TUPELO. 



hay to sheep during the winter. It resemble 

 the basket fish-pots used by fishermen, and con 

 sists of a circular cage or crib, which may b 

 made of osiers, willows, or other pliant brush 

 wood of any kind. The whole is about 10 fee 

 in circumference, and closely wattled to th< 

 height of about one foot, above which it is lef 

 open for the space of 18 inches; it is then 

 wattled again to the height of 8 or 10 inches 

 and an opening, about 18 inches in breadth, is 

 left at the top, for putting in the roots or othe 

 food, whether green or dry. The staves which 

 form the skeleton of it are 10 inches asunder 

 so that 12 sheep may feed at the same time in 

 each tumbril. 



TUPELO. Under this name Michaux de- 

 scribes three species of the genus Nyssa found 

 in the United States. One of these, the Nyssa 

 aquatica, has already been described with the 

 Black gum, with which it is commonly con- 

 founded where both grow together. (Michaux s 

 vol. iii. p. 40.) 



TURF, A term often applied to the green 

 surface or sward of grass lands. Also the 

 name given to peat, which is used in several 

 parts as fuel. It varies much in its nature in 

 different places, being sometimes hard and of 

 a dark or black colour, while in others it is 

 soft and spongy. It is a substance very useful 

 in burning calcareous stones into lime. See 

 LIME, Moss, PEAT. 



TURKEY (Meleagris gallo-pavo). A wild 

 fowl, originally introduced into Europe from 

 America. They require care in their infancy. 

 The black turkey is the best sort, both for size 

 and delicacy. Turkeys are particularly clean 

 birds, loving sweet food and delighting in air. 

 They prefer roosting in trees, for which reason 

 an evergreen, such as a yew tree, spruce fir, 

 &c., is a great advantage, planted in the centre 

 of a poultry-yard. Turkeys and pea-fowl hop 

 up gradually from the low branches, and are 

 sheltered from frost. But where this is not 

 the case, the turkey-house must be dry and 

 warm in winter, and cool in summer; it must 

 be kept free from vermin, and the dung and 

 litter of feathers, &c., should be often swept 

 away. The perches must be large for their 

 talons to grasp ; and there should be plenty of 

 ventilation, by gratings or holes bored in the 

 floor. 



Turkeys seek quiet places to lay in, and 

 often stray far from home. Their nest must 

 be watched, and the newly laid egg exchanged 

 for one made out of chalk every day. The 

 turkey-hen lays from 12 to 20 eggs; and when 

 she desires to sit, place her in the turkey-house 

 on her eggs, and coop her up with them, if she 

 is unwilling to remain, till she becomes settled. 

 Do not disturb the hen while sitting, or attempt 

 to assist the chick in piercing the shell. When 

 the young ones are born, keep them in the nest 

 for some time, as they love warmth, but do not 

 handle them. Keep them warm and dry. When 

 the red colour of the head appears, 'they are 

 considered safe from the diseases of their in- 

 fancy. Do not allow a turkey to sit twice in a 

 season; the young ones never succeed unless 

 they are full feathered before Michaelmas. 

 Feed young turkeys three or four times a day, 

 and let the food be a thickish paste, made of 

 1062 



TURNIP. 



fine barley-meal, mixed with finely chopped 

 onions, nettles, and pot-herbs. The French 

 give their turkeys plentiful supplies of nettles, 

 of which they are very fond ; it is a warming 

 and nutritious herb. Let the food be given 

 fresh every day, and place it on a board with a 

 shallow pan of water. Coop the hen while the 

 young ones feed, or she will eat it herself. 

 When the chicks begin to follow the turkey 

 into the poultry-yard, do not let them out till 

 the dew is off the ground. Vetch and marrow- 

 fat peas are poisonous to young turkeys ; let- 

 tuce brings on looseness; and hemlock and 

 henbane should be destroyed near all poultry- 

 yards. 



Turkeys love oats, boiled potatoes mashed 

 with the meal of buckwheat, barley, or beans ; 

 or plain barley, like other fowls. Let the water 

 always be sweet and clean. A turkey is six 

 weeks fattening; if possible, feed two or three 

 together, as they do not love solitary confine- 

 ment. Let them eat as much as they like, but 

 let the food be fresh every day, and let it be the 

 paste above mentioned, softened by melted lard. 

 Cramming turkeys is a cruel practice, and is 

 not often done. They will feed well enough 

 and fast enough if plenty of sweet food is 

 placed before them, and if they are allowed 

 some little space to move about in. It is a 

 curious fact, that turkeys in America feed on 

 the caterpillars that are found on the tobacco 

 plant with impunity. 



Turkey eggs are very good in pastry, and 

 mixed with hen eggs they improve omelets. 

 Turkey's dung, properly mixed with other com- 

 posts, makes a valuable manure. 



TURNIP (Brassica rapa). No vegetable has 



ad such influence in advancing the husbandry 



of Great Britain as the turnip. By whom and at 



what period turnips were first used in England 



as the food of cattle, however, does not appear; 



Dut from various accounts, their culture and uses 



were known in the Low Countries as far back 



as there are any records. The ancients ap- 



)ear to have been well acquainted with the 



value of this root; Columella, speaking of the 



several kinds of vegetables adapted for the 



arm, recommends the cultivating of rapa in 



)lenty, because, says he, those roots that are 



not wanted for the table will be eaten by the 



cattle. Worledge, in his Mystery of Husbandry, 



&c., printed in 1669-81, says, that "although 



urnips be usually nourished in gardens, and 



)e properly a garden plant, yet are they, to the 



rery great advantage of the husbandman, sown 



n his fields in several places in England, not 



mly for culinary uses, as about London and 



ther great cities, but also for the food of 



attle." Again, he says, "that in Holland they 



lice their turnips with the tops, and rape-seed 



akes and grains, &c., and therewith make 



nashes for the cows and give it them warm, 



which the cows eat like hogs." He likewise 



omplains of the very great neglect and defi- 



iency of English husbandry in this particular. 



Some time since, a very excellent paper " On 



he Cultivation of the Turnip Crop on Light 



Soil, by Mr. M. Milburn," appeared in the 



rransactions of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, 



rom which this paper is chiefly extracted. 



It is generally supposed that the cultivation 



