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UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS

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ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION

AXD

INCUBATORS.

ILLUSTRATED.

-A. TK,B-A.TISE 03Sr

BAKING POULTRY BY ARTIFICIAL MEANS.

WITH

DESCRIPTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF EVERY

INCUBATOR OR HATCHING APPARATUS

"WORTHY OF NOTICE,

IN ANCIENT OR MODERN TIMES.

By A. M. HALSTED,

RYE, N. Y.

THIED EDITION

1884.

456. ^
H l(o

Dedicated to that most genial and whole-souled body of men —

The Poultry Fraternity.

By the Author

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1883, by A. M. Haibtbd, in the office
of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

Digitized by the Internet Arciiive

in 2010 witin funding from

Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries

http://www.arcliive.org/details/artificialincubaOOIials

CONTENTS.

tNTKODDCTION. ...,. o....c..oo... „,....<....oci.»' «

Ohapteb I. General Remarks c ^ . * . o ..o - ...• ^ • ^ •• • »

II. Artificial Incubation oc ..-o .>.... - 8

'* III. Management of Incubator _......-«. 14

■■■■ IV. The Egg... ..........o. ,.,... ........ 19

V. Care of the Eggs ........-.,.- .......38

VL Care of the Chicks 37

VII. Rearing Chickens to Adult Age. 44

'• VIII. Estimates of Costs and Profits 47

-'* IX. Egg Testers and Brooders and theit use. ............. 51

" X Incubators 60

' XL Houses, Yards, Location, etc. .... ... c.o ........... -1^

INTRODUCTION,

"WTien, nearly two years a^o, the necessity for a work like this
became apparent, and the author was asked by numerous friends
to prepare and publish one, it was with reluctance that he accepted
the task ; for, although he had had his share m snapmg, and con-
tributing to the poultry literature of the country for the past ten
years, he felt that to undertake a v/ork such as vras needed and
demanded by the fanciers of the country required no small amoimt
of study and research, and he doubted his ability to complete it
in as thorough and comprehensive a manner as he knew it should
foe done.

t The assurances of friends, however, and the seeming success of
other v/riters, who, he felt assured, had not a tithe of the ex-
perience which necessity had compelled him to acquire, has en-
couraged him to persevere in the completion of the work. As
first contemplated, he did not intend it should be over half the
number of pages, but the subject grew on his hands, Incubators
multiplied in numbers, and were he to mention all inventions of
this natiire winch have received recognition at the U. S. Patent
Office, he would ho obhged to add another score to the number
already described.

In gathering information, he wishes to acknowledge indebted-
ness to Balfour's Embryology, to Wright's Practical Poultry Keep-
er, and also to the columns of the various poultry papers.

That there may be no misunderstanding regarding the notices
of Incubators v/hich appear in Chapter X, he would state here
that every manufacturer, whose address was known, was notified
by letter of his intention to devote a chapter to such notices, and
given an opportunity to write what he wushed to have said about
■ his invention. Less than half a dozen accepted or rephed •, their
commii.nications appear in their own words, and over their own
signatures and addresses. All information regarding other ma-
chines has been compiled from such sources as were available ; in

rNTRODtrCTION.

some cases he had personal knowledge of the machines, and of
their strong and weak points ; in others the information has been
derived from circulars and books, and, in some few instances,
from verbal communications from those who had used the Incu-
bators. Of course, under such oircumstances, the inventor's
name should not, and does not, appear.

His object has been not to compile a collection of circulars and
advertisements, but to make the work as complete as possible,
that it may be a book of reference to searchers after knowledge
on this subject, and a medium of instruction to those who wish
to try hatching and rearing poultry by artificial means.

If he has succeeded in this effort, of which his readers must be
the judges, he is conteuo.

A. M. Halsted.
Eye, N, Y., July 1st, 1880.

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

The success attending the First Edition, and the very com-
plimentary notices received from its readers in all parts of the
country, encourage the author to revise and enlarge the work,
before presenting the Second Edition to the public.

This be has done by adding a number of pages to several of
the chapters, entering more fully into the details of the subjects.
The chapter on Incubators also has been enlarged by the illus-
tration and description of a number of Machines, which have
been brought before the public since the issue of the last edition.
A new chapter is added to the work, in response to numerous
requests for such information, treating of Houses, Yards, Loca-
tion, etc., and giving illustrations pertainiug to the subject.

Again submitting his work to an appreciative public, he
awaits their verdict.

A. M. HALSTEDc

Eye, "N". Y., May 1st, 1883.

ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION AND INCUBATORS.

CHAPTER I.
General Remarks.

It appears to be a prevalent idea that while poultry in small
flocks will pay a good profit to the keeper, in larger numbers the
losses more than counterbalance the gains.

This opinion is well supported by facts, for the record of fail-
ures in the attempts to raise and market poultry in large numbers
— in other words, to make a business of it — are numerous, while
the instances of success are very rare.

Yet, that it can be made successful is beyond a doubt. In near-
ly every case of failure which the writer has investigated, there
has been found, first, no practical acquaintance with the business ;
and second, it has been made a secondary matter : some other oc-
cupation or employment occupying the most of the thoughts and
time of the owner, the poultry business being expected to run
itself, and requiring only a casual supervision of the attendant
morning and night. As well might one expect to transact a bank-
ing business or any other mercantile pursuit, and be absent from
his office 0*" store three-fourths of the time.

The largest enterprises often have their origin in very small be-
ginnings ; the projectors of such know and appreciate the folly of
attempting to conduct any large business upon the same capital
and with the same clerical help as in its incipient stages ; yet the
majority of those who go into the poultry business appear to think
that it is an exceptional occupation, requiring nothing but some
houses, some fowls, some feed, and a boy or man to supply the one
to the other. Herein is the fatal mistake. Apply the same capi-
tal, the same business tact and enterprise, give it one's whole time
and attention, and success is quite as certain as in any other
pursuit. The same watchfulness and attention to business is as

ECONOMY.

requfeite here as in the dry goods or grocery trade. Supplies must
be purchased when and where is most economical, taking every
advantage of the market. It is poor policy to buy any article
that can be produced on the place at a less cost ; and vice versa, it
shows lack of business tact to raise corn, grain, or anything else,
which can be purchased cheaper in the market. So, also, regard-
ing investments in buildings, stock, etc. If a house costing one
hundred doUars will answer the purpose intended, and can be
built for that sum in a substantial manner, every doUar expended
above that amount is virtually wasted.

Another view, however, may be taken of this subject; houses
may be made so cheaply that constant repairing and, in fact, al-
most rebuilding, wiU be necessary every year. This is as unwise
an investment as the former, and equally to be condemned.

In the purchase of stock, also, economy may be carried too far.
A lot of fowls, averaging three or four pounds each, costing fifty
cents apiece, will be very dear breeding stock if selected in prefer-
ence to others of twice that weight, and costing double the price.
The first will dwarf their progeny, while the last will produce
their like ; in a season's breeding, where a thousand or more chick-
ens are raised, the difference in the profits would be an item of no
small amount.

Taking only one thousand chickens as the amount produced,
and allowing a difference of but two pounds each in gain for the
large fowls over the smaller ones, we have an increase of two
thousand pounds of marketable flesh, which, at ten cents per
pound, is an item of two hundred dollars to the profit side of the
account.

The smaU profits must be closely looked after. The droppings
carefully saved and sold, or used on the land. The sale of feath-
ers in a large establishment make quite an item. The saving of
food by the use of improved feeding utensils, and the saving of
time by using, as far as economical, labor saving tools and con-
veniences about the houses and yards. It is by attention to the
smaU minutiae of any business that success is assured. "Take
care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves."

Help enough must be kept to ensure the necessary care of the
stock, but at the same time the work may be so systematized that
three pair of hands can do the work which heretofore has required
four.

The arrangement of the buildings and their location are ot con-
siderable importance ; all necessary conveniences should be added
to facilitate the work. The feeding system so arranged as to re-
quire the least possible time in the distribution of food. The fat^

MARKETING. 7

tening arrangements constructed on the most approved plans, con-
sistent with the available capital of the builder; the saving of time
and feed will be found an item of much importance.

Marketing is another point to be considered, where it is pro-
posed to raise poultry for sale. The distance to a good market,
and the cost of bending the products there, will sometimes absorb
so large a share of the profits, that the business is practically un-
profitable. It is not only necessary that there be a good market
within reach, but the marketing facilities — (i.e.) the means of
reaching the place quickly and frequently, and at a moderate ex«
pense, be also assured.

Boat routes are always the cheapest^ but they have the disad-
vantage of being uncertain in stormy weather, and frequently
discontinued during the winter and early spring. Therefore,
when a place is selected on such a route, it is necessary also, to
be within teaming distance of a railroad, that the market may
not be shut off, during part of the year.

In marketing Broilers, a near market is almost a necessity ; for
to get the best returns, they should be sent in dressed ; this can-
not be done over a long route during the warm weather, at which
time they bring the best price.

Finally, the sanitary measures must be of the best, and no re-
laxation of.vigilance permitted in following up the enforcemeiit of
cleanliness, both in the buildings and the feeding and drinking
vessels.

The houses and coops should be frequently cleaned and swept,
and a liberal use of whitewash made at least twice during the
season. If a little crude carbolic acid be dissolved with the wash,
it will add very much to the healthfulness of the fowls. Drain-
age must be looked after, as a wet or damp poultry house and
runs begets cholera and roup in old fowls, and rheumatism and
disease in chickens.

In all departments of the enterprise, thoroughness is of th»
greatest importance. Have a complete system about the work
and its execution, and see that it is fully carried out : do not be
satisfied with any make-shift, but let the motto be, *'weU done ia
twice done."

CHAPTP^Il il.
Artificial Incubation.

It is but a few yeare since that tlie idea of hatching eggs by
other than natural means was scoffed at as the visionary notion
of some over-sanguine inventor.

That it liad been done, and was still a matter of actual every-
day business in Egypt and some other warm countries, was well
known: biit there the operation was conducted so secretly that
none but the regular attendants knew anything of the process.

" Eccaleobions ", "Potolokians", and "Incubators" have been
made and used with varying success in this country for about
forty years: and in England and France for double that period.
But until within the past three years, they have never given suf-
ficiently successful results in the hands of any but their inventoi's
to become of any use to the community at large.

Artificial Incubation, in theory, is one of the simplest thingsmi-
aginable. All that is necessary is to keep the eggs at the proper
temperature during the time necessary to bring forth the chickens.

In practice, however, that very necessary evenness of heat is
found to be impossible, unless one of two expedients be employed.
One of these is to sit by the apparatus and watch it constantly;
and the other is to employ some mechanical device to make the
machine control its ovm heat — in other words, to be automatic or
self-regulating.

The positive necessity of this is obvious to every one who has
9,ttempted to hatch chickens artificially : for no matter how nicely
a machine may work in a room of even temperature, when sub-
jected to a variable temperature, it cannot retain the same heat.

If, to use an Incubator v/ithout any regulating apparatus, it is
necessary to have an evenly heated room, why purchase any ma-
chine at all? A tank of water with a lamp under one end, and a
shallow tray of eggs under the other, will answer every purpose.
If the heat of the room is kept uniform, and the flame of the lamp
of even height, the heat generated by and radiated from the tank

APPLICATION OF MOISTUEE. 9

of water will also be regiilar and even ; but if the temperature of
the room varies, the tank of water will vary with it.

As well attempt to run a steam engine without a governor as an
Incubator without a regulator.

Another practical drawback in Artificial Incubation is the ques-
tion of moisture.

How much, and how supplied ? Theories are of no avail here.
Practical experiment alone can determine the matter. Theory
gives a probable reason for its necessity, but does not supply the
want.

The first step the writer took in this direction was to test the
question of evaporation of moisture from the egg while under
artificial heat. I placed fresh eggs, selecting those of equal weight,
in the Incubator, and under hens: the former were subjected to
a dry heat. At the end of three days there was a discernable
difference, and at seven days a very marked variation in their
weights, while at fifteen days there was over half an ounce dif-
ference.

Now, to apply the theory : an egg, after having been under a hen
a few days, will be observed to have a polished appearance, as if
oiled and rubbed. There is probably some oily secretion on the
feathers of the fowl which, with her action in moving the eggs,
produces this appearance. This coating, slight as it is, suffices to
prevent rapid evaporation, and yet does not clog the pores of the
shell.

Eggs placed in the Incubator always retain the same fresh ap-
pearance, and the evaporation is much more rapid; hence the
necessity of supplying moisture artificially to keep the egg in as
natural condition as possible. The effect of this evaporation is to
harden and toughen the white membraneous lining of the shell so
that when the time comes for the chicken to hatch, he cannot pick
his way through, and he is as hopelessly immured as if locked in
a sheet iron box.

The artificial application of moisture has been made in a num-
ber of ways : by sprinkling, which is the mode usually employed ;
by charging the air with moisture from pans or trays of water
placed in the egg chamber ; by heated pipes, which vaporize tanks
of water through which they pass, and by keeping flannels or
other substances saturated with water under the eggs. The first
two are the only safe methods, as the others are liable to rot the
eggs.

Next, and equally important, is the subject of ventilation. The
writer was among the first, if not the very first, ivho publicly
irtated that ventilation was imperatively necessary in the egg

10 APPLICATION OF HEAT.

chamber. A tightly closed drawer or tray, such as was first used,
was always productive of bad odors. The exhalation from the eggs,
which was largely of carbonic acid gas, always sank to the bottom
of the egg drawer, and was fatal to the life of the chicks.

Experiment soon decided that a certain amount of ventilation
was necessary to carry off this gas, as well as to cool the eggs,
should the drawer get too hot ; but also that more than a certain
amount was unnecessary, and a waste of heating power.

Then arose the question of the proper heat and how to apply it.

In natural incubation the heat is supplied from above. This is
the case in all kinds of eggs. The birds' nests are of twigs and
grasses, allowing free passage of air under the eggs. Even the
reptiles' eggs — alligators and turtles — lying in the sand, receive
the sun heat on top; and the hen that makes her nest in the
thicket, or under the brush heap, usually brings out a larger and
stronger brood of chicks than one which has her nest in the most
costly poultry house.

Nearly all the early efforts at Artificial Incubation were made
on the principle of surrounding the eggs by heat. Reaumur, one
hundred years ago, tried the process with horse manure, and
achieved a partial success only. Other machines constructed on
this principle resulted in virtual failures, and one after another
dropped out of sight. In fact, it has been proved over and over
again that eggs subjected to a uniform heat above, below, and
around them, will not hatch any satisfactory percentage.

Other efforts were made with currents of hot-air, generated by
lamps or stoves ; these, too, were only partial successes. Heated air
cannot be made to diffuse itself from any given point, laterally and
evenly over any surface. To effect this, the hea,t must be generated
and communicated to the eggs by some other medium, one which
wiU give a uniform, steady, even temperature over all parts of any
desired surface. Water seems to be the only available agency, and
the most easily controlled. Confined in a vessel of suitable shape,
and caused to circvilate by peculiar modes of construction, it has
been found to give what is required, viz ■ a moist, regular heat,
applied from above, evenly distributed, and equally over aU parts
of the desired surface.

As is well known to most breeders, the germ, or life principle of
the egg, always fioats on the top. Under the influence of the heat
apphed from above, the arteries and veins expand and extend, fol-
lowing the mside of the white until they reach completely around.
and ench-cle the yolk. The extremities of these veins are very fine?'
and dehcate. Nature, in her wise provision for the best develop-
ment of their growth, ensures the bottom of the egg, where these-

fEMPEKATUKE. , 11

fine reins are, being kept rather cooler than the top. The contact of
the body of the mother bird with her eggs, heating the top of the
eggs and keeping that portion several degrees warmer than the
bottom.

When, therefore, the heat is applied under or all around the
eggs, these fine veins, instead of growing, shrivel and dry up ; th *
yolk sack, instead of being absorbed by the growing chicken, dries*
fast to the shell, and about the fifteenth or sixteenth day the chick
dies. Some may reach the twentieth day, and a few may and
often will hatch out ; but the percentage is so very small that it
virtvially amounts to a failure.

The proper heat has been the subject of much debate on the part
of the various manufacturers of Incubators. The degree adopted
\arying from 90° to 106° degrees Fahrenheit. One French author
and mechanician placed it at 90°. An American experimenter, E.
Bayer, put it at 102° ; M. Cantelo of London at 106° ; M. Vallee of
France at 104°, and upwards. Later experimentalists seem to
have followed in the footsteps of their predecessors. One places
the degree required at 106° at first and gradually decreasing to
100°. Several at 104° and decreasing. My own custom has been
101°, increasing to 104°, and a considerable number of those Avho
at first tried the reverse system, have discarded it and now use
mine.

The great diversity of opinion on this subject fifteen or mora
years ago, necessitated the solving of the question by actual ex-
periment. I therefore had thermometers made of difi'erent shapes:
some with flat bulbs and curved stems to place between the wings
and the body; others with broad flat bowls to place under the
breast of the hen ; others again to test the internal heat, and still
others to get the heat between and under the eggs. The result of
the experiments, covering a period of several weeks, and testing
above forty hens, was to establish an average heat of 103° for the
three weeks. This was the contact heat at top of the eggs ; the
heat at the center of eggs was about 101°, and the bottom, or
under the eggs, 98° ; and in one case, where the nest was on the
bare ground, as low as 94°.

I know that some writers state positively that the heat of the
hen is greatest at first, when the sitting fever commences. A Httle
thought will convince any unprejudiced person that this cannot be
so. When the hen first begins sitting, her breast is covered with
feathers, which are known to be a non conductor of heat : thes
interpose befr\veen the body and the eggs, and consequently lessc i
the heat. As the time goes on, these feathers come out, and by
the end of the three weeks the bare breast is on the eggs. Conse-

12 . SELECTION OF INCUBATOE.

quently the eggs get an increased heat as the time of incubation
passes on. Another thing to be taken into account, is that the hen
Bits closer towards the last of the time than she does at first. So
we have two reasons why the heat is greater at the close than at
the beginning.

There are now made over thirty different styles of Incubators,
some are patented, others are not : of this number there are prob-
ably half-a-do. ^.n that will do good work in the hands of any in-
telligent person : perhaps half-a-dozen more which their inventors
can hatch with, but with which the success of others would be ex-
ti'emely pi'oblematical ; and the remainder are not much better
than the tin pan with a lamp under one end and a tray of eggs
under the other. Some of them, in fact, being perfectly worthless
for the purpose, and only a fraudulent means of obtaining money
fi'om a class of people who always make cheapness their one crite-
rion of value.

In advising the fanciers which Incubator to buy, it is a little dif-
ficult, in our position as inventor and manufacturer, to be entirely
impartial ; still, we shall strive in these pages to allow the claims
of no one machine to be advanced in any Avay that may prove
detrimental to another.

In selecting an Incubator — which we take for granted every
breeder of any extent will be obliged to do within the next few
years — we should advise, first, send for circulars of the leading
sorts, those which you know^ are in successful operation. Examine
well their claims to superiority ; use your own cominon sense in
determining questions which are in dispute between rival manu-
facturers ; ascertain from older fanciers than yourself, which man-
ufacturer brings to his work the ripest judgment, and fiiUest expe-
rience. Find which kind will best suit your own special need, and
is best adapted to your building or room. Examine testimonials ;
we well know that many of these are sui^posed to be manufactured
for the occasion, but when you see the names of prominent fan-
ciers, known throughout the length and breadth of the land, ap-
pended to such, it is safe to believe that they are genuine. It is
only the unknown names, in out of the way places, that we are
apt to distrust.

Second, receive with the greatest caution all accounts of failures
and stories of the worthlessness of rival machines. The best
machines made will sometimes make failures, either wholly oj-
partially, from one cause or another; and he who uses the mis-
chances of a rival to bolster up his own reputation, or can find no
better mode of advertising his own goods, than by running down
those of his cotemporaries, had better be dealt with very cautious-
ly, or left wholly alone.

SECKET8. 13

Lastly, beware of ' ' secret processes". They are a fraud, patent to
every one who has ever made Artificial Incubation a study. We
shall give in these pages all the "secrets" that are necessary to full
and complete success.

The only "secrets" in the business are those said to be known
by the ancients, who, it was stated, possessed the means of deter-
mining in advance of incubation, whether or no the egg was im-
pregnated or fertile, and al«!o the «ex of the un-incubated embryo.
We very much doubt if either could or can be told. Tliere have
been many theories promulgated about it, but all have been tested
and found worthless.

The other so-called secrets of the Egyptians, in their practice of
artificial incubation, were simply "experience," gained by the
teachings of their predecessors and the necessities of their busi-
ness. The testing of the heat, and the proper amount of m(Msture
to be apphed, without a thermometer, being no more difficult
than the testing of the old-fashioned brick ovens by our grand-
mothers, before putting in a batch of bread.

CHAPTEE III.
Management of the Incubator.

This is a matter upon which it is difficult to go into particulars,
for the forms and kinds of machines vary so much, and the di-
rections for their care also differ so, that the advice applicable
to one may be wholly unsuited to another.

I can, therefore, only generalize, or else refer more particularly,
when necessary to enforce a certain idea, to the Incubator I have
had most to do with — the Centennial.

The old saw, " Many men of many minds", was never more ap-
plicable than in connection with this subject. Hardly any one but
has his special preference, or, perhaps we might say, adaptation to
some particular pursuit or business; and many are they who, with
a positive disrelish for his or her occupation, will be certain to make
a failure of it.

The man or woman who lacks tact for any special business, had
better (to use a solecism) give it up before commencing. And he
who has no taste for the pursuit of poultry breeding, or " knack "
in comprehending or managing machinery of any kind, should
never purchase an Incubator, with the expectation of making a
grand success with it. We meet such persons occasionally. They
make — from descriptions or drawings — a machine, (or, perhaps,
buy one), stai't it, and stock it with eggs, imagining that they
have done all that is necessary ; they await in delightful anticipa-
tion the expiration of the three weeks. It comes : possibly a few
weald y chicks make their appearance, but more often it is a total
failure. If blessed with more than the usual amount of patience
and perseverance, another trial is made, with a Kke result; and
the whole thing is given up in disgust, Ai'tificial Incubation
pronounced a failure, and Incubators a fraud.

