522 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



The covering of the young bird, when it first leaves the egg, is a 

 sort of down ; this is gradually superseded by feathers. The little 

 creature remains for some hours or longer in the nest under its mother, 

 till it has become accustomed to the external air. The old birds, 

 particularly the female, now manifest the greatest care for their 

 young, in protecting them and providing for their wants. They 

 bring them suitable food, which, when necessary, the mother 

 aoftens first in her crop. Water and marsh birds, soon after birth, 

 leave the nest, and follow their mother into the water. The old birds 

 teach them where to find their food. The mother protects them, 

 takes them in stormy weather under her wings, and exposes herself 

 to much inconvenience to save them from sufFering. 



The time of incubation generally varies with the size of the birds. 

 The linnet requires but fourteen days, the common hen twenty-one, 

 and the swan forty-two days. In warm climates, the time of incuba- 

 tion is said to be somewhat shorter. In Africa, the hen is said to sit 

 but thirteen days. With us, too, in very cold weather, geese and 

 hens are known to sit much longer than in warm. The warmth 

 required for fecundating the eggs is about one hundred and four 

 degrees Fahrenheit. The artificial hatching of eggs is practised in 

 Egypt. Ovens for this purpose are made of brick, and sunk some 

 depth in the earth. They consist of two stories, connected with each 

 other, and divided into several apartments. In a corner of the build- 

 ing is an oven, which is heated daily three to four hours, for ten days 

 in succession, with cow and camel's dung, the usual fuel of the 

 country. The heat is regulated by the feeling of the superintendent. 

 The temperature to be produced is compared with the warmth of 

 baths. When the heat is too great, some passages are opened for the 

 air. The floors of the divisions or apartments are covered with mats, 

 and a layer of straw thereupon, on which the eggs are laid, so, how- 

 ever, as not to touch each other. 



IN-AND-IN BREEDING. This is a term applied by the 

 breeders of animals, to that kind of propagation where both are of 

 the same blood, and the nearest possible. Although some of the 

 most decided improvements have been made by following this system 

 of breeding in-and-in yet it has only been done by the most judi- 

 cious selections, and the exercise of cautious judgment, while in the 

 hands of the ordinary breeder it is sure to run out a stock, degenerating 

 them rapidly, rendering the males impotent in many cases, and the 

 females of little value as nurses or breeders. Experience seems to 

 have proved, that crosses of the same variety of animals, but of 

 another family, have made the best animals. In some cases, where 

 there is a marked superiority in any race of animals, which it is 

 wished to retain, a cross with a race less perfect in some respects, 

 perhaps, but more vigorous, making what Berry calls a strong cross, 

 and then breeding directly back to the favorite blood, has been very 



