43 POULTRY BREEDING IN 



There is nothing absolutely new under the sun; 

 even hatching chickens by artificial means has been car- 

 ried on in Egypt, China, and other Eastern countries from 

 the remotest ages to the present day : yet in England it 

 has hitherto proved a failure in a commercial point of 

 view^. It is true that in Egypt, where they hatch many 

 millions of poultry annually, artificial hatching is a trade 

 of itself, carried on by many hundred proprietors of 

 ovens ; and their successful hatching will be apparent 

 when it is stated that they sell one hundred newly-hatched 

 chickens for about three shillings, or that they will return 

 sixty chickens for every hundred eggs intrusted to them 

 for hatching, free of charge. It is also true that the 

 climate and soil in Egypt are more favorable than in 

 England to the rearing of poultry ; but then why should 

 we not appeal to science to assist us in overcoming the 

 drawbacks of our soil and climate ? No doubt we shall 

 never be able to produce poultry as cheap as in Egypt, 

 where climate, soil, labor, and cost of land are eminently 

 favorable to a cheap production ; but in compensation we 

 can get far higher and in proportion more remunerative 

 prices for our poultry, their feathers and' manure. It is 

 an acknowledged fact that the artificial hatching of eggs 

 in England, although carried out on principles not in 

 strict harmony with natural incubation, has yet proved 

 far more successful than the artificial rearing of chickens. 

 This, of course, is ascribable solely to the improvident 

 way chickens are treated before they have their natural 

 protection, their feathers, in a climate where the sudden 

 changes in the temperature of the atmosphere, and the 

 almost everlasting humidity of the soil, act prejudicially 



