The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1919-11-20

The mother turkey Of the woods keeps her
children under control and at her side until mid
winter. BY that time the brood Is full grown.
The young gobblers, Mr.. McIlhenny says, then
leave their mothers and sisters and form bachelor
clubs among themselves
Turkey society in the forests from December
until early In the spring, Is made up of three d.
visons-the old hens and young hens; the young
gobblers and the old gpbblers. At mating time,
in March, there is reunion 1t is then that the
old gobblers strut and gobbe and call to their
plural wives well to the hunters.
AT the moment the hens begin to set, the old
gobblers in couples and groups up to 20, again
sequester themselves from all but their own
society. So they live, summer, autumn and win
ter. They never fight except when they show
ing off to the ladies and then their combats are
not mortal. The rules of their contests Of
strength permit showing, pulling, pecking and
wing-beatng.
They are brave birds, as the McIlhennys. all
famous hunters, will testify. Furthermore, they
are wise birds. 1t is the exceptional hunter who
gets a sight of them in summer. They not
afraid, however, of the farmer who is blowing,
husking reaping
Notwithstanding the spectacular enterprise Of
turkey ranching in Texas and California n
grand scale, the old farm must still be relied
upon for most Of our Thanksgiving and Christmas
turkeys, says James Hamilton Byrd in Grit. On
thousands upon thousands of farms, side
issue to her regular work. it is common practice
for the farm wife to keep a half dozen or per-
haps dozen turkey hens and gobbler from
which to raise flock of 40 to 80 turkeys.
Early in the spring the turkey hens begin lay
ing Then comes the broodng season BY Octo-
her ! the young turkeys have grown to be big
rangy birds, so now the fattening finishing
process is begun. Little do they know as they are
being fed more and more of the farmers corn
every night of the dabocal intentions Of their
masters better half Ten days two weeks be-
fore marketing they are literally Toasted grain
stuffed three four times a day-until just be-
fore the enactment Of the tragedy Of their young
careers they should be fat as butter balls
Although turkey ranchng in Texas and Cali.
fornia has almost reached the proportions of
new and spectacular industry, by far the greater
number of turkeys are raised on the farms of the
middle West-Oho, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky.
Missouri and Iowa. New England, long famous
for its turkeys. raises comparatively few al
though its reputation still fingers. Some of the
big turkey ranches have a thousand more tur-
keys and some of the turkey drives to market
are most extraordinary sights. The 1ocks Of the
middle West are usually less than a hundred.
Still 80 to rs fine gobblers and hens weighing
from Is to 25 pounds each is not a mean sight
and represents indeed no small value.
There are still millions Of acres In Texas, Okla
bona and New Mexico where the wild turkey
breeds plentifully, and where turkey hunting is
turkey market is the "still hunting" which Is
carried on in the spring In many places to secure
eggs or possibly the very young birds In order to
raise the pure wildblood turkey and introduce IL
into tame focks. The tame turkey has degener-
ated until IL is longer the virile bird II was In
the days of our pilgrim fathers, but the wild
turkey is subject to no known disease. On some
of the forest reserves the government is protect
ing the wild turkey for this important purpose
of using 1t as a breeding stock.