1882,] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



179 



with siinihir iiitcrc^sls of llie XdiIIi and E;ist 

 — lier fiTiiuT coinpctitoi-s in political ethics, 

 her prestMit rivals in economical practice. 



" The South, i. e. the New South, will soon 

 be clamorous for a protective tariff as of yore 

 she was belliiierently clamorous for free trade, 

 and knowing the South as well as we do, we 

 can safely venture the opinion that she will 

 occupy no middle ground : that she will not 

 accejit any sophism, or be cajoled by the 

 sopliislryof a "Revenue Tariff," or a "Tariff 

 for Revenue," so called, because they will 

 accept as readily as do the great manufactu- 

 rers of the Middle and Xew England States 

 the theory of proper protection, knowing that 

 a failure to dc so places them iu a subordi- 

 nate position to foreign mamifacturing inter- 

 ests, no matter how valual)le her natural 

 resources may give her advantages not pos- 

 sessed liv the North and East; and she well 

 knows that what will place in jeopardy the 

 interests of her neighbors, will assail with as 

 much force the interests involved in the looms 

 and spindles of Georgia, and other manufac- 

 uring centres of the Southern States. 



"It were well, indeed, that the political 

 economist study these facts, and remember 

 in connection that issues and occasions present 

 themselves from time to time iu tlie national 

 economy tliat puzzle the most astute econo- 

 mist, and of all the questions, none require 

 the attention of wise, profound, and skillful 

 consideration more than the complex theories 

 of tariff and free trade. Which of these is the 

 more important factor iu the economical ad- 

 ministration of the government is a mooted 

 question ; but that one must yield to the 

 other is as irrepressible a fact as was the same 

 theory of irrepressiori presented by Mr. Seward 

 on one of the most vital questions ever pre- 

 sented to the thought and action of the 

 countr}'. 



"Tiiere can be no compromise — ever an evi- 

 dence of weakness— but one or the other of 

 tliese issues must submit to the power of the 

 other; which will yield, it is not in the jirov- 

 ince of tliis article to determine. We cast 

 the thought upon the waters of public opinion, 

 and will be pleased to answer any and all 'Cor- 

 respondents who may desire our views as 

 journalists, not as partisans." 



THE TURKEY. 



(ifetfagris gallo-pavo. — Linn. » 



" Man, cursed man, on turkeys preys, 

 And Christmas shortens all our days. 

 Sometimes with oysters we combine; 

 Sometimes assist the sav'ry chine, 

 From the low peasant tu the lord. 

 The tnrky smokes on ev'ry board." 



At one time it was thought, in England at 

 lea.st, that the turkey had its origin iu the 

 country called Turkey— the land of the Turks 

 — but this was a grave mistake, the nnturnl- 

 iftx of England knew better. In a "Perfect 

 description of Virginia," written two hun- 

 dred and forty years ago, it is recorded tliat 

 the colonists had " wilde turkies" weighing 

 sixty pounds," and Ray refers to America as 

 the origin of the siwcies from which we derive 

 our domestic bird. It is easy enough to per- 

 ceive how the name Turkey should have been 

 applied to the land of the Turks by "outside 

 barbarians," but it is not so easy to perceive 



why, or how, it was first applied to an Ameri- 

 can fowl. 



The Melewjris of the ancients was not a 

 turkey at all: it was a " Guinea fowl." Lin- 

 nteus, however, has given tliis as the generic 

 name of our turkey, a bird which was alto- 

 getlier unknown (o the ancients, and ornitholo- 

 gists have continued it down to the present 

 time. Kut this is now of little consequence ; 

 for it has been proven, and is generally con- 

 ceded, that the Europeans only became ac- 

 quainted with this l)ir(l after the discovery of 

 America, and from vvhich it has been spread, 

 in a domesticated state, over the greater part 

 of the civilized world. The wild turkey at one 

 period had a much wilier geographical range 

 than it has now, extending from the north- 

 western states down to the Isthnuis of Darien, 

 but civilization, public iniproveintiiils, and 

 general progress are fast circumscribing that 

 range, and probably the present rising genera- 

 tion may see its entire extinction as a wild 

 bird. ^loreover, they do not seem to increase 

 as rapidly in a wild state as they do in a do- 

 mestic state. The adult males are very hostile 

 toward the young, and kill them whenever 

 they can get an opportunity, and that opjior- 

 tnnity is more frequent in a wild state than 

 it is inuler hinnan intervention iu a domestic 

 state. 



In the wild bird there is a general uniform- 

 ity of coloration, but in the domestic bird, 

 there is great variation, from pure white to 

 almost pure black, including almost as many 

 varieties as there are in the genus GaUus, 

 which includes our common "chickens." 

 Attempts have been made to demonstrate 

 that there are two distinct species among the 

 wild birds, but it never has had a universal 

 following. It is supposed the Mexican and 

 farther southern bird is specitically different 

 from that which inhabits the United States. 

