1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



79 



is also generally understood; yet I could not be- 

 hold without admiration a thick stratum of" eggs, 

 acted upon by an invisible fluid, bursting into 

 spontaneous motion, rolling against each other, 

 cracking, opening, and disclosing each an organ- 

 ized and animated being. As soon as the chick- 

 ens are out of the shell, they are carefully re- 

 moved into the passage, which is divided into 

 numerous compartments by small ridges of clay; 

 from whence, when a i'ew days old, they are draft- 

 ed off into cooler quarters. The passage, at the 

 time of our visit, was filled with chickens; of 

 which there must have been many thousands, not 

 more than one day old, chirping, moving about, 

 and nestling against each other. Stones placed at 

 intervals, like stepping stones in a brook, enabled 

 us to traverse the several compartments. A num- 

 ber of low subterranean cells, in which an equal 

 temperature is maintained by fires of dung, com- 

 municate a sufficient heat to the hatching rooms 

 by apertures in the floor. Few persons can en- 

 dure, for any length of time, the intense heat of 

 these ovens. We were glad to make our escape; 

 and, on issuing forth into the streets, after making 

 our saucy Arab a handsome present, we found 

 the atmosphere of Cairo, at noon, cool and re- 

 freshing. Respecting this process, many errone- 

 ous ideas are prevalent in Europe. It has been 

 supposed that the secret, as it is termed, is known 

 only to the inhabitants of a few villages in the 

 Delta, who, dispersing themselves over the coun- 

 try in autumn, undertake the management of such 

 eggs as are entrusted to their care; but there is no 

 secret in the matter, and the eggs are thus hatch- 

 ed by the inhabitants in all parts of Egypt. In 

 the oven we examined there were at least twenty 

 cells, each, perhaps, containing five thousand eggs; 

 so that, should they all take, one hundred thou- 

 sand chickens would be produced in twenty-one 

 days; or one million seven hundred thousand per 

 annum, supposing the process to go on without in- 

 termission. Two hundred similar ovens, kept in 

 constant operation, would therefore hatch, in the 

 year, three hundred and forty millions of chick- 

 ens!! so that were this practice introduced into 

 England, it would very speedily reduce the price 

 of poultry. 



From the Vergennes Gazette. 



MANAGEMENT OF (iRISH) POTATOES, TO PRO- 

 DUCE CROPS UNUSUALLY LARGE. 



Mr. BlaisdM — In your paper of the 21st De- 

 cember last, I published the result of some exper- 

 iments made during the season, in growing pota- 

 toes. The quantity produced was such as to cause 

 considerable excitement with agriculturists, and I 

 have been called on by public journals and private 

 letters from Maine to Georgia and from Quebec 

 to Maiden, for information respecting my manner 

 of cultivating them. The respectability of the 

 sources from which these inquiries emanate, and 

 the very polite and flattering terms in which they 

 are expressed, forbid the idea of refusal. I there- 

 fore embrace the first opportunity my health ad- 

 mits of attempting to gratify their wishes, to the 

 extent of my limited powers. 



From the remarks of some of my correspon- 

 dents I am inclined to believe they misconstrued 

 the statement made in the publication above allu- 

 ded to. By reference to the statement it will be | 



found that I did not say, or expect to be understood 

 by field culture, that 1,800 bushels of potatoes 

 would be raised upon an acre. I then said as I 

 now say and believe, that 1000 bushels can be 

 grown upon a single acre at less than half the ex- 

 pense and labor they are produced from four in the 

 common manner of culture. 



Preparation for planting. 



Whatever soil maybe selected for this purpose 

 to insure a large crop, it should be highly manured 

 with compost, decomposed vegetables or barn-yard 

 manure, the latter I consider preferable when it can 

 be obtained with convenience; if raw or coarse be 

 made use of, it should be spread immediately be- 

 fore the first ploughing, on the same day, to pre- 

 vent the evaporation of its best qualities, which 

 will rapidly depart if left exposed to the sun and 

 atmosphere. 



The first should be deep ploughing, and may be 

 done as early as suits the convenience of the cul- 

 tivator. If a stiff marl or clay soil, it would be 

 well to have it ploughed late in the fall previous to 

 planting. Where compost or other substances 

 not liable to fermentation are intended as a ma- 

 nure, it is better the spreading should be omitted 

 until just before the last ploughing, after which it 

 should be thoroughly harrowed fine and smooth 

 as possible, then take a narrow light cultivator, or 

 small plough, calculated for turning a deep nar- 

 row furrow, with this instrument Jay your land in 

 drills, twenty inches asunder and four inches in 

 depth, running north and south if practicable, to 

 admit the rays of the sun to strike the plant equal- 

 ly on both sides; put into the bottom of the furrows 

 or drills about two inches of well rotted barn-yard 

 manure or its equivalent, then drop your potatoes, 

 if of the common size, or what is more important, 

 that they contain about the usual quantity of eyes; 

 if more, they should be cut to prevent too many 

 stalks shooting up together. Put a single potato in 

 the drills or trenches 10 inches apart; the first should 

 remain uncovered until the second one is depo- 

 sited. Place them diagonally in the drills, which 

 will afford more space between the potatoes one 

 way, than if laid at right angles, in the rows. 

 The covering may be performed with a hoe, first 

 hauling in the furrow raised on each side the drill, 

 then carefully take from the centre of the space the 

 soil to finish the covering to the depth of 3| or 4 inch- 

 es. By taking the earth from the centre of the space 

 on either side, to the width of three inches, it will 

 leave a drain of six inches in the centre of the 

 space, and a hill of 14 inches in width, gently de- 

 scending from the drill to the drain; the width and 

 depth of the drill will be sufficient to protect the 

 plant against any injurious effects of a scorching 

 sun or drenching rain. The drains in the centre 

 will at all times be found sufficient to admit the sur- 

 plus water to pass off. 1 am not at all tenacious 

 about the instrument to be made use of for open- 

 ing the trenches to receive the manure and pota- 

 toes; this work should be well done, and may be 

 performed with a common hoe. with much unifor- 

 mity and accuracy, by stretching a line to direct the 

 operation: it is true that the labor cannot be per- 

 formed with the same facility as with a horse, but 

 it can be better done, and I think at less expense, 

 taking into consideration the labor of the man to 

 hold, the boy to ride, and the horse to draw the 

 machine. 



