THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



51 



From the days of Ari.stnththiwn to the pres- 

 ent i)erioil, liistoiy has In^eu dotted in every 

 century with the Importance of this industry 

 and its pecuniary results. Tlie Itouian Em- 

 peror Constant ine, notwitlistandinji the war- 

 hlce period in whicli lie hved, reeoj;nized t]u' 

 claims of t;alliiioeuIture, Ijy writini; a memoir 

 on the snliject, and lonj; liefore his tiini' the 

 Grecian i)hilosopher had suggested improve- 

 ments on the K},'yptian system. The ICn^dish, 

 French, Germans, Italians and I'ortufjuese, 

 had also experimented with more or less suc- 

 cess on the sul)jeet from an early |>eriod. 



It is true there has not been that success, as 

 a general thing, in the temperate or cooler 

 climates, whicli dislinguishetl the Egyptians, 

 but the chief obstac'les have, on(' by one, been 

 overcome, and the GnUiiuH-ulturc instilidc at 

 Ilicksville, Queens county. New York, .seems 

 to have solved the knotty problem. This busi- 

 ness, like all other kinds of business, must be 

 practically underetood before it would be wise 

 to embark in it, but when understood, no 

 doubt it would afford more pleasure and profit 

 than any other rural occupation in the coun- 

 try. Prof. A. Corbett, the manager of the 

 institute above named, is contident that Jire 

 hundred dollars a pear can be cleared with 

 twelve hens. We need more business occupa- 

 tions, we need chea|ier poultry and eggs, and 

 the.se needs alone will command cxmsumption 

 and profit to those who embark in the enter- 

 prise with their eyes open. 



DISTINGUISHING SEX IN EGGS. 



The popular notion that a pointed egg will 

 produce a male, and a strictly oval or blunt- 

 ended egg a female chicken, was long since 

 demonstrated to be simply egg-otistical non- 

 sense coming from that class of folks who take 

 popular tradition for truth, without due in- 

 vestigation. Most j)ecri)le admit the desiiabil- 

 ity of knowing whether a certain lot of eggs 

 will hatch out cockerels or pullets, but very 

 few will admit the possibility of such knowl- 

 edge, classing it among " those things which 

 no fellow can find out." But, about a year 

 ago our attention was arrested by the results 

 of experiments published in the West Chester 

 pai)ers,by Wm. J. Pyle, of West Goshen, Chester 

 county, which struck us as very remarkable, 

 and worthy of further experiments. About 



It will be 

 seen that the 

 air-chamber 

 (Fig. a) is di- 

 rectly at the 

 apex or Itlunt 

 end of the 

 egs; tliis will 

 hatch a lively 

 cockerel, of 

 quicl< {growth 

 and light 

 plumage. 



the same time, (March 12, 1R74) this new test 

 was illustrated in Tfie Fam-ierx'' Journal and 

 FouUry Exchange, of Philadelphia, prefaced 

 with the remark, by the editor, that "during 

 the piist yeiir we have had brought to our no- 

 tice no less than three experiments, which seem 

 to be entirely succe.ssful in selecting eggs that 

 would produce male or female as desired ; and, 

 as the season of liatching is ui)on us, and the 

 experiment can be tried without labor or ex- 

 pense, we have decided to give the information 

 to our readers, and have had the following 

 diagrams made to illustrate the sidiject more 

 plainly,"fortheloan of which illustra'tionsTiiE 

 Fakmer acknowledges itself endebted to Mr. 

 Joseph il. Wade, editor of the excellent Poul- 

 try Journal above named. 



In his "Code on Poultry Keejiing," Mr. 

 Edwards, of England, quotes Columulia, Miis- 



cal, Stephanus, Ueaumer, and others, as au- 

 thority for the instruction to "examine the 

 liosition of the air cavities in the eggs, and 

 only letain thosethat have tlKMU placed directly 

 at the apex of the liluiit or large end, avoiding 

 all that have them ])laced at all to the side. 

 In this way eight eggs out of ten will jirodiice 

 cockerels." A correspondent of the London 

 Journal of UorlU-ulturf furnished the following 

 as the result of his experience: 



" Lust winter an old country |K)nllry-kcc|ier told 

 me he could dlstinguisli the sex In ei;fjs; I hiiiLrhiil at 

 him, anil was none the Iras sceptical when he told me 

 the following secret: ' E^KS with the air-bladder on 



This (Fi?. 

 h) is the kind 

 rejected by 

 all of the ex- 

 peri mentcrs 

 who have so 

 far reported, 

 as it "will be 

 good for no- 

 thing but the 

 pot." 



the centre of the crown of the egg will produce cock- 

 erels; those with the bladder on one side will jjroduee 

 Jjullets.' The old man was so certain of the truth of 

 this dogma, and his poultry-yard so far confirmed it, 

 that I determined to make experiments upon it this 

 year. I have done so, carel'ully registering every egg 

 ' bladder vertical ' or ' bladder on one side,' rejecting 

 every one in which It was not decidedly one or the 

 other, as in some it is only very slightly out of the 

 centre. The following is the result : Fifty-eight 

 chickens were hatched, three are dead, eleven are yet 

 too joung to decide upon their sex ; of the remaining 

 forty-four every one has turned out exactly true to 

 the old man's theory. This, of course, may be an 

 accidental coincidence, but I shall certainly try the 

 experiments again. I am now trying the same theory 

 upon ducks' eggs." 



