136 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



breed. And so solid and heavy is the body when ready for the table, 

 that one might easily doubt, when balancing a Game in one hand and 

 a bag of sand of the same size in the other, as to which was the 

 heaviest. 



Turkeys. — We found, on examination, one coop marked " wild," 

 which were certainly a long remove from the wild fowl of the wood. 

 The mingling of wild stock with our domestic turkey, gives the prog- 

 eny a stamina of constitution and increase of size truly astonishing 

 to one who has never tried the experiment, and from the experience 

 of the chairman of your committee, who has had much experience in 

 turkey raising, we Avould say, where it is possible, secure the services 

 of a pure wild male ; if a wild one is not to be had, get a three- 

 fourths or half breed male, always (year after year,) selecting your 

 largest and best females for perpetuating the stock. The person 

 alluded to above, at one time had one of the largest and finest speci- 

 mens of a captured bird, which, when trapped in the Western wilds, 

 weighed thirty-five pounds, and after undergoing the fatigue of trans- 

 portation, weighed on arrival here, over twenty-eight pounds. When 

 turned at large with the hen turkeys, and the sun was shining, his 

 plumage was handsomer than is a peacock. He was pinioned on his 

 removal from the box, and allowed as free a range as the domestic 

 fowl. The sight of a dog would always induce him to forget his com- 

 panions, and seek the woods. 



Though the hen turkeys were the largest and finest procurable in 

 New England, he added fully one-third in weight to the progeny, and 

 at the same time, he gave a strength of constitution to the young 

 chicks, which enabled them to pass through their early maturity 

 unharmed, though uncared for by the owner. Had he have been dis- 

 posed to have interfered in their "bringing up," he would have been 

 at a loss to have known of their whereabouts. The hen turkeys 

 (which were themselves half and three-quarters bred,) would go back 

 into the woods and so carefully conceal the nest, that neither the 

 turkey or the nest could be found. When hatched, she kept away 

 from the dwelling and foimd food, such as worms, &c., by scratching 

 away leaves, and thus she kept away, till, finding herself and young 

 short of food, she would, all of a sudden, bring them up to the yard 

 for feeding. Notwithstanding this was the first time of bringing 

 them to the door, there was no shyness in the young, and from that 

 time forward, all were as tame as any of the feathered tribe about 

 the premises. 



We have been somewhat more prolix on this subject than we had 

 intended, hoping to induce others to make trial of the experiment. 



