308 PROFITS IN POULTRY. 
and if small, thirteen will give better results. Four 
weeks, and often thirty days, are required to hatch the 
sges. This makes a long period of rest for active Mrs. 
Turkey, yet she must be compelled to do her work faith- 
fully, consequently should have easy access to an abun- 
dance of food and pure water, that she may not be forced 
to remain too long a time off the nest to procure food, 
thus allowing the eggs to chill. _ 
CaRE OF THE Younc.—About the twenty-seventh 
day I throw a hard-boiled egg, mashed very fine, close 
to the nest, not into, lest it adhere to an egg, rendering 
the egg air-tight exactly over the beak of the young tur- 
key, which would prevent his escape from the shell. 
The mother turkey may eat this egg and the one given 
the following day or two, if it is not needed for her 
young, but in case she is hatching, she will use it for 
the little ones, and this food will often save the first- 
hatched birds. I have had the mother turkey refuse to 
leave the nest for three days after the first egzs hatched. 
If she leaves too soon, the remaining eggs may be placed 
under hens, cr hatched by wrapping in wool and keep- 
ing warm near the fire. Should an egg become broken 
in the nest, the soiled eggs should be carefully washed 
immediately in warm, but not hot, water, and dried and 
returned at once to the nest. The trying time in the 
life of turkeys is the first week, when they require con- 
stant watching, then great care until they are eight 
weeks old, or until the quill feathers are well started. 
The producing of these feathers scems to weaken the 
fowl, and exhausts the system, and therefore they need 
especial treatment to counteract this difficulty. 
For the first week, the mother and young must have 
a warm place, free from draughts of air, free from 
dampness, and where they will be undisturbed by other 
fowls. 
The first three weeks the food should consist of sweet 
