426 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



offensive watery discharge, from the mouth and nostrils, loss 

 of appetite, and much thirst. They should be placed near 

 the fire ; their head bathed in warm Castile soap-suds, or 

 milk and water. Stimulating food, as flour or barley-meal, 

 mustard and grated ginger, mixed and forced down the throat, 

 Boswell says, has been effectual in their speedy restoration. 

 This, like many other diseases, is contagious, and when it 

 appears, the bird should be at once separated from the flock. 

 Flux is cured by the yolk of an egg boiled hard ; and boiled 

 barley soaked in wine. Costiveness is removed by giving 

 bran and water with a little honey ; or give a small dose 

 of castor oil. Vermin are destroyed by giving them clean 

 sand and ashes to roll in, adding a little quick lime if 

 necessary. Entire cleanliness is necessary for the avoidance 

 of this and other diseases. A perfectly dry range is also 

 essential, nor should there be too many together, as this is a 

 fruitful source of disease. 



THE TURKEY 



Was unknown to the civilized world till the discovery of this 

 Continent. It was found here both in its wild and do- 

 mesticated state ; and still occupies the whole range of the 

 Western Hemisphere, though the wild turkey disappears as 

 the country becomes settled. The wild is larger than the 

 domesticated bird, sometimes weighing over 30 Ibs. dressed. 

 The color of the male is generally a greenish brown, ap- 

 proaching to black, and of a rich, changeable, metallic lustre. 

 The hen is marked somewhat like the cock, but with duller 

 hues. Domestication through successive generations, dims 

 the brilliancy of 'their plumage, and lessens their size and har- 

 diness. It also produces a variety of colors, though they are 

 mostly of a black, buff, pure white, or speckled. They give 

 evidence of the comparative recency of their domestication, in 

 the instinct which frequently impels the cock to brood and 

 take care of the young. Nothing is more common than for 

 the male bird to supply the place of the hen, when any acci- 

 dent befals her, and bring up a family of young chicks with 

 an equally instinctive regard for their helplessness and safety. 

 The flesh of this bird, both wild and tame, is exceedingly deli- 

 cate and palatable ; and though not possessing the high game 

 flavor of some of the smaller wild fowl, and especially of the 

 aquatic, as the canvass-back duck, &c., it exceeds them in its 

 digestibility and healthfumess. The turkey is useful princi- 

 pally for its flesh, as it seldom lays over a nest-full of eggs in 



