VOU. XVI. NO. 9, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAf^. 



69 



CFrotii llie Albiiiiy Cultivator.) 

 THE CHICKEN. 



JVorwnlk, June 21st, 1837. 

 J. Bdel — Dear Sir : Perniit ino to mtike an in- 

 quiry or two upon another topic. Is tlie real 

 manner in wliioli the chicl< escapes from the shell, 

 in the proces.s of hatching, known to you and the 

 readers of the Cultivator? or is it the generally 

 received opinion, tliat it is liberated by the efforts 

 of the mother.' If the affirmative of the latter 

 question is true, there is a prevalent mistake upon 

 the subject ; and although it may seem but a small 

 matter, the real process is exceedingly interesting, 

 and a knowledge of it will be of some practical 

 utility. 



Every one accustomed to the jnanagement of 

 poultry, has probably noticed that Cowls will .sit 

 six or eight weeks upon addled eggs, without at- 

 tempting to bi'eakthem — that successive nests full 

 of eggs may be given to the same fowl, and that, 

 if the young arc taken away, she will continue to 

 sit — that a laying fowl may leave her eggs in the 

 nest of a sitting one, and if the yotiiig are taken 

 away as fast as hatched, she will sit on till she 

 has finished — and that a hen, sitting on the eggs 

 of a turkey or goose, will not attempt to break 

 them at the end of three weeks. Hut these facts 

 are not consistent with the idea, that the termina- 

 tion of the period of incubation, the mother sets 

 to work and liberates her own children. The 

 truth is, that the escape of the chick is by a nat- 

 ural, uniform and singular method, and by iisown 

 efforts; and that, any interference by the tnother, 

 or any thing else, will stop the process, and des- 

 troy its life. 



The chick lies in the shell with its feet and tail 

 towards the small end ; its neck towards the large 

 end, with its head bent down under the neck, and 

 lodged on one side, under the wing of that side, 

 and with the bill projecting up between the wing 

 and side, parallel with the top of the back. When 

 it has attained a sufficient growth to feel the con- 

 finement of the shell, it struggles and forces its 

 bill throiigh it. Btit the singularity of the ar- 

 rangement is, that, from the peculiar situation of 

 the head on the side, thu chick is turned, by each 

 successive struggle, and the resistance of the shell, 

 about one-eighth of an inch round, and every ef- 

 fort breaks a new portion, or rather continues the 

 breakage until, when about tliree-fotn-tlis or more 

 of the shell is broken, in a direct line round, the 

 remaining portion gives way during the next 

 struggle, and it kicks itself out into the nest — 

 leaving the shell thus divided, adhering by the 

 small portion of the lining membrane, which the 

 bill of the chick has not brokei?. Any person 

 who will take the trouble to examine a nest of 

 shells, after the hen has left it with her young, 

 will find them thus divided, and thus adhering, 

 appearing as if severed nearly in two^ and then 

 broken. There is another singular circumstance 

 connected with this evolution. A portion of the 

 blood of the chick circulates through an opening 

 in its belly, into the lining membrane of the shell, 

 to be exposed to the vivifying influence of the air. 

 If this membrane is torn before the circulation in 

 it is stopped by the vessels being twisted by the 

 evolution in the turning of the chick, it will bleed 

 freely, and the chick will die. And if the shell, 

 when partially broken round, is mashed, so as to 

 interfere with the turning process, the chick will 

 die unliatched. Not unfrequently it happens 



that the chick breaks thesliell entirely round, but, 

 owing to the toughness of the lining mendjrane, 

 it is but partially broken, and in that case, if the 

 chick is not taken out by hand, it will never get 

 out. I have found three eggs out of twelve, af- 

 ter the hen had left the nest, in this predica- 

 ment. B. 



fFroni tile Oaltitnore Farmer.l 

 AN INtllllRT. 



A subscriber residing in Alabania has made the 

 following inquiry, which we publish with the 

 hope that some of our readers in Massachusetts, 

 will give the necessary information ; and if it 

 would not be too trouble, we would feel indebted 

 to the Editor of the New England Farmer to 

 slate through his excellent Journal, whether the 

 corn alluded to, has been cultivated in his region ; 

 with what success ; and whether any of it is still 

 to be found in that (piarter. We feel particularly 

 anxious to gratify the desire of cm correspondent, 

 as he has done tjiuch to promote the welfare of 

 agrictdturists, and we are sure would cheerfully 

 at all times, take pleasure in responding to a sim- 

 ilar call. 



(Communicated for the Farmer and Gardener.) 



Mr Roberts : In the "Southern Agriculturist" 

 for July, 1832, will be found a notice of a species 

 of corn, found in Mexico, and transmitted to the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society, by William 

 Shaler, Ksq., given to him by the Baron de Kar- 

 vinski, of a most singular production and growth. 

 Will some of your Nor;beru readers state the re- 

 sult of the trial of this corn, or if it is yet amongst 

 them ? A Subscriber. 



