Have your No. 2 pen in the orchard under an apple tree where it is shady.  Have the turkey hen’s pen close to the chicken hen’s pen, so that when the chicken hen weans her turkeys, they will soon learn to go with the turkey hen.  Give them a dose of black pepper in their feed every cold rain.  And never, no never, get excited and in a hurry while working with turkeys if you don’t want them to get wild and fly all over the plantation.  Three or four weeks before selling, feed all the corn they will eat.

FOOD HINTS.

Restrain your desire to count your young turkeys, and let them alone for twenty-four hours after they get into this world.  Remove them to a clean, airy, roomy coop, and give them boiled eggs, stale wheat bread crumbs just moistened with milk or water, “Dutch” cheese, or a mixture of all these.

For the first two weeks feed entirely with the eggs, bread, curds, cooked rice and cooked oatmeal.  About the third week commence feeding cooked cornmeal; and from that on they may have any cooked food that would be suitable for chickens of the same age.  Season all food slightly with salt and pepper, and twice a week add a level tablespoonful of bone meal to a pint of feed.  Never feed any sour food or sloppy food of any kind, except sour milk, and never feed any uncooked food of any kind until after they have thrown out the red on their heads.  Feed often, five or six times a day, until after they are three months old; then, if insects are numerous, you may gradually reduce the number of meals per day to three or even two.

After they are three months old they may be given wheat, cracked corn, etc., but not whole corn until they are five months old.  Keep the coops dry and clean, and the turkeys out of the dew and rain until they are fully feathered, and have thrown out the red.  Dampness and filth will kill young turkeys as surely as a dose of poison.  For the first few days confine the poults to the limits of the coop and safety run; then, if all appear strong and well, give the mother hen and her brood liberty on pleasant days after the dew is off.

If they get caught out in a shower, get them to shelter as soon as possible; and if they are chilled take them to the house and thoroughly dry and warm them.  See that the little turkeys come home every night.  The turkey mother must, for the first few nights, be hunted up and driven home.  After they are three months old, turkeys are quite hardy, and may be allowed range at all times.  If turkeys that are well cared for, and have always seemed all right, show signs of drooping when about six weeks or two months old, give Douglas mixture in the drink or food, and add a little cooked meat to the food once a day.—­The Practical Farmer.

ABOUT SITTING.