We have in mind several instancep like the above, one of which
will bear reciting.

A fancier in a Westei-n State had purchased an Incubator. Soon
after receiving it, he wrote a very long letter, asking innumerable

KEQUISITES TO SUCCESS. 16

questions; some about matters with which it was to be supposed
every one who had ever kept poultry was thoroughly conversant;
others about the care of the Incubator, and which were already
answered in the fullest possible manner in the directions accom-
panying the machine. The opinion was at once formed that that
man had not the necessary "tact" to succeed with the Incubator.
In less than a month, another letter to the seller of the machine-
requested him to either take it back or find a customer for it. " It
would not work, could not be made to work, and was an outrage-
ous fraud on the breeders". A few weeks afterwards, another let-
ter stated that the machine had been sold at half price to a neigh-
bor, who was having splendid success. Purchaser number one
acknowledged he had been too hasty, had not had enough patience
(a rare acknowledgement from purchasers of Incubators), was
sorry he had sold it, and concluded the fault was entirely in his
not understanding how to manage the machine.

The truth was acknowledged in this case, he had neither the
knack or the patience necessary for success.

This ' ' knack" consists not merely in understanding the mechan-
ical apparatus, and the directions for the care of the machine, but
in fully appreciating the necessity of attending to every point
necessary to success and leaving no one of them undone. It is not
enough that a machine shall work with almost a perfect equality
of heat for the entire three weeks : there are other things needed,
and the neglect of any one of them, small as it may apparently
seem, may cost the loss of the entire clutch of eggs.

One of the first requisites is to have a room of comparatively
even temperature, in which to run the macliine. I say ' ' compar-
atively", for I hold that an Incubator which requires a room of
uniform temperature to ensure its successful operation, is but lit-
tle better than a pan of water with a lamp under one end and a
tray of eggs under the other. By comparative, I mean a temper-
ature with a variation of not over fifteen to twenty degrees during
twenty -four hours. Of course, no Incubator will work uniformly
in a varying temperature of twenty-five or thirty degrees, because
the heat necessary to keep up the temperature in a very cold room
Avill make it too hot when a room gets very warm : and vice versa,
the heat which is amply sufficient to keep eggs at the required de-
gree in a warm room, will not nearly do it in a very cold one. We
all know that a stove or furnace, used to heat any given space,
must be regulated according to the amount of heat needed ; and
that, with an out door temperature of zero, it takes double the
amount of coal that is consumed in moderate weather, to keep
the room or space comfortable. Without attention and an increase

16 KEGULAR ATTENTION.

of fire heat in extremely cold weather, the room cannot be kept
warm. If run with the same draft and same supply of eoal the
season through, the room will be too hot in moderate weather and
not warm enough in very cold weather.

The same philosophy that relates to the stove, applies with
equal force to the Incubator. No matter how much of a " self -
regulating " machine it may be, the supply of heat must be regu-
lated by hand, giving more or less as the temperature of the room
requires.

The use and benefit of a regulating attachment is in controlling
the temperature of the machine, from day to day during the tem-
porary absences of the operator. And that one which will do its
work under the greatest changes in temperature, and is the most
reliable under all circumstances, and yet simple enough to be
comprehended by every one, is the one that will be adopted by
the majority of those who use an Incubator.

No raatter how simple, or how compUcated the apparatus, it
must not be constantly fussed with. Do not put in any eggs until
the working of the machine is perfectly understood, and when
once comprehended, then expect it to take c^re of itself, without
frequent alterations.

Regularity in the necessary attention to the machine is import-
ant. The lamps had best be filled and trinmied daily, and that at
early evening, or even before it is dark, if it can be done conven-
iently. My own practice, when at home, is to fill and trim just be-
fore dark. Then leave the machine an hour or more ; retiu^ning,
examine the lamp to see that the flame is of the proper height ;
then take out the drawers, etc. ; regarding which, see ' ' care of
eggs". The directions must be carefully conned, and implicitly fol-
lowed. Water trays or pans cleaned and refilled weekly, or oftener,
if necessary. Tank and boiler kept full; aU soot, that may accu-
mulate, must be cleaned off daily. A very thin coatir.g of soot
will destroy half the heating power of the lamp, which is equiva-
lent to a consumption of twice the quantity of oU.

Where electricity is used, the battery must be watched, and
chemicals added when necessary ; do not wait until the battery
has weakened, but keep up its strength. The zincs must be
cleaned as directed, and worn out ones replaced. It is best to
clean the zincs and jars alternately ; i. e., not removing both cells at
same time ; thus the battery is kept more uniform in strength.

An Incubator rarely gets thoroughly heated through, and all its
parts in uniform working order, under two or three days ; hence
it is better, as a rule, not to put eggs into the machine until the
third or fourth day.

SUDDEK CHANGES. 17

All the mechanism should be kept free from dust and dirt:
heavy or gummy oils should not be used, they collect dust and
make the machinery work hard. Oil only where directions say,
and that with the best sewing machine or sperm oil. It is better
not to oil at all, than to use thick or gummy oils.

Should there happen a very cold snap of weather, and the means
of heating the Incubator not be adequate to keep up the temper-
ature, cover it with a heavy blanket — an old army blanket will
do — leaving only the ventilator and lamp uncovered. Should the
heat have gone down, draw off the water and refill with very hot
water. This wiU be found to be often necessary with some kinds
of Incubators.

Padding, or hanging pads or cushions of feathers, felt or cotton,
around the machine has been resorted to by some parties, and, it
is claimed, with much success. The machine is stated to burn
much less oil, to run more evenly and to be less subject to outside
changes of temperature.

For heating purposes, only a high grade oil should, be used.
Kerosene of 150° fire test will be found the most economical and is
perfectly safe. It is also much more free from smoke and from the
strong kerosene odor so much disliked by many persons. I cannot
give any special brand of oil, for it is sold ail over the U. S. under
different names. Ask for kerosene oil of 150° fire test. The ordi-
nary kerosene, such as is sold by country grocers, is about 110° to
115°. A cheaper oil of about 90° is frequently substituted. These
oils are the ones that so frequently cause the terrible explosions
and burning accidents of which we daily read. Oils of 150° will
not explode, and may be used with every assurance of safety.

When the season is over and the Incubator is to be laid up,
the water pans, tank and boiler should be emptied, draining all
the water off that will run. Then burn the lamp with a low flame
for several hours, leaving all the stoppers open, so as to dry out
the inside of the raachine. After this, put the Incubator away in
the attic or some dry room, until wanted again.

A frequent cause of trcHible is using a higher flame than neces-
sary. This causes the heat in the egg chamber to continue to rise
— sometimes one or more degrees — after the ventilator opens.
Only heat enough should be used to keep up the necessary temper-
ature ; all above that is wasted. It is much better to run the In-
cubator so that the opening and closing of the ventilator does not
occur more than two or three times daily, rather than every half
hour. Where these frequent changes take place, there is a waste
of heat, and consequently of oil.

" liis waste of heat is peculiar to machines without regulators —

IQ iOCA;BI0J!.r OF THEBMOMBTEK-

cheap machines, which depend on a very free circulation of air
through constantly open ventilators, as a prevention against over-
heating. The constant passing off of the heat necessitates a rapid
and steady generation of the heated air, which must add largely
to the consumption of oil.

With hot air machines, i. e., those which use the heat direct
from the lamp or stove, employing no intervening medium to re-
tain and distribute the heat, there must either be imperfect venti-
lation or a great waste of heat. If the ventilation is free, it re-
quires a large consumption of fuel to keep up the required temper-
ature. If the heat and fuel is economized, it must be done at the
expense of ventilation, and if the latter, the drawer soon becomes
foul and full of bad odors. At one of our large shows during the
winter of 1880, the pleasure of viewing a very successful exhibition
of hatching in a large glass machine, was almost counteracted by
the vile odors which came from the badly ventilated apparatus.
Very many visitors turned away in disgust, or viewed the ex-
Mbition beyond the smelling limit.

Very few, probably none of the many Incubators yet construct-
ed, have an absolutely uniform heat in and over all parts of the
egg drawer. The front part, that nearest the door, is usually the
coldest ; in some machines there being several degrees difference
between front and back. Yet it is here, in front, that the ther-
mometers are usually placed. It should be at the point where the
heat is highest, as it is there where all the danger is. Some
machines have a thermometer placed in the tank, giving the
temperature of the water : this is never reliable, as a dozen causes
may make the heat in the drawer vary greatly from that of the
water. Others have the thermometer made stationary — fastened
to the case of the machine : 'unless provided with a very long mer-
cury tube, it cannot give the actual heat ; it is too near the out-
-side of the machine.

In placing the thermometer, it should be where the heat strikes
the egg in the natural process. Select ^he warmest portion of the
drawer, and place the bowl of the thermometer as nearly as possi-
ble on a level with the top of the eggs. If it is laid on uhe eggs be
sure to have the stem or scale a little the highest — ^a very little
will do, but it should never be perfectly level or with the boAvl the
highest ; if so, the weight of the mercury more than counteracts
the cohesion of the metal, which is all there is to draw it into the
bulb as the temperature decreases, and the thermometer will most
likely show a higher temperature than actually exists, and also,
will not show any decrease in the heat of the drawer, if such
ihoidd occur.

CHAPTER IV.

The Egg.

Deeming that it is necessary to a full understanding of the
process of Artificial Incubation, I shall give as briefly as possible,
an account of the formation of the egg, and the mode and proba-
ble time of impregnation.

In the structure of the egg we have first the shell, -^hich is
sufficiently porous to allow the process of respiration. Next is the
shell-membrane, which is double, and composed of an outer thick

leathery membrane, (s. to. Fig. 1) and an inside thinner one (i. s.
m.) At the large, or "butt" end of the egg, between the shell and
the membrane, is the air-cell or air bubble (a. c. h.). In freshly
laid eggs this ^>aoe xS so thin as to be hardly discernible, it rapidly
increases in size, however, as the white of the egg shrinks from
evaporation.

20

THE EGG.

Next under the shell-membrane is the white of the egg or ' ' al-
bumen," as it is called (w.). This is formed of numerous thin
layers of fluid albumen, which alternate in consistency, these
f oi-m a network of elastic character, completely surrounding and
protecting the yellow yolk (y. y.), which comes next, and in turn
nearly encircles the white yolk (iv. y.) The yellow yolk is also f orm_
ed in several concentric layers, separated by very thin fluid lay-
ers of albumen. This white yolk has the appearance of a round
white spot of three-sixteenth to one-quarter inch diameter, con-
nected by a funnel-shaped opening with the upper and outer edge

of the yellow yolk,
which floats a small
one-quarter inch in
technically called
catricula (bl. Fig. 1).
men immediately
low yolk, forms, at
spirally twisted cord
of which are free and
the shell. The ac-
suspend the yolk as
rather to keep it in
weight and elastic-
the Clialazce. The
is closely encased in
called the vitelline
which at the top
passing around and
yolk. Examining
the naked eye, we
opaque white rin
tially transparent
die of which we see
shaped white spot.

on the surface of
Avhite disc about
diameter; this is
the blastoderm or ci-
The layer of albu-
surrounding the yel-
each extremity a
(c7iZ.) , the outer ends
do not quite reach
tion of these is not to
many think, but
position by their
ity. They are called
entire yellow yolk
a thin elastic sac,
membrane {v. t.),
doubles downward,
under the white
the blastoderm with
can distinn:uish an
surrounding a par-
centre, in the mid-
a small irregular

Fig. 2 — The Oviduct. This is the spot at
which impregnation takes place. This disc is known as the germ-
inal disc, and the white spot as the germinal siDot. In an unim-
pregnated egg the disc is marked with numerous irregular clear
spots.

Before going further, it is necessary to speak of the formation
of the egg, during its passage through the oviduct or egg-passage.
(See Fig. 2.)

This, in a hen of ordinary size, is nearly two feet in length. It is
placed directly undar the ovary — a ]3ortion of which is shown in

GEEMIKATION.

21

the cut — and as the yolks mature they break loose from their en-
closing membrane, called the ovisac, and are receiVeid' likto the
oviduct.

This latter, consists of four parts. 1st. The dilated proximal
Bxtremity of the ovary. 2d. A long tubular canal opening by a

narrow neck into
be called th@ uter-
passage which
uterus into the
the second portion
ceives its covering
the chalazse. In
above spoken of it
membrane, and in
the shell is form-
through the sec-
f rem three to four
through the tlaird
twelve to eighteen
tion occurs in the
ond) portion of the
matozoa is found
fluid which the
It is not quite cer-
iiation can occur
tion of the albu-
fact that sperma-
discovered in the
possible that they «'
through and reach
The blastoderm, as
ers the germinal '
glass; as incuba-
spreads like a thin J2*
the yolk, immedi-
telline membrane,
more of the yolk

the 3d, which may
US; and 4th, the
leads from the
cloaca. It is in
that the yolk re-
of albumen and
the narrow neck
receives its shell-
the third portion
ed. The passage
ond portion takes
hours, and that
portion from
hours. Impregna-
upper (first or sec-
oviduct. Thesper-
here, moving in a
passage contains,
tain that impreg-
after the deposi-
men, though the
tozoa have been

a albumen, makes it
can bore their way

— °^ the germinal disc,
we have seen, cov-
spot like a watch-
tion progresses it
circular sheet over
ately under the vi-
covering more and

-■■^H—jop

until it complete-
ly encloses it. In Fig. 3 we have a longitudinal section of the yolk
with the embryo already formed. This may be seen with a pow-
erful light, though not so perfect as it here appears, at the end of
the first day.

Fig. 4 shows a section at thirty-six hours, and fig. 5 at forty-
eight hours. In the latter the yolk sac (ys.) of the inner yolk is

22

GROWTH OF THE EMBRYO.

nearly absorbed into the alimentary canal (a^) and the embryo be-
gins to show quite distinctly.

Fig. 6 gives another view of the yolk (looking down) at the end
of the third day. This shows the heart (H.) in the centre of the
yolk, and the arteries radiating from it. By this time the yolk is
about one-half covered by the rapidly forming veins and arteries^
and the embryo may be seen through the shell of the egg with a

good egg-tester. If
shell is carefully
over the embryo,
tions of the heart
seen with the nak-
end of the fifth
completely en-
toderm. The em
curved shape ; the
appearance, look-
streaks on the end
pendages. By the
day, the heart,

a portion of the
removed, directly
the faint pulsa-
may be distinctly
ed eye. By the
day the yolk is
closed by the blas-
bryo appears in a
feet making their
ing like faint
of the leg-like ap-
end of the sixth
which was at first

Fig. 6.

a simple tube, attains almost its complete form, and its covering —
the pericardium — is first seen.

On the seventh day the crop and rudimentary intestines make
their appearance, the beak begins to develop, and if the shell is
broken, the first movement of the limbs is seen. A rocking
or pulsating movement of the whole embryo may be seen through

the shell, if held before
now becomes more fluid
sorption of the white.
day the embryo grows
beginning to form and
them. The embryo, at
taken from the shell,

a strong light. The yolk
owing to the rapid ab-
From this to the tenth
very rapidly ; the bones
flesh appearing on
the eleventh day, if
appears as shown at
teenth day the toe-nails
formation of the scales

Fig. 7. On the thir-
appear and also the ^^^- '^•

on the toes ; the feather-sacs have sufficiently developed to show
the color of the coming chick. The fifteenth day a change of
position takes place, the chick lying lengthwise in the shell ; pre-
vious to this, the embryo has lain as formed — crosswise ; the bill
opens and closes, and distinct motions of the wings and legs may
be seen. By the close of the sixteenth day the white of the egg has
entirely disappeared. The yolk-sack connected to the chick by the
umbilical cord lies loose between the body of the chick and the

/INAL DEVELOPMENT.

23

shell-membrane, until the nineteenth or twentieth day, when it is
drawn into the abdomen of the chick.

Fig. 8 shows the appearance of the chick on the nineteenth day
with the yolk-sack not fully absorbed. And Fig. 9, the chick as he

lies folded in the shell just previous to exclusion. About this stage
the chick pierces the membrane with his bill and begins to breath the
air contained in the air-cell. The development from this time is very
rapid. The blood ceases to flow through the outer membranes,
which shrivel and dry up, the egg-sack is entirely absorbed, and

the umbilial op-

The chick begins

shell of his pris-

makes for him-

In doing this he

shell; at first

hole, and from

around the shell

it yields to a

the loosened end Fig. 9.

a few moments, he gives one or two more vigorous kicks, which

clears hun from the shell, after leaving it in the condition shown at

Fig. 11, and he begins his active life. Here we will leave hum for

the present.

The fertility of the egg depends on a number of circumstances.
The number of hens allowed to each cock, the size and vigor of

ening closed,
pounding at the
on, and soon
self a way out.
turns in the
breaking a small
that cutting
(see Fig. 10) until
strong push, and
flies off: resting

24;

FERTILITY.

the male, the breed of fowls, and sometimes on the individual
bird.

With Leghorns, Hamburghs, Houdans, Games, and other small -
bodied birds, from twelve to twenty hens to one cock will usually
ensure fertile eggs ; while with Cochins, Brahmas, Dorkings, etc. ,
eight to ten should be the limit, and if kept in confinement, six
will be found a safer number. With Crevecoeurs, my experience
is that the males are deficient in virility. In the Asiatic classes
the size of the male may cause non-fertility
bird is clumsy, and
weight bears down
feats, or prevents
this connection

tioned a frequent
perienced by poul-
wliich, for want of
have termed "In-
tion." The cause of
able to determine.

An unusually large
so heavy that his
the hens, and de-
impregnation. In
may also be men-
cause of trouble ex-
try breeders, and
a better name, I
effective Fertiliza-
it I have been un-

We find it first shown in eggs which have
been under incubating heat for twenty-four to forty-eight hours ;
the germinal spot receives the impregnating spermatozoa, the
veins form, pulsations begin and cease, and life dies out. Other
eggs in the same nest, or side by side in the Incubator, progress,
and in due time hatch out strong and healthy chickens. This

ceasing of life not
the first twenty -four
but may happen on
days previous to the
chick from the shell.
day, at the tenth, the
while other eggs un-
m.ent in all respects,
It may be, and has

only occurs during
or forty-eight hours,
any of the twenty
exclusion of the
We find it at the fifth
twelfth, fifteenth,
der the same treat-
progress and hatch,
been charged, in the

Fig. 11.

case of artificial hatching, to lack of moisture ; too much moisture ;
too high a heat ; not enough heat ; bad ventilation ; and half a dozen
other assumed causes ; but if it occurs only in a few cases, and these
not in any certain part of the nest, or egg-drawer, but scattered in-
discruiiinately among the rest — if these few cases are caused by an
improp3r amount of heat or moisture, why not more? or all? If a
whole clutch is gone, then the trouble probably is with the incuba-
tion. But these scattering cases, occurring as they do under the
most favorable circumstances for the hatching of every fertile egg,
are seemingly chargeable to no other cavise than "Ineffective
Fertilization."

TIME OF IMPREGNATION. 25

Another matter, which may properly be considered here, is the
time and hniit of impregnation. Some fifteen years ago, I was
convinced by the result of a chance mes-alUance, that if hens of
one breed were allowed to run with the cocks of another their
value as breeding stock for pure bred fowls was destroyed. The
question has again and again formed a subject of discussion in
our poultry journals, and has led me to make a careful series of
experiments, the results of which I think of sufficient interest to
present here. They were enough to show me that my first posi-
tion was untenable, and again convince me that my first convic-
tion was wrong.

I give the experiments in the order they were made. First, the
time of impregnation. I took a Brown Leghorn pullet, which had
not yet laid, and penned her by herself. The first five eggs laid
were placed in the Incubator, and, as I anticipated, proved not fer-
tile. A cockerel, of same breed, was placed with her at night, af-
ter she had gone to roost. The next egg laid (the sixth) was non-
fertile, as was also the seventh. But the eighth, ninth, and
tenth were fertile, and all hatched. At this stage the cockerel was
taken out, and a Light Brahma cockerel, with heavy leg feather-
ing, was substituted. The next six eggs were put in the Incuba-
tor; the eleventh and twelfth hatched pure Brown Leghorns, the
thirteenth showed a little leg feathering, and the fourteenth, fif-
teenth, and sixteenth were all well feathered on the legs. Again
the cock was taken away, and the eggs placed daily in the Incu-
bator. The seventeenth proved non-fertile, the next four Avere
fertile, and showed the leg feathering heavily. Then three more,
with gradually decreasing leg feathers ; the twenty-fifth germin-
ated, but died at the fifth day, and the twenty -sixth to thirtieth
aU proved non-fertile.

I again took the same pullet and put a Brown Leghorn cock with
her. The first day she did not lay ; the second and third she did.
The fourth she missed again ; the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth
she laid. All these eggs were put in the machine, and all proved
fertile, except the one laid on the second day. I did not carry
them through to hatching. This would seem to indicate that if a
hen was laying at the time the cock had access to her, the third
egg laid subsequent to intercourse would be the offspring of such
male.

I tried the same experiment later, as to time of impregnation,
with a Brahma pullet, and in two trials had a result of fertility,
in the first case, of the second egg, which was laid on the fourth
day, and next in,the third egg, which was also laid on the fourth
day.

26 DUKATION OF IMPEEGNATION.

The next experiments I shall mention, were as to the limit oi
impregnation.

I took a laying hen from the yard, and penned her hy herself in
a grass run. The sixth egg, and from that on until the twentieth,
which was laid the twenty-second day after her separation from
the male bird, were placed in the Incubator. The sixth to eleventh
eggs proved fertile; all after that, barren. Two hens were next
taken from the yard, and put in same pen, and the eggs saved af-
ter the seventh day. Of these, one of every day's yield proved
fertile, and of the other, fertility ceased with the tenth egg after
separation from the cock. Still another trial of two hens resulted
in the sixth egg of one hen and all after that proving barren, and
those of the other, up to the twelfth, proving fertile.

