The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
65! 
The  Future  of  the  Turkey  Industry 
the  skin,  the  same  as  is  now  being  investigated  as 
a  cure  for  white  diarrhoea  in  chickens.  This  I  be¬ 
lieve  will  be  the  only  remedy  which  can  be  devised 
and  used  with  any  great  degree  of  certainty. 
SOME  SURVIVORS.— It  must  be  remembered 
that  all  turkeys  affected  with  this  disease  do  not 
die,  and  that,  in  some  flocks  especially,  quite  a  num¬ 
ber  of  birds  recover,  even  when  no  treatment  has 
been  given.  This  in  part  explains  why  some  people 
claim  to  have  made  startling  cures  with  the  ipecac 
treatment.  On  a  few  occasions  we  have  had  birds 
that  seemed  to  respond  after  a  few  doses,  and  some 
even  got  entirely  well ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  a 
bunch  of  five  young  half-grown  birds,  which  were 
carried  to  another  farm  as  an  experiment,  all  re¬ 
covered  but  one,  and  these  had  no  medicine  in  any 
form.  Our  experience  is  that  this  disease  is  of  a 
decidedly  freaky  nature,  inasmuch  as  some  seasons 
seem  to  be  almost  entirely  free  from  its  ravages, 
while  the  very  next  it  will  appear  in  a  most  intense 
form,  and  the  birds  will  many  of  them  die. 
NEW  RANGE. — Prevention  plays  a  far  greater 
part  than  frying  to  effect  a  cure,  and  where  turkeys 
have  not  been  grown  for  several  years  the  disease 
Now,  Then,  Trot  Out  Your  Tractor!  Fig.  239 
often  does  not  show  itself  the  first  season.  Yet 
cases  are  common  where  it  has  again  appeared  in 
flocks  that  were  entirely  free  from  it  the  preceding 
year,  and  where  no  new  turkeys  or  eggs  had  been 
brought  in. 
DIFFICULTIES  OF  TREATMENT.— The  idea  of 
placing  ipecac  in  the  feed  or  water  of  healthy  tur¬ 
keys  to  keep  them  immune  from  the  disease  will  not 
work  satisfactorily,  be¬ 
cause  in  the  first  place 
the  birds  will  not  eat 
such  food,  nor  drink 
water  into  which  it  has 
been  placed,  unless 
starved  or  choked.  Ipe¬ 
cac  is  nauseating  to 
animals,  and  we  must 
give  it  by  force  if  we 
accomplish  the  desired 
ends,  which  in  itself, 
especially  if  we  have  a 
large  flock,  cannot  eas¬ 
ily  be  done.  In  some  of 
our  own  cases  where 
this  has  been  accom¬ 
plished  the  results  were 
anything  but  satisfac¬ 
tory. 
A  TURK  Elf  SUBSTI¬ 
TUTE. — At  the  present 
day  there  seems  but  one 
solution :  Raise  Jersey 
Giants ;  they  are  the 
next  best  ‘bet,  and  any¬ 
body  can  raise  them. 
Fine  large  capons  at 
eight  or  nine  months 
sell  for  more  than  the 
average  turkey  did  15 
years  back.  No  one 
seems  to  want  to  look 
for  a  substitute  for  our 
fine  fat  turkeys,  and  we 
will  all  hail  the  day 
when  they  will  be  re¬ 
stored  to  our  many 
farms.  While  we  are 
waiting  for  a  cure  for 
blackhead  let  us  not 
lose  this  valuable  time, 
but  get  busy  right  now 
and  go  in  for  Black 
Jersey  Giants. 
WILLET  RANDALL. 
New  York. 
Wireworms 
I  NOTE  in  one  Oi  your 
recent  issues  an  in¬ 
quiry  and  answer  on 
wireworms.  My  exper¬ 
ience  may  be  of  inter¬ 
est.  I  do  some  small 
truck  gardening  in  Nova 
Scotia  in  the  Summer, 
and  was  just  about  put 
out  by  these  pests.  Af¬ 
ter  trying  several 
schemes  rather  unsuc¬ 
cessfully  I  chanced  one 
day  to  uncover  a  piece 
of  dog  biscuit  that  my 
dog  had  put  away  for 
future  reference,  and 
noted  that  this  was 
alive  with  wireworms.  This  gave  me  an  idea. 
