly dry, 

 from the heat of the parent bird ; as to be sub- 

 jected to cold at this time would certainly kill 

 them. When the young birds are thoroughlj- 

 dried, two of the broods are joined together, 

 and the care of them entrusted to a single hen : 

 and those who have been deprived of their off- 

 spring are again placed on hens' or ducks' eggs, 

 and subjected a second time to the tedious ope- 

 ration of incubation, in which case it is not un- 

 usual for them to bring out thirty eggs. We 

 cannot recommend this practice in point of hu- 

 manity ; for the poor hens \vhen they have ac- 

 complished their second sitting, are literally re- 

 duced to skin and bone, and frequently so weak 

 as hardly to be able to w^alk. 



As before hinted at, great care should be ta- 

 ken of the young turkey-poults ; besides warmth, 

 proper food, and shade, the nearer they are to a 

 pure running sti'cam the better, as they drink a 

 great deal, and notliing is of greater import- 

 ance to their being successfully reared than 

 fi-esh drink. They must be also cai-efully pro- 

 tected from strong gusts of wind, and on the 

 slightest appearance of a thunder-sionn, should 

 be immediately taken into a house. They 

 should get no food for twenty-four hours after 

 they leave the egg. Their first food should be 

 hard-boiled eggs finely chopped, and mixed 

 with crumbs of bread. Curd is also an excel- 

 lent food for them. When they are about a 

 ^veek old, boiled peas and minced scallions are 

 given to them. If eggs are continued, the 

 bliells should be minced down with their food, 

 to assist dis,'estion, or some very coar.se saud, or 

 minute pebbles. They should be fed thrice a- 

 day, and as they get older, a mixture of lettuce 

 milk will be found beneficial, together with 

 minced nettles. Barley boiled in milk is anoth- 

 er excellent food at this period, and then oats 

 boiled in milk. In shoit, the constitution of 



young turkeys requires at all ages every kind 

 of stimulating food. When about three weeks 

 old, their meat should consist of a mixture of 

 minced lettuce, nettles, curdled milk, hard-boil- 

 ed yolks of eggs, bran, and dried camomile ; 

 but when all these cannot be readily obtained, 

 pait of them must be used. Fennel and wild 

 endive, ^vith all plants which are of a tonic 

 character, may be safely given to them. Too 

 much lettuce, however, has been found to be in- 

 jurious. When poults are about a month old, 

 they should be turned out. along with the parent 

 bird, into the fields or plantations, where they 

 will find gulEcieut food for themselves. Grass, 

 worms, all kinds of insects and snails, are their 

 favorite food, and Nature dictates to them such 

 vegetables as are conducive to their general 

 health. As their feet are at first very tender, 

 and subject to inflammation from the pricking 

 of nettles and thistles, they ought to be rubbed 

 with spirits, which has the cflect of hardening 

 the skin, and fortifying them against these 

 plants. 



The glandulous fleshy parts and barbies of 

 their heads begin to develop when they are 

 fi'om six weeks to two months old. This is a 

 critical period with the poults, and unusual care 

 must be bestowed on them, as they now be- 

 come weak and often sickly. A little brine 

 mixed with their food will be found very ben- 

 eficial, or spirits much diluted with water. A 

 paste made of fennel, pepper, hemp-seed, and 

 parsley, has been found an excellent remedy 

 when afflicted with an inflammation in the wat- 

 tles, to which they are liable when growing. — 

 They are very subject to this if the weather hap- 

 pens to be broken and changeable at th.e time 

 these tubercles are growing. These parts swell 

 and grow very red, which frequently proves fa- 

 tal to them. If, therefore, such be the state of 

 the weather at this critical period, the paste 

 above recommended should be given although 

 they are perfectly healthy, which will be found 

 an excellent preventive. When the iuHanima- 

 tion becomes very great, recourse is often had 

 to bleeding in the axillary vein, which frequent- 

 ly recovers them. 



Soon after the turkey-poults have acquired 

 their first feathers, they are liable to a disea.se 

 which is very fatal to them, if not attended to. 

 This distemper produces great debility, and the 

 birds appear languid and drooping, and almost 

 totally neglect their food. Their tail and wing- 

 feathers assume a whitish appearance, and their 

 phmiaire has a bristled aspect. This is occa- 

 sioned by a disease in two or three of the rump- 

 feathers. On examination, the tubes of these 

 will be found filled with blood. Tlie only rem- 

 edy for this disease is to pluck them out, when 

 the bird will speedily acquire its wonted health 

 and spirits. 



In fattening turkeys for the table, various 

 methods are resorted to. Some feed them on 

 barley meal mixed with skim-milk, and confine 

 them a coop during this time ; others merely 

 confine them to a house ; while a third class al- 

 low them to run quite at liberty ; which latter 

 practice, from the experience of those on whose 

 judgment we can most rely, is by far the best 

 method. Care should, however, be taken to 

 feed them abundantly before they are allowed 

 to range about in the morning, and a meal 

 should also be prepared for them at ni id-day, to 

 which they will generally repair homew ards of 

 their ov^-n accord. They should be fed at night, 

 before roosting, with cat meal and skimmilk ; 