I then selected a Brown Leghorn, a Light Brahma, a Houdan,
and a cross-bred hen ; after three changes of the cross-bred, I got
four different shades of color in the eggs. The Leghorn eggs
proved fertile to the ninth egg ; the Brahma to the fourth, the
Houdan to the thh-teenth, (the last two, however, dying at two
and five days), and the cross-bred to the sixth.

A Leghorn cockerel was then put with these four hens. The
second Leghorn egg — laid on the fourth day — was fertile, also the
first Brahma egg, laid on the fifth day, the third Houdan egg laid
on the tliird day, and the second cross-bred hen's egg, laid on the
second day.

This would give an average of fertility extending seven to eight
days after the separation of the hen from the cock ; but subse-
quent experiments lead me to think that it is not safe to rely on
more than five or six days, except with the non-setting varities — ■
Leghorns, Houdans, etc.

I know of one well authenticated instance of a Houdan hen's
eggs having been saved, and set for upwards of twenty days after
sale and removal of the male bird, and the eggs proved fertile up
to the twenty -fifth day.

The next experiment I give was virtually a continuation of the
first. The same Leghorn pullet, after having been with a Brahma
cockerel three days, was penned with a cockerel of her own kind.

The influence of the Brahma showed plainly in the first four
chicks, was not apparent with the sixth, but showing again
shghtly in the eighth. Six eggs after this, to the fourteenth, were
set, the twelfth and thirteenth only hatching, and both were with-
out any apparent cross of Brahma blood. A second experiment of
the same kind with a Houdan hen, crossed with a Leghorn cock-
erel, and then put with a Houdan cock, showed distinct marks of
the Leghorn comb to the sixth, and slight indication in seventh

DURATION OF EMPREGNATION".

27

and eighth egg hatched after removal of the Leghorn cock, I
conclude from this that the average influence of a mes-alUance
hetween birds of different breeds may be considered as commen-
cing with the third, and terminating with the seventh or eighth
eggs.

A Non-Freezing Water Fount.

CHAPTER Y.
Care of the Eggs.

Properly, this should commence with the laying of the eggSr
and I will start from as near that point as possible.

Many beginners in the poultry fancy seem to think that eggs in-
tended for sitting need a particular kind of treatment and manipu-
lation. While there is no doubt that careful handling and protec-
tion frequently greatly add to a successful result, still it by no
means follows that eggs will not hatch if subjected to rough treat-
ment and exposure to cold.

So far as the latter is concerned, I would much rather the eggs
be kept in a room where the temperature ranged from freezing
point to forty degrees Fah. , than in a place where the heat reached
as high a point as eighty degrees. Of the two extremes, I would
also prefer to trust the eggs to the lower ; by which I mean, that I
am convinced that any ordinary degree of cold— say ten degrees
below the freezing point— does not necessarily kill the vitality
of the egg, so long as the shell is not broken by the action of the
the frost; and, on the contrary, the vitality of the e^g is greatly
injured and decreased by exposure to a temperature of eighty
degrees, or thereabouts, for any considerable time.

Of course, I do not wish to b<? understood as recommending
either of these two extremes, but Avould choose a temperature of
about forty to fifty degrees as being the most suitable.

There seems to be no doubt but sudden, violent jarring will sever
the chalazoa in the interior of the egg, and thus destroy its vital-
ity; though eggs will stand the trembling, shaking motion of a
wagon or car, and give tho most satisfactory results in hatching.

The real care necessary is very little ; simply gather the eggs
daily, mark them plainly— variety and date— (washing them if
much soiled), and lay them away in a cool room. If intended for
use within two or three days, place them in a basket or
other receptacle. If it is necessary to keep them longer, it is best
to have flat boxes af about three or four inches in depth, in which

EFFECTS OF EXTREME TEMPERATURE.

29

place an inch or two of bran or sawdust — I prefer bran, — place the
eggs in this, large end down, as close as you can pack them. An
egg cabinet is a very convenient arrangement for storing eggs.
This may be made cheap and simple, or as elaborate as one's fancy
and pocket may dictate. Our illustration (Fig. 12) gives a very
plain representation how one may be constructed. Some persons
insist that the small end down is proper and XDreferable. My ex-
perience does not coincide with this method.

The theory is simple and easily understood. The air cell in the
largo end of the egg always enlarges wliile the egg is laid away.
If the butt end is up, the evaiDoration of moisture is greater, and
the pressure of air through the open pores at that end rapidly in-
creases the size of the bubble. If the butt end is put down, the
weight of the liquid contents of the egg, pressing down on the

bubble, hinder the
air and allow only
gradual increase
air cell. This can
taking two eggs
carefully mark-
air cell in each
them away, one
other butt down,
weeks compare
ped for hatching
packed this way.
only average-
shaped eggs; un-
uneven-shaped
infertile, or to produce malformed chickens.

The amount of cold and exposure eggs will bear without injury
during the term of incubation has created much diversity of
opinion.

From a comparison of records of experiments conducted by the
writer, and also from other data which I have compiled, I find
that the ratio of loss decreases very fast as the process of incu-
bation proceeds. Thus, when the eggs have been subjected to the
necessary heat for forty -eight hours, the danger from chilling or
overheating is vastly greater than at or after the fifteenth day.
Eggs that would be ruined by an exposure of four or six hours to
cold, or two or three hours temperature of 110° on the fourthj
day, wiU. remain uninjured through double that time and greater
heat or cold at the seventeenth day.

It frequently happens that a hen leaves her nest during the

entrance of the
a very slow and
in the sir:e of the
easily be tested by
of equal size, and
ing the rim of the
with ink: put
point down, the
At the end of two
them. Eggs sliip-
should always be
For sitting, use
sized, regular-
usually large and
ones are apt to be

30

KATIO OF LOSS.

early stages of incubation, and the eggs are perfectly cold when
discovered. The hen may sit with exemplary steadiness during
the rest of the time, but no eggs hatch. The same result may, and
probably will, follow at any time during the first ten days, while
during the last week an exposure of a whole day would, perhaps,
seriously affect only a small number of eggs'.

The same with an excess of heat; 108° is dangerous, and
110° almost sui-e death to life in the egg at any time during the
£rst week if continued for half an hour or more, while I have sub-
jected eggs to a heat of 115° on the seventeenth, and again to
120° on the eighteenth day, and yet hatched seventy-five per cent,
of the eggs thus exposed.

From this data I have deduced the following ratio of liability
of loss during the twenty-one days of incubation. By exposure to
cold, we mean such as would ensue from the hen quitting her

nest during
May. In-
or heat, of
being consid-
is always
Eggs under
twenty - four
" eight hours
be affected
if perfectly
four days,
about ninety

Ap ri 1 or
tense cold
coLirse, not
ered, as that
fatal to life:
heat for
to forty-
will usually
the same as
fresh; at
the loss is
five per cent;

Fig. 13.

at six days, ninety per cent. ; eight days, eighty-five per cent. ;
ten days, eighty per cent. ; twelve days, seventy-five per cent. ;
fourteen days, sixty per cent. ; sixteen days, fifty per cent. ; eigh-
teen days, twenty-five per cent. ; twenty days, ten per cent.

Of course this cannot be accepted (nor is intended) as a positive
table, applicable under all circumstances. The fertility of eggs
varies with different breeds and under different circumstances,
and while some are destroyed by very slight exposure, others will
stand an extreme degree of heat or cold.

We now come to the egg under process of incubation. During
the first three days it is best to turn them once daily ; twice will
do no hurt, but I am not certain that it is of any benefit. I have
left them unturned for the first three or four days, and had a hatch
of over seventy -five per cent. Sprinkling with luke-warm water once
daily is sufficient for the first ten days ; and for the first five days,
I believe, if the air in the egg chamber is well cnargea with mois-
ture, sprinkling w^ll not be necessary. It is after the absorption.

TESTING THE EGGS.

31

of the albumen that sprinkling, or some other form of application
of moisture to the egg, becomes positively necessary.

After the third or fourth day, the eggs must be turned twice
daily to obtain the most satisfactory results. About this period—
the third to fifth day— the eggs should be tested, and the barren
ones taken out and their places filled with fresh ones.

The accompanying illustration (Fig. 13) shows the appearance

of a barren ^.-==^^^^^^^^^ ®^^' ^^^^^^'
ed through ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. the egg-test-
er. Such ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^]^^^^ eggs do not
change their ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^S^p^ appearance,

cubation. ^^~~ T^^^^^^^^^^^^^ After the
eighth day ^^^^^gs=^^^^^^?^ the white, or

albumen, be- ^^'''''^^'^^^ZZZ::::^^^^^^^'^'^ comes wa-

tery, and the Fig. 14. yolk loses its

consistency; but a non- fertile egg will not become rotten by the
simple action of the ordinary incubating heat. If removed at two
or three days, it is not injured for cuhnary purposes; but if left
under heat a week or ten days the white and yolk will usually
run together if the egg be boiled. My practice is to save the bar-
ren eggs, taking them out at the first testing, and boil them for

chicks when
hatched.
shoAvs alive
four to five
through the
Figure 15 a
^. e. , one that
ated, but
tive f ertiiiza-
causes, has
these cases
germ, or

,the young
they are first
Figure 14
embryo at
days, as seen
tester ; and
dead one,
has germin-
from ineffec-
tion, or other
died. In

the dead Fig. 15.

dark spot, wUl often be found adhering to the side of the shell,
while in a live embryo the germinal disc will gradually rise to the
top as the shell is turned. In the live embryo the veins will be /
distinct, and, if the egg is white-shelled, the color of the blood
can be seen ; in a dead one, the veins are simjDly dark, irregular
lines, broken and clouded, the cloudiness shading into the vitelline
membrane.

32

LIVING AND DEAD EMBRYOS.

Those eggs which have germinated but died, should also be
removed. Therjo are the ones that become rotten, and are so
offensive.

This testing should be repeated about the tenth day, when the
living embryo will be seen through the shell, as represented at
Fig. 16. Holding the egg steadily the chick may be seen to move
in the shell — not suddenly, but more of a waving, or slow pulsa-

ting move-
appearance
embryo at
shown at
out distinct-
The final
be made at
teenth day,
time those
left in at the
al as doubt-
found to

ment. The
of the dead
this stage is
Fig. 17, with-
ness or form,
test should
about the fif -
at which
that were
previous tri-
ful will be
have under-

FiG. 16.

gone no change, and should be taken out. It is best to mark such
eggs as we are in doubt about, with an interrogation point (?).
They are then readily distinguished from those known to be fertile
and alive. By this time most of the embryo chicks will be feather-
ed, and will almost fill the shell, leaving a small, light space on
one side of the small end of the shell, as also the air ceil at the
large end.

day the en- .^^^^^^"^^^^^^^^fev tire shell is

opaque, ex- j^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^S^=k cept the air

side, and all ^'''^^^^^^^^^^^ else opaque,

in nine cases Fig. 17. out of ten the

chick will be found to be dead.

We also often find an egg at about the eighteenth day with the
air bubble occupying nearly one-third of the egg — the line between
the chick and the air cell being irregular but distinct. In such
cases the chick is either dead, or, from some cause, not as fully
matured as it should be. If hatched at all, it is usually deformed ;
but generally it dies in the shell.

TUENiNG THE EGGS,

33

In these illustrations, prepared expressly for this work, I have
given the general appearance of the egg as seen through the
egg tester. Variations are frequent, the air bubble sometimes
appearing to one side of the butt end ; but I have never yet found
a fertile egg with the air bu^Dble, at the first testing, in the posi-
tion shown in Fig. 19.

In turning the eggs it is well to change their positions in the

position FiGt. 18. through-

out the whole period of incubation some get too much heat
and others too little. I am speaking now of the general run
of Incubators. There are several makes that vary so little in
the tempei'ature in the egg drawer, that these remarks do not
necessarily apply to them, although the practice recommended,
can do no harm even with these. In changing their positions take'

under the •^^^- ^^- breast than

to those on the outside edges of the nest under her wings. Na-
ture, or instinct, teaches her to iwovo the eggs frequently, bring-
ing those from the outside into the center of tlie nest. If any
of my readers Avill watch a sitting hen from some point w;here
the hen cannot see him, he will find this jnovement made at in-
tiervals of every half hour or oftener.

34 spjsmKLiifG.

Mr. Wren, an English experimenter, tested this matter by mark-
ing the eggs. He says :

' ' I have examined the eggs under a sitting hen, and made the
following memoranda of the position of the eggs during a part of
one day. At 10.30 A. m., marked four eggs, and left them in the
center of the nest; at 1.30 p. m. three of the marked eggs were
moved to the outside. Marked three more, and left them in the
middle; at 2.45 P. M. the three marked last were moved to the
outside. Marked four more and left them in the middle ; at 4 p;
M. the four marked last were on the outside, and some of those
marked first were back again to the middle of the nest."

■ The well known habits of the ostrich corroborates this fact.
Her nest is made in a hollow in the ground, and the eggs, to the
number of eighteen to twenty-four, deposited in it. Both male
and female ostriches incubate, taking turns at the work. They sit
astride of the eggs, their legs on either side of the nest, and the
outer eggs are never changed in their places. The consequence
is that about from four to six eggs in the middle of the nest
hatch, and the remainder are addled. It was this large percent-
age of loss that led to the use of Incubators on the ostrich farms
of South Africa.

From the tenth day onward, the eggs should be sprinkled twice
daily. This may be done by the fingers, with a small wliisK-
broom, with a florist's rubber sprinkler, or by an "atomizer." I
use about one giU of water to a drawer of one hundred eggs.
It is best to apply the water when tlae eggs are first taken out of
the Incubator, leave them ten or fifteen minutes so that they may
absorb the water, after which turn them and replace them in the
machine.

If turned, then sprinkled, and put at once into the Incubator,
the heat of the egg chamber evaporates the water before the eggs
can absorb it.

It is during the first ten days that the greatest percentage of
loss usually occurs. A very variable heat, extremes of heat or
cold, or any prolonged term of either, will kill the embryo at this

. time, when the same exposure after the fifteenth day would prob-
ably have no bad result. A variation of three and four degrees is
not necessarily hurtful. If the air is moist, the eggs will bear an
even greater variation of temperature ; but if a dry air, it is gene-
rally injurious if allowed to get above 105° or 106°.

' It will be found that a heat of 101° to 102° is the safest for the
first week, gradually increasing to 104° at the close. If the eggs are
being placed in the macliine from time to time, a steady heat of
102^° to 103° will be found productive of the best results.

TESTS FOB LIFE. 35

Dead eggs will sometimes be overlooked and left in the machine ;
frequently, these may be detected by small drops of yellowish
fluid, or of frothy liquid exuding through the shell ; remove them
as soon as discovered, handling them very carefully. Do not
shake them or unpleasant results may follow.

About the eighteenth day I give the eggs a quick dip in warm water
— say about 95° to 100° Fah. This is repeated on the nineteenth,
twentieth, and twenty-first days, if the chicks are not coming out
quick and strong. A good, healthy lot of chicks will commence
pipX)ing the shell on the twentieth day, and sometimes on the
nineteenth, and by the commencement of the twenty -first, two-
thirds of the clutch will be out. If the hatch is delayed beyond
the twenty-first day they are apt to be weakly.

When the egg first shows the crack, or break, made by the im-
prisoned chick, it is a good plan to place it with butt end the high-
est ; this gives the chick a better chance to turn, and to get out
after cutting the shell all around. If the chick seems to be long
in breaking out, the shell membrane being dry and tough, he may
be helped. The best way to do this is to hold the egg with the
hand immersed in a pan or bowl of tepid water, leaving only the
bill of the chick, or the broken part of the shell, above the surface ;
then with the other hand carefully break the shell and pull off
the enclosing membrane. This can, with a little practice, be suc-
cessfuly accomplished in nearly every case.

It is sometmies desirable to know if the chicks are alive in the
shell, and the probability of their hatching. During the final
stages, the egg tester does not sdwsiys decide this point. Two other
tests are sometimes used — the water test and the glass test. The
first may be used with perfect safety on eggs that have been
under hens, but it is risky to try it on eggs that have been in the
Incubator, the pores of the sheU being so open tliat it takes but a
short time to absorb water enough to drown the chicks. The test
is to place the eggs in a pan of lukewarm water : those which sink
are unmistakeably dead, those that float on the side are rotten,
and those that have healthy, living chicks in them will soon bob
around in the water in a very amusing manner.

The glass test, while not so thorough as the water, is always
safe. It consists in placing the eggs on a pane of glass, lain flat a
table or stand. The live ones will usually show a trembling, vibrat-
ing motion, or perhaps roll along the glass. The disadvantage of tliis
test is that one cannot v/ith certainty tell the dead ones. I have
dropped one or two drops of cold water on an egg that had lain

36 THE GLASS TEST.

motionless on the glass for some seconds — which usually brings a
protest from the enclosed chick as the chill strikes him — but with-
out effect, and on breaking the shell found the chick alive, appa-
rently all right.

A not uncommon complaint from users of Incubators, is the
dying of the embryo at about the eighteenth day. The cause of
this is hard to determine. It may result from a lack of moisture ;
though when this is the cause, death will not usually ensue until
the twentieth or twenty-tirst day. In high altitudes, or any ele-
vated and very dry atmosphere, this is a frequent occurrence and
can only be obviated by a liberal sprinkling after the tenth day.

It is almost impossible to prescribe the exact amount of moist-
ure necessary to give the best results, because the amount varies
with the state of the outside atmosphere. It varies also with the
temperature; more moisture being requisite in warm weather
than in cold. Experience is perhaps the surest teacher in such
cases, and even experience is sometimes at fault.

"We sometimes have directly opposite results, under apparently
the same conditions and management. For instance, A and B,
each buy and use v.n Incubator of same pattern. The machines
work to perfection during the whole three weeks : On the twenty-
first day, A gets ninety per cent, of good healthy chicks, while
B gets fifteen or twenty per cent., and sixty or seventy per cent,
dead in the shell, at the eighteenth or twentieth day. Both have
"followed the directions for management to the letter," yet with
entirely different results. What caused B's failure ? Who can
say positively where his management was at fault. I have heard
of two such cases the present season. It might be ascribed to
lack of sufficient moisture; to too much moisture; too much
heat ; not enough heat, or a half-dozen other causes. If the di-
rections have been implicitly followed — and we have no means of
knowing that, for one person's interpretation of them may be,
and frequently is, totally different from anothers — then the fail-
ure can be ascribed to only one of two causes : either lack of vi-
tality, or unfavorable electrical condition of the atmosphere.

I am inclined to think that lack of vitality, or defective ferti-
lization, was in this case the cause of failure ; otherwise, why did
not the remaining seventy per cent, hatch as well as the twenty?
If seventy per cent, died in the shell from any mistake in man-
agement, Avhy not all ? Clearly, because some were more perfectly
fertilized than others, and having more vitality, lived through
the unfavorable stages and came out.

CHAPTER VI.

Care op the Chicks.

After the chicks are hatched, they may, in some machines, be
left several hours, or even a whole day, in the egg chamber. With
others it is necessary to remove them as soon as the feathers are
dry. The directions that go with the Incubator must be the
guide in this matter.

Either brooders or hens must be in readiness to take care of the
chicks. If brooders, there are three or four differen-t makes from
w-hich to make a selection. For indoor use, where there is no
trouble from rats, any of them will answer a very good purpose ;
for out-door use we recommend such as is represented by Fig. 20
{description of which will be found in a succeeding chapter.)

Fig. 20.

If hens are to be used to brood the chicks they should have
I)een kept sitting some days in advance ; Vi^hen the chicks are taken
from the Incubator, which should be at evening, they should be put
under her and allowed to remain all night. In the morning take
her off with the brood, and if she is quiet and gentle, more chicks
may be given her from the machine. In very cold weather I
should limit the number tb fifteen ; -in May she may have thirty
or forty and will take good care of them. Put her in a good, dry,
clean coop. Figs. 21 and 22 show a plain and cheap style which
most .breeders can make themselves. i

If anything more elaborate is desired, specimens are shown in
Fig's 23, 24 and 25, The last two are shown with wire runs attached.

38

THE FIRST PEED.

This is of great value where cats and rats show too great a hking'
for chickens, and may be used with great benefit until the chicka
are ten days to two weeks old.

With the brooder it is especially valuable, where they are placed
out doors, in keeping the young cliicks near home until they have
learned where to run for shelter and warmth. The runs 1 have in.
use are of different shape from that shown in the cut. They are
four feet long, two wide, and one high, made of three-quarter inch

mesh No. 18
ting, fast-
frame of
all galvan-
thing like
shown at
Another
run may be
wire net-
feet wide,
foot lengths

Fig. 21.

wire net-
ened to a.
band iron,
ized. Some-
t h e one
Fig. 25.
excellent
made of
ting t w o
cut into six
and tacked

to wooden frames, two by six feet ; an end piece two feet square
will be necessary if it is wished to cover the run. The same
frames may be made of quarter-inch round iron, the ends on one
side projecting four to six inches, and pointed so as to stick into
the ground and hold the frame in an upright position. Where the
wooden frames are used it will be necessary to tie them, or hold
them in place with hooks.
For the

t y - four
food need
the yolk-sac
sorbed by
ens just pre-
their exclu-
the shell, af-
the suste-

first twen-
h o u rs no
be given;
X> that was ab-
tlie chick-
V i o u s to
sion from,
fording all
nance re-

quired. For the next forty-eight hours give them the yolk of hard-
boiled eggs, crumbled or chopped fine ; stale bread, moistened in
milk is also good. Oat-meal, though rather too expensive for fre-
quent use, is one of the best kinds of food. It should be soaked in
water or milk before using. During this time they should be fed
httle and of ten— as often as every tAvo hours. Water may be given
' them in dishes that should be so protected that the chicks cannot
get into it. I say ' 'may be given, " for it is by no means necessary.
If wet food is vised I Avould as soonrefi-ain from giving water until

ANIMAL FOOD.

39

they are ten days or two weeks old. I have raised as good broods
without water as with it.

