January, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



XIX 



of our small Rhode Island farms are something 

 more than a myth. They are in reality dainty 

 luxuries produced by the loving kindness of 

 genuine bird lovers. Like all other birds and 

 animals, the meat of the turkey is made by the 

 food on which it lives, and if fed only coarse, 

 putrid meat-scraps its Hesh can not be other 

 than tainted when brought to our table. The 

 finest meat in the world often comes from 

 the wild turkeys of the Southwest where they 

 roam through the swamps and woods, feeding 

 on toothsome chestnuts, butternuts, and acorns. 

 Their meat has the delicious gamy flavor 

 which we all prize so highly. 



While the attention of most of us is turned 

 turkey-ward about Thanksgiving time, the 

 breeder must always have the birds with him, 

 and through winter and summer he provides 

 and cares for them. The laying time of the 

 Turkey hens begins late in March or the first 

 of April, and at this season from 16 to 30 

 eggs will be laid for hatching. This is the 

 time of the year when the owner needs to go 

 nest hunting. Unless he can offer special in- 

 ducements to the turkeys, they will go roam- 

 ing afar for a nesting place, and after securely 

 hiding it from all human eyes they will hatch 

 and rear their young in secrecy. And nothing 

 is wilder than a flock of young turkeys raised 

 in a stolen nest in some distant hedge or wood- 

 land thicket! It takes the better part of a 

 year, and the full quota of a man's patience, 

 to tame the creatures even approximately to 

 that of the ordinary domesticated fowl. One 

 may, indeed, organize a "wild turkey hunt" 

 on his own estate if he leaves the birds reared 

 in secrecy to their own ways and resources. 



For success with turkeys not more than five 

 or six hens should be allowed to each tom, 

 and these should be separated from all other 

 flocks or colonies during the mating season. 

 Two-year-old hens mated with one or two- 

 year-old toms make the best unions, and the 

 young are more apt to be strong and vigorous 

 from such parents than from older birds. 

 Everything depends upon the start the young 

 turkeys get at their birth, and ancestral traits 

 and propensities are directly transmitted from 

 one generation to another. With the proper 

 selection of good breeds, and the mating of 

 individuals of the highest grade, the future 

 of the young turkeys is assured if fair care 

 and protection are accorded them. Close in- 

 breeding is to be avoided, for this will destroy 

 the flock quicker and more surely than any- 

 thing. This can be avoided by securing new 

 toms from distant points — a thousand miles 

 away if there is any danger of inbreeding. To 

 keep up the grade of the flocks, it is essential 

 that the choicest young hens be selected each 

 year and kept for future breeding. The prac- 

 tice of selling the best each season is destruc- 

 tive to all successful breeding, and yet many 

 make this thoughtless mistake and wonder 

 why the strain runs out and the birds steadily 

 degenerate. 



When the mating season approaches the 

 young hens selected for breeding should be 

 separated from the rest of the flocks and by 

 persistent feeding and attention they can be 

 induced to nest near their feeding quarters. 

 An old barrel turned on its side and filled 

 with good clean hay and straw ; a large dry- 

 goods box with one end opened, or a nesting 

 box built in a clump of bushes near the feeding 

 place, will answer for nesting material. Coax- 

 ing and careful attention will induce the hens 

 to lay their eggs in one of the places chosen 

 for them, and as half the battle is won by 

 keeping the hens at home at this critical time 

 it is well worth while to make every effort to 

 win the confidence of the prospective mothers. 



When the young turkey poults appear feed 

 them with stale bread soaked in sweet milk. 

 After soaking press the bread in the hands 

 until the milk is squeezed from it, and then 



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