Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-04-05
AGRICULTURAL.
TURKEY BREEDMNG.

We raise poultry chiefly for the table,
What the producer wants in his stock is
good quality Of flesh, early maturity and
capacity to make the most flesh out of a
given amount offood. a turkey weighing
fifteen pounds is just as good for the table
as one weighing thirty, and most house
keepers would prefer them under twelve
pounds. In most markets the lighter
weights would bring the highest price. 1t
is only in the region Of large hotels and
boarding houses. that very large birds bring
an extra price. 1t takes about three years
foL turkey to attain his largest weight
If at twelve months a gobbler reach thirty
pounds live weight, at two years he would
reach thirty-five, and at three years forty
or more. But it is rare to get male bird
over forty pounds, and then it is generally
by some process of stufiing that DESTROYS
his stamina and oftentimes his life.
This weight is excellent sometimes,
but about the time one thinks he
is almost sure of forty-five pound
er the prodigy sickens and dies
1t may be assumed, then, that about forty
pounds is about the limit in which a vigo-
rous turkey cock may be safely carried,
and from halt to twO-thirds of that weight
is the last safe limit for the hens With
breeders OF this size and little under, we
should get large, strong chicks, that will
cconomize food and mature earlier than
the offspring Of common-sized birds. No
birds yield more quickly to treatment than
the turkey. The influence of large-sized
gobbler in flock is Immediately visible in
the increased size Of the chicks. The in
PRODUCTION of wild blood increases the
hardness Of the young. A large portion of
the eggs will hatch, and a much larger
number of young will be likely to grow up.
With little painstaking it is quite easy to
breed to any desired shade Of plumage.
MANURE SUPPLIES.
On this subject prize essay CT the nli-
nois Agricultural Society says: "Our
experience in the use of pure
bOne-dust and genuine super-phosphate
is SO satisfactory, that if it were not for
the freight rates charged by our railroad
companies, we should use them more
largely. Thus virtually shut off from
these, we pursued the following plan to
reduce bones into soluble plant-food To
make his own bone material he got from a
foundry a S2-pound cast-iron sldge, by
which, with the aid Of a spring-pole and an
upright log set in the ground, he reduced
bones to small pieces then sitting out the
finest, he crushed the coarsest pieces over
again; these fine pieces he composed in
layers with foesh horse dung. After three
weekr he forked over the pile and covered
it with soil, and this was afterward forked
over until the bones were rotted and
thoroughly mixed with the horse-dung and
soil. To save farm-yard manure from
waste, and, above all, tre-fang, Mr.. Cid
didgs uses both earth and water.''
He says: ga covering of half an inch Of
soil will absorb every part of escaping am
monia, but thicker coating is desirable"
A water-box on a one-horse cart is also
III, r..
mentation Of the pile. There are other
absorbents rich in themselves, of plant
food, which not only save, but add both
bulk and richness to the pile-muck, saw
dust, coal ashes, etc. Go into your hem
house on warm morning, and you will
be oppressed with the e1Iluvia arising from
their dr0ppings, spread over them a hod Of
coal ashes, or basket Of saw-dust, and the
air is sweetened as if by magic; and it will
keep the hens in good health, besides in
creasing the manure, if followed up every
few days."