After the third day a variety of food may be used. That of which
I use most is coarse Indian meal and wheat bran, equal parts by
measure, thoroughly mixed and scalded, to which I add, if I can
get it, about one-eighth as much ground beef scraps. If the latter
is not to be had, I would throw in a gill of fine ground bone to

e V ery fifty chicks
can be had, give
week a feed of
sheep's, or swine's
fine. With the
which the liver
the meal and bran
it as soon as it
"dry scald," not
This meat food is
necessary early in

Fig. 23.

When neither
them, twice a
boiled beef's,
liver, chopped
hot broth in
was boiled, scald
mixture, and feed
cools. Make it a
mushy or pasty,
more particularly
the season before
earth-worms and

the chicks can get
snails. They need animal food of some kind, and in the absence
of worms, bugs, and insects, the ground scrap-cake is a most ex-
cellent substitute.

In giving mixed, or wet food, it is advisable to use feeding ves-
sels of some kind. The one represented at Fig. 26 is a good con-

several
be made
wires va-
width for
aged chic-
b o t torn
rim of top
of either
metal ; the
maybe
sections^
ting a pie

trivance ;
sizes may
with the
rying in
different
kens. The
and outer
maybe
wood or
feed cups
made in
like cut-
into quarters,
and water.

Our illustration represents alternate ones for feed
They are filled through the top, which lifts off.
For water, when it is given to the young chicks, we prefer the
simple apparatus shown at Fig. 27. It is home-made, and can be
made by anyone with a pair of tinner's snips and a couple of old
preserve cans. Cut off the bottom of one an inch and a half high ;
the other, as shown in engraving, cut three inches up, making the

40

MAGGOT PITS.

openings three-quarters of an inch wide for the first chicks. Af-
ter a week or ten days others will have to be made one inch wide ;
bend these ends in, or cut them off, and put together as shown in
the cut. Another style of water vessel is shown at Fig. 28, which
is also of tin or iron, with round holes one inch diameter cut in
before putting it together. A conical-shaped cover fits on top.
Stni another is shown at Fig. 29 : an inverted preserve can in a

fl. o w e r
with a few
or bits of
d e r the
two or
s h ap e d
aro u n d
Fig's 30
stone-ware

s au cer,
old nails
stone un-
edge, or
three a
notches
the edge,
and 31 are

by

Fig. 25.
drinking fountains, very highly recommended
many who have tried them. All these watering arrangements
should be placed in the shade, or protected in some way from the
hot rays of the sun ; and they should be cleaned out and refilled
regularly, morning and night.

To return to the food: — one very highly recommended is "hoe-
cake " — Indian -meal stirred into water, and then put into the oven

and baked,
up, and feed
as grain,
thrive most
upon it. The
have a sysr
plying ear-
chicks with
which in
tions, might
profit. They
the ground,
feet deep,
with bricks

Crumble it
it the same
Chickens
excellently
French
tem for sup-
ly hatched
animal food
some sec-
be used with
make pits in
about three
siding it up
or boards

Fig. 26.

(an unused hot-bed would answer). Into this they jDut six inches
of fresh horse manure, trampling it well down, and wetting it by
pouring in pails of water ; on this they place a layer of slaughter
house refuse — blood, scraps of meat, intestines, etc. — two or three
inches thick ; then another layer of manure, and again a layer of
refuse, until the pit is full ; it is then covered by a foot of manure,
and boards placed over that. In about three weeks time the pit
is alive with maggots, which ai-e fed to the chicks. Where much

GKEEN FOOD.

41

of this is desired, a succession of pits, ripening one after the
other, must be made.

At two weeks old, begin feeding cracked corn, wheat or buck-
wheat at night. Up to this time the chicks should be fed six or
seven times a day — every two or three hours ; after four weeks
old, three times a day will be suflBcient.

In addition to this ^gr^^'^^z^^^^:^ ' ' menu ", there may
be added, occasion- ll^^iiiiiilMirTT — Tilil ^^' ^^^^^ ^^ boiled
rice ; small potatoes, 1 HH^^^I ll foiled and mashed,

and mixed with a lit- iiiSlilfl^ 11^ ^^^ barley meal^

bread crumbs and IH i I iiili stale bread, steeped

in milk or water ; in ilHli f\m ^^^^^ ^^ *^® scraps

from the table t I ll i lll'^ should be saved and

given to them as UlfflmB^^^il^^^^^^^ soon as they are old

enough. On the ^IpiJlfflll wHM^ farm, where milk is

abundant, scald the ^B |||||ijl WMjt meal with the hot

whey of curded ^^SSilMillilil^^ milk, mixing the
curds in with it. FiG. 27. Into this a little red

pepper and powdered charcoal may occasionally be put. Vege-
table food should always be given at least every other day ; lettuce,
cabbage leaves chopped fine, a few carrots minced fine, onions also
choi^ped, may be mixed with ths scalded food, or given alone,
until a week before killing, when the latter should be discontinued.

Lettuce may be raised
' ' flats " by gardeners),
any sunny window, and
of reach of frost, can
artificial heat. Have
within their reach, and
old mortar, or broken
If near the seashore,
shells, throw them on
burn them ; then break
in the yards. The value

in shallow boxes (called
that can be started in
if placed at night out
be grown without any
plenty of fine gravel
also some lime rubbish,
oyster or clam shells,
get a few bushels of
a pile of brush and
them up and put them
of table scraps, as food
fowls, is rarely fully

for both old and young

estimated. If in the vicinity of a large hotel, the breeder would

be well repaid even in buying them and carting them home.

The success of Mr. Warren Leland in his poultry raising was
largely due to this supply of food. At that time he was one of the
proprietors of the Metropolitan Hotel in New York City ; all the
scraps from which, amounting to from fifteen to twenty barrels
weekly, were sent to his fann and fed to the j^oultry and hogs.

Dust baths are a necessity to the health of the chicks. Take
shallow boxes, and put into them three or four inches of fine road

4^

SHADE.

dust or fine sand, in which mix a few handf uls of ashes, or the
dust of tobacco leaves. Some recommend sulphur. It may be
used, but very sparingly. Air-slaked lime is much safer, and
nearly as effectual in killing or preventing vermin.

While chickens can be grown on a bare run, stiU, grass runs are
much better, and, if possible, they should have a few hours on the

sod every
supply of
of s ome
vised above
measure
lack of
in winter
spring has
it had best
ed, if one's
will admit

day. A good
green food
sort, as ad-
will in some
supply the
grass, and
and early
to ; but later
be provid-
facilities
it.

Fig. 39.

The bare ground, if many chicks are raised, wiU soon become con-
taminated. I advise turning it over frequently with a spade or
plow. If with the spade, a certain portion daily, or half the ]Dlot
semi- weekly. It is also a good practice to reserve a corner, and
sow oats, buckwheat, or clover on it (fencing it off from the rest
of the plot) and letting the chicks on it when a few inches high.

A very excellent prac-
in use in Chnton, Mass. ,
the yard with toma-
chicks into it just as
The vines furnish both
is highly relished. If
not well provided with
putting out low-grow-
and gooseberry bushes ;
will also thrive well in

tice, which I once saw
is to plant a portion of
toes, and turn the
the fruit is ripening,
shade and food which
the yards, or runs, are
shade trees, I advise
ing evergreens, currant
peach and plum trees
the poultry yard, and
fruit. A, quick shade
ing a low, rough trel-
such as morning-glorys.

bear yearly crops of
may be made by mak- Fig. 30.

lis, and training quick-growing vines
or gourds, over it. Rough, scraggy brush stuck into the ground
win soon be covered by these vines, and make an excellent pro-
tection from the hot suminer sun.

, Crowding mast be avoided. This is a stumbling-block upon
which many trip. It is not safe to put over seventy-five chicks
into one brood (or one partition), and it is much better to limit the
number to fifty. At three weeks old these should be reduced in
nuinber to thirty or thirty-five. It is safer to divide the brooder

CLEANLINESS.

4S

into two or three parts, and put twenty-five in each, than to have
them all together. During the day they may all enjoy the same
run, but at night they should be separated as above.

Be careful in the use of the brooder not to give too much heat.
The body heat of the hen is only 98°, and if the brooder is so ar-
ranged that the chicks can get their backs against the warm tank,
or pipes, they should not have more than that amount of warmth.
If the chickens come out in the morning, looking as if they had
passed through a sweat-bath, they have been kept too warm, and
it will not take many repetitions of it to decimate the brood.
The temperature of the^brooder where the chickens nestle is much
increased by the animal heat of the chicks themselves, and after

the brood is a
days old very
heat is neces-
quite cold
After the first
young chicks
heat beyond
Even during
is an unusually
season, the
be transferred
old to a sum-
Such a one as
and described
be found well

week or ten
little artificial
sary, except in
nights or days,
of May, the
really need no
the first week.
April, unless it
cold and wet
chickens may
at three weeks
mer brooder.
i s illustrated
at Fig. 33 will
suited for the

Fig. 31.

purpose ; or the brooder previously mentioned may be used with-
out the heating arrangement.

Cleanliness is imperative ; the brooders must be cleaned often,
and the bottoms covered with dry earth or sand. Dampness must
not be tolerated in the quarters assigned to the young broods ; it
will be fatal to success. Feed cups and water vessels must be kept
clean and sweet. Regularity in feeding inust be observed ; a glut
one day and a famine the next will soon bring disease. Never
over-feed ; give what will be eaten up clean and no more. Have
regular hours for feeding, and feed at such times. Vary the food
to suit the weather ; in cold, damp weather give more animal food
than in warm, dry days ; it is more nourishing. Do not allow any
portion of the work to be slighted. Remember, the better you at-
tend to them the better they will pay you. What is worth doing at
all is worth doing Avell ; and, finally, always keep in mind these
three requisites to success : Warmth, Cleanliness, and Regularity in
Feeding.

CHAPTER YII.
Rearing Chickens to Adult Age.

Thus far we have treated of the chickens as bemg raised to the
age of broilers — six weeks to two months old.

When carried beyond that age, either with a view for future
market or breeding stock, they should be given more liberty,
more range of run. No matter how rough the land, provided it
is not infested with minks, weasels, rats, and other poultry ene-
mies : a newly cleared piece of woodland makes an excellent run.

For summer accommodations I would advise the erection of low
sheds. These may be cheaply built, as follows : Set six posts into
the ground, making a parallelogram six to eight feet wide and

Fig. 32.
twelve long ; on the top of these posts, six feet from the ground,
spike a plate piece of 3x5 inch timber, all around. Three feet be-
low this, halve in another piece for the floor ; roof it over with
either tongued-and-grooved boards, or with rough pine boards laid
hke clapboards ; let the peak of the roof be three feet above the
plate ; floor it with common pine or spruce boards ; the sides and
ends may be of lath, placed one inch apart, or of wire cloth, two-
inch mesh. A door should be placed in either one or both ends,
with an inclined ladder from the ground for the birds to get up.
The roosts, or perches, sliould be on a level, two feet above the
floor. Whitewash the entire building inside and out. At night
the doors should be closed, and the ladders raised, and the chicks

FOOD AI^D WATER, 45

are then safe from all four-footed enemies. They may be left to
roost in such a shslj^er until the frosty nights of early November
in this latitude, and will be all the better for it.

To have them grow and thrive they must be continually em-
ployed. A handful of wheat or oats in a sheaf of straw scattered
over the ground will do them as much good as two "feeds of the
best ground corn when thrown down on a hard and bare run.
Chickens must never be allowed to mope or be idle ; they should
be kept continually exercised. Better let them be a little scantily
fed so that they will search for their food than to stuff them into
laziness. When nearly time to market them fattening foods
and methods may be used with good effect. You have then a
frame to build upon, and the food produces the wished for i^esults
in the shortest possible time.

Tincture of iron may now be given in the drinking water, or
else use jron kettles for the drinking vessels ; it helps the growth
of bone and feathers.

In feeding, pursue about the same system as recommended in
the preceding chapter, giving more whole grain though as the
birds get older.

The menu cannot be too much changed. Boiled vegetables with
the meal mixed up dryly makes excellent feeding stuff; bread
crusts and broken biscuits soaked in skim milk make chickens grow
wonderfully fast.

Green food is more important than most breeders acknowledge.
Unless they have unlimited supplies of grass or vegetable food I
should feed it to them often.

Lettuce leaves and lawn mowings, finely minced up and mixed
with some soft food, with a sprinkling of some tonic food, will
often induce chickens to eat when nothing else seems to tempt
them. Spiced foods and aromatic compounds I do not at all ad-
vise for young stock. I think they do more harm than good,
however usefiil they may be for stimulating in adult birds. Chick-
ens so fed seldom make fine specimens, but become matured when
they ought to be growing, and develop combs when the birds
ought to be making flesh and bone.

"Water, too, is a very important item to their well-being. Chick-
ens must have clean water, and they must have fresh water. I do
not mean that stale water would kill a chicken, but I firmly be-
lieve that water which stands from morning to morning does them
harm, Eain water which is allowed to stand in the water tub does'
them harm. Water which can be found by the chickens in stag-
nant puddles, or which drains from farmyards, does them harm,

46

FATTENING PENS.

and when you give either food or drink which is hurtful they can-
not thrive as they should.

In fattening and preparing for market a very different treat-
ment must be given.

To give them delicacy of flesh make their principal food, for a
week or ten days before killing, barley meal moistened with milk,
occasionally alternating with Indian meal scalded with either
water or milk. During this process the chicks had best be kept
confined in a darkened room. If the business is conducted on a
scale sufficiently large to warrant the expense, I should advise the
use of a fattening house, with apparatus for "cramming". This
process is better adapted to stock say six to eight months old, but
may be used with profit on broilers from the sixth to the eighth
week.

I have in use a stack of fattening pens which, built on a larger
scale, will be found very convenient. They are constructed under
a shed, against the back side, are in three tiers, ten in' each tier;
the apartments are each six inches wide, thirteen high and fourteen
deep. The floor of each projects four inches in front, forixiing a
shelf on Avhich to place the food and water cups. An open space,
four inches wide, is left at the back, through which the droppings
pass to a trough on the ground undernfeath, which should be sup-
plied with dry earth to absorb the moisture. Under the back part
of the bottom tier is placed an inclined shelf, which throws the
droppings forward into the trough. The front is formed of wire
rods, three to each pen, passing through holes bored in top and
bottom of pens.

Such pens ensure quietness, which is one of the essentials to
quick fattening. The pens are large enough for a fowl to stand up
or sit down, but not roomy enough for them to turn aroune or ex-
ercise. There is no fighting or restless exercise, and the fowls
gain more in one week in such quarters than in two as ordinarily
penned for fattening.

CHAPTER VIII.

EsTniATEs OF Costs and Profits.

In considering this occupation as a business, it will be necessary
to vary somewhat from our text, and introduce matters which, at
first sight, may seem foreign to our subject ; but without these
means of comparison we could not so plainly illustrate the benefit
and profits of the artificial method.

The only practical illustration of Artificial Incubation as a busi-
ness venture, which we have in this country, is that of Mr. Baker,
of New Jersey.

His establishment is without doiibt the largest in the world. It
was fitted up and completed more like the hobby of a rich merchant
than the ideas of a practical business man. Everything was built
and finished expensively ; woodwork all planed ; galvanized wire
netting dividing the runs; houses and runs fitted up like a gen-
tleman's poultry yard for breeding exhibition fowls, and for show-
ing to his wealthy visitors. The hatching house was most com-
pletely equipped with every convenience— heated by steam or hot
water, electrical communication with aU the egg drawers and the
hatcliing room ; and all seemingly regardless of economy in con-
struction. The entire place, consisting of hatching house, twenty-
five by fifty feet long, two stories and basement ; nursery — a dou-
ble-pitch glass house, one hundred and fifty feet long, and thirty
feet wide, fitted with stationary brooders and runs, each six by
twelve feet ; the second house for more advanced chickens, four
hundred and fifty feet long and twenty-four wide, with wire en-
closed and covered runs outside ; fattening and cramming house,
fitted with revolving fattening pens, holding about two thousand
fowls ; slaughtering house ; packing house ; ice house, and roosting
sheds, all said to cost in the neighborhood of eighty thousand
doUars,

When I visited the place, the capacity of the Incubators was
fifty-six hundred eggs. Allowing a result of four thousand chicks
from each hatching, and twelve and a half per cent, loss in rear-

48

MR. BAKER S ESTABLISHMENT.

ing, it gives a total of thirty-five hundred chicks every three
weeks, or fifty-nine thousand five hundred per year ; these at an
estimated average price of forty cents each will give a gross return
of twenty-three thousand, eight hundred dollars.

Against this, Ave have interest on investment, at six per cent,
forty-eight hundred dollars; taxes and repairs, two percent, more,
sixteen hundred dollars ; wages, six men, at five hundred dollars
each per year, three thousand dollars ; feed, five thousand dollars ;
coal, ice, etc., six hundred dollars, making a total of fifteen
thousand dollars, and leaving a profit of eight thousand, eight
hundred dollars for the year's operations.

I believe that the building and fixtures necessary to raise and
market that number of chickens may be constructed and fitted up

at less than
and probably
amount said to
pended above,
convenie n c e s
ing arrange-
have to be dis-
as the extra
would not
the interest of
I give the
trating what
even with the
of carrying
load of inter-

one-fourth,
one-filth, the
have been ex-
Some of the
and labor-sav-
ments might
pensed with,
labor involved
probably equal
investment,
above as illus-
may be done,
disadvantage
such a heavy
est. With a
proportionately

SELF-ACTING FEEDING HOPPER.

more moderate outlay, the profits would be
larger.

The average cost of hatcliing and raising a chicken by artificial
means to eight weeks old, is not over fifteen cents. At this age
it should weigh (if forced) from one and one-half to two pounds.

The cost of the next two months will be fully fifteen cents more,
while the weight will not gain over one pound. It follows, there-
fore, that the most of the profit comes from the first two months'
care and feeding. Broilers at that age, in New York, Philadelphia,
or Boston, will sell during April, May, and June, at from seventy-
five cents to one dollar per pair, and sometimes as high as one
dollar and fifty cents per pair early in the spring. At this rate
there is a large profit on the early-hatched broods; and prices
for good broilers (plump chickens under two pounds each) will
usually hold up to fifty and sixty cents per pair until October.

mCTJBATOKS VS. HENS.

49

During the late fall and winter months, an Eastern breeder
cannot hope to compete with the Western producer. Adult
fowls can be raised there and marketed here (during cold weather)
at much less figures than we at the East can do it. It is only by
improving the quahty of the birds marketed, and getting them
into market at an early age, that we can make a paying busi-
ness of it.

Bear in mind always that the profit on chickens is made by get-
ting them fit for market at the earliest possible age.

To do this, the breeder must avail himself of artificial means.
It is an absolute necessity to success that he employ Incubators
and brooders in connection with the natural method. I say "in
connection with," for I do not advise the nse of artificial means to
the entire exclusion of the natural. Taking, for instance, a busi-
ness in which it is proposed to keep five hundred hens. These, at
an average of one hundred and fifty eggs each, will give seventy-

five thousand per
hen to sit twice,
her nest. We have
thousand eggs, and
thousand which we
wise dispose of.
of two hundred eggs
could use all of this
a total of fifty-three
dred and fifty chick-
hen to hatch ten
twenty chicks in aU
and, making a total

FEEDING HOPPER,

year. Now, aUow a
thirteen eggs being
then used thirteen
have sixty-two
are obliged to other-
With six Incubators,
capacity each, we
surplus and produce^
thousand, five hun-
ens. Allowing each
^p chicks per sitting —
— we have ten thous-
of sixty-three thous.

and, five hundred and fifty. Now, the care of the six Incubators
need not take over two hours per day, while the proper care of
the hens, the necessary watching to see that they do not get ofi:
their nests, feeding, watering, cleaning the apartments and nests,
etc. , would take fully as much time, and, if only one hundred
hens were sitting at once, the time would extend through seven,
months, with a return of less than one-fifth that of the Incubators.
In this we have given the hens credit for about seventy-seven per
cent. , while the average hatch with the hens where large num-
bers are kept and set is not over sixty per cent. Figuring at this
latter percentage, we should get only seven thousand, eight hun-
dred chickens, against thirty-one thousand, two hundred and
thirty-seven which would be the equivalent for the Incubators for
the same length of time. The Incubator we have credited with a

50 BBOODEES VS. NATUEAL MOTHERS.

hatch of eighty -seven and one-half per cent., while ninety and
ninety-five per cent, are now frequent averages with the Incuba-
tor that the writer is using.

Returning to the natural method, we have five hundred hens,
each of which is expected to hatch two broods of chickens, one'
hundred of which are supposed to sit and hatch every three weeks.
Allow each hen to cover twenty chicks, we have fifty coops to pro-
vide every three weeks. Each hen will run with her brood four
weeks, and early in the spring the chicks must stay in the coop
until six weeks old. For winter raising, which must be done, a
house will have to be prepared, and the hens and coops kept in it.
This will necessitate the use of one hundred and fifty coops, which
at two dollars each will cost three hundred dollars. To this may
also be added the cost of the house. If portable brooders were
used, and the chicks taken from the hens as soon as hatched, and
put into them, it would require twenty -five (25) brooders, which
would cost three hundred and seventy-five dollars. These can be
be used in an open shed. The cost woidd be about equal in both
cases, while the labor in caring for them would be largely in favor
of the brooders, in that with the coops there would be one hun-
dred to be fed and shut up every night, against twenty-five of the
brooders. Then again, with every coop and old hen, there is as
much dirt and filth to be cleaned out every few days as there wUl
be in a brooder for a month -, the hen fouling the coop more in one
day than a brood of fifty chicks would in a week. In addition to
this gain, is that of the use of the hen for five or six weeks, during
which she may be made to produce twenty or twenty-five eggs.

But discarding the portable brooder, and using a house as sug-
gested above, the entire expense for the accommodation of the
chicks hatched by that number of hens need not exceed five hun-
di-ed dollars. The saving in labor alone, over the hen and coop
:System, would pay a large interest on the investment.

To go into it as extensively as the above-mentioned estimates
would necessitate, would preclude the use of hens and coops in
rearing , and the artificial method would have to be adopted; and
while the first expense would have to be comparatively large, it
would require a very small annual outlay to keep everything in
working order. The saving of chicks from casualties, from ne-
glect, by the hens pecking and tramping, has been found to more
than repay the outlay, even in small poultry establishments. In
large enterprises, the percentage of loss is always more, and this
saving would consequently be greater.

