The Dickinson press., 1894-12-01
n. THANKSGIVING TURKEY.

T1D THANKSGIVING TURKw1.
a Glance At the aestsry and Anteoe.
dents OF . Popular BIRD.
When, in the month Of November,
the fields look cold and drear and the
leaf "incessant rustles from the mourn
full grove" then comes to us, like q
burst Of sunshine ON q gray day. that
unique creation Of our forefathers-
Thanksgiving day.
The browning joy Of Thanksgiving
is the reunion Of friends and at no
time is the satisfaction more complete
then when, gathered around the table
they look with admiring eyes at that
autocrat of the dinner table, the tur-
key.
We are not ar inquiring race. 1t is
habit to eat what Is set before us,
asking no questions. Yet, at this time,
it might be interesting to know some
thing o: the life and history of-let us
whisper 1t confidently-our favorite
bird. Happily it is a native of Ameri-
ca, although like all the early natives
OF thu country, bearing q misleading
name. Its ancestors r to be found
away in the west beyond the Missis-
sippt and In the far south. In France
1t has been coOlly assigned to India,
and Is called "POule d'Inde," while the
more accurate Germans, In calling it
''Kalekutische Hahn" locate It in Call
cuty, Or the western shore Of India.
A historian of turkeys tells US that 1t
was introduced into England during
the reign of Henry VIII. At that time
the wealth Of the country was in the
hands Of the merchants who traded
with Turkey and whose ships sailed
the I4evant. Consequently, anything
that was new and fashionable, wheth-
er carpet or fowl, was dubbed Turkey.
Would 1t not be q patriotic deed to
give our native name o worthy Of
its name?
A Tender Fowl.
Although the wild birds are hardy
the domesticated Inhabitants Of the
barn-yard are tender and difficult to
rear. They are the prequisities and
and care Of the farmers wife and
daughters. and no one save q farmers
wife knows the amount Of work and
watcilfulness thep entail. From the
early spring time when, with the inner
tied wildness of her nature, she tries
to hide her nest, often causing long
hours Of watching or seeking lest the
eggs should get chilled" until In the
fall the brood passes into the hands
OF the buyer, they are q constant anx-
iety.
A turkey hen lays about twenty eggs
choosing q nest on the ground, for she
loves moisture. When the eggs are
Matched, the lanky, il-shapen birds Re
quire food rs carefully prepared ds for
some %dyspeptic. Lard. eggs, green food
pepper and meal are mixed and fed,
yet in spite IL oil the knowledge of
poultry lore some will NOPE and stand
with dishevelled feathers. dull eyes and
dropping wings looking the embodiment
OF misery until death ensues.
They must be carefully housed till
the dew is dried by the sun or the
young will die. A sudden rain storm
takes all the members Of the family
who are interested out to search for the
wanderers. They are not home loving
and will disappear for days or weeks
to be found in the woods o. swailS lux.
uriating on grassh0ppers or perhaps
! depleted by their natural enemy, the
fox.
When the grain begins to ripcn they
find their way to the fields and help
themselves, not always to the farmers
liking. They frequent the orchards, de-
vouring apples and stripping g%rapevines
with O rapidity uneQunlled by any
small boy, and the worst Of 1t Is that all
authorities agree that fruit makes tur-
keys, "poor.' "They strike up friendly
relations with neighboring flOcks Of the
same color and size. thereby making
confusion unless %precaution has been
taken to
Mark the Respective Flocks.
Either by cutting the wings or by
breaking of the first point Of the little
toe.
When the final fattening and prepara-
ton for market is ove the good wife
proudly views her treasures with the
creamy. solid meat and the great seam
Of fat obliterating all trace Of the back
bone. 1t is something to be told at
the fireside when the great gobbler
reaches the mark Of thirty pounds or
stretches out toward the forties.
While in this country the turkey and
Thanksgiving are almost synonymous,
in Canada and in England it is more
closely associated with the festivities
Of Christmas. Just before the holidays
large cargoes are sent from Canada to
England. They are killed, frozen and
then shipped, packed in their own
feathers. There the feathers are put
to a variety of uses. The large. ones
plucked from the wings are used as
points for arrows, being much better
for that purpose than those Of eagles,
so often celebrated in poetry and song.
The body feathers are made into dus.
tiers and the tail feathers are used fol
making salmon flies. At one time
French ladies shaded their eyes with
parasols made by joining four of the
tails together.
But this is not all. In Italy the giz
card serves o peculiar purpose. Ar
italian Psychologist showed that 1t was
powerful enough to grind down thu
points Of needles and lancets placed
within 1t. Since then the Italian deal
ers have used 1t in preparing seals ani
ornaments for sale as antiquities FROM
Pompeii. They put them down tn,
gizzard of the live fowl and allow then
to remain there until the grinding nc
ton Of the horny skin has given then
the dull corroding appearance tina
time had stamped upon the real arti
cles.
. In some of the Eastern co mtries
notably Arabia and Persia, a mann:
answering closely to that mentioned ii
H.