TURKEYS ON THE FARM. 293 
When the laying season approaches, the turkeys must be 
watched. One man, who has great success with turkeys, 
encloses a large space by a high fence of wire netting, to 
prevent the turkeys laying and sitting in the woods and 
fields. Nests are provided within the enclosure. Dur- 
ing the laying season, the hen turkeys are driven within 
the enclosure to roost, and confined during the forenoon 
each day, until all have selected nests. When hatching, 
they and their young are more readily cared for and 
controlled. Humor the turkey’s love for secrecy, if you 
prefer to have her lay out of doors, by setting laying 
coops for her in secluded places not far from your house 
and barn. Barrels, or ‘‘A” coops, with dried leaves or 
litter in them, will do. If she steals her nest in some 
bushes not far from the house, leave her alone, but 
remove the eggs daily, leaving a nest egg in the nest. 
When she has layed her litter she will rest awhile, and 
then lay another litter, when she should be allowed to 
sit. The eggs should be taken into the house and kept 
in a cool (not cold) place, packed in wheat bran, small 
end downward. 
Turkey eggs require twenty-eight days for incubation. 
Coincide with the hen turkey’s desire for secrecy, and 
let her sit in places hidden from the sight of men and 
dogs. Bottomless boxes that will shed rain, old barrels 
with two or three staves knocked out, ‘‘A” coops, meas- 
uring not less than three feet square at the base, placed 
in retired situations not far from the house, are all that 
are necessary for hatching purposes. If the turkeys 
were taught to lay in them, all the better. The nest 
should be upon the ground, and made of forest leaves or 
chopped hay. The turkey’s first litter may be taken 
away and set under common hens. 
Mr. Samuel Cushman says, from his own experience, 
that turkeys can be made to sit whenever required. A 
young turkey hen that never laid an egg was shut on a 