CHAPTER IX.

Egg-Testers and Brooders, and Their Use.

An egg-tester is almost indispensable to the breeder who hatches
hy artificial means. It may be the simplest construction imagina-
hie, or an expensive and complete apparatus.

Of the first, perhaps that described in Wright's Illustrated Booh
of Poultry is the most simple: " A plate of tin or zinc to shade
the light from the eyes, with an aperture cut in it the shape of the
egg. The egg is held to the aperture, with the light brought
closely to the othier side ".

Fig. 33.

Next, perhaps, in simplicity is that shown by Fig. 83, which
■was devised by the writer about four years ago. It is made of a
stifE piece of paper (dark color preferred), five inches long, six
inches wide at one end and four and one-quarter at the other.
This is rolled and joined together with a lap of half an inch, by
either paste or a needle and thread, as shown in the cut. With
this simple instrument the eggs can be examined at any time of
day, and under any ordinary light. Its use is like a telescope —
apply the smaller end to the eye, and hold the egg at or in the
larger.

An improvement on this has lately appeared. It consists of put-
ting a piece on the smaU end like the mouthpiece of a fireman's
trumpet, and fastening a piece of some flexible material over the
large end, with an egg-shaped hole in the middle. Instead of
paper, the tube h made of tin.

52

EGG— TESTERS.

Fig. 34 illustrates a simple arrangement which may be made out
of a small cigar box or a stiff paper box of simUar size. On the
bottom of the box place a piece of looking-glass of nearly or quite
that size ; renaove a strip from one end of the top, about an inch
wide, and replace it at an angle of forty-five degrees, as shown in
the engraving. Then cut one or more holes in the remaining por-
tion of the top, about one and a half inches in diameter. The en-
tire top (or else one end) should be loose, so as to get at the glass
when it becomes soiled or dusty. To use it, put the eggs over the
holes, and with the top of the box under a strong light, look into
the opening, shielding the eyes by the strip set at right angles.
The eggs will be reflected in the glass, and will appear clear or
clouded, as the case may be.

This last article is more particularly adapted to household pur-

poses for
eggs for
use. Bad
be imme-
tected by
an d re-
For test-
under in-
however,
t ical 1 y
as barren
can be
told by its

testing
culinary
eggs may
diately de-
its use,
j e cted.
ing eggs
cubation,
it is prac-
valueless,
eggs only
positively
use.

A more elaborate article is represented jii ' ' The Centennial Egg-
Tester " — Fig. 35. This is a tin or metal case, nine inches high and
six square, with a kerosene lamp inside, backed by a reflector ; a
tube of four or five inches long is opposite the reflector, on the
end of which is a flexible covering with an egg-shaped hole, against
which the egg is held. In a darkened room the interior of the egg
is very distinctly shown, and the life of the embryo may be traced
until the egg becomes quite opaque.

The "Utility Egg-Tester", Fig. 36, is another desirable style.
An ordinary policeman's or bull's-eye lantern is the formation of
the apparatus. A tube of several inches long is placed over the
lens, and another is telescoped over that, the latter having the
usual flexible cover and opening. By moving the outer tube in or
out the light may be f ocussed on the egg, and its interior made
very plain.

The outer slide being detachable, leaves the lantern free for use
about the house or place.

BE00DEK3 OB AKTIFICIAL MOTHERS.

53

Every fancier who has given it a thorough trial has arrived at
the same conclusion as ourself, that there is no way of raising
chickens so healthful and economically as by means of the Arti-
ficial Mother or Brooder.

This will, before many years, be regarded as an indispensable
attachment to every poultry yard. "With the fancier in a small
way, who can keep only a few hens, it will be popular, becaiise he
can take the chicks from the nest and place them in the mother,
and either re-set the hen, or turn her out, and in a week or so have
ber laying again. Another advantage is in the saving of coops.
The young chicks may be put into the mother as they are hatched,
not necessarily together, but at different times and of different
ages — one, two or three weeks apart.

The large breed-

an advantage in
and an additional
feed. Young
do better on a
the fowls. It may
feed hard boiled
day or two, or
ly expensive food,
with the chickens
fully one-half of
pared food. The
will find it of the
use ; in one season
value of several

Fig.

er also will find
this last respect,
one in the item of
chicks need, and
finer feed than
be de;sirable to
eggs for the first
fl some other equal-
Where the hen is
she usually eats
this specially pre-
breeder of G-ames
greatest possible
he would gain the
"mothers" in the

saving of many of his young chicks from being picked to death
by savage hens with broods of their own. How often many of us
have felt like wringing the neck of some cross biddy upon finding
her savagely picking (perhaps for the tenth time or more) the head
off of some unfortunate chick, belonging to another brood, which
liad strayed into her coop !

Cleanliness is another very important consideration. One hen
w^ill soil the coop more in one day than fifty chicks in a week, and
the droppings of the former always carries Avith it more or less
waste of food.

Quick growth is desirable in all breeds, and nothing promotes it
so much as warmth and freedom from vermin. The absence of
the hen secures the freedom from lice, if the chicks are greased
when taken from the nest, and if a warming attachment is used '
the chicks will huddle under the fleece during cool weather, re-
maining out only long enough to eat and drink.

64

BEOODEKS OR ARTIFICIAL MOTHERS.

We often see a hen with her brood of chicks standing aroun>
the coop, all drawn up with the cold, peeping and crying to be
brooded, while the old biddy is intent only on filling her crop, or
fretting at her confinement ; and when allowed to range, many is
the brood of chicks entirely lost by being dragged through the wet
grass in the early morn, until one after another drops off, wet and
chilled through.

Brooders, or Artificial Mothers, are not a recent invention.
Eeaumur, in 1777, used an "Artificial Hen" made of a box, one
end of which was provided with a sheepskin fastened on an in-
cline ; the box was covered with horse manure, leaving only one
end open for the entrance of the chickens ; a small portion of the
top next the open end was covered with glass, so as to give light
and air to the chickens.

About the commencement of the present century M. Bonnemain,
another Frenchman, devised an Artificial Mother, in which hot
water was used as the heating medium ; this was conveyed through

the "Mother" m
a V e ry little
the floor. Flan-
ed to them, so
a soft body for the
backs against. A
bonnier devised
which Figs. 37
trations. Eefer-
is a zinc tank or
water; B, the
the tank, and

four pipes, placed
above the level of
nels were attach-
fixed as to furnish
chicks to get their
little later M.Car-
an aparatus, of
and 38 are illus-
ring to the cut, A
case for warm
tube for filling
C, the flannel

nel (in this case a piece of sheepskin) under which the chickens
hover. The top of the case or box, in which the tank is placed, is
of glass, arranged to slide, so as to open at pleasure. Three holes
are provided on each side for ventilation, and a door at the end
to keep them in when desired. This was the pioneer of the
^^ Hydro Mothers ". The trouble of refilling the tank several times
daily with hot water was the principal objection to its use.

The Centennial Brooder, shown on page 37, Fig. 20, was invented
by the writer about twelve years ago, but was not made in its
present shape until a few years since. It consists of a tank and
boiler, the connecting pipes so arranged that the water is kept in
constant circulation. A small kerosene lamp heats the water in
the bofler. The tank is placed in an inclined position, with a fian-
nel cloth below it for the chicks to nestle under. The whole is en-
closed in a wooden box, with a glass cover over the front, and a

THE CENTENNIAL BEOODEE.

5&

metal one over the tank and lamp. Ventilation is provided on all
sides. The cost of using a Brooder of this style, accommodating
one himdred to one hundred and twenty -five chickens, is about
one-half cent per day for oil. It can be used in the open air, as
the chicks are perfectly protected by the glass and metal covering,
and the lamp so placed that the wind does not extinguish it. The
tank does not need to be refilled more than once or twice during
the season. It is manufactured by the writer at Eye, N. Y.

A somewhat similar affair is shown at Fig. 89 — the Graves Arti-
fiicial Mother. This was provided with a so-called self -regulating
attachment, intended to prevent the heat rising too high. For a

apparatus

while this
was fairly
but the reg-
ting quick-
der, it was
aside. The
Brooder " is
invention,
the invent-
the only

siiccessful,
ulator get-
ly out of or-
soon laid
"Perfect
another late
for which
or claims
perfect imi-

FiG. 37.

tation of the hen nestling her brood. It is a long, low box, with
glass doors on top — a miniature hot-bed frame, in fact. Eunning
lengthways, inside the box, are several iron pipes, through which
a circulation of warm water is kept up by means of a small boil-

er at one
by a kero-
Under the
usual brood-
This appar-
i n gl y an
of Bonne-
ficial Moth-

^-^2—S^

M.^...

Fig. 38.

end, heated
sene lamp.
pilDe is the
ing cloth.
atus is seem-
adaptation
main's Arti-
er.

The Eclipse Artificial Mother, manufactured at Waltham, Mass.,
is another invention for the same purpose, and is shown at
Fig. 40.

The manufacturer says of it : "A full description of our Arti-
ficial Mother is unnecessary, as the cut above shows exactly what
it is. They are even of raore importance to a large breeder than
an Incubator, for by using them a much larger per cent, of chicks
can be raised.

" The essentials in an artificial mother or brooder are: First, a
provision for furnishing the proper heat above the chickens ; sec-
ond, a good method of ventilation ; third, a perfect freedom from

56

THE ECLIPSE ARTIFICIAL MOTHER.

harboring-places for vermin, and a simple arrangement of attach-
ment hj which the fleece or woolen lining may be removed and
cleansed readily at any time.

' ' The Eclipse Artificial Mother nxeets all these requirements ; and
.it is the simplest, most portable, easiest managed machine of any,
for this use, that we have seen. The heat maybe supplied or
withdrawn at any time, and its form is such that chickens brood
in it with perfect immunity from the stifling and crowding which
is the bane of many artificial mothers ".

Among f or-
ions in this
Reaumur's

eign invent-
line we have
hot air brood-
ing appara- l|||l|li||||||l jmBMi^^^^^^^ tus, illustrat-
ed by Fig. 41. ^^^^^L^^uj,^;:!:^^;^^^^^^^^'^''^^'^" This consists
ofa small " "^fcv'^'^ s<:. stove, heated
by an oil or ¥iG. 39. spirit lamp,
the heat being caused to radiate under a sheepskin before escap-
ing ; a circular rim covered with glass surrounded the heating at-
tachment, and outside of this were placed long, movable boxes,
which could be covered with wire or left open on top. It answered
a, very good purpose, but was too expensive for general use.

Fig. 40.
Mrs. Frank Cheshire's Artificial IMother is shown by Figs. 42,
43 and 44, the first being a front view, showing the curtain, which
is made of narrow pieces of woolen or flannel. S, Fig. 43, is the lamp
which burns naptha through a long tube inserted into an arched
chamber of the tank, the flame of which is shown at E, Fig. 44.
A B, Fig. 44, is the tank, filled with water, over which is a cover-
ing of wood, felt, or other substance. KK shows side views of
the brooding cloth, hanging in strips like the curtain in Fig. 43.
This brooder is very highly commended by English fanciers.

CHEISTY S KYDKO MOTHEB.

57

Christy's Hydro Eearing Mother, iUustrated by Fig. 45, is the
latest EngHsh invention, in this Hne. In principle it is similar to
the invention of M. Carbonnier, the heating part being a large
metal tank, which is to be filled twice daily, or as often as neces-
sary, with hot water. Under the tank the chickens nestle, pro-
tected on the outside by curtains of flannel cloth. An enclosed
run surrounds the ' ' mother " proper, of sufficient height to keep

Fig. 41.
the chicks within bounds. This is provided with sliding doors, to
allow them exit. The tank is filled through the pipe C, and the
cold water drawn off through the faucet at B.
These comprise aboiit all the brooders worthy of special men-

ikMM

d.

Fig. 42.
tion. There are a few other kinds, but so little different from
those already described that they need not be illustrated.

The value and benefit of the Brooder to the fancier and breeder
is aptly described by Mr. L. Wright, in these words :

' ' First, great economy of hens, as immediately after hatching
they may have a second lot of eggs given to them, or be at once
returned to the breeding house ; in which case the first eggs laid

58

ADVANTAGES IN USE OF BROODERS.

win be fertile, while, if a hen brings up her chicks, she passes three
weeks at least with them before laying, and her eggs are valueless
for hatching until four or five days after her return to the breed-
ing pen. Second, economy of food, as all eggs, grits, and other

dainty food
chicks. Special
very young
given in a
through which

Fig. 43.

goes to the
dainties foi
ones are easily
feeding coop,
the larger

ones cannot pass. Hens, besides consuming much and destroy-
ing more, often prevent their broods from taking that which is
thought most desirable for them. Third, economy of labor in

feeding and
there is always
commodation
days. Fourth,
ances, since
their train of
ain and feed-
dispensed

cleaning, while
capital dry ac-
for all on wet
saving of appli-
coops, with
drinking f ount-
ing dishes, are
with. Fifth,

the extreme tameness of chicks. A hen often prevents her brood
feeding till the attendant has gone ; but, under this system, little
chirpers of three or four days old will run and flutter up to who

Fia. 45.

ever has the charge of them while they never seem to quarrel or
fight. Sixth, the accidents to which little nestlers are subject,
from the timidity or clumsiness of the mothers, are entirely
avoided. How many have to bewail chicks trampled to death ;
while often sickness, terminating fatally, is but the result of some

mCEEASED SIZE.

69

internal injury, of which the hen has been the author. Seventh,
increased size. Notes carefully taken of weights and ages during
four seasons show that, during 1870 and 1871, by the natural
system our chicks only attained the weight in twelve weeks which,
during 1872 and 1873, under the artificial system, they reached in
ten, though this partially is due, no doubt, to selection. Eighth,
better feathering and stronger health, arising, probably, from
nestling as often as desired. The second is proved by our loss of
one chicken during 1872, and of not even one during 1873. Ninth,
increased cleanliness of chicks, whose beautiful down retains its
utmost purity until it is replaced by feathers. Tenth, the pos-
sibility of raising broods very early in the year, since they can
nestle until eight or ten weeks old, if they will ".

CHAPTER X.
Incubators.

The earliest record we have of hatching by artificial ineans is
mentioned by Herodotus, about 450 years B. C, in his reference
to the egg ovens of Egypt.

They are also mentioned by subsequent historians, but it is not
until A. D. 1494, neaiiy two thousand years after, that we find
anything like an intelligent description of how they were con-
structed. In that year Alphonse II., King of Naples, established
an Egyptian Incubator, and during the same year the Duke of
Florence imported an Egyptian who was skilled in the art, and
constructed an incubator after the Egyptian pattern. Neither of
them were successful, however, owing to the difference in climate
between the two countries. These

EGYPTIAN EGG OVENS,

according to the early descriptions, were built of mud, or adobe ;
in later years they made them of brick, which were, in fact, taun-
dried mud. They are described as consisting of two parallel roAvs
of smaU ovens, and cells for fire, divided by a narrow, vaulted pas-
sage ; each oven being about nine or ten feet long, eight feet wide,
and five or six feet high, and having above it a vaulted fire-cell ol
the same size, or rather less in height. Each oven communicates
with the passage by an aperture large enough for a man to enter^
Fig. 46 gives a sectional view of the passage way and the ovens
on each side. These are all under ground, and connected with the
outer air by a long, ceiled passage, so as to avoid cold drafts. The
small circular openings seen in the cut are about three feet in diam-
eter ; each orifice, or mouth, leads by a short-arched passage into
the oven. These ovens are not quite circular, but nearly so ; the
roofs are domed, and contrived with a kind of chamber over them ;
the apertures leading to the fire-chambers are the same width as
the openings to the ovens, and only high enough to admit a boy to
pass through. From each fire-chamber there is likewise a com-

EGG OVENS OF EGYPT.

61

munication with the oven to which it belongs. In the domed roofs
of the ovens, and in the roof of the room, there are holes that can
be opened or closed at pleasure ; these serve the twofold purpose of
letting out the smoke, and letting in air and a dim, hazy light.

Fig. 47 shows the process of heating the ovens. The material
employed for heating is called gelleh — dung collected and dried for
the purpose, which is kept smouldering slowly in the fire-cham-
bers above the eggs. Water is supplied in troughs made of mud
bricks, encircling the eggs.

The climate of Egypt is specially suited for this method, in being
almost of uniform temperature, and the men who follow the busi-
ness are bred to it from childhood. This, as the Maamal of later
days, demands constant attention, and the attendant on the
ovens literally lives in them during the time they are in operation.

Fig. 46.

This egg-hatching is said to be carried on only during the months
of AprU, May and June. The eggs are suppHed by the peasantry,
and there are two systems of purchase. Under one system, the
hatcher pays down an agreed sum to the peasant for eggs ; under
the other, the owner of the eggs leaves them with the hatcher at
his own risk, the latter agreeing to return one chicken for every
two eggs.

According to statistics given during the last decade, the business
is stm one of large national importance, the number of establish-
ments for the hatching of fowls' eggs in Lower Egypt being given
as one hundred and five, and in Upper Egypt as ninety-nine. The
number of eggs hatched in Lower Egypt is 13,069,733, and the num-
ber spoUed 6,255,867. In Upper Egypt the number hatched is
4,349,240, while the entire number spoiled is 2,529,660. In several
works which refer to this subject these ovens are called ' ^Maamals'\

62

AETIFICIAL HATCHING IN CHINA.

This is incorrect, the latter name being correctly ai^plied to a
peculiar portable stove sometimes used for the same purpose.

In China artificial hatching has been practiced for centuries, and
probably as long or longer than in Egypt. The stories told of the
system of incubation there seem hardly credible, and, although
probably describing what the narrators saw and heard, are defi-
cient in some points that were kept from their knowledge.

In "Minturn's Travels", he says: "On our return from the
gardens we stopped at an egg-hatching establishment. This was
a large wooden, barn-shaped building on the river bank. The eggs
are purchased out of the produce boats that come down the river,
and are here artificially hatched. The process employed is singu-
lar, as using only the natural heat of the egg, and is as follows :
Large baskets, each twice the size of an ordinary barrel, and
thickly lined with hay to prevent the loss of heat, are filled with
the eggs, and then carefully closed with a closely-fitting cover of
twisted straw. The eggs are now left for three days, after which
they are removed from the basket and replaced in different order —

Fig. 47.
those eggs which were before on the surface being now on the low-
est tier. At the end of three days more the position of the eggs
is again altered, and so on for fifteen days, after which time the
eggs are taken out of the basket and ]3laced on a shelf in another
apartment, and covered with bran. In the coui^se of a day or two
the cliicken b^lrsts its shell and makes its way out of the bran,
being at once taken charge of by an attendant, who is always on
the watch. The whole secret of the process is in the fact that the
the animal heat of the whole mass of eggs being retained by the
basket, which is formed of materials that do not conduct caloric,
is sufficient to support the animal life of any one particular egg,
and to foster its development ". .

CHINESE HATCHING BASKETS.

Another traveler describes what he saw as follows :
' ' The hatching house was built at the end of the cottage, and
was a kind of long shed, Avith mud walls thickly thatched with

CHINESE HATCHING BASKETS.

63

straw. Along the ends and down one side of the building were a
number of round straw baskets, well plastered with mud to pre-
vent them from taking fire. In the bottom of each basket there
was a tile placed/or rather the tile forms the bottom of the basket.
Upon this the fire acts — a small fireplace being below each basket.
Upon the top of each basket there is a straw cover, which fits
closely, and which is kept shut while the process is going on. In-
the centre of the shed are a number of large shelves placed one
above another, upon wliich the eggs are laid at a certain stage of
the process. Wlien the eggs are brought they are jDut into the
baskets, the fire is lighted below them, and a uniform heat kept
up, ranging, as nearly as I could ascertain by some observations

k

Fig. 48. — bonnemain's incubator.
which I made with the thermometer, from ninety-five to one hun-
dred and two degrees — but the Chinamen regulate the heat by
their own feelings, and therefore it will, of course, vary consider-
ably.

In four or five days after the eggs have been subject to this
temperature they are taken carefully out to a door, in which a
number of holes have been bored nearly the size of the eggs ; they
are then held one by one against these holes, and the Chinamen
look through them, and are able to tell whether they are good or
not. If good, they are taken back and replaced in their former
quarters ; if bad, they are of course excluded. In nine or ten days
after this— that is, about fourteen days from the commencement —
the eggs are taken from the basket and spread out on the shelves.
Here no fire heat is applied, but they are covered over with cot-
ton, and a kind of blanket, under which they remain about four-
teen days more — when the young ducks burst their shells, and the
shed teems with life ".

64

KEAUMTni S APPARATUS.

There is but little doubt that part, and that perhaps the princi-
pal portion, of the hatching process was kept from the sight of
these narrators, for it is exceedingly improbable that any process
So directly antagonistic to the natural system could be success-
fully carried out. Doubtless there was some unseen means o}
keeping the eggs warm, as it is impossible that the egg should o/
itself possess sufficient heat to sustain life, much less develop it

REAUMUR'S HATCHING APPARATUS.

No further record of any invention for artificial hatching comes
to our notice until the year 1777, when Reaumur, the celebrated
French naturalist, constructed his apparatus for hatching by
means of horse manure, except a " little portable oven " described
by Oliver de Serres, a noted French agriculturist, as being heated
by four lamps and the eggs covered with feathers. Of the date
of this, however, we have no knowledge.

Fig. 49. — ajmericapj egg hatching machine.
Reaumur's apparatus was quite successful in the hands of the
naturalist, but with others it did not do as well, probably owing
to lack of attention and knowledge of the requisite care. His
apparatus was simply wooden casks fitted with drawers or mova-
ble shelves, on which the eggs were placed, the whole surrounded
with fresh horse manure, which was renewed at intervals to keep
up the heat.

BONNEMAIN'S INCUBATOR.

