32 



Water. — Bii'ds — Eggs. 



Vol. VIII. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Raising Water. 



Those who have an abundant supply of 

 water for all domestic purposes, and for the 

 use of stock, from streams, fountains, or 

 springs near their improvements, can scarce- 

 ly appreciate the labour and vexation with 

 which those are taxed, who have not a drop 

 of this essential article within half a mile, 

 unless it be at the bottom of a well from 4U 

 to 80 feet in depth. To draw all the water 

 needed by a family, from the bottom of a 

 deep well, is a vast labour, and under such 

 circumstances, the quantity used is much 

 less than would be desirable. 



In this ag-e for improvement, perhaps 

 some of your intelligent readers may be 

 able to inform your subscribers of the cheap- 

 est and best method of elevating water from 

 a well 50 or more feet in depth, by means 

 of horse or mule power. Is a lifting or 

 forcing pump the best, and what machinery 

 is best adapted and least likely to get out of 

 order 1 also what would be the expense and 

 quantity of water raised in a given time] Any 

 information on this interesting subject, com- 

 municated through the Cabinet, would be 

 very acceptable to many who reside in lime- 

 stone districts, or other places where water 

 lies at a low level. The best method by 

 which the power for raising water may also 

 be applied for turning a churn or grindstone, 

 would be very desirable. It is said that in 

 some places the wind is used as an agent 

 for pumping; any information on the effi- 

 ciency of this mode of bringing water up 

 from below, will gratify one of your oldest 

 subscribers, who has often been wearied 

 with working a long pump in a deep well, 

 and of turning a windlass for raising water. 



P. 



Birds— Eggs. 



It is an interesting fact in natural history, 

 that if you remove one or more eggs from 

 the nests of some birds, before they have 

 completed their natural complement, tiicy 

 will continue laying a great number after- 

 wards. Thus if the peewit, (Tringa Va- 

 nellus,) is deprived of only one egg after 

 she has completed her number, she immedi- 

 ately forsakes the rest; if, however, she has 

 but one other to lay, and all but one of her 

 eggs are removed, she will continue to lay 

 for ten or twelve days, and sometimes more, 

 successively. The same has been observed 

 of the blackbird, lark, and the long-tailed 

 titmouse ; the latter has gone on to lay as 

 many as thirty eggs before she began to sit, 

 a friend of mine having removed that num- 



ber. In the case especially of the lark, if 

 only one or two eggs are allowed to remain 

 in the nest, the bird will go on to lay for a 

 time indefinite ; but if there are three she 

 will sit. The usual number of eggs in a 

 lark's nest, is five. 



This is one of those mysteries in nature, 

 which it is not easy to account for. We 

 find that a bird, as soon as it has deposited 

 four eggs in its nest, as in the case of the 

 lapwing, immediately ceases to produce any 

 more ; but if disturbed in its arrangements, 

 will go on to lay perhaps five times that 

 number, and yet cease the moment it has 

 collected its usual number for hatching in 

 the same spot. This property does not seem 

 to belong to our domestic fowls. A hen, 

 when she wants to sit, will as readily do so 

 upon one egg, as more, and so will a turkey. 

 This latter bird is of a very torpid nature, 

 and will continue to sit for many months to- 

 gether, on a very scanty supply of food. The 

 persons who breed very early poultry for the 

 London market, have a secret for preserving 

 the vital property in eggs laid in the sprinir 

 and summer, till late in the autumn, when 

 they are put under turkies who have been 

 kept sitting, and are hatched early in the 

 winter. These persons chiefly reside near 

 Chertsey, in Surrey, and the neighbouring 

 country; and the secret for preserving the 

 eggs in a proper state for hatching, is strict- 

 ly preserved amongst them. I have visited 

 one of their cottages, and found the only 

 room surrounded with small square pens, in 

 which the turkies were sitting. They are 

 occasionally taken off" the nest for a short 

 time, and then returned to it. 



It appears difficult to assign a reason why 

 birds of the same size and species, should 

 produce eggs of a different shape and colour. 

 The hedge sparrow's egg is blue; while 

 that of the robin, who lives on the same 

 sort of food, and is like it in various particu- 

 lars, produces an egg of a darkish brown and 

 white colour, ornamented with yellowish 

 brown spots. The cormorant has pale green 

 eggs, while the egg of the gannet is white : 

 both these birds feed on fish. The eggs of 

 the rook, magpie, and lapwing, are nearly 

 similar in size and appearance. Those of 

 the pigeon, owl, and king-fisher, are white; 

 and those of the blackbird, of a bluish green. 

 In like manner, the eggs of the land tortoise 

 are of a dusky brownish white; and those of 

 the crocodile, of a bluish white. Even hens 

 in the same poultry yard, and fed on the 

 same food, produce eggs of a difl^rent colour, 

 some being much darker than others. I have 

 also observed that some ducks of the same 

 breed, have white eggs, and others bluish 

 ones. Hens sometimes produce eggs with 



