■420 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
LCurl'-KKillT SJSCUKED,] 
THE THANKSGIVING TURKE Y. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
One of our artists, who lives in the turkey- 
raising portion of Connecticut, has sent us a 
Thanksgiving picture "which shows various 
scenes in this branch of farming. Turkej-s are 
usually regarded as difficult to raise, and the 
scene entitled " Young Turkeys " shows one of 
the methods adopted to secure success. The 
broods of young are placed in simple board- 
pens a foot or more high, and kept there until 
they become large and strong enough to get 
over the barrier. This prevents the mortality 
that attends young birds that are allowed 
to wander with the old ones in wet grass. 
The scene of roosting shows the primitive 
and general way in which turkeys dispose of 
themselves for the night. If left to their own 
instincts, they will select as a roosting-place the 
limbs of a tree, the peak of a'building, or other 
lofty spot. If taught when they first begin to 
roost, they may soon be made to go regularly 
to roosts prepared for them under the shelter of 
a shed. This is a matter of no little importance 
when fattening time comes, as they take on fat 
more rapidly when under cover than when ex- 
posed to chilly and stormy nights, as they are 
if they roost upon trees, etc. Fattening com- 
mences about six weeks before killing-time. 
During the summer the birds have picked up a 
good share of their own living as they roamed 
far and wide. At this time they need an abun- 
dance of fattening food, and to be kept as quiet 
as possible. In order that the change of diet 
may not lie too sudden, it is the custom of the 
most successful raisers to begin with a mixture 
of oats and buckwheat. At the end of a week 
corn is substituted for the oats,and after another 
week the buckwheat is stopped, and the birds 
are fed upon corn altogether. The}- are fed as 
much as they will eat, the corn being supplied 
always at one place, and scattered upon the 
ground or grass that they may feed slowlj - . 
Most of those who raise turkeys kill for the 
Thanksgiving sales. The birds will grow larger 
and weigh more if kept until Christmas, but the 
profit is not found to be so great. The birds 
are fed nothing upon the morning of killing. 
The flock is driven into a dark barn, and the 
birds brought out one by one with as little dis- 
turbance as possible. The most common way 
of killing is to sever the head by a blow with a 
sharp hatchet, and hold the bird until its strug- 
gles cease. Sometimes the bird is thrust into a 
barrel, as shown, iu the engraving, until it is 
through bleeding. The picking should be done 
at once before the body is cold. The tail- 
feathers and wing-feathers, except those of the 
extreme joint, are first pulled out, aud then the 
feathers of the body are removed, beginning at 
the breast. Great care is taken in picking not 
to tear the skin, as any blemish of this kind 
diminishes the market price. After the princi- 
pal feathers are off, the removal of pin-feathers 
is usually done by women. Western poultry, 
which has to go a long distance to market, is 
always sent without being drawn, as it is found 
to keep better if no air is admitted to the cavity 
of the body. The turkeys raised in New Eng- 
land are generally drawn. A circular cut is 
made around the vent by means of a sharp pen- 
knife, and the entrails carefully pulled out 
through the opening. The turkeys are laid 
upon their backs and allowed to cool ; the .-kin 
is pulled over the neck and tied securely. 
When thoroughly cooled the birds are ready 
for packing, which should be done in clean 
boxes. Many tons are shipped each November 
from the agricultural towns along the coasts of 
Long Island Sound and Narragansett Bay. 