By the Editor of the AT. E. Farmer. — We have 

 carefully consulted the records of the proceedings 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, from 

 its commencement in 1829, to the present period, 

 as they have been published in our paper, but find 

 no notice of any "corn found in Mexico, trans- 

 mitted to the Massachusetts Horticultm-al Society, 

 by William Shaler, Esq." In an account of the 

 proceedings of a meeting of said Society, held at 

 Boston on the 3d of March, 1832, recorded in the 

 New England Farmer, vol. .x. page 284, is a letter 

 from William Shaler, Esq., V. S. Consul at Ha- 

 vanna, to Zebedee Cook, Jun. Esq., Vice Presi- 

 dent of the Society, acknowledging trie honor of 

 having been elected a Corresponding Member, 

 &c.; but nothing is stated in that, nor in any oth- 

 er communiiration, whiidi we recollect, or can 

 find, lelative to a donation of seed corn. It is 

 probable, however, thai there is some foundation 

 for the report stated above, and if so, if any of our 

 friends will give us inlormation, it will be thank- 

 fully received and immediately published. There 

 are few agricultural subjects of more importance 

 than that of introducing to general culture, new 

 and improved sorts of Indian Corn. 



New kind of Bread. — A co.'respondent of the 

 Hingham Gazette, gives the following directions 

 for making a new kind of biead : 



Take one quart of the best fjour and put it into 

 a tin pail vvbieh has a tight cover. Put into this 

 flour, one tea-spoonful of sa't and one tea-spoon- 

 ful of salteratns, both pulverized. Stir them in 

 well. Then [lour upon the flourqnite warm new 

 milk ; pour by degrees, (stirring as you pour so 



to pr-ivent lumping,) until you have poured a 

 quart. Put on the cover, and set the pail on very 

 warm iron, or hang it up high, over a slow fire, 

 or, which is better still, put it into r. counnon tin 

 baker, and set it up to a moderate fire, where the 

 bottom of the |)ail can be so warm that you can 

 hohl your hand upon it without burning you. If 

 it is hotter than this, the mixture inside, (which 

 will be rather a thin paste,) will bake and stick 

 to the pail, wliicli will ruin the experiment. Let 

 the pail stand undisturbed in this steady heat, for 

 five or six hours, when it will be found to rise, 

 rather suddenly, to double its first size. As soon 

 as it is thus risen, turn it and knead it up in the 

 common way, and to the common thickness. — 

 Then put this dough into the tin pans in which 

 you inten<l to bake it ; but fill the pans only half 

 full of the dough. Then set these pans near a 

 gentle fire, or in a July hot sun out-doors, cover- 

 ed with a cloth. In an hour or more, the dough 

 will begin to rise, and soon fill the pans. As soon 

 as this is so, put it into the oven and bake one 

 hour, i. e., if the loaf be twelve inches long, six 

 thick. If it be half this size, a shorter time will 

 suffice. Invalids cm cat this bread with perfect 

 safety. 



Stcmps are among the most troublesome ob- 

 stacles in the settlement of a new country. A 

 machine is sometimes used, with lever power, to 

 eradicate them. It is literally a huge "tooth pul- 

 ler." It requires great power and much expense 

 and time to accomplish the business, even with 

 this tnachine. A better contrivance, because more 

 simple and cheap, we saw practiced the other 

 day. A little excavation was made in under the 

 stump, and some combustible materials enclosed, 

 and then set on fire. Previous to this, however, 

 some dry materials were piled around the root, 

 above the surface of the ground, and then cover- 

 ed over with a compact layer of turf, forming a 

 sort of coal-pit. It has been found upon experi- 

 flieut, that the stuinps will burn in this way, a 

 number of days, with a sort of subterranean fire, 

 and when the turf falls in, nearly every thing of 

 the root is found consumed below and above the 

 surface of the ground. Passing by a field near 

 where the Canal enters the Connecticut, a while 

 since, we noticed smoke issuing from twenty little 

 mounds of earth, and upon inquiry, found they 

 were burning out the stumps in the manner above 

 described. — JVorthampton Courier. 



Good Fleece. — An individual in Newport, N. 

 H., last week took a Merino fleece weighing sev- 

 en pounds and a quarter, all washed and tagged, 

 from a lamb but a year old. This may be pro- 

 nounced a wonderful clip. 



Great Yield. — The Editor of the Lynchburg 

 Virginian says he has a bunch of stems of wheat, 

 80 in nund)er,and bearing upwardsof 4000 grains, 

 all growing from a single stalk, and the product 

 of one grain. 



Glass Cloth. — IMr Bonnet, of Lille, in France, 

 has succeeded in making several specimens of 

 woven glass, which are most brilliant in color and 

 lustre. They are solid and perfectly flexible, and 

 the prices moderate. 



Pleasant sour, or sweet apples cut up, and boil- 

 ed with rice, is very good. 



