Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-09-01
Artificial Incubation.

Probably no single feature in poultry hus-
bandry has in this country and Europe at
tracted so much attention, given occasion
for so much thought and experiment, aud
wasted so much money as the artificial incu.
baton and rearing Of chickens. 1t is so
plainly evident that the man who can prac-
tice this art with success, can count surely
on fortune, that it is no wonder that many
efforts have been made. IF it were possible
to bring out and rear thousands Of chickens,
where we are now dependent on mother hens
for dozens, an immense aud very lucrative
business would be the result But notwith-
standing the great amounts Of money and
the vast outlay OF time, labor and care, have
been expended, We arc no nearer the solu-
ton of the problem than were the earliest
experimenters. We all know that 10 Egypt
the artificial rearing of stems of thousands
of chickens yearly been practised, and if it
can be done in Egypt, why may we not do
it,"
"Simply, my dear young friend, because
we are not in Egypt"
We live in q part Of the planet where
the thermometer indulges in all sorts of
freaks where the mercury gives jump
from the bulb almost to the top Of the gauge
in six hours, aud it sinks with equal facility.
In Egypt, on the contrary, the average tenn
peraturo at the season when the Matching
ovens are in operation is fixed it does not
vary half dozen degrees in the twenty
four hours, week in aud out.
OF course, If We might take our chickens
as soon as they are out of the she'll and put
them on the ground, assured that they could
run about with perfect impunity, 80 far as
climate and thermometrical changes go, we
might count cur thousands as well as the
Egyptians; but we cannot do it.
We believe that artificial incubation is
entirely practicable. In fact we know it is
of our own personal experience. A number
Of years since we paid great attention to this
subject, and after many experiments we
finally invented an incubator which would
hatch ecery tertaized egg We could con-
struct and operate one now, such as we used
to hatch three hundred chickens at time in
but we could not raise them arti6cially, and
hence the invention is of no value. We
never exhibited our machine, but after
good knowledge of all that have ever been
manufactured and sold in this country We
are of the opinion ours was worth all the
others put together.
We are perfectly familiar with all the
plans that have been put forth for artificial
mothers, and have used quite variety in
our own experiments, but they will not rear
chickens in our climate in any great num-
bers. To be sure we every day see small
hocks or breeds which, having lost their hen
through some accident or by early weaving,
are reared by hand this is practicable in a
small way, but when you try to extend your
operations you fail.
Possibly in a warm and dry summer we
might be able to raise a fair percentage, but
it would be only in the hot months, then
unfortunately, chickens don't pay.
For market purposes any chickens hatched
after the 10th of April are Of no great
profit it Is therefore only in the very carly
spring that an incubator is useful, and at
that season the chickens could not be reared
artifcialy in any considerable numbers.
Hence we may deducc that although we
may succeed in beating the mother hen in
Matching eggs, which we know we can do, we
cannot dispense with her maternal cares and
nestlings of the chickens, and in our climate
we may as we'll waste no more time and
effort in the undertaking. g.-MaSSachuSettS
| PloughmGR