MANAGEMENT OF TUMKEYS. 175 



^ight, or daring showers. After two months they will get the larger part of 

 j their food for themselves, and should be encouraged to visit the more distant 

 ■pastures and woodlands of the farm. After a light feed in the morning drive 

 j them afield, where grasshoppers and other insects are plenty. 

 '■ " It is quite essential to the best success in raising turkeys, that some one per- 

 ' son in the family should have charge of the birds from the time that they begin 

 to lay until they are ready for slaughter in the fall or winter. A little boy or 

 jgirl, an aged person past hard work, or a trusty servant, having this for the chief 

 part of his duty, should be the watchman. Where a dozen hen turkeys are 

 kept, it will pay for this minute supervision. To he sure, a good many turkeys 

 we raised under very careless management, but a great many more that are 

 hatched, and generally the larger part, are lost for want of timely attention. 

 Heavy dews, tall grass, stormy days, dogs, foxes, hawks, crows, and other creat- 

 nres, are enemies that need to be guarded against. The attendant should know 

 "vhere every clutch is for three weeks after hatching, during every hour of the 

 day, and where the roost is. As they grow older, more liberty may be allowed, 

 but they should be taught to come home to the one roost prepared for them 

 aarly every evening. Turkeys have lively memories of their feeding places, and 

 if they are fed regularly about four o'clock in the afternoon, which is the last meal 

 the old birds or half-grown young should have, they will be seen or heard wend- 

 ing their way home from all parte of the farm, in good season for the evening 

 meal.'giving tipie for counting, and for looking up the stragglers, if any are 

 missing. If the owner of the flock holds the attendant to strict accountability 

 for watching and counting every night, and occasionally counts himself, to 

 see that the reckoning is right, he will save a good many turkeys in the course of 

 a season. 



"By setting the turkeys in groups of two, three or four at a time, and near 

 each other, they will all come off at the same time, and learn to kjep company 

 together, and to feed in the flocks through the summer. It is much better to 

 have several groups or herds feeding separately, than to have all the turkeys 

 on the farm feeding in one flock, or scattering promiscuously in all directions. 

 They will gather more food, thrive better and require much less time in looking 

 after them. 



" Among the worst enemies of the young turkeys after they begin to ramble, 

 are the tall grass and grain crops. While the hen gets on well enough, the 

 young get tired, sit down, and the mother bird is soon out of hearing. The 

 ohick struggles on for a time, but soon perishes for want of food and hovering. 

 As a rule, the flocks of careless managers suffer more from this cause than all 

 others combined. They drop off one by one, especially on cold, foggy days, and 

 the loss is so gradual that it is hardly noticed without daily counting. The flocks 

 must he kept out of the mowing fields, the oats, rye and barley. Unless this be 

 done, success with this crop will be very small. Turkeys do not succeed so well 

 upon the prairies, and upon rioh bottom lands, mainly from this cause. They 

 succeed well in New England, and in the dairy regions where there are extensive 

 pastures, with hilly or well drained soils. They have more turkeys to the 

 square acre in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut, because this region 

 abounds in dry, gravelly loams, .pastures with short feed, and oak and chestnut 



