constructed for less than £6; and an artificial 

 mother to rear the chickens when hatched, will 

 cost from £4 to £5 ; so that any party where a 

 certain, steady, temperature can be obtained, 

 may, for the trifling cost of say £12, have an ap- 

 paratus capable of hatching and rearing 10,800 

 chickens every year. The whole is so simple, 

 that any carpenter, or in fact any handy person, 

 can make it. I myself, although no carpenter, 

 have constructed one which I intend to put to 

 work in about a month from this time. Should 

 any of your readers feel interested in my expe- 

 riments, I will supply them with all the infor- 

 mation I possess. — W. L. J. 



[We find the following, having reference to 

 the same subject, in the Agricultural Gazette of 

 Jan. 1 4. The one will be a useful adjunct to 

 the other. We have printed the "improvement " 

 on the original, first — ■ 



Artificial Hatching Apparatus. — Being in Lon- 

 don at this time of year, and, like the rest of 

 folks, fond of seeing the various amusements, &c, 

 I paid my second visit to the hatching apparatus 

 in Leicester Square. Belonging to the class of 

 small farmers, and believing it is of no use cry- 

 ing " help, help," as too many do, I prefer the 

 maxim of " God helps them who help themselves," 

 and am on the qui vive as to any benefit which 

 may be derived from any improvement of our old 

 methods. With this view I paid my second 

 visit, and bought a pamphlet, with which I must 

 say I am much interested ; as, if the calculations 

 therein set out are only one-half true, I do not 

 think we have reason to be afraid of injury by 

 free trade. I take, for instance, the following 

 estimate of cost and profits of a one-tray incu- 

 bator, briefly thus : — 



COST. 



Incubator 

 Eggs ... 

 Food ... 

 Charcoal 



£ s. d. 



21 



7 10 



45 



4 10 



78 



RECEIPTS. £ S. d. 



For Fowl ... 135 



Value incubator 19 



154 



Expenses 78 



Profit 



76 



That is, £7G or £78 left to pay rent, &c: and 

 the estimate of profit on a five-tray incubator is 

 stated at £389, &c, which I need not recapitulate, 

 as I dare say you have the pamphlet, or at least 

 have read it. Now, Mr. Editor, if, as I said before, 

 this estimate be only double the amount which 

 may reasonably be expected, how is it that it is 

 not more generally practised ? There must, me- 

 thinks, be some practical difficulty not mentioned 

 in the said pamphlet. You would greatly oblige 

 me, if you would, in your answers to corre- 

 spondents, give me your opinion as to the practi- 

 cability of the scheme, and the reason why you 

 think it has not become more adopted by the 

 public. A hint or two of this kind will prove 

 most acceptable, as by them I may judge on the 

 probability of success. Poultry (of all kinds') is 

 certainly looking up, as you may now find hun- 

 dreds kept where (when I was a boy) they were 

 considered almost a pest : they cannot, therefore, 

 now be thought" so unprofitable. '^ Still for all 

 that, I should like to know the data against 

 Cantelo's (the pros he states himself) hatching, 

 which it appears must exist, or it would have 

 been by this time of much more frequent use. 



There is no question that he can hatch them ; 

 what I want to know is, can it be followed out at 

 a profit? I do not require a more lengthy an- 

 swer than convenient, though I don't care how 

 explicit. The fact is, I have an inclination to 

 purchase a four or five-tray one, and should like 

 your unprejudiced practical opinion on its merits 

 first. — John Murray, Bockle, near Dover. 



[By and by, we shall ourselves have something 

 to say about this system of breeding. It is purely 

 unnatural, and is very naturally attended with 

 many disadvantages. However, we will take 

 charge of any letters addressed to our correspond- 

 ent, " W. L. J."] 



Reform in Bird-cages. — I have a cage in use, 

 a description of which I think may interest 

 some of your readers. It consists of a box, three 

 feet long, eighteen inches wide, and six inches 

 deep ; made of mahogany, and lined with zinc. 

 Upon this is fixed a frame, glazed with squares 

 of glass, 12 X 12 inches; and having a span roof 

 (the height from ridge of roof to bottom of cage 

 being two feet); the top is ornamented with 

 curved work, &c, and stands on a table made on 

 purpose. I may mention, that the above was 

 used as a Eern or Ward's case; but as I had got 

 two others of better construction, it struck me 

 that it would, with a little alteration, make a 

 capital cage. All I had to do was to provide 

 ventilation, which I did in this way. The glazed 

 frame and box being made to come separate, I 

 raised the frame about one-fourth of an inch from 

 the box, leaving a space all round for the admis- 

 sion of air. On one side was a door, formed of one 

 pane of glass, set in a frame on hinges. The 

 glass I removed : substituting perforated zinc, of 

 a pretty pattern. I also removed two panes from 

 the roof, filling up with zinc; and after fixing 

 perches, seed-hopper, and fountain, the case was 

 transformed into a very elegant cage; and one 

 from which it is impossible any dirt can escape. 

 At the same time, it is light, airy, and comfort- 

 able; and in fact forms the best and cleanliest 

 cage I have ever seen. It contains at present 

 two goldfinches, one siskin, one mule, and a 

 canary ; but I have had double that number in it. 

 The bottom of the cage I cover once a fortnight 

 with coarse river sand, an inch deep ; and with a 

 small tin dust-pan, made for the purpose, I take off 

 a thin layer of this every morning, thus keeping it 

 always clean. The glass requires cleaning once 

 a week, when there is no bath ; oftener, when it 

 is in use ; then the sand requires to be oftener re- 

 newed. I am not aware whether you admit sketches 

 in your Journal. I send you a rough one, how- 

 ever, which will give you a better idea of its ap- 

 pearance than my attempt at description. [We 

 shall keep this, for a future opportunity]. And 

 now let me draw the attention of your readers 

 to the pretty cages that could be made, com- 

 bining glass and zinc, say, for instance, for a 

 canary : what could be better than a cage made in 

 an octagonal form, the small sides of perforated 

 zinc, and the other sides of plate glass? These 

 to be made moveable, and inserted in grooves 

 (for the purpose of facility in cleaning), the top 

 being made of zinc or wire, — and taking care to 

 make the bottom so deep (and to come off) as to 

 prevent dirt escaping. Many other forms be- 



