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TURGESIA. 
“TURE, and Paring AND BuRNING; and in the latter 
sense, in the articles Boa, Psat, Funn, and 
HEATHS. 
TURF-ASHES. See Asus. 
TURE-BOG. See Boa. 
TURE-SPADE. See Brzast-Piover and Puat. 
TURGESIA. A genus of ornamental, South- 
African, herbaceous plants, of the crassulaceous 
order. Three perennial and four biennial spe- 
cies, varying in height from 6 to 15 inches,—one 
of the biennials red-flowered, and all the others 
white-flowered,—have been introduced to Bri- 
tain; and all love a soil of sandy loam, and re- 
quire the protection of the greenhouse. 
TURKEY,—scientifically Meleagris. A genus 
of birds of the gallinaceous order. A plumeless 
and papillated skin invests the head and the 
upper part of the neck; an appendage dangles 
under the throat, and hangs along the neck; 
another appendage of a conical form surmounts 
the forehead, and, in the male, when he is ex- 
cited to anger, becomes so inflated and elongated 
as to hang over the point of the beak; a tuft or 
tassel of stiff hairs hangs from the lower part 
of the adult male’s neck; the coverts of the tail 
can be erected and displayed in the same man- 
ner as in the peacock, but are shorter and stiffer ; 
and the tarsi of the male are armed with weak 
spurs. 
The common turkey, Meleagris gallo-pavo, was 
for.a long time the only species known. It is a 
native of the West Indies and of Continental 
America, and was introduced to Europe in the 
16th century ; and in consequence of its ready 
domestication, its great size, and the excellence 
of its flesh, it soon became very common, and 
has long occupied the rank of a higher order of 
domestic poultry. The wild variety of it in 
most parts of America has a greenish-brown 
colour, with a copper gloss; and the black sub- 
variety of our domesticated kinds, is the best for 
both size and delicacy. a 
The ocellated turkey, Meleagris ocellata, was 
first found at the bay of Honduras, and seems to 
have very distinct specific characters. Its gene- 
ral plumage is remarkably brilliant, and almost 
equals that of the peacock; and its tail-coverts, 
which are similar in shape to those of the com- 
mon turkey, are adorned with sapphire-coloured 
spots, surrounded with circles of gold and ruby. 
Turkeys are very clean birds; they love sweet 
food and abundance of free air; and they prefer 
to roost in trees, and hop gradually up from the 
low branches, and find shelter among the boughs 
from frost and winds. An evergreen tree, such 
as a yew or a spruce-fir, is a very suitable piece 
of furnishing in the yard or compartment of the 
farmery allotted to them; and where this is 
a-wanting, special artificial provision should exist 
for large grasp in perching, for profuse ventila- 
tion, for perfect constant cleanliness, and for 
dryness and warmth in winter and coolness in 
summer. The hen seeks secluded nesting ground, 
TURMERIC. 005 
and often strays far from home, and commonly 
requires to be watched and manceuvred. The 
number of her eggs in a season is only from 
twelve to twenty; and each, when newly laid, 
should be taken away from the nest, and substi- 
tuted by a piece of chalk closely resembling it in 
size and form and appearance. When she shows 
a desire to sit, she should be cooped upon her 
eggs in the turkey-house; and while she is sit- 
ting, she ought never to be disturbed. No tur- 
key should be allowed to sit twice in one season. 
The newly-hatched birds should be kept for some 
time in the nest, and maintained in a warm and 
dry condition, and never handled or in any way 
artificially treated; and, when they develop the 
red colour of the head, they may be regarded as 
safe from the diseases of their infantile state. 
Young turkeys should be fed three or four 
times a-day with a pultaceous mixture of fine 
barley meal and dock leaves, or of barley meal 
and chopped onions, nettles, and potherbs, but 
especially, if they can be had, with ants’ eggs. 
Nothing, however, contributes more to advance 
their growth, and insure their health, than the 
seeds and insects they pick up in long grass. 
Yet as the hen is very inconsiderate, and, with 
the intention of procuring them abundance of 
these, will roam far away beyond the strength of 
her progeny, and, so that she is accompanied by 
some of the hatch, is regardless of the weaker 
ones, it is good policy to pen her upon a lawn, 
under a crate, such as earthenware is packed in, 
so that the chicks can roam about, and return 
to her call when any danger approaches; and 
here the food of the young birds, which she 
would gobble up, can be placed out of her reach. 
More advanced turkeys thrive best when allowed 
to roam through meadows, and cater for them- 
selves by the sides of hedges ; but they must be 
fed in the mornings and evenings, or when they 
return toward home, which they will soon learn 
to do periodically when they require food. They 
must, however, be watched on their excursions, 
by a boy or girl, who should on no account drive 
them, but merely follow their motions, bringing 
them home in good time in the afternoon. As 
turkey-cocks are very pugnacious animals, and, 
moreover, often destroy the young ducks, we 
would not recommend one being kept. ‘They 
often terrify children, and will sometimes attack 
visiters approaching a house; and at the same 
time, they are neither ornamental nor useful, 
but are destructive to gardens or pleasure-grounds, 
and consume the food that would keep half a 
dozen fowls. To compensate for the want of 
cocks at home, the hens may be sent, at certain 
seasons, to some one of approved breed in the 
neighbourhood. 
TURKEY-OAK. See Oak. 
TURK’S CAP. See Marragon. 
TURMERIC,—botanically Curcuma. A genus 
of ornamental, tropical, perennial-rooted, annual- 
stemmed, herbaceous plants of the ginger tribe. 
