Farm and Garden

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 349, 15 January 1903, Page 7

Farm and Garden

| OBIGINA r . ABTICLKS BAISINGr UNG TURKEYS. ■ \ (MjWgOUNQ turk(»; a are very tender and wlrtF need *° be carefully and intelli* LA&» .gently trotted, otherwise the mortality among,- them will be great. Sometimes when /opportunity offers a turkey htn secretes her nest and succeeds in bringi ig off a fine flock of little oijeß. But 'he chances are that if left to herself ah I permitted to roam about unfettered she will soon have bat a small number. Especially is this true of tho first hatching. Later in the season, when the weather is warmer, the result will sometimes prove satisfactory, but as a rule it is best to confine the poults for a i week or so at least. In order to do that, make a ti«ht pen of boards about a foot high in a dry location where there is sand or dirt for them to pick at. The old turkey need not b;i confined, for she will not leave her joang. In one corner make some provision for shelter where the mother may retire with her brood. The poults are the silliest creatures imaghi. able; they will seek out the tiniest orevice and escape, wandering away farther and farther from tho nest until chilled and exhausted. The most common cause ef f Allure in growing turkeys is in not properly, feeding during the first week. The very best food fn« the little thine* is some milk cheese. Smld and drain the thick milk as for cottage cheese. This fed quit*. dry agrees with them perfectly. Boiled eggs 'are also good, but expensive if fed for any leigth of i.ime, especially when the old hen persists in gobbling down mere .of the. feed than the little ones. A turkey mother is about the only one among the animal creation which seems to have no respect for the wants of her I young. She will eat everything within reach, even driving them away, or seizing a mouthful and runnine away with it, where she can eat It undisturbed. Well baked corn bread, crumbled and fed dry, is good food for little turkeys. Whatever is given must be quite dry; sloppy food almost invariably causes bowel trouble. Wheat screenings are excellent, and as. soon as the poults are old enough to eat ' all other food maj be discontinued. When the young poults are a week or two old it is quite common for them to 'i begin to droop. Tae. wing feathers are seen to hang down, the, eyes are closed and a general dumpish condition exists. Tiie turkey chirps mournfully ana is evidently sick. If neglected death is sure to follow. An examination will reveal the presence of lice. Look for these on the head, around the vent and at the roots of the wing quills. The last named place is a favorite haunt of the insects. Pare lard may be applied, but never use sulphur, kerosene, or other powerful agents. * Insect p>wder is pafe *nd effectual. Sprinkle eash turkey well with

it every week or so during the summer. To do this call them up to you with some food. They will gather around fearlessly, then stoop without disturbing them and sprinkle the powder thickly over them as they eat. Lice, t loppy food and dampness are the principal causes of death is young turkeys. Turkey hens are not apt to-be so lousy as common hens. When hatched by the latter, constant watchfulness is neoessary to ke?p them free from insects, especially if allowed to remain in the house. Be sure the hen is free from lice before the eggs are hatched, and give her a sprinkling from underneath when taken from the nest. To do this hold her head downward and oast the powder well into the feathers. The large striped louse will be found on the heads and necks of young-fowls almost as soon as they are, hatched, if there are. any upon the hen. For those nothing is better than a good greasing with lard. Tarkeys are perfectly hardy after the fed appears upon their heads, SPEAYING FOE PEACH LEAF CUBL* . The remedy most commonly recommended against this dteaase is bordeaux mixture; but while entirely effectual, it is comparatively quite expensive, and is more difficult to prepare than a simple solution of sulphate of copper, which is said to give fully as good results. If the weakest formula of bordeaux mixture is used it costs about sixpence a,barrel, while a solution of sulphate of copper can be made for less than half that cost of materials and quite as effectual. This matter has been thoroughly tsted by many peach growers in different parte ■■during; the last-five"years, and where the "trees have bean properly sprayed there has b6.en «ntire.-'fre j dbin-from disease. To be entirely effectual,; tie trees must be thoroughly sprayed at least three weeks before the leaf buds open. IE the spraying jis"delayed until the buds are opening,. the benefit from, the. application will be very slight.. It has been observed that, solutions of sulphate of copper in ammonia were fuby equal to bordeaux mixture in controlling the disease, but the extra cost cf toe ammonia seems unnecessary, as fully as good results have been obtained with .the solution of sulphate of; copper, without the addition of , ammonia. • ""■".' -, • -•' •>/} ',-■; .. v"V ~: : ;• n \~. In seasons wren the disease has been bo troublesome as to cause the leaves' to fall from the unsprayed trees, one application of the solution of copper, as weak .as one pound to fifty gallons of water, has been found sufficient to "hold r every leaf upott tee-trees j and thef ffjet on the cop ol froit was equally marked, as all_of the peaches dropped from the pnsprayed trees, while there was no loss where the trees where sprayed. Various strengths of the solution of (iulphate of. copper have been and as gbod results have been obtained when one pound of sulphate ot copper, dissolved in fifty gallons of water, has been used, as when a stronger solution has been employed. •