7h* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1497 
The Truth About the Spencer “Turkin” 
T IIE acme of incredulity is supposed to have been 
reached in the utterance of a countryman, of a 
type manufactured by the jokesmiths, who, upon 
visiting a menagerie, saw a giraffe for the first time. 
After watching the curious beast for a while, he 
turned away with a snort of disgust, exclaiming: 
“Huh! there ain’t no sicli animil.’’ Some may have 
reached the same conclusion upon reading in the 
November 19 issue of The R. N.-Y. Mr. Spencer’s 
description of a new breed of fowls that he claims 
to have developed from an original cross between 
the hen and the turkey, and which he has named, ac¬ 
cordingly. the “Turkin.” Mr. Spencer’s statements 
seem candid enough, and afford no occasion for any 
doubt as to his sincerity, but there is considerable 
reason for believing that his lack of familiarity with 
some races of fowls in foreign countries has misled 
him in respect to the actual origin of his birds with 
the copyrighted name. 
After having read the article, my attention was 
called to it and to some other things by W. C. Krum, 
Extension Instructor in the Poultry Husbandry De¬ 
partment of Cornell University. Among these other 
tilings was the existence of a breed of fowls in 
Hungary known as the Erdelyi Kopasz Nyaku. or. 
in a language considerably more familiar to us. the 
Transylvania Naked Necks. The description of 
these Hungarian fowls corresponds well with that 
of the Turkins bred by Mr. Spencer, though there 
are some differences that may easily be accounted 
for on the ground of a cross between the Naked 
Necks and some one of the large American breeds. 
The pictures of young Turkins, too. are remarkably 
like a Hungarian Naked Neck hen that may be seen 
by the curious at Cornell. Edward Brown, an Eng¬ 
lish writer, in his “Races of Domestic Poultry,” de¬ 
scribes these Transylvania Naked Necks as follows: 
“In Eastern Europe,” says Mr. Brown, “the Naked 
Necks are regarded as the most vigorous of all poul¬ 
try. The hens are excellent layers, commencing pro¬ 
duction early and laying right through the Winter. 
The chickens are precocious and the flesh excellent 
in quality. They are splendid foragers, needing no 
feed through the greater part of the year. In size, 
they are medium, adult cocks weighing from 5V_> to 
6 lbs., hens from 4 to 5 lbs. The body is short, well- 
rounded and fully developed, legs and neck rather 
long, head medium size, tail full in cock and carried 
low. wings large and strong, thighs short, toes four. 
Their great peculiarity is that the head and neck for 
about three inches are entirely denuded of feathers, 
except that, on the lower part of the neck, there is 
a small collar of feathers. The comb, wattles, face 
and neck are bright red. There are two varieties— 
white and colored. The colored vary considerably, 
many being largely red. Their flesh and skin is 
grayish white, legs and feet leaden gray, eggs white. 
They were first seen in England about 20 years ago. 
and are bred by those who desire rare or peculiar 
breeds, but are not kept for practical purposes.” 
These fowls have been bred in this country by W. 
M. Patteson of Penn Yan, N. Y. Mr. Patteson writes 
me with regard to them: “Something like eight 
years-ago, I was on a lumber-buying trip at West 
Point, Va., a point some 30 miles east of Richmond. 
In the outskirts of this small town I noticed a most 
peculiar bird and became at once much interested 
in it. I succeeded in purchasing several cockerels 
and a number of pullets of these Naked Necks and, 
if I am not very much mistaken, exhibited them at 
Buffalo that same year. I was interested in the his¬ 
tory of these birds, and was told that a Hungarian 
had been entertained near West Toint and. upon his 
return to his home in Hungary, in appreciation of 
his entertainment, he sent over the original birds of 
this breed, and, since then, the type has been so very 
persistent that, after generations, the Naked Necks 
were still in that section, showing this 
peculiar formation of the neck and 
head.” 
The specimen of the breed at Cor¬ 
nell. though not known to be purebred.' 
might, from all appearances, have been 
the mother of the young Turkins shown 
on page 134S. The type of body is the 
same, and she shows the bare neck, 
tuft of feathers on the top of the head 
and at the base of the neck, the red 
sldn and the single comb. Her plum¬ 
age. however, resembles that of a 
Barred Plymouth Rock. The vigor of 
this breed, spoken of by both Mr. 
Brown and Mr. Patteson. is evident in 
its ability to fix its most striking char¬ 
acteristics upon its progeny for genera- 
Entranee to Green Gate Farm. Fig. 61/0 
tions, notwithstanding the mixture of its blood with 
that of other breeds of fowls. Successful crossing 
of the hen and turkey has probably never been ac¬ 
complished. though I am not prepared to say that it 
is impossible. Even if accomplished, the progeny 
would probably be sterile hybrids, incapable of re¬ 
production. It seems far more likely that Mr. 
Spencer’s Holland neighbor brought with him a 
more or less purebred flock of Hungarian Naked 
Necks, and that his Turkins are derived from them 
or from a cross between them and some one of 
the large breeds of this country that lays brown 
eggs. M. B. D. 
Weight of a Dozen Eggs 
Can you give us the weights of eggs laid by various 
breeds of poultry? How many ounces do they run per 
dozen? J. s. v. 
