ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 46 



the lack of the instiiuitive care ot the mother hen. Tlie artificial mother 

 may frequently be used to advantage, however, in supplementing that care. 



The essential points of the artificial mother are a sheep-skin tanned with the 

 wool on, or .a piece of bufialo robe or similar material, fixed wjth the wool side 

 down upon a frame which will hold it just high enough for the chicks to creep 

 under, and which may be raised to suit their growth ; and a system of pipes, or a 

 water-tank similar to that used in the incubator, placed over the sheep-skin, and 

 warmed as in the incubator. The "mother" should also be placed in a room 

 warmed with a stove, for the more easy regulation of the heat. 



While the incubator and artificial mother are certainly not what is claimed for 

 them by some of the more sanguine of their advocates — especially those who 

 have a pecuniary interest in selling them — there can still be no doubt that they 

 may be made of great service in the poultry-yard, in the hands of persons who 

 have the time and natural- adaptitude necessary to give that close and judicious 

 attention to the details of their management which is absolutely necessary to 

 success. 



