Raising Chickens Artificially

The mexperienced undoubtedly wou?d say, " givo me the old hen ! " but my experience this season leads m to believo that chickons can be raised moro succcssfully, and with loss trouble, by excusing the hen, after she has hatched the ohiokens, and placing them in an Artificial Mother, which any one possesscd of a moderate degree of niechunical skill can arrange. I made a light box, two feot wido by three feet luiig ; covered the bottom with dry sand ; made a mat twelve inches by fifteen, by stitching tufts of candlewick to a pieoo of' canvas, then fastened it in one corner of the box, tbree inuhes from the bottom in front, and one and one hall' inches at the back end, making soveral gimlet holes at the sides and end for vontilation. Over the mat is a tight cover. The other end of tho box is covered with glass. Iuside this box tho chiekcms ai e safu from rats, cats and the weather, convenient to feed as often as necessary ; and there are no hons to tnunple on and piek uach others chickens. When the tirst brood is hatohed, I gave the hen anothor sitting of eggs ; my hens do quite as wcll tho second time as the lirst. During the earl y part of the seasou, say before the middle of April or first of May, somo extia heat is nicessary, whicb. is easily obtuintd by mcans of a sinall kerosene lamp, arranged undor a qaart eau filled with water, from which a coil of half inch copper pipe, one end entering side of the can nesr the bottom, and tho other end three inches above, was led through the " mother," thus securing a constant circulation of hot water, directly over the ehicks between the mat aud the cover, and a warm suug bed. With this " mother " I raised forty chickens the ftrst batch , losing but four, and somo of them weighed two and one-half pounds by tho middle of May. Some were Leghorns, which would mount the fenco and