The Bronze Turkey.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 106, 5 November 1908, Page 3

The Bronze Turkey.

Farmers' Review, U.S.A. The bronze turkey is the most important bird of its kind in the world. This vareity was produced by crossing the black turkey on the wild turkey. By doing this the results of both wildnerfs and domestication were blended. All of our turkeys came from the wild turkeys originally, and it may be asked why it is that crossing a descendant of the wild turkey with the wild turkey that had never been domesticated sholud produce such a remarkable bird. The answer will include reference to the obscure laws of modification of species by food and circudmstnaces. The wild turkeys that were domesticated were no longer required to endure all kinds of hardships in hunting for food, but were given food in abundance. In the course of time this developed the digestive systems of the birds so that those systems could utilise rapi<Jly a very large amount of food. On the other hand the wild turkeys that had not been supplied by man with food had to hunt their own food and still continue to develop muscles, not only of legs but of the heart, and muscles operating the digestive organs. When the two strains were made to meet again in the crossing, the progeny got the benefit of the developed digestive systems and the muscular efficiency of the wild birds. This resulted in a remarkable increase in size. Some of the strains of the bronze turkeys reach a weight of more than forty pounds, and even birds of sixty puonds weight have been reported. The turkey hens even weigh as high as thirty pounds.