of close breeding and poor selection of breeding stock, than from any natural weakness in the fowls as a breed. White Holland turkeys are perhaps the best layers among turkeys. It is sometimes reckoned as a fault that few hens want to hatch early in the season, and a large number of eggs and no broody hens is not an uncommon occurrence. This is no doubt the result of selection, as I have found the progeny of a remarkably good or poor layer was of much the same nature as regards prolificness. And again I have seen hens of this breed hatch twice in one season; others become broody before laying a dozen eggs, and three times ere they had laid the second dozen; while others were hard to "break up" when once broody. A friend kept four hens a few years since which laid 264 eggs during the season, one hen hatching and rearing a brood in July.

Are they beautiful? That is a matter of taste only. I may think so, or may class some other breed above them for beauty, while you will be of the opposite opinion.

Therefore I say nothing on this point. I believe them to be a good turkey and worthy of the best efforts of breeders and farmers in general, and think no one need be seriously disappointed in them if he goes ahead properly and knows what he is doing. Truthful pictures have been practically unknown heretofore, but in the accompanying engraving from nature of prize-winning White Hollands, our artist reproduces on printed page a spirited but lifelike view of these beautiful birds. "The White Hollard turkeys are bred in large numbers and when prepared for the table are considered the finest flavored turkey we have, but are less hardy than other breeds."

THE BUFF TURKEY.

H. S. BABCOCK.

Among the rarer varieties of the turkey is the Buff. Just why this color should be rare is not plain to understand, for few colors are more pleasing to the eye. If it

lacks the brilliant reflections of the Bronze or the iridescence of the Black, it has a beauty all its own, which quite compensates for this lack. Delicate colors are not necessarily indications of delicate constitutions. We have, it is true, long been influenced by the impression that

white fowls are less hardy than colored ones, but this impression would not apply to buff. The buff-colored turkey is no more delicate than its darker cousins.

How it perhaps originated can be guessed, though we have no records to tell us the matings or the maker of the

matings. But, as black-red domestic fowls crossed upon white often produce an approximation to buff, which, by selection, can be perfected, we believe that a cross of the Bronze and the White turkey, with subsequent selection, would produce the Buff variety. In fact, many Buff turkeys show quite plainly the marks of such an ancestry. A variety of the Buff turkey used to be bred in Pennsylvania, under the name of Tuscawara Reds. These birds had a deeper plumage than the ordinary Buff and resembled it very much as a Rhode Island Red resembles a Buff Plymouth Rock. We have not heard much about the Tuscawara Reds lately, and presume, therefore, that they did not "catch on" to the public fancy.

The standard weights of Buff turkeys are somewhat less than for the Bronze and Narragansett. A comparison of these, with the White, will show fairly well how these birds average in weight relation to each other.

The Black and Slate varieties are of the same weight as the Buff. The somewhat less weight of the Buff turkey when compared with the Bronze or the Narragansett, perhaps will account, in part at least, for its less popularity, for big birds catch the eye, and people forget that sometimes the smaller birds are quite as profitable to rear, and actually sell better than the big ones. Not long ago the writer noticed that the market quotations for turkeys dressing from eight to ten pounds were higher than for those of greater weight. The manager of the Anowon Farm recently told the writer that their turkeys-all Whites--had sold well, the price being thirty-five cents per pound.

However originated, and whether popular or not, the Buff turkey is one of the most beautiful varieties we have.

The rich red of its head and exposed neck, its white. or flesh colored, shanks, and its pure buff plumage, fading into light cream on the wings, harmonize perfectly and make its color scheme truly artistic. But, and here, we opine, is the real difficulty, buff is a difficult color to breed perfectly, and among Buff turkeys, as well as among Buff fowls, there will be too much white or too much black in the plumage. The result will be that out of many birds but a few will possess the desired color characteristics. But if one rears the Bronze, nearly every specimen will be colored aright and the flock will possess the desired uniform appearance.

THE SLATE TURKEY.

These differ from the Buff mainly in the color of the plumage. They are good market birds, and when in prime condition make a handsome appearance in the show pen. The variety is also called Blue, Maltese or Lavender.

THE NARRAGANSETT TURKEY.

H. S. BABCOCK.

The name of this variety is derived from the beautiful bay that extends from Newport to Providence, in the state of Rhode Island. It is the variety which, in all probability, first gave to Rhode Island turkeys their world-wide reputation. That reputation has remained, though the variety has, to a considerable extent, disappeared from the borders of the bay. The greater size of the Bronze turkey has been a potent cause in the gradual disappearance of other varieties. Yet the Narragansett is by no means a small variety,—it is nearly as large as the Bronze. The standard weights are: For cock thirty-two pounds, for cockerel and hen twenty-two pounds each, and for pullet fourteen pounds, and are the heaviest weights given to any variety except the Bronze. These weights are not