5i6 The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



who kept them that she thought them fully as hardy as the black variety. Many of the Cambridge 

 Turkeys are also very beautiful, some we have seen almost rivalling the American Bronze Turkeys 

 in the richness and variety of their tints. We must add, however, that we have never been able to 

 find a single authentic case of an English bird reaching the weight stated of forty pounds, though 

 even this enormous weight has been on many occasions exceeded by the American bronze birds. 

 This last is beyond doubt the largest and most magnificent in plumage of all the domestic breeds ; 

 and it has been brought to perfection by our Transatlantic brother-fanciers and breeders. We 

 have much pleasure in giving the following notes upon the American method of breeding and 

 management, which have been kindly furnished us by Mr. W. Simpson, Jun., of West Farms, 

 Westchester County, N.Y., from whom the winners of the first prize at Birmingham in 1870, 1871, 

 and 1872 were imported, and who is acknowledged to be one of the foremost turkey breeders in 

 the United States : — 



" This grand breed," he says, "was produced by crossing the best common domesticated turkeys 

 with the wild variety, which by careful breeding has resulted in producing a breed that is much 

 larger and superior to either of its predecessors, having great size, and retaining to a great degree 

 the magnificent plumage of the wild variety. The best strains of Bronze Turkeys usually average 

 about thirty pounds to the cock and sixteen pounds to the hen, but often we get an odd one 

 larger. I have had a few hens reach eighteen, twenty, and twenty-two pounds each, and one hen 

 a few ounces over twenty-four pounds. Up to the year 1870 the largest gobbler I had weighed 

 thirty-eight pounds. This bird I sent over to the Birmingham Show, where he was successful 

 in winning the first prize. In 1872 I had one which weighed forty-five pounds, which I also 

 sent to Birmingham. He lost weight on the voyage, and won second place ; the bird I sent in 

 1870 outweighing him and again winning first. This last bird was the largest I ever heard of, 

 and if he does well, I predict that Mr. Lythall, who now owns him, will ultimately show him 

 to weigh forty-eight pounds, which will be ten pounds heavier than any yet exhibited at the 

 Birmingham Show. 



" As to the breeding of turkeys, I consider them nearly as easy to rear as chickens. I keep 

 them on four farms, a gobbler and four or five hens on each. The best age for breeding is two and 

 three years old, for both cock and hen, as such birds produce stronger and larger stock than 

 yearlings do. There is, however, a difficulty here, and I formerly had great trouble during the 

 breeding season, in having the backs of the hens skinned, and the birds sometimes even killed, with 

 the great weight of the old gobblers. I then gave up using old gobblers, and tried young ones, 

 but their stock did not prove nearly so large and good. At last I tried the plan of confining the 

 old gobblers before the breeding season, and thus redticing thevi to light weight. This experiment 

 proved a perfect success, and it will be found much the best course to pursue. 



" I generally set the first eggs under common hens, and then let the turkey hatch out a set. 

 A few days before hatching out, I take the hen off her nest, and dust flowers of sulphur through 

 her feathers, and sprinkle plenty of it in the nest. This generally frees her from vermin ; if not 

 I repeat it after hatching, and rub some on the chicks. When hatched the mother should be 

 confined in a roomy coop, with a slatted front, open to the south, on a clean piece of short grass. 

 The young should be fed little at a time, and as often as possible. For the first few days hard- 

 boiled eggs are to be preferred. Curd made from sour milk, with young onion-tops cut very fine 

 with a pair of scissors and mixed through it, is excellent for them. This feed should be given out 

 of the reach of the mother, who can be fed on whole grain. When the young are a week old, they 

 can have some cracked corn, or oat and wheat grits ; oatmeal with about ten per cent, of pure bone- 

 meal mixed with it is excellent. But as the oatmeal is too costly, we substitute boiled Indian 



