288 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



under cover in the early morning, or during wet weather, 

 until the red protuberances (which begin to appear when 

 they are two months old) are fairly developed, and the 

 cliick has become a poult, the delicate period will be safely 

 tided over, and henceforth the poultry-yard can boast no 

 fowl so hardy as the turkey. 



This matter of keeping them sheltered from dampness 

 until at least two mouths old is one of the two great se- 

 crets of success in rearing these valuable birds ; without 

 it, there is no profit in them ; with it, there is much. 



The rearing of turkeys on a large scale to supply the 

 Northern markets would prove a very profitable business 

 in Florida, since here the only shelter needed would be a 

 tight roof and four walls just high enough to prevent exit, 

 with netted openings; no boarded floors or glazed sash- 

 windows to keep out the cold and dampness, as at the 

 North, but with only so simple a shelter as this, not a chick 

 need be lost from exposure. 



The " Old Turk" should be allowed a harem of twelve 

 hens ; the cocks at three years, and the hens at two, are 

 in their prime and, unlike chickens, continue so for three 

 or four years later, their offspring being fine, healthy 

 chicks ; and, with regard to the latter, it should be borne 

 in mind that the size of the hen is of more imi^ortance than 

 that of the cock ; if he be of moderate size, strength, and 

 spirit, that is enough to ask of him, except that he behave 

 himself. 



And, do you know that he don't generally behave at all 

 like a loving husband or father ? 



No, he is a grand old rascal, a regular dog-in-the-manger 

 — a Tartar, a Turk. When he and his wives are roving 

 the woods in a wild state, he makes it the business of his 

 life to hunt out their nests and destroy both the eggs and 

 chicks; and thus the poor hens are driven to sedulously 



