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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



THE WILD TUEKEY. 



A late number of the Life Illustrated contain- 

 ed an article on the habits and historj' of turkeys, 

 from which we have condensed the following de- 

 scription. Turkeys are as much of an institution in 

 New England as Thanksgiving, and we ought to 

 knovF something of the origin of the fowl that occu- 

 pies so prominent a place among the viands at our 

 annual feast. 



"The wild turkey belongs to the GalUiKB and to 

 the order maleagris gallopavo, and is found only 

 in America. Its original range extended from the 

 northwestern part of the United States to the Isth- 

 mus of Panama. It is now mostly confined to the 

 unsettled or thinly inhabited portions of Arkansas, 

 Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio, Kentucky, 

 Indiana, Illinois, and the vast territory lying west 

 and southwest of these States. 



Some of the peculiar habits of this bird are thus 

 described in the "Transactions of the American In- 

 stitute" for 1852 : 



The wild turkeys do not confine themselves to 

 any particular food ; they eat Indian corn, all sorts 

 of berries, fruits, grains, and grasses ; and even tad- 

 poles, grasshoppers, young frogs and lizards are 

 constantly found in their crops. Their more gen- 

 eral predilection is, however, for the acorn, or mast, 

 chestnut, beechnut, etc., on which they readily fat- 

 ten. 



About the beginning of October, while the mast 

 or shack still remains on the trees, they assemble in 

 flocks, and direct their course to the rich bottom 

 lands. The males associate in parties numbering 

 from ten to a hundred, and seek their food apart 

 from the females; while the latter either move 

 about singly with their young, then nearly two- 

 thirds grown, or, in company with other females and 

 their families, form troops, sometimes consisting of 

 seventy or eighty individuals, all of whom are intent 

 on avoiding the old males, who whenever an oppor- 

 tunity offers, attack and destroy the young by re- 

 peated blows on the head. 



When the turkeys have arrived in their land of 

 abundance, they disperse in small flocks, composed 

 of individuals of all sexes and ages intermingled, 

 who devour all the mast as they advance : this oc- 

 cin-s about the middle of November. 



Early in March 'they begin to pair; and for % 

 short time previous the females separate from and 

 shun their mates, though the latter pertinaciously 

 follow them, uttering their gobbling notes. The 

 sexes roost apart, but at no great distance, so that 

 when the female utters a call, every male within hear- 

 ing responds, rolling note after note in the most 

 rapid succession , not as when spreading the tail and 

 strutting near the hen, but in a voice resembling 

 that of the tame turkey, when he hears an unusual 

 or frequently repeated noise. 



When mated for the season, one or more females, 

 thus associated, follow their favorite, and roost in 

 .he immediate neighborhood, if not on the same 

 tree, until they begin to lay, when they change their 

 mode of life, in order to save their eggs, which the 

 male uniformly breaks, if in his power, that the fe- 

 male may not be withdrawn from his company and 

 attention. 



The sexes then separate ; the males, being thin 

 and meagre, retire and conceal themselves by pros- 



trate trees, in secluded parts of the forest, or in the 

 almost impenetrable recesses of a cane-brake. 

 About the middle of April, when the weather is dry, 

 the female selects a proper place in which to depos- 

 it her eggs. 



The nest is placed on the ground, either in a dry 

 ridge in the fallen top of a dead leafy tree, under a 

 thicket of sumach or briers, or by the side of a log ; 

 it is of a simple structure, being composed of a few 

 dried leaves. In this receptacle the eggs are de- 

 posited, sometimes to the number of twenty, but 

 more usually from nine to fifteen ; they are whitish, 

 spotted with reddish-brown, like those of the do- 

 mestic turkey. The female always approaches her 

 nest with great caution, varying her course so as 

 rarely to reach it twice by the same route ; and on 

 leaving her charge, she is very careful to cover the 

 whole with dry leaves, with which she conceals it so 

 carefully as to make it extremely difficult, even for 

 one who has watched her movements, to indicate 

 the exact spot. When laying or sitting, the tur- 

 key hen is not easily driven from her post by the 

 approach of apparent danger; but if an enemy aj)- 

 pears, she crouches as low as possible, and sufi'ers 

 it to pass. 



If the eggs be removed, sheagain seeks the male, 

 and recommences laying, though otherwise she lays 

 but one nest of eggs during the season. Several 

 turkey hens sometimes associate, perhaps for mu- 

 tual safety, and deposit their eggs in the same nest, 

 and rear their broods together. Mr. Audubon once 

 found three females sitting on fortv-two eggs. In 

 su"h cases the nest is constantly guarded by one of 

 the parties, so that no crow, raven or polecat dare 

 approach it. The mother will not forsake her eggs 

 when near hatching, while life remains; she will 

 sutler an enclosure to be made around and imprison 

 her, rather than abandon her charge. 



The wild turkey is of a glossy dark color; he is 

 generally called black. He is not black, hlfe the 

 crow ; he is more of a ferruginous or iron color, 

 with small shining coppery bronze spots, especially 

 on the wings and tail. In the wild state, a white 

 or even a speckled turkey is unknown, and we ven- 

 ture to say that a plain black one has hardly ever 

 occurred. [The light-colored or gray tame turkeys 

 are said to be scrofulous and sickly, while the dark- 

 er the color the more hardy is the bird. Good 

 judges avoid the bleached or light-colored for breed- 

 ing, and only "keep" the darkest and best.] 



Culture of Ckanberries. — Numerous applica- 

 tions have been made tons to send certain treatises 

 to persons upon the culture of the cranberry, or to 

 give brief directions by letter. All this we should 

 be most happy to do if it were in our power. To- 

 day we have given some directions when to cut the 

 sugar cane for pressing, and next week will furnish 

 such information in regard to the cranberry as we 

 can gather from the best authorities. In the mean- 

 time, we recommend to those interested to purchase 

 Hyde's Manual on the mode of culture and manu- 

 facture of the sugar cane, and Eastwood's Manual 

 for the cultivation of the Cranberry. Price for the 

 work on the sugar cane 25 cents, and for that on 

 the cranberry 50 cents, and may be had at this of- 

 fice, or of the booksellers generally. 