The next invention we find is that of M. Bonnemain, who was
the first to use hot water to wai-m the eggs. Fig. 48 is a sectional
view of his machine, in which a represents the boiler ; h the box

BONNEMAm'S INCUBATOR. 65

or room in •which the heating apparatus is placed ; d the tubes for
circulating the hot water ; e the funnel end of the supply tube ;
and / an exhaust pipe to carry off the steam should the water get
too hot : c is a box through which passes an extension of the lower
coil of pipe, under the returning tube of which is fixed a piece of
sheepskin for a brooder for the chicks. M. Bonnemain also used
sponges saturated with water in the bottom of the egg chamber,
to supply moisture to the air. He also constructed a regulating
bar, formed of two different metals, (probably iron and brass),
which acted upon a damper in the furnace door, thus increasing
or decreasing the draft of the fire.
The eggs were lain on slides as shown in the illustration. The

Fig. 50. — carbonnier's incubator.
Incubator was not a success, owing to the impossibility of keep-
ing the temperature even on the different slides.

THE ECCALEOBION.

Next after Bonnemain's, as near as we can tell, was an inven-
tion which was shown in London, and called an Eccaleobion : this
was heated by steam pipes, with jvigs of water in the egg cham-
bers to keep the air moist.

In 1842, a small machine was exhibited in operation at Bristol,
Eng., by a Mr. Appleyard; we have no description of it. About
the same time one was exhibited by Mr. E. Bayer, in New York
and Brooklyn, called the

POTOLOKIAN.

And between this and 1845, a Mr. L. G. Hoffman of Albany, in-
vented and had in operation, the

AMERICAN EGG HATCHING MACHINE,

of which Fig. 49 is an illustration. This is a box two and a half

m

Hoffman's and cantelo's machine.

feet long and two wide, enclosing a metal tank or cistern of water,
R. R. B., which is connected with the boiler on the left of the
tank by two tubes. The boiler bottom is a long cone reaching
nearly to the top, which gives a large heating surface to the spirit
lamp which supplies the heat. The egg drawers are entirely en-
closed and surrounded by the hot water cistern. The tank is fill-
ed through the tube F. The machine stands on a box, in which
may be noticed an inclined board, the under side of this is liiied
with sheepskin and serves as an artificial mother. The end of the
board is held up by a weighted cord, and may be raised or lowered
to suit the size of the chickens.

Q

mCUBATOR.

CANTELOS

Cantelo in
ed a fairly sue-
about this time,
attempt to imi-
process of ap-
from above. It
a very simple
ingatank with
India rubber;
eggs under-
ed up so that
in contact with Fig
cloth. The

^^^^^^^^^s^^^g^sji^^^^^^gyi England, show-
cessf ul machine
It was the first
tate the natural
plying the heat
is described as
apparatus ; be-
a bottom of
the drawers of
neath are press-
the eggs come
the rubber
water is caused

51.— sectional view carbon-
nier's incubator.

to circulate by means of a stove placed at one side.

MiNASi's Incubator, contemporary with Cantelo, was a more
elaborate affair. A boiler heated by a naptha or spirit lamp, all
enclosed in an ui^right box, communicated heat to a reservoir or
tank of water. The under side of this tank was corrugated, so as
to support by the aid of wires, a series of small narrow sand-bags,
against which the eggs were pressed by springs under the drawers.

This de^'ice was abandoned and a series of tubes substituted,
through which the hot water circulated. The eggs were placed on
these tubes, which were close enough together to prevent the eggs
from falling through. The machine was too elaborate to become
popular.

adrien & trioche's incubator.

Similar to Minasi's first machine, was one constructed by Adrien
& Trioche, at "Van Girard, France, in 1848. This also had the rub-
ber cloth bottom to the water tank, supported on rods of wood.
A sheet iron cylinder, heated by a charcoal fire, supplied the tank
with hot water. The top of the tank was covered with sand, so as

ADRIEN & TEIOCIIE S INCUBATOR.

6T

to retain the heat. This Incubator was ten feet long by three and
a half wide. The drawers were in two ranges, placed back to
back ; the bottoms of the drawers were of perforated tin or fine
v'ire cloth, covered with bran to keep the eggs level. The machine

'■'''''-lillllillliiitiiiii-iJi'i'''

held fifteen hundred eggs, from which the inventors claimed a re- ^
suit of twelve hundred chicks. It required attention every four
hours.

carbonnier's incubator
which appeared about this time, was a very simple affair. Fig. 50

68

caebois^ier's encubatob.

represents the Incubator, with the drawer containing the eggs^
partly dra-vvn out. Fig. 51 shows a section of the same, in which
— A, is the zinc case for water — B, Thernaometer — C, Non-con-
ducting fining — D, Drawer, with eggs, and E, the Lamp.
The upper part of the box contains a zinc reservoir, with a space

left, as
the draw-
introduc-
lamp, and a
passing
top of the
serves for
with water,
holding a
ter, which,
to the water
cates the
ture. Ther-
tubes may
and held in
continually
ing through
ated cork of
size; the
ture of the
then be seen
The drawer
is imniedi-
neath the
it is provid-
small holes
tion, and
forty eggs.
thermome-
kept in the
indicate the
ture of the
rounding
space is left
reservoir

shown in
ing, for the
tion of the
small tube
through the
box, which
filling it
and also for
thermome-
plunged in-
below, indi-
tempera-
mometer
be obtained
position
by insert-
a p e r f o r-
the proper
tempera-
water may
at a glance,
for the eggs
at ely be
reservoir;
ed with two
for ventila-
holds about
A small
ter is also
drawer, to
tempera-
a i r s u r-
the egg. A
around the
and on

three sides of the drawer, for a filling of sawdust or other non-
conducting material. A flat tin lamp, with two round wicks, is
used by the inventor, but a properly constructed kerosene burn-
er would answer the purpose. A little soft hay is spread in the
bottom of the drawer; the eggs are put in; it is then closed and

VALLEE S HATCHER

69

■warmed by the water above. The temperature of the water is
kept at 122°, or enough higher or lower to keep the eggs at 104° to
106°. Once or twice each day the drawer is opened, and the eggs
turned and left for a quarter of an hour in the open air before
replacing.

vallee's egg-hatcher.

This machine is shown at Fig. 52. It is probably one of the most
successful of the many French inventions. One of them was on
exhibition for a long time at the Museum of Natural History, in
Paris, and gave a very fair percentage in hatching.

In the illustration i is a cylinder, with a flue O, through which
passes the flame of the lamp which supplies the heat. This cylin-
der is, in fact, the boiler, connected by a tube to a tank or reser-
voir over the egg-drawer D. From the further end of the case a

pipe G,
ing un-
d rawer,
the wa-
I) oil er
and thus
lip a cir-
A is a
ing tube
centre of
D, and C ^m
■er of the
B, where

return-
der the
carries
tertothe
again,
keeping
culation.
ventflat-
f rom the
drawer
the cov-
nursery
young

Fig. 54.— SCHRODER'S incubator.
chicks are placed after hatching. Eis the sliding door of another
apartment, also for the chicks of a few days old, and F a loose bot-
tora to be drawn out and cleaned daily. ^ is a wooden drum or
box enclosing the boiler, and shielding it from sudden drafts of air,
which might extinguish the lamp. T is the tube through which
the boiler and reservoir are fllled with water. The thermometer is
laid in the drawer with the eggs.

This machine is still in use in some parts of France. Within a
few years a mercurial regulating attachment has been affixed to
it, which has much increased its efliciency. It is, however, one
of the class of machines which cannot be safely left many hours
without danger of overheating.

A number of Vallee's machines have found their way to Amer-
ica. Dr. Preterre, of New York City, had one, with which he was ^
very successful. His apparatus was connected with an electrical
"bell, which signalled an alarm whenever the heat exceeded the
proper limit. It was exhibited by the Doctor a number of times

■70

BRINDLEy's AXD STUART WOETLEy's.

before the American Institute, and also at the poultry shows in N,
Y. City, and in 1870 the N. Y. State Poultry Society awarded him
a gold medal.

BRINDLEY S INCUBaTOR.

This macliine is represented at Fig. 53. i^ is a copper boiler,
heated by either gas or lamp B, which is furnished with a reser-
voir to ensure an even height of oil and a steady flame. Con-
nected with the boiler are a number of iron pipes, arranged hori-
zontally between two glass plates, through Avhich the hot water
circulates ; the space between these glass plates being enclosed on

all sides, forms a
Under the lower
er C, lined with
tains the eggs. On
lamp, at A, are
which the chicks <
placed after being
egg drawer. The
provided with a
upon by the expan-
a balanced tube,
ulator was very
same, as that used

COL. STUART WORT-

About the same
described appeared
ley's machine. It
long, low, saddle-
which was a steam Fig. 55.
valve. At a short
nected with the boiler by a pipe, was a reservoir, thus ensuring a
uniform height of water. A glass gauge was placed alongside'
the dome to indicate the height of the water, A tank, the same
length and height of the boiler, is connected with it by pipes of
perhaps two feet long. These pipes pass through padded holes into
the upper part of the egg chamber, the boUer being outside. The-
degree of heat is regulated by sliding the tank and pipes in or out,
as may be needed, thus increasing or decreasing the radiating sur-
-face. A lamp or gas jet was placed under the saddle of the boiler,
and the water kept constantly boiling, by which it was supposed
the heat in the drawer would always be uniform.

hot air chamber,
plate slides a draw-
" felting, which con.
each side of the
siiiall chambers in
are temporarily
removed from the
hot air chamber is
safety valve, acted
sion of mercury in
This valve and reg-
similar, if not the
by M. Vallee.

ley's incubator.

time as the one just
'^ Col. Stuart "Wort-
E was described as a
backed boiler, over
—THE MOLL PITCHER domo and escape
INCUBATOR. distance, and con-

SCHRODER S INCUBATOK.

71.

This machine, while possessing some good points, was too costly,.
as well as too complicated, to receive much attention.

SCHRODER'S INCUBATOR.

Fig. 54 gives a view of this machine, which was the invention of
of the manager of the National Poultry Company, Bromley,
England.

A separate boiler A, heated by a lamp or gas jet, is connected
by the tube B to the hot water tank C, through which the water
circulates, and passing out at the opposite side, is conveyed through
the pipe D back to the boiler. The tank has an open tube I, in which.

Fig. 56.— halsted's automatic incubator.
a thermometer is suspended. A ventilating flue -ff is also provided.
Under the tank are the egg drawers EE, which are the shape of a
quadrant of a circle. The bottom of the drawers are of perfor
ated metal or fine wire cloth, and kept partly filled with chaff-
Under the drawers is a tank of cold water. The space G aboTe
the hot water tank is surrounded by perforated zinc or wire cloth,,
and partly filled with sand ; this serves the double service of pre-
serving the heat and a warm chamber for the newly hatched
chickens. Curtains are arranged to be drawn around the appar-
atus to shield it from cold drafts.

The mode of testing the heat in the drawer through the temper-
ature of the water was a serious obstacle to the success of this
machine, and the lack of a regulating apparatus a still more-
serious defect; still it had, in careful hands, a fair measure of
success. It was found necessary to interchange the egg drawers.

72

THE MOLL PITCHER AND AMERICAN INCUBATORS.

frequently, as the heat varied in different parts of the egg cham-
?oer.

This machine was also too elaborate and costly to meet general
favor.

About 1866 the subject of Incubators received a new impetus
in America. Among the first which claimed public notice at this
.period was

THE MOLL PITCHER INCUBATOR.

As first constructed and shown in New York in the fall of 1867,

this was
and some-
in construct-
1 e e's m a-
It was af ter-
structed, and
like our illus-
.'55. The case
divided into
partments —
for the lamp ;
liot air cham-
fche eggs are
tiers, and the
:p e r one,

made of zinc
what similar
ion to Val-
chine.

ward recon-
made in form
tration, Fig.
is of wood,
tliree.com
the lower one
tho second, a
ber in which
placed in
third or up-
a r ran ged

Fig. 57.

as an artificial mother for the chicks. A ventilating flue from the
egg chamber is seen above. The artificial mother is ventilated by
the sliding valves near the top, as shown in the cut. There is no

rregulating
\b he m a -
q u i r i n g
tontion and
^of the lamp
as the heat
iiigh or too

apparatus,
chine r e-
hourly at-
the turning
up or down,
gets too
low.

THE AMERICAN INCUBATOR

■was shown the following year at the exhibition of the Pennsyl-
vania State Poultry Society, in Philadelphia. It was a zinc tank,
with a boiler under the centre and opening into the tank, heated
'by a kerosene lamp. On each side of the boiler was an egg drawer,
and also two more over the tank, with an open space of two inches
between them, Under the last two, and between them, and the
tank, were interposed shields of wood placed on an incline, and
-opening in the mid Jle into the open space between the drawers.

HALSTED S AUTOMATIC INCUBATOE.

73

Over these drawers was another shield, opening at each end into
the brooding apartment above. The current of hot air generated
by the tank passed under the lower shields and upwards between
the drawers, over the eggs, and thence into the brooding apart-
ment. The two lower drawers were ventilated by flues or tubes
passing through the water tank, and opening into the open space
under the lower shields.

This incuba-
vention of the
practice it
that the upper
useless, as the
variably be

teen degrees \i,

lower ones. Fig. 59.

tor was the in-
Av r i t e r. In
was found
drawers were
heat would in-
f rom ten to fif-
higher than the

HALSTED S AUTOMATIC INCUBATOR,

illustrated at Fig. 56, appeared the following year.

This shows view of the front and one end of the machine. B is
the boiler under which is the lamp which supplies the heat, and
which is filled with oil from the reservoir 0. D is the e^g drawer,
above which is the water tank (see T, Fig. 57) which supplies the
heat. This tank is elevated two inches above the top of the
drawer, so as to give room for the regulator below. It is sup-
ported by battens nailed or screwed fast to the ends and sides.

Fig. 57 shows the boiler B and a section of the tank T, with the

tubes F,
plies the
hot water,
which re-
the boiler
stop cock
which the
drawn off.
vertical
boiler and
tube or flue
the water

Fig. 60. — graves' incubator.

which "sup-
tank with
and R ,
turns it to
again. Also
through
water is
Fig. 58 is a
view of the
tank. The
F taking
from the

boiler and discharging it at the extreme end of the tank, and the
return flue R bringing it back again to the boiler to be reheated.
FFare two open tubes passing through the tank, acting the double
purpose of stays to keep the tank from bulging, and as ventilating
flues for the egg drawer. On the upper ends of these flues are fitted
valves (Hke the damper of a stove-pipe), connected and fastened to
a rod which passes through the end of the case, and to which is

74

ITALSTED S AUTOMATIC ESTCUBATOE.

fastened the lever ^1 (Fig. 56). The drawer D is of wood, inside of
which is a zinc or galvanized iron tray just fitting the drawer and
tacked to the sides all around ; this tray should be about two inches
deep. Inside of this is the rack on which to place the eggs ; this rack
is formed of strips of zinc or iron, each bent like an inverted V,
thus A^iA) f*^i^d placed one and three-quarter inches apart from
centres; these inverted Vs are laid crosswise on three or four
supporting tubes or similar strips, to which they are soldered, and
the whole rack is then surrounded by a strip of iron one and a
half inches wide, to which the ends of these Vs and their sup-
ports are also soldered. This rack, being then supplied ^vith han-
dles, can be lifted out of the drawer with the eggs on, whenever

Fig. 61. — halsted's hot-air incubator.-
desired. Over this rack is laid a piece of flannel blanket or other
woolen goods, allowing it to dip down into the water, (with which
the tray should be filled to the depth of one-quarter or one-half an
inch), at every third opening, or often er if more moisture is de-
sired. The eggs are placed on this blanket. The object of this is
to supply a moderate amount of moisture to the bottom of the
eggs.

In the front of the drawer, about where is seen the letter D,
should be a small hole through which to insert the glass tube of a
■i thermometer, the bowl being inside. On the tube should be marks
corresponding to 100° and 105°. By this thermometer the regula-
tor is adjusted.

Fig. 59 shows the regulator. This is a glass tube T, six or eight
inches long, with a bore of five-sixteenths or three-eighths inch

OKAVES' INCITBATOK.

T5

diameter, one end of which has a bulb M. This bulb is filled with
mercury, sealed hermetically. This had best be done by a manu-
facturer of thermometers or a glass blower. A brass cylinder C,
one and one-half inches long, just fitted over the tube T. On the
opposite sides of this are soldered firmly the ends of two pieces of
wire XA. On the long end of this wire is fitted a lever L, on
which is hung a weight W. This regulator is suspended under
the hot water tank and above the eggs by the wires AA, the lever
end passing through the case, so that the lever and weight are
outside the Incubator, as shown in Fig. 56. Before putting it in
place the tube is firmly fastened within, the cylinder C, by run-
ning in a little plaster.

Eeturning now to Fig. 56, we notice that the lever A is connect-
ed by the rod X with the lever of the regulator L, and the two

valves op-
the rod A
ti o n e d ,
carry off
from the
er. These
be length-
brought
top of the
sirable. To
Incubator,
heat has
desired
a n c e the
with the
weight. As

% egg

I
\

Fig. 62. — day's automatic incubator.

erated by
above men-
when open,
the hot air
draw-
tubes may
ened and
through the
case if de-
B regulate the
when the
reached the
point, bal-
regulator
aid of the
the heat

rises above this point, the mercury expands and fiows toward
the end of the tube T, thus destroying the balance and opening
the valves. The fresh air coming in cools off the drawer; the
miercury recedes, and the regulator resuming its position, closes
the valves. Care must be taken in hanging the regulator to
place a stay or catch under the end of the tube so that it shall
not quite assume a horizontal position. This will ensure the re-
turn of the mercury into the bulb as the heat decreases.

This Incubator met with very fair success, its objectionable
points being the liability of the regulator to get broken, owing to^
the great weight of the mercury in the bulb, and the oxidation of
the mercury in the tube. The wetting of the cloth under the eggs,
by capillary attraction had to be abandoned, as it spoiled the eggs.

graves' incubator.
This machine was, as first made, " Halsted's Automatic ", recon-

76

HAJ.STED S HOT-AIR INCrBATOE.

structed with a different regulating apparatus. Fig. 60 gives a
representation of it. As will be seen, it bears a resemblance to the
one just described. The regulating apparatus consists of a hori-
zontal long glass tube, ending in a bent, U shaped extremity, the
end of which extends upwards above the horizontal part several
inches. The large tube is inside the egg drawer, and the bent ex-
tremity outside, at one end of the machine. The horizontal por-
tion is filled with alcohol ; the U shaped part with mercury, on
which floats a cork connected by a rod to the lever above, which
opens and closes the ventilators. The heat causes the alcohol to
expand, and that forces the mercury to rise, carrying the float
with it.

The hot water tank, cold water pan, etc., are identical with that
shown at Fig. 56.

Later, the Graves machine was entirely changed, and the heating

arrange-
structed on
the Hoff-
bator (see
with heat
the same
apparatus
ed. This
struction
virtual fail-
its manu-
was stop-

FiG. 63.

halsted's hot-air incubator.

ment con-
the plan of
man Incu-
Fig. 49),
all around;
regulating
was retain-
last con-
' proved a
u r e, and
f a c t u re
ped.

This machine was the result of an attempt to dispense with the
hot water tank and boiler, and carry a current of heated air
through the egg chamber from a heated surface of sheet iron or
other metal.

Fig. 61 gives an illustration of the outward appearance of the
machine. The lamp O was placed directly under a horizontal
sheet of iron, which was thinly covered with sand to equalize and
retain the heat ; above tliis was a false bottom extending from
each end to within half an inch of the middle ; on this bottom the
egg drawers rested, leaving a space of three inches between them,
through which the hot air passed upward. At each end of the
machine was a ventilating flue, which extended the whole width
and opened into the nursery Gl, above which was the ventilator
V. Openings on the sides were provided to ensure a current of
fresh air passing into the heated chamber.

HALSTED S HOT-AIE INCUBATOE.

77

The regulating apparatus was a long horizontal glass tube, which
was filled with alcohol ; this was suspended between the drawers,
the back end terminating in a pin held by a bracket, and the front
in a small neck, which also ended in a pin, which latter was sock-
eted into the bracket B; on one side of this neck Avas attached the
bent glass tube AT, which was filled with mercury as shown by
M; attached to this were levers F, F, one of which was connected

Fig. 64.— baker's incubator.

by the wire IX to the lever of the ventilator IL, and the other by
the wire 2X to the lamp lever 2L.

The heat in the egg chamber GG caused the alcohol to expand,
and that forcing the, mercury toward the extremity of the tube,
the regulator being hung on pivots, the end T was carried down
by the weight of the mercury, and the levers moving with it,
opened the ventilators and turned down the lamp flame ; as it
cooled, the action was reversed.

78 day's akt) bakek's incubators.

When first set up this regulating apparatus worked to a charm,
but its regularity was of short endurance. The evaporation of
the alcohol and the oxidation of the mercury would put it out of
order in from five to seven days. The machine itself was not
practically worth a rush. It was impossible to keep an even heat
in all parts of the drawers, and equally impossible to maintain an
even and proper moisture in the air without the closest attention.
A hatch of fifty per cent, was a rare occurrence, while the spoil-
ing of the whole batch was the usual result.

day's automatic incubator.

Fig. Q2 gives an outside, and Fig. 63 a sectional view of this ma-
chine. Like the one just mentioned it is a hot-air machine. The
heat is generated by a kerosene stove, over which is a pan of
water to keep the air moist, and a hot air chamber, from which
the heated air passes over the eggs as shown by the arrows in
Fig. 63; the shelves for the eggs are placed on an incline, that the
eggs may receive an equal heat ; under the lower shelves on each
side is an apartment for the young chicks. The regulating ap-
paratus consists of a thermostatic bar, which acts upon a flatten-
ed drum; on this is woimd a cord which passes over a pulley
and is weighted at the other end. The axle of this drum termin-
ates in a crank, to which is attached a wire which operates up-
on the flame of the lamp, increasing or decreasing it as required.
Although seemingly well provided with ventilating holes, the ven-
tilation is bad, and the heat of the drawers varies from ten to
twenty degrees. The thermostatic bar is too crudely made to be
reliable. The mode of communicating the action of the bar to the
lamp though, is admirable from its simplicity and non-liability
to derangement.

baker's incubator.

