304 



Raising Turkies. 



Vol. VIII. 



well, and familiarly. By the middle of 

 March or first of April, tliey will probably 

 commence laying. If they are quite tame, 

 as they can be made to be, they will be 

 likely, if left to run at large, to lay about 

 the house or barn ; but the safest way is to 

 drive them into some shed every morning, 

 and let them out about noon. They will 

 then lay in the corners of the room ; and 

 when they come to set, they will be conve- 

 nient to be taken care of, and by closing the 

 door at night, they are secure from harm. 

 After some three or four, or more, commence 

 setting, others may be shut in a different 

 place. I usually take the eggs from the 

 nest as they are laid. A turkey will cover 

 from seventeen to twenty-one eggs. I last 

 season, set three turkies with twenty-one 

 eggs each, and they hatched sixty. One of 

 them hatched every egg. These were in 

 one room. I never feed the turkey on the 

 nest, and I am decidedly opposed to the 

 practice of so feeding them. It is well 

 enough to place feed where they will find 

 it ; but if the turkies are hardy and in good 

 condition, this is not very necessary. Most 

 turkies are good setters, and such will com- 

 mence hatching in twenty-eight days. They 

 should be left upon the nest until the young 

 are dry and able to stand. The hen may 

 then be put into a coop in a warm, dry 

 place, and the chicks permitted to run out, 

 but should not be fed for twenty-four hours, 

 or even a longer period. I am very particu- 

 lar on this point, as I think many young tur- 

 kies are destroyed by over feeding soon after 

 they are hatched. After the first day, a little 

 curd or boiled egg may be scattered upon a 

 board or flat stone. If the weather is cold 

 or wet, it is well to season their food with 

 pepper. I have experimented with giving 

 young turkies feed very highly peppered, 

 and have never seen any bad effects, and 

 have frequently noticed cases where I was 

 quite sure the use of it had produced much 

 good. Very little, if any Indian meal, should 

 be given. If used, it should be wet up some 

 hours before being fed out. I will not tax 

 your columns with prescriptions for the cure 

 of the different "evils" which young turkies 

 are " heir to." A sick chicken is worth no- 

 thing; and my experiments with such, have 

 been of the bold kind, upon the "kill or 

 cure" principle ; and I have sometimes ef- 

 fected astonishing cures. But it can be of 

 little practical use to your readers, to give a 

 full statement on this head. "An ounce of 

 preventive, is better than a pound of cure." 

 After the first two or three weeks, it is well 

 to let the old turkey out some four or five 

 hours each pleasant day, if you have a pas- 

 ture or other suitable grounds. There is 



much danger, however, in leaving them out 

 over night, as they are disposed to wander 

 about while the dew is on. 



There is a diversity of opinions as to the 

 best variety of the turkey. Some preferring 

 the pure white, others the black ; and some 

 there are, if we are to judge by their prac- 

 tice, who prefer every mixture of colour, 

 " ring streaked and speckled." I go for the 

 native colour. My flock at the commence- 

 tnent of last season, consisted of a turkey 

 cock, the first generation from the wild 

 state : the colour and shape exactly agree- 

 ing with the wild turkey; and eight hen 

 turkeys of my own raisinar. The hens are 

 of a dark colour, yet not black, with an in- 

 clination to white at the end of the wings. 

 A very large share of those raised the last 

 season, were in colour and form like the 

 cock, with less of the flesh colour on the 

 legs. I would give a more full account of 

 my flock as it appeared in the fall, before I 

 made inroads upon it ; and a more full de- 

 scription of the colour and brilliant plumage 

 of many tu ikies now on hand, but fear your 

 readers would think me drawing from fancy. 



My opinions and recommendations thus 

 briefly stated, are based upon experiments 

 of my own, and differ in some particulars 

 fi-om writers upon the subject. " Boswell," 

 for example, advises "the putting two or 

 three eggs of the common fowl, under each 

 turkey, that the common chicks may set an 

 example for the turkey chickens, and which 

 determines them to eat sooner than they 

 otherwise do." Now this is all moonshine. 

 Young turkies are more in danger of eating 

 too much than too little ; and I would again 

 caution all who would hope for success, not 

 to feed high the first week or two. Feed 

 often, but sparingly. If during the first four 

 or five weeks any of them should droop, and 

 decline eating in the morning, give them 

 pepper, by taking a small quantity of their 

 regular food and about an equal quantity of 

 pepper, mix it, and give as much as a healthy 

 one of the same size would eat. 



To IMPROVE THE QUANTITY AND QUALI- 

 TY OF Pears. — During the winter lay bare 

 the roots of the tree, by digging for a space 

 of two feet each way from the tree ; fill the 

 hole half full of Blacksmith's cinders or old 

 iron, and in the spring fill up the hole with 

 new earth or compost; the cinders or iron 

 being exposed to the weather, oxides during 

 the winter, and conveys by means of the 

 roots to the tree and fruit; the qualify of the 

 fruit will be found much improved, and many 

 trees now worthless, may have their health 

 and usefulness restored. 



