The National tribune., 1897-04-29

BRONZE Turkey.
yearly incomes would be larger. Nothing
but the best breeds should be raised, as the
cost of raising thoroughbred is no more
than that Of raising the common and much
degenerated specimens seen on so many
farms to-day. An established breed will
weigh double that of the common turkey,
and the expense and trouble is the same
Turkeys always sell by the pound in the
markets, and this fact should be remem-
bered by those who contemplate raising
them for profit. A common practice is to
sell the earliest and largest birds and retain
the latest and smallest for breeding pur-
poses. This is done, in many cases, for the
small advance in price which is received.
Such thing is TO be condemned. Where is
the sense of breeding from runts? Nothing
is to be. gained and everything is to be lost.
The larger the breeding stock the better.
They cannot be too large for successful
turkey raising.
When setting q turkey, allow her to use
the nest she has been accustomed to. Sic
will take more kindly to this and will give
better results If she has stolen her nest,
it ID an easy matter to erect temporary
covering over her to protect her from the
weather. Don't try to break up her nest
and set her elsewhere, for you will fail in
the majority of cases. Give the hen turkey
q good busting with insect powder when
placing her on the nest, and repeat the opera
ton in 10 days time, and also couple of
days before the hatch is due. Dust the
poults thoroughly when the hatch is COM
pleted.
Place the hen and brood in large, roomy
coop with board floor Attach to the coop a
small run covered on top with one-inch mesh
wire. To make the run use Pinch boards
set on edge, and attach wire on top. Keep
them confined in this coop for at least q
week. On bright, sunshiny days remove
the run, aud allow them free range. When
the weather is bad, or in early morning, keep
them confined in the coop and run. See
that they are always cooped at night.
The feed for young turkeys is about the
same as that for young chicks. Rolled oats,
cooked oat meal, bread crumbs and baked
johnny-cake are splendid for their food for
the first week or so. Chopped onion is ex-
cellent for them. Milk and milk curd should
be given for drink. Feed four or five times
a day for the first week or 10 days, then feed
them regularly three times day. Do not
keep food before them at all times, and feed
only what they will eat up clean. Keep
abundance of grit, charcoal, and fresh water
always easy of access. When the poults are
two weeks old, feed soft food of bran, corn
meal and ground bone, mixed to a crumbly
state, in the morning. Wheat and cracked
corn makes good grain diet and should be
fed literally before going to roost at night
After the weather has settled, and June
comes, young turkeys need very little care
or attention. They will raise themselves
It is only necessary to feed them grain at
night.
Lice are fatal to turkeys. The poults
should be watched carefully each day, and
when one is seen in drawn-up state, with
its wings touching the ground, examine it
and see if lice are not doing their duty.
Dust freely with insect pOwder-pyretbrum
powder-and don't be afraid to use it, as it
will do no harm to the youngest turkey, and
is sure to kill the lice.
Artificial Methods.
Before the general introduction of incu-
bat0rs and brooders the farmer who kept
any of the non-sitting breeds was sometimes
at loss to know how to get his chicks
Matched in Spring. Many felt this to be a
misfortune, for it was easy to demonstrate
that the nOn-sitters were among the most
profitable breeds to keep, as they kept lay
ing during the whole season, while the
sitting breeds got br0ody in the Spring, and
if allowed to set lost three months in
Matching aud rearing q dozen chicks, or if
prevented from sitting were idle from one
to two months before getting ready for
business again. Now that the skill of our
inventors has succeeded in getting incu-
bators so perfect that anyone with ordinary
intelligence can use them successfully, and
SO low in price that anyone who keeps a
hundred chicks can afford to purchase one,
ktaro r, n ovxd So
sitting varieties The argument used is
that the Leghorns or Hamburgs will lay
more eggs on less food than the sitting
breeds, and sell for just as much pound in
the market, and are therefore more profit
able, and the ones that should be kept.
Breeders are used by thousands who use
hens TO hatch their chicks, because it has
been found less trouble TO raise so chicks
with a brooder than dozen with hen, and
the chicks do better. The artificial method
ia gaining in favor, and. we shall have mOer
to say about it in the future.
GuiDeas' Eggs.
Guinea hens eggs are smaller than those
of the hen or duck. They are shaped more
like top, and are harder shelied than either
of the above. Fence-corners in deep, high
grass, or under bushes, find the nest of the
guinea hen. Rarely do they lay in house
provided for chickens. They seek secusion,
and usually do better away from things that
would disturb them. They lay from Is to
50 eggs before Matching, and have covered
and Matched out so eggs, but this is not fire.
quent. The egg is a light-brown, speckled.
Get Rid of Them.
It is all right to expect the poultry to
help support you, but it is. not the proper
thing to ask the good ones to help maintain
those that will not pay their own way.
The latter kind should be sent to market or
used for your own table.
The facsimile