280 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Home-made Incubators. 
BT P. H. JACOBS, ATLANTIC CO., N. T. 
An incubator can be made with three box¬ 
es, each six inches deep. The first, or bot¬ 
tom box has no top, and the floor of the box 
is perforated with ten or twelve half-inch 
holes, into which are inserted tin tubes to ad¬ 
mit air. This is called the ventilator. The 
second box, the egg-drawer, has neither top 
nor bottom; but a piece of muslin is tightly 
drawn over slats running lengthwise on the 
bottom, upon which the eggs are placed. The 
Fig. 1.— INCUBATOR WITH LAMP. 
third drawer has a zinc bottom, the top and 
sides being of wood. This is called the heat¬ 
er. At the rear of this box is a tin elbow, 
bending into it, but extending downwards 
outside. The three boxes being placed one 
above the other—first, the ventilator; next, 
egg-drawer, and, lastly, the heater—we have 
a box with three divisions, the upper one be¬ 
ing heated by a lamp inserted into the tin 
elbow. The draught from the lamp is 
caused by two or three tin tubes, extending 
from within half an inch of the zinc upwards 
through the top of the incubator, and, at the 
opposite end, to the lamp. The whole is cov¬ 
ered with a larger box, eight inches larger in 
eveiy direction—toil, bottom, and sides—and 
filled with sawdust. The heat, smoke, and 
impurities enter the heater, warm the zinc, 
and pass out at the top tubes. The eggs in 
the egg-drawer underneath are kept at a tem¬ 
perature of 103 degrees, and the fresh air 
•comes in through the tin tubes in the venti¬ 
lator beneath, passes through the muslin 
bottom of the egg-drawer, and there remains 
until it escapes when the drawer is opened. 
A further improvement has been made by 
using a hot-water zinc tank instead of the 
Fig. 2 —INCUBATOR WITH UOT WATER. 
above described heater. Hot water is placed 
in the tank, and whenever the heat in the 
drawer gets too low, a few quarts of water 
are passed in through a tube in the top, after 
first drawing off a like quantity at the faucet 
below. 
The majority of operators pay the best at¬ 
tention to the incubators, but overlook the 
eggs. The eggs are of more importance than 
anything else, and must be suitable for the 
purpose, if good results are expected. One 
cock should be mated with only a few hens. 
The chicks progress very well until the time 
for picking their way from the shell, when 
■.they die if the hens are largely in excess. 
Two cocks together interfere too much, and 
failures arise from that cause. The eggs 
should be gathered often, and carefully kept. 
Do not trust to eggs from a neighbor, and 
endeavor to use only fresh ones. Too much 
heat is dangerous, but a low temperature is 
not always fatal. The heat in the drawer 
should not exceed 100 degrees, nor be lower 
than 98 5 ; but eggs have hatched after the heat 
has been as high as 116° for a short period. 
Turn the eggs two or three times daily, 
with an arrangement of slats fastened at the 
ends to strips running lengthwise. By plac¬ 
ing the eggs between these slats they can be 
turned half-round by merely pushing the 
frame of slats. The eggs should be aired 
once a day, by cooling down to 70 degrees, 
and pans of water should be kept in the ven¬ 
tilator-drawer. Sprinkle the eggs two or 
three times daily. 
The sawdust packing has solved the prob¬ 
lem of home-made incubators. It requires 
two days to get the great mass of sawdust 
heated (about five barrels), but it also gives 
off heat correspondingly slow. When once 
the incubator is at the proper temperature, 
it varies but little after turning down the 
flame of the lamp to suit the heat. 
The hot-water incubator was filled with boil¬ 
ing water, and no additional heat added for 
one week. The temperature varied only 11 
degrees in that time. This even temperature 
is due to the eight inches of sawdust, for the 
incubator holds its heat long after the water 
is drawn off. The heat can be increased at 
any time by adding a little boiling water. 
Using this incubator, no lamps are needed, 
with foul gases and danger of explosions. 
We believe artificial hatching to be an easy 
matter, and have no doubt others may meet 
with equal success by the same method. 
