<Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
9U 
A Review of the Turkey Disease. Problem 
There have been .so many falls for copies of The R. 
ff.-Y. containing notes <>n blackhead in turkeys that 
we have been unable to supply them. Mr. Cosgrove 
gives, below, a review of what is known about this 
disease: 
D ISASTROUS TURKEY DISEASE.—For many 
years turkey raising had been a very profitable 
business for the fanners of Rhode Island, and a 
monster turkey was sent each Christmas as a gift 
to the President at Washington. The State had 
quite a reputation for the number of turkeys raised. 
Rut about Mi) years ago a disease appeared which 
became so virulent and so prevalent among the tur¬ 
keys that the business was seriously hampered. The 
discolored head of the turkeys dying of the disease 
gave it the name “blackhead.” 
INVESTIGATIONS.—The Rhode Island Agricul¬ 
tural Experiment Station investigated the disease, 
and as early as IMG I’rof. Samuel Cushman pub¬ 
lished a bill' tin on “Blackhead in Turkeys.” He 
made autopsies and very clearly described the dis¬ 
ease, the inflammation of the cieca, and the spots 
V. A. Moore, in 189(5. experimented iu transmit¬ 
ting the disease by feeding the diseased liver and 
ca?ca to healthy turkeys, and later Chester and 
Rubin, by a similar method, transmitted the disease 
to other fowls. 
NO REMEDY FOUND.—What is noteworthy in 
this M(» years of investigation is that proetiea.il)/ no 
head icon wv/s mode ni com bo ting the. disease. The 
clinical, pathological and bacterial investigations 
were very interesting, lmt the mortality among the 
farmers' flocks continued just the same. Of course 
various therapeutic measures were suggested. Cole 
and Hadley report several cures being effected by 
the use of capsules containing sulphur and the sul¬ 
phate .of iron and quinine.. Other sulphates were 
used, also sulol. Curtice writes that treatment has 
not given satisfactory results, aud recommends a 
dose of Epsom salts or castor oil. before giving any 
of the drugs noted above; he also advises the use 
of catechu in the drinking water. Kaupp recom¬ 
mends a combination of sodium calcium, and zinc 
Leghorns. One year ago he bought a turkey hen. 
Later she hatched nine poults. He made no at¬ 
tempt to restrain them: they went from the day 
they were hatched, where they pleased, and when 
they pleased. They were off in the dew by daylight, 
out in all thunderstorm and rains, but every night 
the mother turkey would bring home the nine poults 
for the evening feed. That was the only time in the 
day when they would he visible, except occasionally 
out in some far lot. They thrived and grew splen¬ 
didly. hut when about half grown only eight came 
back one night, the next night seven, and the next 
six, and they disappeared until only three were left. 
He saved these by shutting them up. A fox had 
found turkey meat agreeable. The only real object 
in shutting up young turkeys is to prevent the 
mother in her rambling from losing the young while 
too weak to follow her. 
'FHE WEGEFt >RTII EXPERIMENTS.—Several 
years after the Maryland experience, one of the 
brothers Wegeforth started -aising turkeys in San 
This shows a view from the hills about Jamaica, Vermont. It is typical of many pleasant sections in the Green Mountain State The views are magnificent, the air is 
clear and pure, and, while the surface is rough, much of the soil is strong and productive. It is a “goodly country”—inhabited by a race of vigorous, intelligent and 
prosperous peeople. aud capable of providing comfortable homes for thousands of town folks who are going down before the unending struggle for daily bread. The 
little town of about ”»<)0 inhabitants nestles in the valley, with the great hills rising above and around it. pleasant farms stretching part way up to the wood-crowned 
tops. What do our Western friends, with their level prairies, nay to this picture'/ Fan they find greater happiness than these hills afford? It is doubtful. 
on the liver. As the result of the investigation cur¬ 
ried on at the Rhode Island Station. I)r. Theobald 
Smith, then Director of the Bureau of Animal In¬ 
dustry at Washington, became interested in the sub¬ 
ject, and in RS95 Bulletin No. S was issued by the 
United States Department of Agriculture, giving the 
results of Dr, Smith's investigations. He not only 
rives an excellent description of the symptoms, but 
also the pathological lesions found in the intestines 
and liver, from which lie classified the disease as an 
entero-hepulitis. He described also an organism 
which he named “atmebameleagridis." which ap¬ 
peared so constantly that lie concluded it was the 
causative agent 
Some years later Cole and Hadley disputed the de¬ 
ductions made by Smith, and denied the presence of 
“aimeba" in the lesions of blackhead. These writers 
had noticed the presence of ooccidla in eases of the 
disease throughout the Intestines, liver, and. occa¬ 
sionally. the oviduct. They concluded from their 
observations that the uimebameleagridis (described 
by Smith t was in reality the "schizont” stage of 
the coccldium. Dr, Smith answered this five years 
later, demonstrating beyond question that the cocci- 
dimii is not the true cause of blackhead, and when 
found is a secondary invader. 
sulpho-carbolate. from which he had received good 
reports. But medication having practically failed, 
much effort was made on prevention, different meth¬ 
ods of feeding, cleansing the eggs thoroughly before 
incubalion, using hens as mothers etc. 
THE DAMPNESS THEORY.—But about 14 years 
ago Drs. Paid and H. M. Wegeforth had their atten¬ 
tion called to blackhead among some turkeys being 
raised in Baltimore <’o., Md. The disease was quite 
prevalent in that part of the State, and caused most 
of the losses. The farmers there had no name for 
it. the malady being attributed to a predisposition 
of young turkeys to catch cold and die if they got 
their feathers wet by dew or rain. The Doctors 
Wegeforth made autopsies on the birds (lying in 
their flocks, and found the changes in the cieca and 
the liver, which they later knew As “blackhead.” 
But they still held the general conception of all the 
farmers that the disease was due to exposure to 
dampness, which young turkeys could not stand. 
On this almost universal idea of the necessity of 
keeping young turkey inm-lts dry. the writer would 
like to say a few words right here. I,ess than 100 
yards away is the poultry farm of Mr. George V 
Smith, for many years secretary of the t'onneetieut 
Poultry Association, lie keep 1,000 or more White 
Diego County. California. It. was not long before it 
was evident that the turkeys were dying of the same 
disease as in Maryland. As the climatic conditions 
i.i that part of California were ideal, the old theory, 
entertained in the East, of dampness being the 
cause, was no longer tenable. Then an earnest in¬ 
vestigation for cause and remedy was entered into. 
What follows is the history of their efforts and their 
success. 
In the Spring of 1914 they sent to Ohio for four 
pullets and a gobbler and placed them on a ranch 
where no turkeys had ever been before—to their 
knowledge. From these. 40 birds were raised, a 
number of young being destroyed by vermin. No 
sign of blackhead appeared. The following year, 
1015, though no new birds or eggs had been brought 
to flu* ranch, blackhead appeared, and more than 
half of the young, and one old bird died of it. Au¬ 
topsies were made on all the birds that died, and all 
the lesions of true blackhead were found in every 
case. 
The next year over SO turkeys were hatched, of 
which 00 or more reached the age where they could 
roost in trees, before the disease appeared, but only 
one bird was saved of the entire hatch. All the old 
birds were disposed of and the ranch moved a quarter 