I  cut  up  about  5  lbs.  of  the  hard,  dry  dog  biscuit 
into  about  one-inch  squares  and  planted  it  in  rows 
about  an  inch  under  ground,  marked  the  rows  care¬ 
fully,  and  about  two  weeks  later  uncovered  and 
picked  them  up  with  a  handful  of  earth,  as  I  found 
many  in  the  immediate  surrounding  as  well  as  in 
the  bait.  I  had  an  ordinary  galvanized  ash  can 
about  half  full,  and  had  trapped  actually  thousands 
cf  wireworms.  I  followed  this  up  for  a  couple  of 
Springs  on  a  larger  scale,  and  succeeded  in  getting 
these  almost  impossible  vermin  under  control.  This 
trapping  is  best  done  very  early  in  the  Spring.  My 
experience  is  that  the  small  garden  is  the  one  which 
suffers  most  from  them.  g.  m,  Howard. 
North  Carolina. 
LACKSHEAD. — I  note  Mr.  White  Tommy, 
the  leader  of  the  turkey  flock,  as  he  drags 
himself  along  with  a  sluggish  gait,  which 
to  me  means  more  than  a  passing  notice, 
for  I  at  once  recognize  that  his  days  of 
usefulness  are  about  to  end — and  it  is  all 
so  sudden.  Blackhead !  Nothing  in  the  world  more 
true  and.  incidentally,  nothing  more  deadly.  He 
has  been  trying  to 
strut  and  gobble,  for 
this  is  his  honeymoon, 
and  when  in  condition 
he  makes  the  best  use 
of  it.  I  have  kept  a 
careful  watch  over  the 
flocks  all  Winter,  and 
at  the  first  sign  have 
applied  the  best  reme¬ 
dies  known  in  a  vain 
effort  to  save  the  birds 
from  this  terrible  dis¬ 
ease.  And  now,  just 
when  we  want  to  use 
him.  when  the  hens  are 
about  to  start  laying, 
and  at  a  time  when  it 
will  be  almost  impossi¬ 
ble  to  get  another,  we 
find  ourselves  in  a 
“pickle.”  This  is  not 
only  our  own  predica¬ 
ment,  but  many  who 
read  these  lines  are 
having  the  same  trou¬ 
ble.  Is  it  any  wonder, 
then,  that  so  many  be¬ 
come  discouraged  and 
want  to  quit  trying  to 
raise  turkeys? 
DISAPPO  I  NT  I  N  G 
TREAT  MEN  T.—  If 
there  is  any  treatment 
for  blackhead  which  will 
either  prevent  or  cure 
I  confess  that  I  do  not 
know  what  it  consists 
of.  The  ipecac  treat¬ 
ment,  after  many  very 
careful  experiments,  has 
resulted  in  a  total  fail¬ 
ure,  and  we  have 
treated  many  birds  in 
all  stages  of  the  disease. 
When  the  Wegeforths 
made  the  startling  an¬ 
nouncement  that  ipecac 
would  restore  the  indus¬ 
try  we  took  on  fresh 
hope,  and  tried  to  make 
ourselves  believe  that 
the  last  straw  had  fin¬ 
ally  come  in  at  the 
eleventh  hour  and 
broken  the  camel’s  back, 
but  no  such  good  for¬ 
tune  favored  us,  and  to¬ 
day  we  are  as  much  at 
sea  as  we  ever  were  in¬ 
sofar  as  blackhead  in 
turkeys  and  its  treat¬ 
ment  is  concerned.  If 
there  is  anyone  more 
interested  in  turkeys 
than  I  am,  and  always 
have'  been,  I  would  be 
glad  to  have  his  views 
expressed,  for  we  are  waiting  to  learn  first  hand, 
and  will  gladly  take  the  time  and  trouble  to  investi¬ 
gate  any  who  can  positively  show  us  the  proof  of  a 
cure  for  blackhead. 
IS  THERE  A  SERUM? — Deplorable  as  it  is,  why 
deceive  ourselves?  It  is  my  hope  that  soon  there 
u  ill  appear  something  which  can  be  relied  upon  to 
put  the  industry  back  onto  its  feet;  and  until  such 
time  arrives  we  shall  keep  right  on  trying  to  raise 
turkeys.  How  well  we  are  going  to  succeed  and 
escape  the  ravages  of  this  dread  disease  will  remain 
to  be  seen,  but  before  wTe  can  expect  old-time  re¬ 
sults  we  must  bring  to  bear  something  a  whole  lot 
stronger  than  ipecac.  There  would  appear  to  me 
but  one  way  to  bring  about  the  desired  results,  and 
that  is  by  using  a  serum  which  can  be  injected  under 
