TURKEYS AND HOW TO RAISE THEM 



Turkeys. — The turkey is the largest of our domestic fowls, and 

 the only one that can be credited to America. To get its early his- 

 tary, as far as civilized countries are concerned, it is necessary to 

 go back to European records. Until a few years ago it was thought 

 that its first introduction into Europe occurred about 1524-25, but 

 in Brown's "Races of Domestic Fowls" there is a supplementary 

 note saying that the librarian of the Royal Palace, Madrid, recently 

 (in 1906) discovered that it was introduced into Spain as early as 

 1500, eight years after the discovery of America. Pedro Nino, a 

 Spanish adventurer, discovered this fowl on the coast of Cumana, 

 north of Venezuela, in 1499, and the next year took it to Spain, 

 along with such other curiosities as parrots, monkeys and bright- 

 colored birds of other kinds. Turkeys were bred in great numbers 

 by the Aztecs and other nations of Mexico and Central America. 

 The bird was not found further south than the mouth of the Ori- 

 noco on the east coast, but on the west coast it was found as far 

 south as Peru. 



How this bird got its name has been a matter of curious specu- 

 lation and much traditionary lore has been put forward as authentic 

 history. As a matter of fact not a single one of the old writers 

 attributes its origin to Turkey, all agreeing that it came from Amer- 

 ica. Wright thinks the name might have been given it from the 

 red head and neck. Others suppose that the name comes from the 

 domineering habits of the bird. Unfortunate as the name was, it 

 has been accepted and speculations as to its origin are of no value- 

 The turkey was brought into England in 1521 or 1524. In 1541 

 it was so highly esteemed that the Archbishop Cranmer prohibited 

 the serving of more than one turkey cock at state dinners and the 

 serving of turkey hens was forbidden altogether, as they were too 

 valuable to eat. About 1570 the turkey became the recognized 

 Christmas dish with the English farmer. 



It is said that the first turkey was eaten in France at the wed- 

 ding of Charles XII and Elizabeth of Austria, June 27, 1576. A 

 large number of the birds had been sent over from Boston to St. 

 Malo and when the ship reached that port the provincial governor 

 sent a dozen of them to the king's cook. The king was so pleased 

 with them that he began to breed them, and the breed rapidly 

 spread over France. 



Bronze Turkeys. — This variety as bred today is the direct de- 

 scendant of the wild fowl, although seemingly it has decreased 

 somewhat in size, as wild ones weighing 60 pounds are recorded. 

 There were three varieties of turkeys in America at the time of the 

 discovery: the wild turkey from which our bronze variety comes, 

 a smaller Mexican variety, and still further south a variety which 

 lacked the tuft of hair on the breast but has a crest or aigrette con- 

 sisting of a single row of feathers on the head. The latter is in- 

 digenous to South America and is called domesticated, but does 

 not endure removal to colder climates. 