Illustrated by Fig. 64, was apparently founded on the model of
the machine made by Hoffman, It consisted of a hot-air chamber,
surrounded on all sides by a tank of water, heated by a boiler
placed at one side, the whole enclosed in a wooden case. A bat-
tery was attached, and by means of a circuit closer a bell was
rung whenever the heat got above or below the proper limit.
Later, the electric current was caused to operate upon a magnet,
which opened and closed the ventilators. -I believe this to have
been the first practical application of electricity to the regulation
of the Incubator. The ringing of the bell as an alarm, had been
used both by Dr. Preterre and myself, some years previous to
Baker's adaptation of it.

MTEBS INCUBATOR.

79

This machine was most excellent in construction, the tank being
of copper, and boiler and flues of same material. But the same
difficulty crops out in this as in all other machines, where it is at-
tempted to place several tiers of drawers in one egg chamber— the
variation of the heat between the upper and lower drawers must
he so gi-eat, that either top or bottom must be useless, or else the
ventilation must be almost entirely stopped. The machine there-'
for was only a partial success.

MYERS' INCUBATOR.

This was an adaptation of the principle used by Cantelo, and by
Adrien & Trioche. A large box eight feet long by three or four
wide, was fitted with a tank made of India rubber sheeting, sup-
ported on wires placed two inches apart. Under this were the

Fig. 65. — the national incubator.
drawers, also fitted with rods placed two inches apart, and so ar-
ranged that the eggs came between the supporting wires of the
tank, when the drawer was fitted into its place. The drawers
were in two ranges placed back to back, as in A. & T.'s machine.
The hot water was supplied from a stove and boiler standing a few
feet away, heated by a coal fire. A regulating attachment was pro-
vided, which was said to act upon the damper of the stove, open-
mg or closing the draft and thus increasing or decreasing the heat.

Over the tank was placed a zinc or sheet iron covering on which
sand was strewn. This was surrounded by a wire-gauze railing
a few inches high, and was used as a nursery for the newly hatch-^
ed chickens.

The inventor had very good success with this machine ; taking
eggs from the farmers to hatch as well as hatching for himself. It

80 THE NATIONAL INCUBATOK.

required though, very close attention. I do not know that any
were ever made for sale.

THE NATIONAL INCUBATOR

is illustrated by Fig. 65. It is a hot-air machine, and as will be
seen, is formed of many parts. First, is the stove on the right,
which is heated by kerosene, supplied from an inverted can (seen
under the machine proper) which discharges the oil into a small
cup, whence it is conveyed to the lamp through a small tin tube.
As the cup is open, there must be a great deal of evaporation as
well as odor from the oil. The stove is simply two drums, one in-
side the other, the space between them packed with non-conduct-
ing material. The Incubator proper is a circular box,, (like a large
cheese box) made of wood, covered in some cases with tarred
paper, and supported on a frame as shown in the but.

The drawers for the eggs are semi-quadrant in shape, inclining
from the outer edge towards the centre. The bottoms of these are
covered with sand, on which the eggs rest. These drawers all
rest on a revolving bottom, which in turning brings each drawer
in turn before the door. The hot air generated by the stove, is
carried into the machine through the connecting pipe, and by ex-
tending the pipe inside, is discharged into the centre of the egg
chamber. Directly under this point is a vial of mercury, into
which is placed one end of a platinum wire, this is fastened to a
connecting copper wire, which leads to the battery; the return
wire is also tipped with platinum, and is so set that when the heat
causes the mercury to rise to a certain degree, it touches the pla-
tinum wire and the electric "circuit is- complete. When this is
done, an electric bell commences ringing and ceases not until the
heat recedes again. We do not know of any other regulating (?)
apparatus about it ; (although it is claimed that the heat is shut
off from the egg chamber when the temperature gets too high;)
the maintaining of the proper heat depending on the care and
watchfulness of the attendant.

Living in the same room with the machine, and sleeping beside
it, the inventors claim to have hatched some wonderful percent-
ages. They certainly have made some most excellent exhibitions
at the different shows throughout the country ; and if they could
succeed in devising some less odor absorbing material for the
bottom of their egg drawers, or change the present material often-
er, hundreds of visitors would appreciate the innovation.

HYDE'S INCUBATOR.

This was designed and constructed for the pleasure and use of

HYDE'S INCUBATOR.

81

the inventor, but as several of them have been made and foiind
their way into other hands, it is well to give a short description
of it.

The heating arrangement is similar to Vallee's; the machine
stands on four legs like a table ; on the opposite end from the lamp
is placed the regulating apparatus. This consists of a short and
long arm revolving on the axis of a clock movement, and catching
alternately on the notched are of one end of a lever, the other end
of which is moved by a thermostatic bar in the egg chamber of the
machine. Attached to this axis is also a crank, from which a very

Fig. 66. — THE CENTENNIAL INCUBATOR.

Hght wooden rod connects with the lamp, raising or lowering
the flame as needed. Under the egg drawer are placed sponges
saturated with water, to give the necessary moisture to the air.

THE CENTENNIAL INCUBATOR.

This machine, illustrated at Fig. 66, is the outgrowth of. a great
many experimental machines, two of which are illustrated at
figures 56 and 61.

The principles embodied in the present Incubator were first
combined and shown at the International Exhibition at Philadel-
phia in 1876, from which it received its name. At that time the
case of the Incubator was of wood, and the boiler, tank and lamp

82

THE CEXTEXXIAL IXOUBATOB.

only of metal. The following year the machine was remodelled,
and constructed entirely of galvanized iron, save the heating ar-
rangements, which are of copper.-

The growth of this machine may really said to have begun in
1865, at which time the writer began his first experiments in Arti-
ficial Incubation, but it was not until 1878 that The Centennial ap-

peared in its present form and took its hard-earned position as ch*
Standard Incubator of America, if not of the world.

As nearly one hundred of them are in use on the ostrich farms
of South Africa, and fully fifty more distributed in England, Ger-
many, Australia, Cuba, Mexico and Brazil, the title is not inappro-
priate.

The Incubator consists of a copper boiler and tank, the boiler

THE CENTENNIAL INCUB^TOK.

83

encased with an outer jacket of galvanized, iron, and the space be-
tween packed with mineral wool. The tank is enclosed by a case
of galvanized iron, outside of which is still another case of same
metal, with intervening space also packed with non-conducting
material ; this space is from two to three inches thick. Inside the
tank is a system of tubes which bring the water from the boiler
and so distribute it that the outer edges of the tank are the hot-
test; the water, as it cools, is taken up by the return flues and
conveyed back to the boiler, to be again heated. The heat is gen-
erated by a larnp with a kerosene burner, such as is used on a
large-sized table lamp. The chimney is of metal, and passes
through the water, thereby preventing any waste of heat by
radiation.

The egg chamber is under the tank, the drawers so constructed
that the eggs are held by parallel rods in position where placed ;
under the egg drawers is a cold water pan, to keep the bottom of
the eggs cool and moist ; the bottom of this water pan comes in
direct contact with the outer air, thus ensuring the water from
getting heated. In the egg chamber are also water vessels to pro-
vide moisture for the eggs. Over the eggs, and directly under the
tank, is the thermostatic or regulating-bar. This bar is of com-
posite character, and is the result of many years experimenting.
Many of them have stood the test of three consecutive seasons,
which is a v.ery thorough test of their reliability and lasting qual-
ities. Tliis bar is so attached to the machine that it can be regu-
lated from the outside, and the free end (the point of which is
shown at S, Fig. 66) adjusted to the one-hundredth part of an inch
if desired.

As we shall need frequent reference to the cut in describing The
Centennial, we give the parts here :

A — Tube through which the tank and

boiler are filled.
£— Bjiler ill two pai-ts: B the boiler

proper ; and B' — the boiler head.
C — Lamp-lever.
D — Connecting rod between lamp-lever

and lamp -trip.
E — Reel or drum.
F — Faucet to draw off water.
H— Escape.
1 — Escape-lever.

L — Lamp.

N — Door of egg chamber.
O — Vent tube.
P— Pulley.
R — Reservoir,

S — Wire end of the regulator-bar pro-
jecting through slotted hole.
T— Thermometer.
F'— Ventilator box or flue.
fF— Weight.

A ventilating flue extends from the egg chamber through the
tank opening at V; another circular hole through the tank allows
the thermometer to extend down into the egg chamber, but leav-

84

THE CENTENNIAL INCUBATOK.

ing the scale above, so the temperature of the eggs may be seen
at a glance.

The regulating apparatus consists of a reel furnished with four
arms, whose bent ends are caught and released alternately by the
curved end of the escape-lever, the lower end of which is operated

Fig. 6'^. — corbett's apparatus.
by the wire point of tho regulator-bar ; a cord or thread wound
on the reel passes over the pulley, and has a weight attached which
gives the power to the reel.

Another lever C is operated by two pins on the back of the reel ;
this lever is connected by the rod D with the lamp trip. The

THE ECLIPSE INCUBATOE. 85

shaft of the reel passes through the side of the case into the ven-
tilator flue, and is there attached to a revolving ventilator.

As the thermostatic bar moves forward or backward with the
heat, the opening in the escape-lever comes over one of the bent
ends of the arms of the reel, allowing it to pass through, which it
does by the force of the weight, the next arm catching on the
opposite side of the opening ; this opens the ventilator, and at the
same time turns down the flame of the lamp. As the drawer
cools, the escape-lever is moved by the thermostatic bar in the re-
Verse direction, the next arm is released, and the reel makes an-
other quarter revolution, closing the ventilator and turning up the
flame of the lamp. The action is repeated until the weight runs
down. The lamp is hinged to the side of the Incubator so that
it is impossible to upset it, unless first removing it from the ma-
chine.

As will be seen, this Incubator is very simple, very complete,
easily regulated, not liable to get out of order, and, being all of
iron and copper, will last for many years. It is also handsomely
grained in oak, japanned and kiln-dried; added to this is its auto-
matic action, being so positively self-regulating that it may be
(and has been) left for sixty hours without attention, and the
temperature in the egg chamber not varied over three degrees
during that time.

Another feature worthy of consideration is the fact that pur-
chasers of the machine have better success in hatching than the
inventor himself, their averages being larger, and in five instances
every fertile egg was hatched, or one hundred per cent.

Letters patent were granted for the Centennial Incubator in
July, 1880. For further particulars send for illustrated circular
to A. M. Halsted, Eye, N. Y.

THE ECLIPSE SELF-REGULATING INCUBATOR — FIG. 67.

In this Incubator the heat is radiated from a galvanized iron
tank placed above the eggs, in which is a constant and regular
circulation of water. The heating is done by a kerosene oil lamp,
which consumes less than a quart of oil in twenty-four hours. By
no possibility can the fumes of the lamp enter the Incubator, or
reach the eggs. The Incubator is thoroughly ventilated by six
pipes beneath the egg drawers, so the bottoms of the eggs have a
constant supply of cool, fresh air.

The entire bottom of the Incubator is covered with water, to^
furnish moisture to the eggs by evaporation. In the Incubators
we now build this water can be changed in a moment, without

86

THE ECLIPSE INCUBATOR.

disturbing the eggs or even opening the egg chamber, and either
hot or cool water can be supphed, according to the fancy of the
opera,tor.
The electric battery of the Eclipse is a very simple one ; each

purchaser puts it together himself, so he cannot fail to fully un-
derstand it ; nothing about it is covered — all is in plain sight — and
^ if it should become exhausted it need not be returned to the man-
- ufacturers for a new one, as the purchaser can set it right again,
himself in about one minute.

The Eclipse is put together by dovetailing every joint and cor-
ner, so it cannot "W£irp, and makes a perfectly air-tight joint. As

WESTON S INCIJBATOE.

sr

the machine for making this joint costs three hundred dollars, it
is not at all likely that any other manufacturer will ever use it.
We furnish the Incubators very handsomely, so they can be kept
in the dwelling house ; it is much more convenient thei'e, especially
if it is to be managed at all by women or cliildren.

Fig. 70.

The Eclipse is manufactured in Waltham, Mass. , and circulars
and prices will be sent to any one upon application.

Weston's incubator.

This Incubator had the appearance, outwardly, of an old-fash-
ioned kitchen safe. It stood upright, elevate3. about two feet from,
the floor on legs like a table. A tank in the top was supplied from
a boiler suspended underneath the case, by two connecting pipes,
in each of which were stop-cocks. The method of regulating the

85

COEBETT'S APP.1BATUS.

heat was turning these stop-cocks, giving a faster or slower circu-
lation to the water, as required. This, of course, had to be done
by hand.

The inventor says of it : " The heat is generated by use of coal
oil lamps; the heat cannot run too high, and is so arranged that
iLhe condensation of steam regulates it, while at the saine time it
furnishes the requisite moisture to the eggs. It requires no care,
except to occasionally fill the lamp with oil". He further says:
' ' After several years of patient study, I have so far perfected the
apparatus as to feel it cannot be improved ".

As the water in the boiler is never supposed to come to the boil-
ing i)oint, we are at a loss to know from where he gets his steam
to condense. The « ca machine, how-

ever, like dozens
dropped out of

corbett's

appeared about
simply a modifica-
method of hatch-
theheat generated
Fig. 68 gives a
apparatus, with
It is, as appears, a
with a circular
hold the eggs;

of others, has
notice.

APPARATUS

this time. It is
tion of Eeaumur's
ing by means of
by horse manure,
front view of the
the door let down,
barrel-shaped box
tray or trays to

- o o - , over tliis is a flue,

fitted with a slide, ^^^^ ^L-JAQues incubator. ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^_

sary ventilation. The box, when closed, is packed in horse ma-
nure, leaving only the ventilating flue uncovered. The heat of
the apparatus is tested by a thermometer, through the ventilator,
and kept as near right as possible by opening or closing the slide.
The same apparatus is used as an Artificial Mother, by putting in
a circular board lined with felting or sheepskin, and elevating
it a few inches above the bottom of the box. The front is left open,
as shown in the cut.

Mr. Corbett, we believe, owes his first ideas of this system of
incubation to Dr. Preterre, of New York City, by whom he was
employed, and under whose direction he tried artificial hatching
by Eeaumur's method on the Doctor's farm in New Jersey. The
Doctor stated to the writer that he found the process uncertain
and unsatisfactory, and gave it up in favor of the ' ' Vallee " ma-
chine, which he had previously used.

Mr. C. carried on hatching operations for a time at Hicksville,
L, I., but abandoned taem after one or two years experience.

INCUBATOES.

89

boyle's incubator.

This is an English invention, and one which bid fair to make a
success, but for some reason the results with it, so far as we know,
have not been as satisfactory as at first promised.

Fig. 69 gives a front view of the machine, and Fig. 70 a plan of
the regulating apparatus.

The machine is about two feet square and three high. Through
the open door, which covers about half the entire front when
closed, is seen the boiler, with stop-cocks for drawing off the
water ; the lamp, with its attachment, and the regulating appar-
atus. Above this are two half doors, which open at right angles
to the face of the case, on the under end of which are two pro-
jecting battens, upon which the egg drawer slides out.

This egg drawer is a tray, with holes cut through large enough
to allow the egg to drop about one-third through. This arrange-
ment is designed to cool the bottom of the egg, in imitation of the
natural process when the hen makes her nest on the ground.

Upon the tray are small cups, which are kept filled with water
to keep the air moist.

Attached to each side of the machine are two projecting shelves,
edged with a low railing, which serve as a run for the chicks for
a few days after hatching. Next the boiler, and opening into the
runs, are two inclined boards, lined with fleece or some soft ma-
terial, under which the chicks nestle, and whi(?h are, in fact, small-
sized Artificial Mothers.

On the top of the case is a circular opening covered with glass,
through which the eggs may be seen and the temperature noted.
This is further protected by a hinged cover.

Eef erring to Fig. 70, the parts are designated thus :

A — Front of case.
B — Balance of lever.
C — Connecting pipe.
D — India-rubber tube.
E — Glass U tube.
F — Bowl for mercury.
G — Elastic joint.
H — Balance joint.
/ — Pivot gas-cock.
jK"— Stop-cock (gas).

L — Compensating spring.

M — Supply-cock of boiler.

N — Air- vent of boiler.

O — Connecting wire.

P — Connection with gas supply.

Q — India-rubber connection with

flame.
B — Gas jet.

/S ^Exhaust-cock of boiler.
T— Movable weight.

The regulator works by the expansion of water and the weight
of mercury. When the boiler is filled with water and heated to
the proper tenaperature, mercury is poured into the bowl F until
it rises suflciently high in the tube E. This tube being connected

90

JAQUES' INCUBATOR.

by the India-rubber tube D with the boiler, and the water in the
boiler having no other outlet, when the heat rises, and the water
consequently expands, the mercury is forced into the bowl, and
relieves the balance weightiT, which partly closes the pivot gas-
cock J, and reduces the supply of gas. As the heat falls, the water
in the boiler contracts, and the reverse action of the mercury in-
creases the flow of gas, and thus creates a larger flame. The
compensating springs L prevent the bowl rising or falling too
suddenly.

If a lamp is used, instead of gas, the connecting wire is attached
to the mechanism for cutting off the flame.

Fig. 72. — the perfect hatcher.

There is no ventilator connected with the regulator, the regula-
tion of temperature being entirely dependent upon the cutting off
or turning on the source of heat.

Its objections are its complicated arrangements and its great
cost in propor-fcion to its capacity, the Incubator from which our
illustration was taken holding only forty-two eggs, and costing in
England £15— about $75 currency.

' . JAQUES' incubator.

This is an American invention, and probably the cheapest ap-
paratus in the Incubator line. It is shown in Fig. 71. The in-
ventor savs of it :

THE PERFECT HATCHER. 91

* ' The above cut represents an Incubator invented by me for mj
own use. I have succeeded in securing a chamber in which I can
regulate the temperature and hold it at any degree desired. My
claim for it is, that it is. the easiest to construct and cheapest to
make of any Incubator offered to the public, I do not claim that
it wiU hatch as large a percentage of eggs as those constructed on
more scientific principles, yet it will hatch a large percentage if
carefully managed by any person of ordinary intelligence. As
there is no self -regulating attachment, it will require more care
than those that have it. The capacity of one made with a sugar
barrel is about one hundred eggs ; the cost (excepting the ther-
mometer) about five dollars. I do not manufacture them for sale,
but, on receipt of fifty cents, will send my pamphlet, containing
full instructions for making and using one ".

Charles B. Jaques, Metuchen, Middlesex Co. , New Jersey.

THE PERFECT HATCHER.

Fig. 72 represents a front view of this machine, for which the
inventor makes the modest claim that " it is the only perfectly re-
liable Incubator in the world ". Singular to relate, the inventor
seems to be the only one who has made that wonderful discovery.

The Incubator from which our cut was taken is made of wood,
and is about five feet long, three wide, four and a half high, and
is said to hold three hundred eggs. A tank of water fills the en-
tire upper portion of the case, over the eggs ; at the opposite end
from the laiup, a return flue takes the water from the tank into
the chamber under the eggs, (one door of which is seen open),
whence it is carried by a number of smaller pipes, back to the re-
turn flue of the boiler. The lamp and boiler are identical with
that of the Centennial, (except that the latter has no outer jacket),
and were copied from that model. The bottoms of the egg drawers
are of fine wire cloth, on which the eggs lie without any intervening
substance. These egg-trays are on movable slides, so that they
can be raised nearer the tank to compensate for the unevenness of
the heat. The lower chamber above spoken of, constitutes a brood-
er or artificial mother for the chicks when first hatched.

Over the egg drawers, is suspended a rubber rod three or more
feet long, fastened at one end to a stationary bracket, and the
other end held by a spring acting lengthwise with the rod ; this
end is attached to the lower end of a lever, which, extending up-
wards through an opening in the tank, connects with the wires of
an electric battery. This battery is used in connection with a
clock-work, similar in principle to that of the Eclipse. The ex-
pansion of the rod as the heat rises, closes the electric circuit,

92

WATEEHOUSE'S IKCUBATOR.

which, acting upon the magnet, sets the clock in motion, opening
. the ventilator and turning down the light. As the rod contracts
under tlie lowering of the heat, the reverse action follows.

Although it is such a "perfect" machine, but very few of them
are in use ; the complication of the electric attachment proving a
bar against its popularity ; and the unevenness of the heat in the
unnecessarily large egg chamber, preventing as good results in
hatching, as has been attained with a number of other styles of
Incubators.

waterhouse's incubator.

This is a Connecticut invention. In general appearance it is a

Fig. 73.

little similar to Jaques' Incubator ; the sides of the case however,
are built up of either paper or wood. The eggs rest in a basin-
shaped i^an in the centre of the cylindrical case, around the outer
edge of which is a space for the entrance of the hot air from the
lamp chamber. In the latter is a reservoir of water, to provide
moisture for the air. Over the egg-basin is a circular glass plate,
through which can be seen the eggs and the thermometers which
lie on top of the eggs. Above and to one side is a flue, opening
into the outer air ; in this flue is a pivoted damper or valve. The
regulator is a copper rod, firmly fastened at one end and free at
the other, wliich is connected with the short arm of a nicely ad-
justed lever, the other arm of which is connected with the damp-
er above mentioned ; when the chamber gets too hot, the expan-
sion of the copper rod, is supposed to act on the lever with suffici-
ent force to cause the damper to oj)en, thus drawing off the heat

BATES AND MASTERTON S INCUBATORS.

93

from the egg chamber. As it cools, the rod contracts and closes
the damper.

The strongest objection we see against this Incubator, is that
the fumes of the kerosene oil lamp pass directly into the egg
chamber, which we hardly think compatible with the health of
either eggs or chickens.

