236 



Artificial Duch-hatching in Chiria. 



Vol. X. 



Artificial Duck-hatching in China. 



Onk of the greatest lions in Chusan — for 

 we have lions here as well as you in Lon- 

 don — is an old Chinaman, who hatches duck- 

 eggs in thousands every spring by artificial 

 heat. The first question put to a sight-see- 

 ing stranger who comes here is, whether he 

 has seen the hatching process; and if he 

 has not, he is immediately taken out to see 

 the old Chinaman and his ducks. An ac- 

 count of the house and the process will pro- 

 bably interest you, and I therefore send you 

 a leaf of my private journal, which I wrote 

 on the morning of my first visit. 



It was a beautiful morning in the end of 

 May, just such a morning as we have in the 

 same month in England, perhaps a little 

 warmer; the sun was upon the grass, the 

 breeze was cool and refreshing, and alto- 

 gether the effect produced upon the system 

 was of the most invigorating kind, and I 

 suppose I felt it more, having just arrived 

 from Hong-Kong, and suffering slightly from 

 the unhealthy atmosphere of that island. 

 The mist and vapor were rolling lazily along 

 the sides of the hills which surround the 

 plain on which the city of Tinghai is built; 

 the Chinese, who are generally early risers, 

 were already proceeding to their daily la- 

 bours; and although the greater part of the 

 labouring population are very poor, yet they 

 seem contented and happy. Walking through 

 the city, out at the north gate, and leaving 

 the ramparts behind, I passed through some 

 rice fields, the first crop of wiiich is just 

 planted, and a five minutes' walk brought 

 me to the poor man's cottage. He received 

 me with Chinese politeness; asked me to 

 sit down ; offered me tea and his pipe, two 

 things always at hand in a Chinese house, 

 and perfectly indispensable. Having civilly 

 declined his offer, I asked permission to ex- 

 amine his hatching-house, to which he im- 

 mediately led the way, and gave me the fol- 

 lowing account of the process. First, how- 

 ever, let me describe the house. 



The Chinese cottages generally, are 

 wretched buildings of mud and stone, with 

 damp earthen floors, scarcely fit for cattle 

 to sleep in, and remind one of what the 

 Scottish cottagers were a few years ago; 

 which now, however, are happily among the 

 things that were. The present one was no 

 exception to the general rule ; bad fitting, 

 loose, creaking doors, paper windows, dirty 

 and torn; ducks, geese, fowls, dogs, and pigs 

 in the house and at the doors, seemingly as 

 important, and having equal rights with their 

 master; then there were children, grand- 

 children, and, for aught that I know, great- 

 grand-children, all together, forming a most 



motley group, which, with their shaved 

 heads, long tails, and strange costume, would 

 be a capital subject for the pencil of Cruik- 

 shank. 



The hatching-house is built at the side of 

 the cottage, and in a kind of long shed, with 

 mud walls, and thickly thatched with straw. 

 Along the ends and down one side of the 

 building are a number of round straw bask- 

 ets, well plastered with mud, to prevent 

 them from taking fire. In the bottom of 

 each basket there is a tile placed, or rather 

 the tile forms the bottom of the basket; upon 

 this the fire acts, a small fire-place being 

 below each basket. The top is open, having 

 of course a straw cover, which fits closely, 

 and which covers the eggs when the process 

 is going on, the whole having the appear- 

 ance of a vase which we sometimes see 

 placed upon a pedestal at home, or rather 

 exactly like the Chinese manure tanks, | 

 which perhaps are less known. In the cen- 

 tre of the shed there are a number of large 

 shelves placed one above another, upon 

 which the eggs are laid at a certain stage 

 of the process. 



When the eggs are brought, they are put 

 into the baskets described above, the fire is 

 lighted below, and, according to some obser- 

 vations made with a thermometer, the heat 

 kept up seeming to range from 95 to 102 

 degrees; but the Chinamen regulate the 

 heat by their own feelings, and not by ther- 

 mometer, and therefore it will of course 

 vary considerably. In four or five days after 

 the eggs have been subject to tliis temper- 

 ature, they are taken carefully out, one by 

 one, to a door in which a number of holes 

 have been bored exactly the size of the 

 eggs ; they are then held in these holes, 

 and the Chinamen look through to the light, 

 and are able to tell whether they are good 

 or not. If good, they are taken back and 

 replaced in their former quarters; if bad, 

 tliey are of course excluded. In nine or 

 ten days after this, that is, about fourteen 

 days from the commencement, the eggs are 

 taken out of the baskets and spread out on 

 the shelves which I have already noticed. 

 Here no fire-heat is applied, but they are 

 covered over with cotton and a kind of 

 blanket, remaining in these circumstances 

 about fourteen days more, when the young 

 ducks burst their shells, and the poor China- 

 man's shed teems with life. These shelves 

 are large, and capable of holding many 

 thousands of eggs; and it is really a curious 

 sight, particularly during the last two days, 

 when the hatching takes place. The Chi- 

 nese who rear the young ducks in the sur- 

 rounding country, know exactly the day 

 when they will be ready for removal, and 



