120 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



should go through an entire harvest. . One, 

 too, that was thorough and reliable, would be 

 equally available in one State as another. They 

 are also expensive to all concerned. I would, 

 therefore, propose a general trial on something 

 like the following plan : 



Let several State Agricultural Societies 

 unite, each appropriating $200 to $500, and 

 appointing one or two committeemen, in whose 

 experience, judgment* and fairness, entire con- 

 fidence could be placed. Let the committee 

 make their arrangements early as possible, 

 adopt their rules, and appoint time and place 

 of first meeting. They might begin South, 

 and proceeding North, continue the trial for 

 weeks if necessary, leaving out one machine 

 after another as its inferiority became manifest. 



The committee should have all their expenses 

 paid, and perhaps compensation besides; and 

 the cost of removing reapers from place to 

 place might also be borne by the committee, in 

 order to enable every builder to come into the 

 trial; and for this reason I would not require 

 any entrance fee, though some of the larger 

 builders would doubtless be willing to contri- 

 bute to the general fund. If five or more so- 

 cieties can be got to unite in such a trial, I 

 will contribute $200 to $500, or as much as 

 any other builder. 



The surplus funds should be divided to the 

 best machines, say half to the first, one-third 

 to the second, and one-sixth to the third, to be 

 paid in plate or money as might be desired by 

 the winner. 



To save time and expedite arrangements, I 

 would suggest to parties interested to corres- 

 pond with Col. B. P. Johnson, Secretary of 

 the New York State Agricultural Society, 

 Albany, New York. I have not communi- 

 cated with him, but am quite sure his interest 

 in agricultural matters will cause him to bear 

 the labors with cheerfulness. 



Yours respectfully, 



J. S. Wright. 



From the Boston Cultivator. 

 TURKEYS. 



Messrs. Editors, — Amongst the variety of 

 poultry seen in market, turkeys form a conspi- 

 cuous part. They are distinguished for the 

 large size which they attain, and for their fine 

 flesh. As fowl for the table, there is, perhaps, 

 no superior, for their flesh cannot fail to suit 

 the taste of the most fastidious; but to rear 

 these birds successfully requires much skill and 

 care. When first hatched, they are very ten- 

 der, so that a little rain or cold will sometimes 

 destroy them. They do not, at first, require 



food, for nature has not sent them into the 

 world with empty stomachs. Hence, it is highly 

 injudicious to feed much at first. They are 

 very fond of bonnyclabber or curd, and I think 

 it the best food for them when young. I kept 

 three hen- turkeys during the past season ; they 

 laid, on an average, about twenty eggs apiece, 

 hatched out fifty-six, and reared up to maturi- 

 ty fifty-two turkeys. I kept them for several 

 weeks on bonnyclabber, mixed with Indian 

 meal. They were enclosed in a space of about 

 twelve feet square, for about two weeks, and 

 then they were allowed larger bounds. They 

 are exceedingly fond of grass-hoppers and 

 crickets, and hence, if they are abundant, tur- 

 keys require but little other food until near the 

 time when they are grown for market. Indian 

 meal mixed with boiled potatoes is very good 

 for fattening them. Vermin are very destruc- 

 tive to turkeys, much more so than to chickens ; 

 hence, hens are not so well fitted to rear them 

 as the parent bird, for they are always troubled 

 more or less with lice, caused by sitting in the 

 same place every night, while turkeys sit out 

 in the open air and in different places. I have 

 been in the habit of anointing their heads with 

 a drop of oil when first hatched, in order to 

 secure them from vermin, and they have never 

 been troubled with lice when thus attended to. 



There is another matter which I consider of 

 great importance in rearing turkeys successful- 

 ly; and that is, the changing of the breed an- 

 nually, or in other words, the male and female 

 birds should be of no relationship to one an- 

 other. By the in and in breeding system, they 

 diminish in size and are far more liable to dis- 

 ease, while on the contrary, there is an increase 

 in size, when there is no relation to one another. 

 They are very fast growers when healthy, much 

 more so than the Shanghai race of fowls, which 

 are distinguished for their great size, and the 

 enormous prices charged for them ! 



Everett. 



For the Southern Planter. 



NELSON'S GUANO ATTACHMENT FOR SOWING 

 GUANO IN THE DRILL WITH WHEAT. 



Mr. Editor, — I am sorry that my experiments with 

 the guano attachment are not as yet matured suffi- 

 ciently to answer all the inquiries of your corre- 

 spondent from Buckingham, but as far as I can, I 

 will answer them with pleasure. 



I used, last fall, Pennock's drill, with T. F. Nel- 

 son's guano attachment. I applied from fifty to 

 one hundred pounds of guano to the acre, and I do 

 not doubt that in some places it was put on at the 

 rate of one hundred and fifty pounds to the acre, 

 as my machine or the attachment was badly made. 

 The wheat came up well and looks decidedly better 

 than the wheat where no guano was applied. I 

 think it looks best where the greatest amount of 



