Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1922-01-07

mad 1t IN their dooryardS IN a domeSt-
Gated state. It surprises the Nenlad |
from whose youth. IN a colder and rough
er climate than that Of Boston, the COB
ble-gobbIe" and the "glco-gIoo.'' were new
er absent. 1t would surprise tia the tur-
key raisers of Lake Memphremagog and
the Province of Quebec who are still
hearishing The simple fact is that the
turkey is indigenous to New England anr
that is the days of its wildness 1t roasted
happily In the woods at q Temperature of
twenty. degreesc and more below zero. If
it lived out of doors Ill winter here in itas
natural condition, wiioy should It be con-
sidered as acticable to maintain il
here with all the EscalItry houcse modern
woodsatpgfadfs tbeeet
The truth is that it is easy enough to
raise turkeys even in New England, If
the birds natural requirements are con-
7sidered. 1t must not be forgotten that
the turkey is a bird of comparatively re-
cent domestication, and is as yet imper-
feetly adapted to civilization. Proba-
bly, the trouble with regard to the New
England climate, as the turkey now gets
it. is that the climate is not bad
enough. That Is to say, the bird is soft
ened and sickened by too much warmth
and shelter. ''Treat EN- rough''-that
Is the word, if YOU want to raise tur-
keys successfully. And yet not too
rough. There Is no use in abusing the
bird. 1t is fact that it does like to
be wet. In its natural environment it
roosts high, far away from the damp
ground. 1t promenades and seeks its
food, by preference, in the dry woods
and fields, And how it does travels The
turkey is an eminently pedestrian bird.
Deprive it Of its chance to walk miles
| Tor fcIAa nd
may die. While, therefore. it is easy
to raise turkeys if you do what they
want you to do, it may not always be
easy to do that.
1t was simple plan which the farm
ers used to follow when the Nomad was
a boy All vert then engaged in turkey
farming, but they carried it o, CO.
| operatively. The turkeys were allowed
to go where they pleased all summer
| and they ran together. passing from
| one farm to another, within practicable
limited area Each farmer in the par
ticular neighborhood simply kept a rec
ord of the number Of chicks that he put
| intN the neighborheod pool in the spring,
| informing the other members. In the
| fall, the turkeys were rounded up,
counted, and assigned to the different
members of the group pro rata, each
farmer receiving in proportion to his
contribution in the spring. OF course
| there had been casualties, from hawks
and other causes. But the casualties
| were always low the turkeys had en-
ttrely supported themselves and taken
/ care of themselves in the interval. Each
| farmer took his own-the Nemad never
heard of any trouble about it-and the
turkeys intended for the market or for
| home consumption were then put in a
| dark place and fattened with corn, a
| sufficient number of hens being saved
Tor the next season, and kept in half
| open sheds with the other poultry. In
the spring it was customary to set the
| turkeys eggs under common hens. as
being better mothers, though the hen
| turkeys often stole their nests and
raised their own broods. The hen-tur-
Keys lay their eggs in wild places, but
| the farm boy knows where to find them.
| Under such system as that, the tur-
key is able to approximate closely the
natural conditions of his existence, and
| he escapes the fussy and confined treat
ment that he abhors.
OF course, as bearing on the question
of the hardness of the turkes in this
climate, there is the possibility that the
domesticated turkey which we new have
in New England is not the descendant of
the wild fowl that once lived here, but
may have descended from those that
were indigenous to a warmer climat
1t has to be considered that when the
Spaniards introduced turkeys int
Europe, they took them from Mexico
and the Spanish turkey spread into
France and~other European countries
and may have been brought thence back t.
America. But therefis excellent evidenc
that the New England eolonists domesti
Gated the local wild turkey Josselin'
New England Rarities'' f1672), a bool
, recently noted in these columns, tells o
, the settlers bringing up great store O
the widl kind of turkeys, which renal,
about the house as tame as ours In Eng
land Undoubtedly they domestivate
the wild birds. But their successors ais
probably introduced the French an
Spanish sort, particularly the big whit
ones which are so much volued in France
These may have an effect in di1ninishin
the turkeys power of resistance to col
and wet weather. But the fact remain
, that our turkeys show a very great powe
to resist intense cold. even if they do nc
i like to be wet Turkey chicks are Gel
tainly sometimes killed by wet storm
I and should be kept out of them
Why do we call these birds "turkeys'
= It is a nooted question. They hay
= nothming to do with Turkey. The con
: monty accepted idea is that the Turks gC
> hold of them from Spain, and that. bein
4 brought from Turkey to England, the
! were called Turkey cocks or Turkey her
! "a name subsequently shortened to jul!
turkey But there is no historical e.
. idenee to support that theory. Some ETY.
? rtologist slrrnises that they are caNe
i from the hen turkeys frequent call. whie
! { represents itself to the ordinary ear {
4 turk, turk, turk But that call SOUND
n more like igloo. gloo.'' in reality, than i
i does like turk" That notion of II
Il sound of the call may really be derive
g from the common name of the bird TT
n French call the turkey ''dindon,' whiC
: is a corruption of poule dInde, or India
e hen-the India in this case heir
p America. The Germans call them ''Tru
hahn from the sound ''trut, trut,' whiC
n they are supposed to make. But "turkey'
: they are to US, from whatever source Il
name arose, and turkeys they will rena
n to the end of the chapter. The only thir
about it Is what We do not want any Ell
g to he chapter We wan the turkey wi
u us right along, and we want it Tais
u right here in New England, as it alwa,
: has been, and still may be successfully,
/ peopae will only famiiarize themselv
: with the birds natural requirements