T IIE following table shows the average weight of 
eggs in the contest over a period of five years: 
Reds . 25.1 oz. per dozen 
Leghorns . 24.1 oz. per dozen 
Rocks . 25.0 oz. per dozen 
Wyandottes . 23.5 oz. Der dozen 
I want to add that this table is not quite fair to 
the several breeds, because we have not excluded the 
done so. Where we were unknown before, we are 
known now far aud wide. We find naming one’s place 
a fine investment. Charles k. Rogers. 
Florida. 
P ICTURES of this Florida home are shown at 
Figs. 640 and 641. There is no question about 
the value of naming the farm. It gives a character 
and business standing that represents a new asset, 
and it makes the family think more of the home. 
Childhood and Shoddy 
O NE of the most fruitful fields for the use of 
shoddy is in boys’ and girls’ clothes. Many a 
clear-eyed American youth is brought to the house¬ 
hold bar to answer the charge of impoverishing his 
parents by wearing out bis clothes faster than they 
can pay for them. The real culprit is a one-third 
mix of shoddy, carbonized to burn out any cotton, 
so it may be called all wool. It would be eminently 
fitting for the local women’s clubs to designate one 
or more of their number to visit their schools and 
note the shoddy suits of the boys, and coats or wraps 
ol the girls. This offense against childhood is de¬ 
grading and often unhealthy. Pure new wool is a 
ventilated cloth, and at the same time retains the 
body warmth. It is part of the pleasure of child¬ 
hood to be dressed in what appeals to the sense of 
touch and to the eye. Shoddy retains its appearance 
for a short time, and then the child is wearing “old 
clothes” both to his perception and also as a matter 
of fact. The children who look like “little tramps” 
are started on their way to slovenliness and a down¬ 
ward career by no fault of their own. Childhood 
has the right of pure food and pure new wool fabric 
for clothes. In the homes new wool blankets for 
bed covers should displace quilts with cotton batting. 
Blankets can be aired and effectively cleaned. Tuber¬ 
culosis does not exist among sheep to any extent, if 
at all. Not as a specific cure, but as a safeguard, 
wool is notice to pulmonary diseases of protection. 
Shoddy filling defeats the very purpose of the porous 
wool fiber in maintaining warmth with aeration. 
The old-fashioned homespun had no shoddy to de¬ 
vitalize its wearing and health-preserving qualities, 
and the departure from pure new wool in fabric has 
been at the expense of money, morals aud health. 
There is a certain truth that one cannot always tell 
whether shoddy is in a fabric or not. This is true 
only when the fabric or garment is new. Wear soon 
discloses the real presence of shoddy, and that is 
why it is not only disappointing, but deceitful in 
wear. ,j. n. m. 
A Florida Bungalow Home. Fig. 6)1 
small eggs laid during November and December un¬ 
less they fell below 16 oz. per dozen. Of course there 
were only a very few at this minimum, but there 
were quite a good many that would not run over 20 
to 22 oz. per dozen during the early part of the con¬ 
test each year. Since about S per cent of the total 
eggs are laid during November and December, the 
two small egg months, it seems to me to be only fair 
to add about % oz. per dozen to the table which I 
have given above. We consider 25 and 26-oz. eggs 
particularly high class. The fact is that when one’s 
eggs go much beyond this size it will be necessary to 
modify our egg cases and shipping arrangements, 
because the extra large eggs will break in transit. 
W. F. KIRKPATRICK. 
Naming the Farm 
In accordance with advice from The R. N.-Y. to 
name one’s farm, we enclose two prints to show we have 
Third Cutting Alfalfa on an Oregon Ranch. Fig. 6)2 
Garden Notes from New England 
D irect sale of Christmas greens.— 
Wayside stands have been put to a new use 
this season. All up and down the South Shore of 
Massachusetts these stands were filled with ever¬ 
greens from the woods during the weeks just pre¬ 
ceding Christmas. They have been well patronized, 
too, hundreds of people who drive automobiles buy¬ 
ing their wreaths and other holiday decorations from 
the farmers direct instead of in the towns and cities. 
The sale of Christmas greenery has come to be an 
important item in many parts of New England. 
There is one family not far from my own home the 
members of which get their living almost wholly 
from the laurel, prince’s -pine, holly and other ever¬ 
greens, which they wholesale in Boston. It is said 
that this family sent in eight tons of evergreens this 
season. If the stuff from the woods is kept in a pit 
underground and the air and light excluded, it will 
remain fresh for a long time. In the past the farmers 
who handled such material have had to send it to 
the city dealers for the most part, at the best, prices 
they could get. Selling at roadside stands is much 
more profitable. Yet there is one point about this 
plan of selling direct which is bother¬ 
ing a good many people. The greatest 
number of sales are made on Sunday. 
In fact, more business is transacted on 
Sunday, probably, than on all the other 
days of the week combined. The re¬ 
sult is that many farmers are commer¬ 
cializing the Sabbath to an extent 
which is reflected in rural church at¬ 
tendance and in the breaking down of 
old-time reverence for the Lord’s Day. 
D E S T IlOYING NATF R A L 
GROWTH.—There is still another njat- 
ter in connection with the ravaging of 
the woods for greens which is receiving 
considerable attention. The most pop¬ 
ular product of the woods in New Eng¬ 
land is laurel, tons of which are used 
