614 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 10 



that 1 have said, and as some proof ol' (he truth 

 of the Ibregoing, I here give an account of ihi' in- 

 come of my own fioclt. JMy average number ol 

 sheep at the shearing season in eiglit yeius, ii-om 

 JS31 to 1838 inclusive, has been Iwo huiwired aild 

 ibrly-one. I have received in cash lor sheep and 

 wool sold from my flock during tliat time, lijur 

 thousand, five hundred eighiy-lbur dollars and 

 seven cents; (jivinir a yearly income of hve hun- 

 dred seveniy-ibree dollars and one cent, or at the 

 rale oi two dollars thirty seven cents and a IracUon 

 a head, a year. 



When it is considered that six small fine sheep 

 may be kept on the same food that would be' re- 

 quired to keep five large coarse ones, vviiich 1 have 

 no doubt is short of a reasonable estimate, a prefer- 

 ence for the fine flocks will be more app-<''ent. 



1 shall be likely to retain my partiality lor fine 

 sheep till some one gives an account of a more 

 profiiable fiock of coarse ones of an equal number. 

 Stepiikx Sibley. 



ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. THK ECCALE- 

 OBION. 



A liiffhly curious and interesting exhibition, 

 especially to the physiologist, is now open at Pall 

 Mali, opposite the Opera Colonade, called the 

 Eccaleobion, a contrivance liir hatching eggs by 

 artificial heat. Itditfersli'om the Egyptian method 

 of artificial incubation by means of mammals, or 

 ovens heated immediately by fire which was iried 

 in Paris by De Reaumur; and in London by Mr. 

 Mowbray; and also from the more recent attempt 

 at the Egyptian Hall by means of steaiu. In 

 what way the heat of the Eccaleobion is produced, 

 we are not informed; probably it is by hot water: 

 certainly the operation is sim|)le and ell'ecti"e, as 

 abundant living proots daily testily. 



In an ohloui!; wooden ca^e, about nine feet in 

 length, and three in width and depth, entirely isola- 

 ted, and divided into eight compartments, each 

 closed by a glazed door darkened, the eggs are 

 placed on cloth, wilhoutany covering; here they re- 

 main lor twenty-one days, the period of incubation; 

 at the expiration of which time, the chick liberates 

 itself, and the next day is runninLT about and peck- 

 mg its Ibod as lively as if it had the hen's wings to 

 shelter it. The Eccaleobion is capable of CDntaiu- 

 ing upwards ol'ivvo thousand egijs, atui of hatching 

 abouta hundred daily; and thoui^hsome lailnresoc,- 

 cur from natural causes, the machine, unlike the 

 parent bird, never addles Ihe egir. 



It is always contrived that one compartment 

 shall exhibit the last stage of incubation; and this 

 being open, the visiter may not onlv hear the fiinl 

 chirp of the imprisoned chick, but watch its attacks 

 on its oval (^ell till having broken the shell all round, 

 it bursts the integuiuents antl liberates itself. At 

 first emerginfi; into this new stale of existence, the 

 light and the human eyes gazing on the little chick, 

 together with its extreme weakness, make it ap- 

 pear as if it would fiiin retire into its confinement 

 again; it stanjgers, closes its eyes, and fills down 

 in an apparent exhausted state, hut soon revives, 

 though but for a short time; as soon as it can take 

 food, however, it gains strength rapidly. In the 

 last staye of incubation, the etrg may be held, in 

 the iiand, or placed in a lady's bosom; where, \f] 



I any fair visiter be eo minded, the chick may eome 



to light. 



In the case fitted with lenses, placed before eggs 

 j in uifierent stages of incubation, lighted by gas, 



the appearances through !he shelf may be "ob- 

 I served; and on a table are place ihe contents of 

 I several eggs at successive periods of incubation, 

 [showing the formation of the embryo, from ihe 

 I fiisr day (as seen under the microscope) to the 

 j complete bird, roiled up in its oval ibrm; to trace 

 j ihe pradual developomenl of the eyes, the bill and 



the cranium, the heart and circulatmfr syf:tem,the 

 I (iict, leatheis, &c. is exceedinijly inicrt-siirig. 

 ,, The fledgelings are placed ii\pariitions and sup- 



iied with luud, and the room rings with iheirchir- 



pilliZ'. 



The Eccaleobion process is of course applica- 

 ble to egijs of every species of bird, but none oth- 

 ers than those of the common gallinaceous fowl 

 have been reared: parties bringing the eggs of 

 other birds, however, can have them haiched by 

 the machine, as the same temperature (about 9S 

 degress of Fahrenheit,) is applicable to all, Ironi 

 the wren to the eagle. The introduction of the 

 Eccaleobion into general use, will sup|)ly abun- 

 dance of Ibwls for the table, at a very cheap rale, 

 and with little trouble: the machinery of the Ecca- 

 leobion is also applicable to a variety of scientific 

 purposes, where an even and prevading tempera- 

 ture is required; as it may be regulated at pleasure 

 up to 300 degrees of Fahrenheit. We gather 

 this information li'om a very intelligent pamphlet, 

 bearini; the title of the exhibition, by William 

 Bucknell — the inventor we suppose — that is sold 

 in the room. — £ns. Paper. 



THE BROAVSING OF SHEEP, nURING THE CON- 

 TINUANCE OF SNOW. 



[The following article may not aid the practice 

 of many of the readers of the Farmers' Register. 

 Nevertheless, it is interesting even as a practice 

 suited to peculiar circumstances, and also as show- 

 ing the nutriment fijrnished by the branches of 

 trees alone, for the support of sheep. — Ed. F. R.] 



g''«- From the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 



Two offhe most successful wool growers with- 

 in the knowledge of the writer are Stephen Sibley 

 and .Joseph JBarnard, Esquires, livin<r in the im- 

 modiate iieiijliborhood of each other in the adjoin- 

 ing town of Hopkinton. These gentlemen, trom 

 the choice flocks which they possessed, have been 

 able to sell their wool at their own doors at high 

 prices when the ordinary wool could hardly be 

 disposed of at any price. Mr. Sibley has a moun- 

 tain pas'ure exteniiing over the back of old Kear- 

 sarge whi.ch he has recently cleared: from ten acres 

 of it the last season he had a fine crop of rye, 

 which he carted filteen miles in the slrav/ to his 

 owti Imiiiesiead. 



Below is presented a letter from Mr. Sibley, 

 which we find in a Olaine agricultural paper pub- 

 lished three years ajjo, and in which he describes 

 at length his method of feeding sheep on browse in 

 the winter. We have no recollection of before 

 having seen this letter, although we have had a 

 similar description fiom the mouth of Mr. Sibley. 



