THE TURKEY. 123 



been able to collect, but also all that my own experience ena- 

 bles me to add, on my part. 



The weight of turkeys has been much exaggerated by care- 

 less, ignorant, or, perhaps, credulous writers ; and sixty pounds 

 is by some mentioned as a common weight. On the contrary, 

 twenty pounds is a fair weight for any fat yearling bird, and a 

 very great weight for a bird of six months old ; thirty pounds is 

 a fine turkey of any age ; and few, save the Norfolk, ever ex- 

 ceed forty pounds. The greatest weight that these have been 

 known to attain, recorded by such authority as we can rely 

 upon, is fifty-six pounds. I have never seen a turkey of sixty 

 pounds' weight ; nor do I know any one that has. The hen 

 takes fat more readily than the cock, and is, in proportion to 

 her size, a tenderer and a better dish." Richardson. 



Mr. Charles H. Pendleton, of Pendleton Hill, Connecticut, 

 a breeder of reputation, says, in relation to his turkeys : 



" I have the largest turkeys that you can find in New Eng- 

 land. My turkey cock weighed twenty-seven pounds the winter 

 before he was a year old ; and I have no doubt he will weigh, 

 well fatted, next winter, thirty pounds dressed. One of my 

 turkey hens weighed fifteen pounds and twelve ounces, last 

 spring." 