Mr. Pile has used his plan for some time, 

 and he is confident that if it is followed out to 

 the letter it will succeed every time. Last 



Mr. Pyle 

 6aysthis(Fig 

 e) will hatch 

 a pullet of 

 quick and 

 healthy 

 growth, and 

 will become 

 a hen of good 

 laying quali- 

 ties. 



summer, he hatched one hundred and twenty- 

 two chickens from eggs selected on this prin- 

 ciple, and one hundred and nineteen were 

 pullets. lie siiys : 



"I always- select eggs of medium size, believing 

 them to be the best for this puriKJsc. I then get a 

 large lamp, and take an egg in my right hand, be- 

 tween the thumb and two foretingers, big end upper- 

 most, and hold it as near to the light as possible, then 

 hold the little finger of the left hand across the middle 

 of the egg. This will throw the light on the egg ; 

 then turn it around slowly, and you will iK-rceive a 

 dark spot, the size of a three-cent piece, directly in 

 the centre of the large end, or on one side, as in dia- 

 grams a, ft, c, and d. 



"As I raise poultry for eggs and for market, I, of 

 course, set only eggs like letter c, with a few of letter 

 (I to replace the cocks of last year. 



" It would he well for an amateur to break a few 

 eggs, empty out the contents, and examine the large 

 end, where the air chamber in the diB'ercnt positions 



as in diagram will be distinctly seen. Where the air 

 chamber is wanting the egg is unfertile and will not 

 hatch." 



In publishing Mr. Pyle's experience with 

 this test, the editor of the VilhKjf Record Silid : 



"Our expi-riiiiic this spring (1'<T4) proves this 

 little |K)int. Wi- .set a little bantam hen on seven 

 white leghorn eggs, In live of which we could iliseover 

 no air ehamber, an<l after she had been sitting ten 

 days we limnd chickens only ia the two which had 

 air chambers." 



This (Fig. 

 d) will also 

 hatcli a pul- 

 let, but of 

 slow growth, 

 a poor layer, 

 inclined to be 

 mascul ine, 

 and will 

 sometimes 

 crow. 



The other day we wrote to Mr. Pyle, stating 

 that we intended to publish the result of his 

 tests in The F.vumeu, and that we were 

 desirous of knowing whetliei;^hc had any new 

 facts likely to modify his former statements. 

 It will be seen by the following reply, that he 

 has no doubt of the reliability of the test, and 

 simply repeats his instructions for the benefit. 

 of the amateur : 



Mr. Ceist : I have no cuts of the eggs, but I send 

 you to-day a pa|KT containing the diagrams ; jou can 

 cut them yourself. If you should publish them, 

 please say that when the air-bladder is not to ho seen 

 at all, the egg is not fertile. It may \>e plainly seen 

 by holding close to a strong light, large end upper- 

 most — between the thumb and first two lingers 

 of right hand, with left hand placed over the top, and 

 the the little linger one-third down the egg. Turn 

 it around quictlv. You have all the instruction that 

 is needed.— Wm. S. Pvle, April 6, 1875. 



The Cost of Our Recent War. 



Mr. David A. Wells has furnished the Cob- 

 den Club of England with an essay upon the 

 expenses, income and taxes of the UnitM 

 .States. We copy the following statement of 

 the cost of the Rebellion: 



The whole cost of the war to the Northern 

 and Soutbeni Stiites from IHOl to ISdO is esti- 

 mated as follows: IJves, l,(tOO,OtM); property, 

 by destruction, waste, etc., $it,t)(K),O()0,00O. 

 The gross exi>enditures of the United States 

 from .lune, 18(U, to July, lH(>(i,S;.-,,792,2o",00<). 

 Of this the actual war expenses were al)out 

 $5,34-i,-2:^7,CKX). 



The expenses of States, counties, cities and 

 towns in the Northern States, not represented 

 by funded debts, have been estimated at 

 S.')00,(IOO,0(X). The increase of State debts on 

 the war account was S123,(HXJ,000. The in- 

 crease of city, town and county debts is esti- 

 mated at 8200,000, (XX). Total war expenses 

 of the loyal States and the National Govern- 

 ment^ Sfi, 105,2:57,000. 



The estimated direct expenditures of the 

 Confederate States on account of the war were 

 S2,0OO,(RKI,OOO. 



Aggregate estimated expenses of the war to 

 the country. North and South, «?H, 105,237,000. 



The total receipts from all sources during 

 the second year of the war were less than 

 842,0(M),(K)o. The expenditures were §00,- 

 (MXJ.OOO per month— at the rate of 8700,000,)KX) 

 a year. 



^ 



Our P.\nis Letter, which appears in this 

 issue of The Faumek, is an ably written and 

 interesting resume of agricultural i)rogress on 

 the continent. These letters will hereafter Iw 

 an imiwrUmt feature of this journal. 



OuK Fence Cokneks constitute an original 

 and "taking" feature of The Farmer. They 

 are snug corners to (ind an4 enjoy a laiigh in', 



