302 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 5 



the owners are very far from doing as they did in 

 former times, killing the animal for the sake of his 

 hide, and leaving the flesh to be devoured by the 

 condors. * * * This branch of Chilian econ- 

 omy is however not without risks, which are not 

 indeed frequent, but cause astonishing destruction. 

 In the years 1829 to 1832, a vast number of cat- 

 tle perished in consequence of an unexampled 

 drought, which extended over all the provinces of 

 Central and Northern Chili. It appears from an 

 othcial statement, that in the year 1831 alone, 

 515,326 head of cattle died of hunger in the pro- 

 vinces of Coquimbo and Copiopo ; of these about 

 77,000 were horned cattle, l0,000 horses, 23,000 

 sheep, 211,000 goats, &c. Though the number 

 may be rather exaggerated, because the land- 

 owners wished to make their loss appear as con- 

 siderable as possible, still the injury was very 

 "leat. 



From the New England Farmer. 



raising chickejvs. 



Mr. Fessenden, 



Sir — In one of your late papers I saw mention- 

 ed a successful way of raising chickens. I have 

 been in the habit of raising the.n;! for some years, 

 and if you think favorably of the mode I have 

 adopted, you can insert it in your valuable pa- 

 per. 



I keep my hens warm under cover during the 

 winter, and feed them on "Brewers' Grains" 

 placed in an open box or tub, that they may eat 

 when they please , occasionally giving them oats, 

 corn, and oyster shells pounded fine, and plenty of 

 water. By keeping them warm and well fed, they 

 begin laying earlier in the season. I prefer spring 

 chickens, as they lay earlier than old hens — and 

 the old hens to set, as they make the best mothers. 

 I take care the eggs do not get chilled with cold, 

 and keep them in a warm place in my house. 

 When three or four hens want to set, 1 put from 

 thirteen to fifteen eggs under each of them, ac- 

 cording to size — the day of the month marked on 

 each egg — and after the hen has set a week or ten 

 days I examine them by holding the eggs to a 

 crack or knot hole in a board when the sun shines 

 through, and if [ discover any rotten ones, I take 

 them away and replace them with fresh ones 

 marked as before mentioned. When the chick- 

 ens are all hatched, I put two or three of the broods 

 to one hen, in a coop with an opening against an 

 empty barrel placed on the bilge, and with a little 

 care, when put in the coop, the hen may be made 

 to brood them at the fiirther end of the barrel. In 

 that way the chickens that are not covered by the 

 hen huddle together around her, and keep each 

 other warm. The hens from which the chickens 

 are taken I put into another coop, and in about a 

 fortnight they will begin to lay again. The hen 

 being confined in the coop, will leave her chickens 

 much earlier than if lel>,to run at large with them, 

 and the chickens will become so accustomed to 

 going into the barrel and huddling together, as to 

 be quite contented to give up the hen's brooding 

 them. After the chickens are two or three weeks 

 old I remove them with the coops into my garden, 

 where they feed upon insects, so as to require but 

 little food — but do not keep them there until 

 they are large enough to injure the garden. 



I feel persuaded that in the way I have pro- 

 ceeded, our market could be supplied with an 

 abundance of poultry, and I recommend it with 

 confidence, if manajred with care and attention, as 

 profitable to those who may engage in such busi- 

 ness. 



Charlestown, July, 1836. 



From the Advocate of Science. 

 PRACTICAL USES OF GEOLOGY, 



So far from being that abstract and speculative 

 science which those who are ignorant of it often 

 suppose it to be, geology is full of useful applica- 

 tion to the common pursuits of life. The agricul- 

 turist, the miner, the architect — every employment 

 that has a direct relation to the materials of our 

 globe, derives advantage from geological know- 

 ledge. It cannot be otherwise, when geology in- 

 volves an acquaintance with all the substances 

 which enter into the composition of the accessible 

 portions of the earth. 



But the most striking and the most beautiful ap- 

 plication of this science to useful practical pur- 

 poses, depends on the principles of stratification 

 hereafter to be explained. For the present I will 

 only remark, that the superficial portion of our 

 planet is found to be stratified, or composed of dis- 

 tinct strata of various materials ; and that these 

 strata are proved to occupy a uniform position rela- 

 tive to each other. 



JVlineral salt occurs in one of these strata asso- 

 ciated with gypsum or plaster of Paris. Where 

 one of these valuable minerals is found, the pre- 

 sence of the other may therefore be suspected. 

 But the stratum containing them is superior in its 

 situation to crystallized limestone, to slate and to 

 granite. It follows, that wherever the exposed 

 surface of the earth consists of either of those 

 rocks, gypsum and rock salt do not exist ; and a 

 search for them would therelbre be fruitless. In 

 searching for coal and other mineral productions, 

 similar principles are called into application, and 

 prove a valuable aid to the miner. For want of 

 the knowledge of a few of these elementary prin- 

 ciples of geology, much time and labor and mo- 

 ney have been^ wasted in attempting to discover 

 substances of value in situations where they could 

 not exist. 



Extracts from the Journal of the Franklhi Institute. 



LIST OF PATENTS ISSUED IN DECEMBER, 1835, 

 FOR IMPROVES! t:NTS OF MACHINES, &C. TO 

 BE USED IN AGRICULTURE, 



TVith vcviarks, by the Editor of the Journal of the 

 i^anklin Institute 



For a Machine for Hulling Clover and other 

 Seedsj George W. Taylor, Bridgeton, Cumber- 

 land county. New Jersey, December 4. 



The rubbing is to be eflectcd by revolving, cast- 

 iron disks, the surface of which are convex, so that 

 they are in shape like a double convex lens; the 

 surfaces having grooves formed upon them, and 

 which revolve between cast iron cheeks furrowed 

 in like manner, and embrace about two-thirds of 

 the disks, the other third being cut away to allow 

 of the necee.sary space for the feeding and delivery 

 of the seed. There is to be a feeding hopper above 



