A SELF-SUPPORTING HOME 



During the winter months, when most 

 flocks of turkeys are left to forage for them- 

 selves, these people give theirs the best of 

 care to insure strong, fertile eggs. A very 

 general mistake seems to be neglect of the 

 breeding stock, for it is a waste of time to 

 hatch eggs so poor in vitality that the results 

 die off after a few days' miserable existence. 

 It's true turkeys live almost exclusively on 

 insects; but frost destroys this natural food 

 supply, which makes it imperative that meat 

 and bone should be fed. The master of 

 the farm laughed at me when I confessed 

 that I had always believed that a little corn 

 at night was all they needed. He told me 

 that after January 1 his birds received regular 

 meals. Two mornings a week their break- 

 fast consisted of boiled oats with chopped 

 meat added; on other days scalded clover, 

 hay, and ground feed. Supper is of whole 

 corn and barley, alternated with cracked 

 corn and Kafir-corn in moderate quantities, 

 as breeding birds must not get too fat. 



198 



