April 17, 1866. ] 



JOXIBNAIi OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



299 



cold, you will eat with gusto either for breakfast, luncheon, 

 dinner, or supper, and you will find it not only tender, but juicy, 

 and delicately flavoured, and highly nutritious. The water that 



you put in will have turned into jelly, and the whole will cut 

 like a red-veined marble. There is no way in the world you 

 can work up an old fowl so economically or so splendidly. 



BRINDLEY'S INCUBATOR. 



This incubator is an oblong wooden case resting on four feet ; 

 the apparatus for thirty-six eggs being 2 feet long, 1 foot wide, 

 and 7 inches deep. At the left-hand side, enclosed in wood, is 

 a metal boUer, attached to which is metal tubing, which goes 

 round inside the incubator, between, but not touching, glass. 

 This space between the two glasses forms a chamber for the 

 hot air. In a drawer at the bottom of the incubator the eggs 

 are placed on a tray fitted with spiral springs covered with 

 flannel, one for each egg, and by means of thumb-screws they 

 are pressed so as to lightly touch the lower glass, which glass 

 is to be kept at the heat 

 of a hen's body. The heat 

 is greatest at the top of the 

 eggs. The necessary mois- 

 ture for the eggs is draivn 

 by the heat above, from 

 water placed in the bottom 

 of the drawer, which is 

 metal. The thermometer 

 is placed between the two 

 glasses,, and may be seen, 

 as also may the eggs, with- 

 out opening the drawer. 

 The lamp is neatly en- 

 closed directly under the 

 boUer, and is easily re- 

 moved for trimming, which 

 is required twice a-day, and if the best colza oil is used there 

 is little or no smeU from it. There is not the slightest danger 

 of any part of the woodwork taking fire. 



The incubator has been constructed from taking the natural 

 means as closely as possible for a guide ; there is no loss of 

 room, as little loss of heat as possible, and, if attended to, it 

 will not faU to give satisfaction. 



Instructions for Working. — FiU the boiler with boUing water 

 half an inch from the top, and supply the waste every morn- 

 ing, turn on the brass tap for a moment every morning to let 

 out the air. Trim the lamps and replenish the oil morning 

 and night, and look at them two or three times in the day to 

 see that they are burning right ; if too high, and the flame 

 touches the bottom of the boiler, soot will be formed, which 

 wastes much heat and oil. Colza oil should be used, and the 

 end of the wick be well soaked in it before lighting ; the wick 

 will biun better if soaked in vinegar and dried before using it. 



When putting in the lamp-case, or removing it from under the 

 boiler, do so quickly, otherwise the woodwork may scorch. 



The loose flannel cover is for the glass outside, it keeps in 

 much heat. Cover the bottom of the drawer with cold water, 

 say half an inch deep, place the eggs, one on each spring, on 

 the tray over this water, and, when the drawer is shut, screw 

 it up so that the top of the eggs shall Ughtly touch the lower 

 glass. The eggs do not require sprinkling, the necessary 

 moisture for them is drawn by the heat above from the water 

 below ; as this water wastes it should be replenished. Keep 



the thermometer up to 

 110'; uo harm will be 

 done should it rise or fall 

 a few degrees from this, 

 but a temperature of from 

 10.5° to 110" should be 

 maintained as far as pos- 

 sible. If too high, the 

 ventilator opened and 

 the loose flannel cover 

 removed will soon lower 

 it. 



The eggs should not be 

 put into the incubator 

 unto it has been work- 

 ing several hours, has ac- 

 quired the proper heat, and 

 is in working order. Turn them once a-day. In four or five 

 days it may be ascertained whether or not the eggs are birded 

 by their being held before a candle in the dark ; if aUve, the 

 veins may be seen moving. If it appears certain that they are 

 not birded they should be replaced by others. Eggs may be 

 added any time. The date of putting in should be pencilled 

 on each egg. When the chicks burst the eggs the thumb-screws 

 must be lowered to give them plenty of room, and they should 

 be kept in the incubator a few hours ; they require uothiug 

 but the requisite warmth for the first twenty-four hoiu'S after 

 hatching. 



Should the temperature of the incubator by accident fall 

 very low or rise too high, it may not follow that the vitality of 

 the eggs is thereby destroyed ; get the heat right again as 

 quickly as possible, and keep the incubator working on. The 

 top may be screwed off when it is required to clean between 

 the glasses. 



BEES' RECOLLECTION. 



The following particulars show the recollection which bees 

 retain of locality after nearly six weeks' absence. On May 

 12th, 186.3, I had two swarms within an hour of one another, 

 both of which settled on a Deodar tree on my lawn, a favourite 

 place, by-the-by, for settling, for two out of three of my swarms. 

 It is my almost invariable rule never to remove swarms to 

 their destined locality imtil the evening of the day of swarm- 

 ing. This was done, but the next day began with a drenching 

 rain with high and cold winds, such as was prevalent during 

 that unfortunate summer. Some of the bees coming out and, 

 of course, going to the Deodar, were at once chilled with the 

 cold, the hives not being there. This was too much for my 

 philosophy, and I accordingly replaced the swarms where they 

 had pitched. The next day was as bad, and the next not much 

 better, the bees going out a little during gleams of sunshine 

 in the afternoon, when I was absent in the city. The result 

 was, that I was afterwards afraid to remove them to their in- 

 tended stands, and resolved when the weather settled to send 

 them to a friend's house a mUe and a half away, to cause them 

 during a five or six weeks' absence to forget their domicile, and 

 then place them where I originaUy intended, without causing 

 that puzzling and often loss of bees, which result from re- 

 movals to short distances. This was done, and though this is 

 not the point of my letter, I may add that the next day, not- 

 withstanding they were a, mile and a half removed, 1 saw tea 



or twelve bees hovering roimd and sticking to the old places 

 showing that at this distance in fine weather bees will find 

 their way back. 



In about six weeks' time I had them baok again, and then, 

 feeling sure that they must have forgotten where the swarms 

 had pitched, I placed them on the site originally intended. To 

 my utter astonishment, the next morning I saw fifteen or 

 twenty bees again flying round the old places on the Deodar 

 where the swarms had originally settled, this being about 

 50 feet from where the hives were now located. These bees 

 continued at this off and on all day, and, I believe, never went 

 again to their proper place. 



All swarming was long since over with me, so it could not 

 have been from any other hives, and all my bees were at that 

 time busily engaged with the Lime blossoms, so abimdant in 

 Blackheath Park and the vicinity. 



Having been a bee-keeper for more than a quarter of a 

 century, I like to remember these and other traits of my 

 special favourites, and could give you, also, other proofs of 

 their peculiarities from my own personal experience which 

 might interest you. I am rather an enthusiast upon the sub- 

 ject, but can bear a joke consequent thereon, notwithstanding 

 that I am — A Blackheath'an. 



[We shall be glad to hear again from you.] 