Profitable Horse Farming. 
Horses suitable to match in pairs for the 
gentlemen’s carriage, and also to go single in 
the coupe are profitable to raise. To obtain 
these, select perfectly sound mares, 15 to 16 
hands high, well formed, with good temper 
and spirit, fine action, and as much style as 
can be got combined with the above 
requisites. The horse to breed to these should 
also be as perfect in all things as the mares ; 
special attention being paid to a kind dispo¬ 
sition, good eyes, feet and legs. In one or 
more of these four points the carelessly 
chosen stallion is often most blamably de¬ 
ficient. As like begets like, it is out of the 
question to expect choice offspring from dis¬ 
eased or imperfect parents. The stallion 
ought to be 15| to 161 hands high, and weigh, 
in proper working flesh, 1,150 to 1,350 pounds. 
His breeding must be good, either of the 
Trotter or Race-horse class. Objection may 
be made by some to the latter; but if of pony- 
build, kind temper, sound, with extra broad 
flat sinewy legs, clear tough hoofs, he is the 
most preferable, because his make-up is of 
a more enduring and superior order to all 
others, save the Arabian. The latter is too 
small to breed to for carriage and coupe 
horses; though answering as well as the 
smaller horse, to get such as are suitable for 
a lady’s phaeton or her saddle. 
This larger class of horses above can be 
broken to do light work on the farm at three 
years of age, kept there until six, and then 
sold. During these three years, they will 
[June, 
pay for their raising, and, if well matched, can 
be then sold all the way from $600 to $3,000 
or more the pair, according as they prove. 
Single horses will bring half this amount, or 
more if extra fine. Some of these will prove 
as good under the saddle as others in har¬ 
ness, and may then be sold at a fancy price. 
The best of the above horses are always 
scarce in city markets, and sure to sell 
quickly when offered there, and at high 
prices. There is also an excellent steady de¬ 
mand for them abroad ; the larger ones for 
noblemen and wealthy gentlemen’s carriages ; 
those of a size less, with good wind and fino 
action, for the mount of army officers and 
also for the hunting field. 
Ditch Cleaner and Deepener. 
BY PICKET. 
Open ditches require constant attention to 
prevent their being choked with weeds and 
accumulations of silt. Keeping them cleaned 
out with a hoe is a difficult and laborious 
task, while drawing a log down them is 
A CLEANER FOR DITCHES. 
unsatisfactory and ineffective. To run a 
plow along the bottom is not only a disa¬ 
greeable task, but frequently does more harm 
than good. In view of these facts we devised 
the simple and effective implement shown in 
the engraving. 
The center piece is 6 by 8-inch oak, 8 feet 
long, and shaped as shown in the cut. Tho 
wings, or scrapers, are made of oak, or other 
tough wood; boards 10 inches wide. They are 
attached to the center-piece at the forward end 
by an inch bolt that passes through all three 
pieces. They are connected at the rear end 
by a strong cross-bar of hard-wood. Twelve 
or fifteen inches back of this bar the end of 
a lever is attached to the center-piece by an 
eye and staple. A short chain is fastened 
underneath the center of the cross-bar, with 
an eye-bolt passing through it. The chain is 
attached to the lever with a hook, and may 
be lengthened or shortened as required. 
The implement is drawn by two horses, one 
on each side of the ditch. A man stands on 
the center-piece, and handles the lever. If 
the ditch is narrow and deep, the rear ends 
of the wings or scrapers will naturally be 
forced upward to a considerable bight, and 
the lever chain should be lengthened accord¬ 
ingly. In wide, shallow ditches, the cross- 1 
bar will nearly rest on the center-piece, and 
the chain must be short. The scrapers are 
forced down hard by bearing on the lever. If 
the bottom of the ditch is hard, two men 
may ride on the implement. Long weeds 
catching on the forward end must be re¬ 
moved with a fork. A strap of iron is fast-1| 
ened across the forward ends of the scrapers 
where the bolt passes through, to prevent 
them from splitting. The horses may be kept 
the proper distance apart by means of a light 
pole fastened to the halter rings. The double- 1 
