96 THE TURKEY. 



the hen lay as many eggs as she will, and turning 

 her off when she becomes broody. Hens thus 

 treated will lay again in the month of August, so 

 that, under all circumstances, they may be called 

 profitable birds." 



I have observed that " turkeys are both of a roving 

 disposition and extremely heedless. Getting into a 

 field of corn, they will do nearly as much mischief 

 as pigs, by beating it down, though they are so 

 stupid and backward at getting even ripe corn out 

 of the ear, leaving the whole through which they 

 have passed laid, yet the greater part of the corn 

 untouched. As to pulse, they will pass over a field 

 of ripe peas or beans, without having the wit to open 

 a single pod. Turkeys in the neighbourhood of large 

 woods, if not watched and prevented, will eagerly 

 stroll thither without any desire to return, since they 

 can there shelter and maintain themselves in both 

 winter and summer: they very soon reassume the 

 original wildness of their species. It is not generally 

 known that Ireland produces very large flocks of 

 turkeys, that they are there very cheap, and that 

 the Irish climate seems to agree better with them 

 than ours." 



To FATTEN. Sodden barley, oat, or barley and* 

 wheat meal mixed, is the proper food "for turkeys 

 confined to feeding ; generally their food and treat- 

 ment are the same with other fowls. They may be 

 fattened early, or may be CAPONIZED, a practice not 

 very common ; but the bulk of the turkeys are fed 

 for Christmas, or the months immediately preceding 

 and subsequent, when the quantities fat sent from 



