240 
In many rich ^lanicoba zones, I computed the number of wild 
trees at more than 100 per acre, some 25 per cent, being tappable 
trees, and most of the remainder saplings, the forest growth of 
which is sluggish as compared with that of those under cultiva- 
tion. It may be observed that a wild tree occasionally yields 1 lb. 
of rubber at a tapping, but the average is far less. One of the 
subsidiary advantages to accrue from cultivation is that of sys- 
tematic control of the cropping by a special staff of workers, for 
the itinerant collectors of wild rubber cannot always be counted on. 
POULTRY NOTES. 
(Journal of Jamaica Agricultural Society.) 
Turkeys. — A Few Common Ideas Not Usually Known. — 
It is not usually understood yet that turkeys have very different 
ways from fowls. First, the gobblers are generally used far too 
young. A turkey gobbler is not mature enough for service until 
he is in his third year, and better still fourth ye^r, and turkey hens 
are not mature enough for using as breeders until they are two 
years old. It is difficult to keep turkey cocks separate until their 
third year, but the careful breeder must do so if he wishes best 
results. Degeneration is quick in spite of good feeding if the 
eggs set are from young turkeys, — often this is the cause — usually 
thought mysterious, of loss of young turkeys. Then, again, unlike 
the ordinary cock, one service of a turkey gobbler fertilises the 
whole setting. Thirteen turkey hens to one turkey cock is suffi- 
cient. One of the biggest errors, but a common one, is the giving 
of peppers to very young turkeys. 
Time of Hatching. — Very few people, even those who have 
been handling poultry for some years know the different lengths 
of time eggs of different kinds of domestic birds take to hatch, 
and many also are under the impression that an incubator will 
hatch eggs more quickly than the birds. Of course the heat of' 
the incubator is only a substitute for the heat of the domestic bird 
and the eggs hatch in the same time. 
A fowl’s eggs take 21 days, a turkey’s 28 days, an ‘‘English” 
duck 28 days, but a Muscovy 34 days : the eggs of a goose take 28 
to 30 days. 
Hints From Latest Experience. — The Setting Hen. — We 
have come to the conclusion that another cause (from those pre- 
