No. 133.] 169 



which are sometimes expensive. The animal, young and old, 

 after the former attains a certain age, in a store state, can be kept 

 cheaper tlian any other of the poultry yard. It is less trouble- 

 some in gardens and grounds adjacent to the homestead ; it does 

 not scratch and disturb the plants of these much. Let its pro- 

 pensity for roving be indulged, and it will get its living, and a 

 good one, with occasionally a little feeding, in the woods and 

 fields of the premises, subsisting on nuts and acorns in their sea- 

 son, and by picking up the grains which are lost in gathering, of 

 wheat, oats, Indian corn, &c. Insects of almost all kinds, the 

 bird is very fond of; of grasshoppers, ^lugs, beetles, &c., he de- 

 vours a great many. These last not only aid in supporting him, 

 but the farmer gets rid of a portion of his most destructive ene- 

 mies. When the flock return home, as they unquestionably 

 will, in the first of the season, when they begin their rambles, 

 they should be fed with a little grain. This will induce them to 

 return regularly, especially to roost, having been accustomed to 

 do it in winter and early life. Regular kind treatment does 

 much in forming the habits of most domestic animals, and those 

 which are naturally docile, are most easily and permanently im- 

 pressed with anything done by man to relieve their wants and 

 add to their comforts. Geese, ducks, and common fowls are 

 continually near the buildings; the last, especially, are very 

 troublesome to gardens, and all young delicate plants, whether 

 ornamental or edible, scratching them up and destroying or ma- 

 terially injuring them, and this unceasingly; it requires one per- 

 son to be almost constantly watching them. This evil can be 

 lessened and perhaps prevented by very high fences, made 

 around the grounds and gardens near the house, or by confining 

 the poultry in yards by themselves, and if eggs and chickens are 

 the object, which it is thought are their chief profit, the quantity 

 of food they consume almost the year round, all these united, it 

 is thought, make them considerably more expensive than tur- 

 kies. 



If farmers and those who raise the turkey, live in sections of 

 our country where the wild, or more properly, mongrel breed 

 exist, or have lately been found, it would be greatly to their in- 

 terest to try and preserve or increase them, by endeavoring to 



