138 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



Lent. The young chickens must be treated in the same man- 

 ner and with the same food as young turkeys, and they must 

 be kept warm and dry. In fatting, they should be shut up in 

 a house for a fortnight, and fed four or five times a day with 

 sweet barley-meal, moistened with milk and good lard. They 

 pine if confined any length of time. 



The great drawbacks to the rearing of Guinea fowls are the 

 vigilance required to watch for their nest, and the harsh scream- 

 ing of their cry. 



III. THE DOMESTIC TUKKEY. 



The domestic turkey is not so far removed from the wild 

 state as the domestic fowl. There is no dispute about his ori- 

 gin, the wild turkey not being yet extinct, and not differing so 

 widely from the tenants of our barn-yards as to give room for 

 doubt on that point. In fact, as it is stated in the "American 

 Poulterer's Companion," if kept in the neighborhood of large 

 forests they will often stroll thither, without any design to 

 return, such is the natural wildness of their species. 



We have three varieties of the domestic turkey in this 

 country the Black, the Buff-colored, and the White. The 

 Black is generally preferred, it being the most hardy. The 

 Buff-colored is placed next in the order of merit. The White 

 variety is very beautiful, but is smaller and less hardy. 



Turkeys are generally considered very difficult to rear ; and 

 it is undoubtedly true that considerable care, patience, and skill 

 are required to insure uniform success. Mr. Bement says: 

 " If attempts to rear turkeys have not been crowned with suc- 

 cess, it is entirely owing to the unskillfulness and inexperience 

 of those to whom they have been intrusted ; and so long as one 

 persists in thwarting the females when sitting; in opening the 

 shells of the eggs in order to help the passage of the tardy 

 chicks; in pressing them, so soon as they are born, to eat 

 against their will ; and in leaving them exposed to intense heat, 

 or to cold and dampness, so long will their death, in the course 

 of a month, be the undoubted consequence. It is less trouble 



