IN QUANTITY, FOB MAEKET. 7 



tea. In the handa of the originator, who clearly comprehends 

 the intricacies of his machine, 'and who knows how to manage 

 it, many chickens have been hatched. But our own view of 

 this kind of invention is that they are too complicated, and too 

 " scientific " in their construction, to be useful or profitable in 

 the hands of the average unskilled poultry-breeder. 



And while due credit should always be accorded to such en- 

 terprising inventors, the fact must not be overlooked, that, how- 

 ever well they may themselves be able to manage their ma- 

 chines, the every-day fowl-breeder is not competent to the 

 performance of a work which (as .they are aware) has cost 

 them years of toil, thought and study to master, and make 

 themselves familiar with, in detail. 



We recently saw in the correspondence of a traveller who 

 was sojourning in China, an account of a professional "egg- 

 hatcher " of that country, which was quite novel. This opera- 

 tor hatched ducks' eggs in great quantities in baskets, heated 

 artificially from the bottom with hot stones or tiles suited to 

 the purpose ; and, in his way, he was very successful. It is 

 said there are numbers of these egg-hatchers to be met with 

 in the interior, near Chinese large cities or commercial ports, 

 and that they do a thriving trade in their vocation, in the early 

 season of the year. 



In the instance referred to, the writer described this heathen 

 operator as one of the greatest "lions" in Chusan where he 

 saw him. He is an old Chinaman who every Spring hatches 

 thousands of 4ucks' eggs by artificial heat. He received me 

 says this traveller, with Chinese politeness and offered me tea 

 and his pipe, two things always at hand in a Chinese house, 

 and perfectly indispensible. I asked permission to examine his 

 hatching-house — to which he immediately led the way. 



The Chinese cottages, generally, are wretched buildings of 

 mud and stone, with damp earthen floors, scarcely fit for cat- 

 tle to sleep on, and remind one of what Scottish cottages were 

 some years ago, but which now, happily, are among the things 

 that were. The Chinaman's cottage was no exception to the 