 It had also been alleged that the tailfeathers 

 of the Mexican bird were not tipped with 

 white, or whitish, presenting the lisht-colored 

 margin when the tail is expanded ; but that 

 distinction can certainly mean nothing. In 

 one of our country strolls al)out the first of 

 October, we came upon a family of turkeys 

 containing an adult "gobbler," two adult 

 hens, and nine " adolescents" almost as large 

 as the hens aforesaid. Among these were two 

 that lacked the white ti))s of the tailfeathers ; 

 three were entirely white ; one was buff, aud 

 the remaining three dark colored with the 

 white tips very conspicuous. The adult gob- 

 bler was dark — almost black — and bronzed, 

 and the females were brownish. These 

 were probably the proizeny of the two hens, 

 or may have l)een a single family, and we 

 have only introduced tha phenomena here to 

 illustrate the tendencies in the bird to vary 

 from the wild type, in its plumage. 



Of course, these different varieties have 

 their different designations, but still they all 

 belong 1o the Linnajan genus Ilelcuyiis — 

 "White Holland," "Bronze," "Buff," 

 " Brown," " Mottled," " Grey," etc., etc. 



The "Honduras Turkey" (Mdefif/ris orr.l- 

 /(1(a) is nearly the size of the common turkey, 

 and is stijiposed — as the name implies— to be 

 a distinct species. The distinction is based 

 upon the less developed tail, and the fact that 

 the bird has never been known to spread it. 

 The "Brush Turkey" is an Australian spe- 



cies. It is the Talegalla Inthrtmi of Gould, 

 and inhabits various districts in New South 

 Wales, where it is found in large flocks. It is, 

 however, not a true Mckw/ris, and hence was 

 not derived from our aboriginal stock. Asbe- 

 forestated, the " I'intado " or Guinea Fowl, 

 was the Mchayris of the ancients, but is now 

 referred to the genus Niimida, Mdcaf/ris he'in^ 

 retained as a specific name. Both the turkey 

 and the guinea-fowl are related to the " Pea- 

 cock," and this is reci>griized not only in phy- 

 sical characteristics, but also in nomenclature. 

 The naked heads, the horizontal neck.s, and 

 the convexed backs of the turkey and the 

 guinea-fowl show a relation. The character- 

 istic strut, and the erection and expansion of 

 the tail .show a relation between the turkey 

 and the peacock. But the relation is still 

 more conspicuous in their names. The generic 

 and specific Melcatjris of the turkey and the 

 guinea-fowl is a recognition of their aninitie.s. 

 The Peacock is t clinically Pnro cristattis — 

 the crested pavo—nnd the turkey is specifi- 

 cally (j'dlo pavn, which is about equivalent to 

 "chicken-peacock," a name that not only 

 implies that the turkey and the peacock are 

 related, but also that both are related to Gal- 

 h(K, or the common fowl. Systematically con- 

 sidered, they all biilong to the Pha.siaxid^, 

 or pheasant family. 



Perhaps no other bird in the civilized world 

 lias attained to a greater popularity as a "table 

 bird, " than thet'urkey,and none suffer agreater 

 victimization about Thanksgiving and Christ- 

 mas festivals; and the abrogation of these 

 birds on those occasions would almost be an 

 abrogation of those festivals them.selves. If 

 the poor man can only afford to partake of 

 turkey once or twice in a whole year, it will 

 he on one or both of those festivals, in nine 

 cases out of every ten. The turkey has, there- 

 fore, a most fearful gauntlet to run in its mis- 

 sion through civilization. 



To visit the poultry markets of any of oi«r 

 great cities during the week preceding either 

 of the festivals named, a most formidable 

 scene would be revealed, and the novice not 

 only would be wrapped in wonder as to where 

 all these fowls come from, but also as to 

 where they all go to. True, there are also 

 duck.s, jfeese, and the common fowl in goodly 

 numbers, but none of them garnish the festive 

 board to the extent the turkey does on those 

 annual occasions, and the paraphrastic bard 

 may well have written : 



" Who would be a turkey hen, 

 Fed aud fattened in a pen, 

 Killed and eat by hungry men, 

 ITpou a Christmas-day." 



KITCHEN GARDEN FOR DECEMBER. 



The care of hot-beds, etc., is nearly all that 

 demands attention ; true, other things may 

 be done, hut quite tiswell at a future day, un- 

 less the season is over. The annexed hints 

 may, however, prove useful : Compost pre- 

 pare ; dung prepare for hot-beds ; hot-beds at- 

 tend to ; radishes and salad .sow in frames ; 

 trench and drain vacant ground ; transplant- 

 ing trees may still be done.— />aiif?rc(/i's Rural 

 RcqixUr. 



As long as we can recollect anything about 

 garden seeds, except those raised, gathered, 

 sewed up in little bags, and stowed away for 

 futm'e use by our mother, the name of Lan- 

 dreth has been associated in our memory with 

 this business. About sixty years ago a party 



