272 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
THE DOMESTIC TURKEY -{MeUagris galhpavo.) 
Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
As Americans we must all feel a pride in this 
grand bird, the largest of gallinaceous fowls, the 
noblest feathered game of our forests and moun¬ 
tains, yielding the most savory flesh, most easily 
domesticated, and, in its domesticated state, dis¬ 
seminated and valued over the whole civilized 
world. America, and particularly the United 
States, is its home. There is hardly a rocky 
ravine, a hill, or wood-covered mountain from 
Maine to California, where the wild turkey-cock 
has not strutted and swelled, puffed and bowed, 
doing honor to his dame, or where the hen has 
not led forth her numerous brood. The crack¬ 
ing rifles, and march of civilization have banish¬ 
ed the wild birds but introduced the tame ones— 
in fact, however, we may say we have domesti¬ 
cated the wild turkey Mixed though our do¬ 
mestic varieties are with those for a long time 
bred in Europe, still they are constantly crossed 
with the wild ones of our forests whose eggs are 
frequently hatched under domestic poultry. 
Wild turkeys are occasionally shot in all the 
States of the Union, except, perhaps, in Con¬ 
necticut and Rhode Island, where, if a flock is 
ever seen now-a-days, it is very seldom. 
The beautiful engraving we present shows 
the fine contrasts in color of plumage, and the 
graceful game-like figure of the domestic tur¬ 
keys. The wild ones are slenderer and better 
adapted to flight and to running. The flights 
of the tame birds are often very long; not unfre- 
quently they fly half a mile or more, and the 
only trouble about keeping them is that they 
will wander so far, and do such damage in grass 
and grain fields. This injm-y is not from what 
they eat—for though they eat corn of all kinds 
it is a very good investment, while they eat an 
immense number of worms and beetles also—but 
they do injury by trampling and breaking down 
the crops. The variety of colors in turkeys is 
very great. The wild ones vary somewhat, but 
are prevailingly of a dark, bronzy-brown, of 
great lustre, showing a beautiful metallic, cop¬ 
pery iridescence. Among tame ones we find 
all colors from pure white to jetty black, and 
all shades of brown and bronze, ring-streaked 
and speckled, but in none does the lustre com¬ 
pare with that of the wild. Occasionally these 
birds grow to a very large size, the cocks weigh¬ 
ing 35 to 40 pounds live weight. They continue 
growing 4 or 5 years, and can hardly be said to 
be fully mature before they are 3 years of age ; 
birds therefore, both cock and hen, which are used 
to produce breeders, should be three years old. 
Plant the Bulbs Early 
When the Dutch Bulbs can be obtained in 
September, it is well to plant them at once. An 
earlier and a finer bloom will be obtained than 
when left until just before the ground freezes 
up for the Winter, though they may be planted 
as late as December. There need be no delay 
with those lifted and dried last Spring. A small 
collection may be planted with the varieties in¬ 
terspersed, but where the assortment is large it 
is best to set the tulips by themselves, the hya¬ 
cinths in another bed, with a separate place for 
the crocusses, crown imperials, etc. Some flo¬ 
rists carry it still further, and set each color of a 
variety separate from the others, and even place 
the tall sorts of each color apart from the dwarfs 
of the samo variety. The books, too, are so 
prolix in their directions, how deep to excavate 
the soil, what proportions of sand, muck, leaf- 
mold, cow manure, etc., should be used, that 
many persons who otherwise would grow these 
flowers, are deterred from so doing. Did they 
know that any good garden soil will answer, 
and that it is as easy to plant a bulb as to set 
out an onion, they would no longer hesitate. 
Most of these bulbs are imported from Hol¬ 
land, where they mature better than with us, 
. and on this account are called Dutch, though 
they originated in different parts of the world. 
In selecting bulbs from the importer, choose 
those of a solid, firm character. By all means 
discard those which are starting into growth, 
for planted thus early, they will continue to grow, 
and be injured by the frosts of Winter. Let 
them be bright and hard, and the further re¬ 
moved from a growing state the better. If one 
has a choice of soils, let him select a good loam, 
somewhat gravelly or sandy, and if muck or 
peat and cow manure can be added to enrich it, 
all the better. Fork or spade it up lightly. 
Oval or round beds are very pretty. Set a few 
of the taller growing Crown Imperials in the 
center, three to four inches deep and one foot 
apart—white and J.*pan lilies may be interspers¬ 
ed among them; surround these with the late 
growing Tulips, followed by the dwarf sorts. 
Set six to ten inches apart, according to their 
hight, and cover with two inches of soil. Hy¬ 
acinths may follow next in another circle or two 
