MODEL FARM. 273 



enjoy the grass which they played amongst, yet 

 they were unable to wander away, and so incur the 

 risk of being lost or stolen. At the back of these 

 frames was a charcoal stove, constructed on the 

 same principles as that of the incubator, and sur- 

 rounded, like it, by a reservoir of hot water. In 

 connexion with the latter are a number of hot- 

 water pipes, about an inch and a quarter in 

 diameter, and about the same distance apart, which 

 run horizontally along the back of the frame, 

 resting on supports about five inches from the 

 floor. Beneath these pipes, which represent the 

 hen's breast and wings, is a sliding board, which is 

 always at such a height as to allow the backs of the 

 chickens to touch the pipes, and which is gradually 

 lowered as they increase in size. Above these 

 pipes a horizontal board projects, to the front of 

 which a curtain is attached ; by this means the 

 chickens are protected in front from the cold, and 

 are also prevented from leaping upon the warm 

 pipes, which they are as fond of doing, if not pre- 

 vented, as they are of clambering upon the back of 

 their natural parent, the hen. The young chickens 



: laving been once placed beneath this artificial 

 nother, become quite attached to it, and will only 



