306 PROFITS IN POULTRY. 
‘ 
Each raiser has a different mark, and in some towns 
these are registered at the town clerk’s office, the same 
as the brands of sheep or cattle. As a turkey has three 
front and one back toes on each foot, or eight toes alto- 
gether, many different brands may be made by clipping 
the different toes. Fig. 121 shows some of them. 
Six different marks may be made by clipping only one 
front toe. Nine more by clipping but two front toes. 
By clipping either the right or left back toe, the number 
may be doubled or trebled. By clipping more toes, 
combinations almost without number may be made, but 
it will be rarely necessary to remove more than one to 
two nails, even in a turkey-growing section. 
Should mature turkeys thus marked be stolen and 
dressed, they may be identified, as the marks cannot be 
changed without showing the fresh mutilation. The 
marks of little turkeys may be changed without detec- 
tion, provided sufficient time passes to allow them to 
heal before they are examined. The more toes you clip, 
the more difficult it is to change your marks. 
Other marks, in addition to the foot marks, are some- 
times necessary. The beak may be filed, holes punched 
in the skin or web of the wing, or a loop of colored silk 
fastened in the flesh where it cannot be seen. Although 
you may feel that such a precaution is not necessary in 
your case, probably if you follow this practice, you will 
at some time be very glad that you have done so. 
PRIZE ESSAY ON TURKEY CULTURE. 
MRS. A. uv. SEXSON, FURNAS COUNTY, NEBRASKA. 
The first requisite to successful turkey growing is care- 
fully selected stock for parent birds. Selections of the 
best, for years, have produced the most improved and 
profitable breeds of stock. The future stock depends 
very much upon the parent birds, or their ancestry. 
Repeated breeding from inferior birds makes inferiority 
