1884.] 
AMEEIOA:^ AGEIOULTUEIST. 
5 
packing), and would therefore be an inch all around 
less than the tank, or sixteen by twenty-eight. 
Every two inches added to the length of the tank 
gives room for another row of eggs. The largest 
incubators used in Hammonton are three feet wide 
and four feet long, the capacity being a little over 
three hundred eggs. To hold seven hundred eggs, 
the drawer should be about four feet wide and six 
feet long. The incubators are ventilated by pure 
air passing under the bottom, then through tin 
tubes just under the egg drawer, while the heat is 
radiated upon the eggs from the tank above. The 
illustrations in the June AmeHcan Agriculturist covi- 
veya very good idea of the tank incubator, accom¬ 
panied by descriptions of the several parts. This 
brief statement being a 
reply to special inquiries, 
those who have not read 
the June descriptions 
should do so. Many 
suppose that incubators 
require but little care, 
and numerous mistakes 
are the result. To hatch 
successfully, any opera¬ 
tor should be willing to 
Fig. 8. THE STAUCHIONS. 
devote as much time and labor to the management 
of incubators as he would to other important pains¬ 
taking enterprises that are expected to be profitable. 
The Public Domain, 
H. A. HAIOn. 
The “ National Domain” embraces all the terri¬ 
tory under the domain, jurisdiction, or government 
of the United States, including main-land, islands 
and water. By the last census this amounts (ex¬ 
clusive of Alaska) to 3,025,600 square miles, made 
up of 2,970,000 square miles of land and 55,600 
square miles of water in its lakes, rivers, bays, etc. 
—or 1,900,800,000 acres of land. Alaska is not yet 
surveyed, but is roughly estimated at 577,390 
square miles, which, added to the rest of the coun¬ 
try, makes the total “ National Domain” 3,602,990 
square miles. Allowing same proportion for Alas¬ 
ka (536,780 land, 10,610 water) we have in our Na¬ 
tional Domain 60,210 square miles of water area, 
and 3,536,780 of land, or 2,263,539,200 acres, enough 
to supply 160 acres, such as it is, to each of 
fourteen and one-seventh million persons. 
The term “Public Domain” applies especially to 
lands owned in fee by the Government, with full 
right to dispose of them. Since its foundation the 
Government has owned nearly 3,000,000 square 
miles, or nearly 2,000,000,000 acres of land (2,894,233 
square miles=l,852,310,400 acres). Of this a little 
over one-third, or 630,000,000 acres, have been dis¬ 
posed of up to the last census, including 100,000,000 
acres pledged to the railroads. So w’e see that 
Uncle Sam has still quite a good deal of land 
including swamp waste, etc. [About; 45,000,000 
acres were parted with up to July, 1883, since the 
census report of 1880.—Ed.] 
How Acquired,— The lands constituting the 
public domain were acquired by treaty, by cession 
from States, and by purchase. All lands in the 
United States formerly belonging to Great Britain 
passed to our Government by the treaty of peace 
concluding the Revolutionary War. Large tracts 
claimed by certain of the States were ceded by 
them to the General Government. The territory 
so acquired embraced the present States of Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of 
Minnesota, Alabama and Mississippi. They were 
held by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, 
Virginia, the Carolinas aud Georgia under British 
grants. Lands have since been purchased from 
France, Spain, Mexico, Texas and Russia. 
Its Cost. —No price was paid for the lands ac¬ 
quired from Great Britain or ceded by the States. 
The purchase from France was made in 1803, under 
President Jefferson. Napoleon Bonaparte, who 
was then First Consul, acted for the French Re¬ 
public. This purchase embraced all of Louisiana, 
Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Ore¬ 
gon, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and In¬ 
dian Territories, and a part of Alabama, Missis¬ 
sippi and Minnesota. The cost was §15,000,000, 
besides certain liabilities assumed by the United 
States, which ultimately brought the cost up to 
over §27,000,000. This sum seemed at that time a 
very large one; but as the tract contained 
757,000,000 acres, the cost was oidy a trifle over 
Bi cents per acre! Florida was purchased from 
Spain in 1819, in Jefferson’s administration, for 
§5,000,000, paid in bonds on which about §1,500,000 
of interest accrued before their maturity ; so that 
the cost was really about $6,500,000, or 17*/io cents 
per acre, as it contained about 38,000,000 acres. 
There were two purchases from Mexico ; one in 
1848 under President Polk, and another in 1853 
under President Pierce. The first included Cali¬ 
fornia, Nevada, Utah, and part of Arizona, New 
Mexico and Colorado. It contained in round num¬ 
bers 334,500,000 acres, and cost $15,000,000, or ii 
cents per acre. The last, known as the “ Gladsen 
purchase,” included a strip of land called the 
Mesilla Valley, lying in the present territories of 
Arizona aud New Mexico, on their southern boun¬ 
daries. It contained 29,000,000 acres, and cost 
$10,000,000, or 34Vio cents per acre. 
The purchase from Texas was made in 1850, un¬ 
der President Fillmore. It included about 65,000,- 
000 acres lying in Kansas, Colorado and New Mex¬ 
ico, and cost $16,000,000, or 24(/i.j cents per acre. 
The purchase of Alaska from Russia was at the 
lowest price per acre of any land that Uncle Sam 
has bought. It included about 370,000,000 acres, 
and cost $7,200,000, not quite 2 cents per acre, 
or only l’%o cents per acre. 
The entire public domain has cost a little over 
$88,000,000, or 4i cents per acre. But the expenses 
of surveying it have thus far amounted to about 
$50,000,000, and the expenses of quieting the Indian 
titles the enormous sum of about $200,000,000. 
So that the public domain has really cost about 
$330,000,000, or about 18 cents an acre ! 
Hov' Disposed Of. —This vast public domain has 
been a coveted prize for which schemers have 
schemed and lobbiests have lobbied. It is esti¬ 
mated that about 20,000 propositions, involving 
grants of land for all conceivable objects, have 
failed in the Senate and House of Representatives, 
and much honor and praise is due to the men on 
the Congressional Committees having the public 
lands in charge. But many schemes have been 
successful, some of them of questionable proprie¬ 
ty, yet upon the whole the public domain has been 
and is being disposed of to the best advantage. 
The following are the principal items : Cash sales, 
including preemptions, commuted homesteads, 
etc., about 175,000,000 acres; donations, about 
4,000,000 acres ; military and naval land bounties, 
about 62,000,000 acres ; railroad land grants, about 
156,000,000 acres; canal grants, about 5,000,000 
acres; homesteads, about 60,000,000 acres ; swamp 
lands given to States, about 70,000,000 acres; 
schools, seminaries and agricultural colleges, about 
79,000,000 acres; lands held under the Timber 
Culture Act, about 11,000,000 acres. 
The railroads have been most successful in get¬ 
ting lands from the Government. The Northern 
Pacific Road, which has just been completed, had a 
grant of 42,000,000 million acres—the largest ever 
given to any corporation—being an area nearly as 
large as the States of New York, Massachusetts, 
Vermont, and New Jersey, or nearly equalling Wis¬ 
consin. Though the Government still owns an 
enormous amount of territory the arable agricul¬ 
tural public lands are being rapidly absorbed. It is 
estimated that exclusive of certain lands in the 
Southern States there does not remain more than 
15,000,000 acres which can be cultivated without 
irrigation or other artificial means. And these are 
being very rapidly taken. The facilities afforded per¬ 
sons in over-crowded foreign countries for reaching 
these lands and the generous liberality of the Gov¬ 
ernment in giving them all farms, leave nothing to 
wonder at in the enormous emigration which is 
taking place. From $100 to $200 per person will 
cover the expenses of an emigrant journey from 
most of the European countries to the free lands of 
the West. Under the existing laws persons from 
such countries, after declaring their intention to 
become citizens, can get 160 acres under the home¬ 
stead act, and another adjoining 160 acres under 
the timber culture act. Every head of a family 
can do this, and every other member of the family 
except the mother, of over twenty-one years old, 
can do the same. If an emigrant has a family of 
five children, .all of age, he can get nearly 2,000 
acres of land from the Government for the mere 
taking. There can be no serious confliets between 
labor and capital, no real oppression of the labor¬ 
ing elasses by monopolists, and no possible pre¬ 
tense of excuse for communistic doctrines in this 
country so long as such a condition of things exist. 
Elevating a Slaughtered Beef. 
Mr. H. C. Blackwood, of Washougal, Washing¬ 
ton Ter., sends us a sketch and description of a 
very simple, yet powerful method of elevating a 
slaughtered beef, which a single man can easily 
method of raising a beef. 
operate. To any suitable support overhead, fasten 
the two ends of a strong rope, letting its middle 
portion down to the desired hight. Insert a round 
gambrel in the hind legs, and bring the middle of 
the rope around its center. Place a stick long 
enough for a lever through the loop of the rope, as 
shown in the sketch. Carrying this round coils 
the rope with much force. [If the gambrel be four 
inches in diameter, and the lever two feet long, one 
hundred pounds force applied at the end, will lift 
twelve hundred lbs.; on a three foot lever, eighteen 
hundred lbs., and so on. Eds]. —The carcass can 
be held at any point, by placing a stick between 
the upper end of the lever and Ihe ropes. If prop¬ 
erly adjusted, when the rope reaches the legs 
of the beef it will spread the quarters apsirt. 
Ventilate the Cattle Stable.— Stabled ani¬ 
mals require much fresh air, and to secure it there 
must be a way of escape for the foul gases form 
ing in the stable. Confinement in a closely 
built stable is liable to bring on inflammation of 
the lungs and other serious diseases in the cattle. 