If simplicity be
Fig. 73 must be a

A wooden case '
side connected by
size kero-
to generate
open space
tank in
place the
a door
which to
in or out,
all the es-
tures. There
lating ap-
any kind,
th ing is
perfect suc-
and that is
to sit along-
three weeks • '^
lamp up or down
formity of heat.

bates' EGYPTIAN INCUBATOR.

of any value in an Incubator, that illustrated by
very valuable apparatus.

inside of which is a tank of water ; a boUer out-
supply and return tubes with the tank ; a small

sene stove
heat; an
under the
which to
eggs; and
t hr ou gh
pass them
comprises
sential fea-
is no regu-
paratus of
Only one
necessary to
cess with it,
awatchmap.
side of it for

G. 74. — THE RELIANCE INCUBATOR. to turn the

as needed, and shift the eggs around to get uni-

MASTBRTON'S INCUBATOR,

Comes from the Pacific Coast. Its principal features are the
use of a coil of pipe inside the tank, through which the water from
the boiler passes before it is discharged into the top portion of the
tank; and a revolving egg-tray, by which the eggs are turned
without opening the egg chamber. This latter is a drawer or tray,
suspended on journals. The eggs are laid on a perforated bottom,
through which the heat has free passage ; they are covered with a
similar material which is securely fastened to the sides of the tray..
In turning, all that is necessary is to revolve the drawer half way
and the eggs are reversed. The device is patented.

94 DAVIs' AJ^D KELIANCE INCUBATORS.

DAVIS' INCUBATOR,

Finds life and recognition at tlie Patent Office, from Pennsylva-
nia. It has several peculiarities worthy of mention, from the fact
that they differ from the stereotyped plans usually seen.

The tank placed in the usual position, is virtually a square basin
with a glass bottom and a hinged cover. The hot water passes in-
to one end from the boiler, and is distributed by three pipes in
different parts of the tank. Passing 'out at the other end, it is car-
ried down and under the egg chamber back to the boiler. The
drawer is fitted with an inner bottom of pliable material, held up
by coiled springs. The eggs are placed on this and the drawer
pushed up until the eggs touch the glass bottom of the tank ; the
coiled wire springs ensure every egg resting against the glass.

In the chamber under the eggs the return pipe is caused to pass
to and fro a half dozen or more times, in order to form a brooding
apartment for the youhg chicks.

The apparatus for elevating the drawer consists of four levers,
the inner ends of which are connected by cords to a small wind-
lass, which, being turned, depresses the centres and elevates the
four corners of the drawer simultaneously. There is no regulat-
ing apparatus on the machine.

THE RELIANCE INCUBATOR.

The " Eeliance " Incubator was invented by James Dennis, Jr.,
of Providence, E. I. , and patented July 20th, 1880 ; it is now manu-
factured by him in that city. It is a first-class machine, and is
made in a thorough and workmanlike manner.

This machine consists of two cases, made of the best quality of
galvanized iron, the parts of which are both riveted and soldered
together. There is one inch of space between the cases, which is
filled with the best non-conductor of heat yet discovered. In the
upper part of the incubator is a chamber in which is placed a
soa^Dstone radiator, that is heated by means of a continuous coil
of hot water pipes. Underneath this radiator are the egg drawers,
and beneath the egg drawers the evaporating pans are placed.
The air for ventilation is taken in through holes punched in the
bottom of the machine in such a manner as to materially assist in
regulating the heat. The ventilators through the top are so con-
trived as to thorouglily ventilate every part of the egg drawer
without exposing any of the eggs to the direct influence of the
outside temperature. The machine is placed on a solid table, made
of the best quality of western ash, and, for convenience in manip-
ulating the eggs, it is furnished with a slide shelf on which to rest
the drawer. The heat used is obtained from a "Florence" oil

mead's, OlSTKIDA COMMUNITY AJ^D NOVELTY INOUBATOES. 95

stove of a pattern made expressly for this machine. In using a
soapstone radiator in preference to a tank of water, the inventor
considers he has gained in several particulars, viz. : It is very much
less sensitive to changes of temperature ; again, he gets a mild,
soft heat, nearest like that developed from an animal body, and
consequently is best adapted for developing animal life. The
ventilation is perfect, as the ventilators are never closed. This is
one of the simplest, if not the simplest, machines now in the mar-
ket, and the inventor claims it will satisfactorily hatch all the eggs
that would hatch, under the most favorable circumstances, in the
natural way.

It requires very little care, as ten minutes twice each day is
amply sufficient to attend to a three hundred egg machine. There
is no electricity used in connection with it, and no machinery for

the opening
valves, so that
Ing liable to
der. Further
cheerfully fur-
application to
address, No. 86
Providence,

mead's

and closing of
there is noth-
get out of or-
information
nished upon
the inventor:
Meeting street,
RI.

INCUBATOR

consists of the .^^^Hl Wi^^^'l iiil^^P usual tank and
boiler, heated ^^^^^^^^1^^^^^^^^^^^^ by a lamp or
gas jet. In \||^""^^^^^i^ general ap-

pearance it is Fig. 75.— the novelty incubator, somewhat like
Carbonnier's, with the lamp and boiler placed outside the case.
Over the top is a glass-enclosed space for the newly hatched chicks.
It has no specially interesting features that we know of.

THE ONEIDA COMMUNITY HATCHER

was exhibited at the Fair of the New York State Agricultural So-
ciety, a few years since, and there hatched out a goodly number
of chickens. It was modelled somewhat after the Eclipse, out-
wardly, and regulated by an electrical battery. It was, however,
of very rough and primitive construction, and needed frequent
looking after, although a self-regulator.

THE NOVELTY INCUBATOR.

Fig. 75 shows this really novel Incubator. Its heating appar-
atus consists of two tanks, one above the other, with a space of
ten or twelve inches between them; from the top of the lowei

96

ETJKEKA INCUBATOR.

tank, at the corners, four tubes led into th3 upper tank, extend-
ing nearly to the upper side ; from the bottom of this upper tank
four more tubes led downwards, discharging into the bottom por-
tion of the lower one.

The lamp was placed under the centre of the lower tank, and
from the construction above described a very complete circulation
of water was obtained.

The whole was enclosed in a wooden case, with a door through
which the egg tray was put in or out, the egg chamber being be-
tween the two tanks. Ventilation is provided by holes through
the sides of the case and a small flue with a check or stop valve
on top. On top of the lower tank, and under the egg drawer, are

Fig. 76.
placed pans of water, which evaporating, keep the air charged
with moisture. No regulator is used, the supposition being that
a free draft of air Would prevent any overheating of the eggs dur-
ing the time the machine was left alone, which was placed at four
to six hours. In theory this seemed very plausible, but in prac-
tice it was found that in warm weather, or in a room of variable
temperature, it required almost hourly attention.

CAMPBELL'S EUREKA INCUBATOR

has one feature about it that deserves mention. In general ap-
pearance and construction it is a little like "Christy's Hydro"
/'illustrated further on), but the egg tray or slide has on it a rack,
between the partitions of which the eggs are laid. This rack is
connected with a clock movement, which is in turn connected
with a clock similarly to an alarm attachment ; the pointer is set
at any specified hour, and when that time arrives the rack is

penman's inctjbatok.

97

pushed slowly along until the eggs have rolled haft over. At the
next recurrence of that hour the rack is drawn back, and the eggs
turned back to their first position ; the eggs thus are turned twice
daily, whether the attendant is present or not.

The absence of any regulating apparatus is, however, a serious
drawback, and the temptation to neglect the airing of the eggs
almost counterbalances any benefit derived from automatically
turning them*

penman's incubator.
This is another English invention, and is said to be a very supe-
rior machine. Figs. 76, 77 and 78 show different views, and, by a
reference to following description, will give a very excellent idea
of the machine.

Fig. 77.

1. A wood frame, similar to a table frame, supported by four
legs, by a screw and nut arrangement, like a piano. ;.

2. An India-rubber cloth waterproof tray, cistern or tank, made
fast to the inside face of the frame (No. 1), and resting on a ledge
attached to the same, and on two cross-bars. At each end of the
cistern are two outlets (7), communicating with the Artificial*
Mother underneath, and through which the water flows after hav-
ing traversed the upper surface of the eggs.

3. Three (less or more) brass or other metal tubes, to contain
air, gases, spirits, oils, or any other fluid that can be expanded by
heat, extending the whole length of the cistern, and in communi- ,
cation with each other and ^vith the regulator (15, Fig. 76) by
means of pipe SA.

,4. Two iron covers for cistern (one out of its position to show
interior of cistern) to retain the heat and steam arising therefrom.

* Since publication of the first edition, a Hegulator has been attached to this machine.

oa-.

PENMAJJf S INCTTBATOE.

These covers can be utilized for the purpose of raising seed, strik-
ing cuttings of plants, or growing ferns or other plants. Glass
shades or covers of any pattern can be made for them when re-
quired.

5. Thermometer (in shape like the letter «-j) to indicate the cor-
rect hea.t in the egg drawers or trays, which it does by being in
contact with the source of heat, and not obtaining it by radiation.

S. Four drawers or trays (one at the left hand out of position)
eighteen inches by ten inches, each perforated with a number of
small holes half an inch from the bottom for the exit of the foul
air engendered in the tray during incubation, and another row of
holes near the top for the inlet of fresh air, thus causing a contin-
uous change in the air'of the drawers for the successful oxygena-
tion of the blood. Underneath a perforated zinc bottom in each

drawer is placed a layer of finely sifted garden soil, to the depth
of about half an inch, to be constantly kept damp (not wet), and
y/hich diffuses a. genial moisture to the air and eggs during the
whole period of incubation. Each drawer is capable of holding
L>9iween forty and fifty eggs of the smaller breeds of poultry, or
alx)ut forty duck eggs ; thus this Incubator can contain at ' one
time from one hundred and fifty to two hundred eggs, and can
hatch any size of eggs from a swan's to a sparrow's.

7. Four pipes to convey the warm water from the cistern above
to the Artificial Mother below, which is seen in Figs. 76 and 78,
No. 10.

8. Nursery for chickens, the front containing glass, and the
bsick wire netting or wood (No. 9, Fig. 78). "When more room is
required for chickens, an extension equivalent to half the length
of the Incubator can be attached to each end, thus doubling the
are^ of the run.

10. Artificial Mother (sloping in the direction of the arrow from,
about eight inches high at A to three or four inches at B, see No.

PENMAJt's A^D the SCOTIA INCUBATOBS. 99

10 on Fig. 76), heated by the -water flowing from the tank
above through four pipes (7).

11. Eeturn pipe, conveying the water from the Artificial Mother
to the boiler to be re-heated.

12. Boiler, containing three flattened elbow tubes, each one
placed above a lamp wick.

13. Lamp for the burning of paraffin, petroleum, or other oils,
containing three wicks, each two and three-quarter inches broad,
the whole held in position by four rods fitted into corresponding
tubes attached to the larap, and retained by two sliding catches.

14. Inlet pipe, joined to the boiler by a brass coupling, convey-
ing the heated water by five graduated openings or inlets to the
cistern, whence it flows on both sides of the centre to the ends of
the tank.

15. Heat regulator, a pill-box shaped brass vessel, having, as a
lid, a flexible diaphragm, which acts by means of a rod upon the
sHde or cover of lamp No. 16, Fig. 76.

16. Graduated slide or cover for lamp. As the heat expands
the air, or any other fluid that may be used, in the long tubes
within the cistern, the only non-resisting medium upon which it
can act is the flexible diaphragm on No. 15, causing it to protrude
in the direction of the dotted fine, and thus propelling the slide or
cover (No. 16) inward upon the flames, and thereby cutting off
the heat. As the heat of the water in the cistern or tank sub-
sides, tlie atmospheric pressure, re-acting on the diaphi'agm, causes
the slide to be withdrawn, and thus the size of the flames, and
consequently the heat, is again increased,

17. Waste pipe to run off the water at the end of the hatching
season.

18. Tray, made of the same material as the tank, surrounded
hy a wood frame in which to place the eggs after the birds have
chipped the shells, and where the chickens can remain till they
are dry, when they may be removed to the Mother below.

Where gas can be obtained and would be preferred, a regulator
for it is made instead of the oil lamp.

We have no doubt but this is the best of the English machines,
yet its comphcation of parts and great cost will prevent its ever
becoming popular with those who have the most use for an Incu-
bator.

THE SCOTIA INCUBATOR

is of the same nationality as the last. It is described in Brown's
book on Artificial Incubation as being in appearance like a very
flat box. with one drawer in front, and an arched hole at each end

100

chrtstt's dtdeo-inctjbatoe.

of it. It is about three feet in length, half that in width, and
fifteen inches in height, the outer case being wood entirely. A
tank, about one and a half inches deep, is fitted in it, extending
the whole length of the machine, which is heated by lamps placed
in compartments of which the arched holes are the entrance.
These lamps are ordinary paraffin lamps, without chimneys.
The egg drawer is placed between the two lamp compartments,
and is sufficiently large to hold one hundred eggs. In the bottom
of this drawer sods are placed, or earth, and kept constantly
moist ; above this a layer of straw is laid, on which the eggs are
put. Ventilation is given over the ends and back of this drawer.

Fig. 79. — chrysty's dydro-incubator.
The great fault in this machine is its defective ventilation and
lack of regulator.

chrysty's hydro-incubator

is a London, Eng., invention, of which Fig. 79 is an illustration.
In describing its parts, A is the exhaust pipe used in emptying the
cistern ; B, a brass cock for drawing off water, previous to re-
plenishing the cistern with boiling water ; C, a glass gauge, with
a marked scale D at the side, to give the height of water in the
cistern ; E, tube through which cistern is filled ; jP, vent tube for
escaping air; G, egg drawer; H, thermometer; J, air holes for
ventilation ; J", flannel on which the eggs lie ; K, stand or box on
which the Incubator sits ; L, earth trays in bottom of drawer.

The mode of operating this maghine is to fill the cistern with
boning water, which raises the heat to about 120° to 130° ; after

Howell's gem hatohek akd voitelliek's estcubatok. 101

allowing it to cool down to 103°, keep the heat at about that point
hy drawing off every twelve hours a sufficient quantity of water,
and replacing it with an equal amout of boiling water ; the quan-
tity requiring to be taken out varies with the outside temperature,
for while a very small quantity suffices in summer, or if kept in a
warm room in winter, if kept in a cold place it will take a large
quantity to keep it going.

In the hands of careful operators, this machine has achieved
some excellent results. Its defects are; the large quantity of
water required to work it in cold weather, and the trouble of get-
ting it hot twice a day ; the- insufficient moisture given off by the
«arth trays, and the position of the thermometer, which can only
be seen by opening the drawer.

HOWELL'S GEM HATCHER

is very similar to the last described. The difference consists
mainly in the egg drawer, which is a tin tray, the bottom covered
with straw, on which the eggs are laid; the arrangement of
moisture pans in the egg chamber is much superior to the earth
of the former.

The inventor claims that, by reason of improvements in con-
struction, much less water is required to work it than Christy's,
which, if so, is a great advantage.

The machine holds about twenty-five gallons of water, the large
hody of which, doubtless, retains heat longer, and therein gains
the advantage.

THE VOITELLIER INCUBATOR.

This is a French invention, and, like the last two described, is
also a Hydro-Incubator.

It is described in Brown's work as " a strong deal chest, thirty-
three inches square and twenty-one deep, containii% a cylindrical
zinc cistern, packed tightly round with sawdust ; this hot water
tank is a foot in depth, and has twenty inches inside diameter ; it
■exactly fits, and rests upon a circular wooden frame four inches
in height, and this is the "hatching nest", in which eggs are
placed. It will hold about one hundred fowls' eggs, or seventy-
five duck eggs.

"Two movable glazed frames, fitting one over the other, are pro-
vided at the top of the machine, allowing either of access to the
eggs, when hfted off, or of a glance at the thermometer. The*-
inlet pipe is at the right hand toj) corner, and the only outlet is at
the bottom. In the centre of the front is a pipe to supply air, but

102

CASHMOEE's mCUBATOE.

the latter is always warmed, before being admitted into the Incu-
bator, by having a considerable length of pipe running alongside
of the cistern. The air has no direct contact, either, with the
eggs, inasmuch as the pipe rises nine inches inside, and a current
is secured at the top by the aid of a very small piece of piping,
through which it is supposed the steam from the hot water escapes,
and so dampens the eggs sufficiently.

The cistern holds twenty gallons of water. The nest is prepared
by placing an inch of sand in the bottom, which is kept damp,
over which is put straw or fine hay on which to lay the eggs ",

CASHMORE'S INCUBATOR.

The same remarks apply to this as to the two previously men-
tioned. It requires some experience and also ' ' knack " in deter-
mining just how much boiling water is daily necessary to keep up
the temperature, and especially in variable weather.

CASHMORE'S INCUBATOR,

illustrated at Fig. 80, is the last of the foreign inventions we shall

notice.

^ The machine is two feet square and one and a half high. The
-egg drawer is shown in front, partly open; the bottom of this

drawer is of perforated zinc or wire cloth, over which is laid a

piece of flannel or felting, on wliich the eggs are placed.

TEUDBDALe's and TATHAm's ESrOTJBATORS. 103

A tray filled with damp earth is under the eggs to keep the bot-
tom cool and moist. The tank is filled through the funnel and
tube B. "which is also iised for a regulator. C is the pivot for a
lever, connecting at one end with the float in the funnel and tube
J5, and at the other end by a piece of wire with the pipe of the
lamp, on which is placed the burner. This pipe and burner is in-
serted into the tube F, which connects with the chimney J. E is
a benzoline lamp, carefully balanced on the two brackets shown
in the cut. The thermometer is shown at 6r, and the ventilating
holes at H. Inside the tube F, a quarter inch beyond the burner
and a little below it, is placed a piece of brass shaped like a wide-
spread inverted ^.

The mode of working the machine is as follows : The cistern is
filled, through the funnel jB, with boiling water, which is allowed
to cool down until it is at the required temperature ; the lamp is
Kt and placed in position, and the connecting wire from the lever
is hooked on to the pipe or burner tube of the lamp. When the
machine gets hotter than the temperature at which it is sot, the
water expanding raises the float, and, by the action of the lever,
depresses the burner, which passes partly under the j^ shaped
piece of bi-ass, thus cutting off nearly all the flame. As the heat
falls the water contracts, the float falls, and the burner comes
back into its first position, and the flame attains its f;ill t:ize.

Tliis is, probably, the most simple of the ' ' self -regulating " ma-
chines. It has its defects, however, the principal ones being the
inequality of heat in different parts of the egg drawer, and the
evaporation of the water from the open tube, which creates the
necessity for frequent replenishing of the water supply, and re-
setting of the regulating apparatus.

truesdale's incubator.

This machine is a California invention. Its shape is that of a
bureau, three feet high and tv^ro feet square. There are three
drawers, in which are movable trays for the eggs ; these trays
hold one hundred eggs each. Above each drawer are tanks of
water, which are connected with a galvanized iron boiler, heated
by a lamp. By a proper connection, the water is constaiitly in cir-
culation between the boiler and tanks. There is no regulating at-
tachment.

tatham's incubator

is another Pennsylvania invention, its principal features being the
division of the water tank by a horizontal partition of motal, per-
forated at each end, through which the water has to pass to reach

104

TATHA:M S mCUBATOE.

the return flue ; this flue passes down and under the Qgg drawer,
into a moisture pan, which it traverses to and fro a number of
times before passing out to be re-heated. The heating apparatus
is the continuation of this same flue or tube, arranged in a spiral
coil, and placed over a peculiarly formed gas burner.

This burner is fed thi-ough a double supply tube, in one arm of
which is an elbow-like depression, opening at the bottom into one
end of a U shaped glass tube (this tube is almost identical with tha*
described in the Graves machine). The long jpart of this tube is

r \

/.v

a'

JBf

:g--="«gg"'4-fp

^1\

"*-

t_ I

^Ztsv^

^■*- ' : -r^

_f».

J 'i

r

Fig. 81. — renwick's incubator.
filled with alcohol and inserted into the egg chamber ; the U shaped
end is outside, and filled with mercury. As the heat in the ma-
chine increases, the alcohol expands, and forces the mercury up
so that it rises above the elbow in the main gas tube, thus cutting
off the flow through that, and forcing it to pass through the other
and smaller tube, in which is a stop cock, thus reducing the flame
^o as small a jet as is v>ashed.

Another noticeable point is the ventilation. The heat radiated
from a metal tank over the eggs passes over each end of the
drawers downward through a flue, and then turning upwards, is

eenwiok's theemostatic inctjbatoe. 105

carried out -through a ventilator at the top. The supply of fresh
air is received from a valve in the bottom, from "whence it passes
over the water pan and upwards between the drawers, and thence
off through the flue above mentioned.

The machine has some very good points about it, but of its
working qualities we know nothing. It is only adapted for gas,
and, therefore, of no benefit except to those who live in villages
or cities.

renwick's thermostatic incubatos.

Is illustrated by Figures 81, 82, 83, and 84. Regarding its con-
struction and working, Mr. R. communicates the following :

This incubator Avas invented by Mr. E. S. Renwick, of Millburn,
N. J., the well known scientific expert in patent causes, and it is
the subject of four patents, viz : No. 193616 ; No. 210559 ; No. 217-
148 ; No. 224224. Its introduction marks a new departure in the
art of Artificial Incubation, and, as it has been used successfully
by the inventor for five years, its construction is worthy of care-
ful study. Mr. Renwick's early experiments, led him to the con-
clusion that the generally accepted systems of ventilating Incuba-
tors, and of regulating the heat by varying the position of the
lamp vrick relativ3 to the wick tube, or by moving the wick tube
upon the wick, were not as reliable as they should be, and his
Thermostatic Incubator is characterized by the following leading
peculiarities; viz:

First, the ventilation of the incubating chamber by distributing
the fresh air at its top, and drawing off the foul air at or near its
bottom.

Second, the regulation of the heat of the Incubator by alternate-
ly permitting the heated gases from the lamp to pass through the
incubating chamber, and to escape without passing through the
chamber, but without altering the position of the wick or the
wick tubes.

Third, the automatic supply ot moisture at the top of the incu-
bating chamber, where the air is distributed, and in exact propor-
tion to the amount used ; so that the air is charged with moisture
before coming in contact with the eggs, and consequently the wet-
ting of the eggs is dispensed with.

Fourth, the support of the eggs vipon rollers connected Avith
each other, so as to turn simultaneously in the same direction.
Hence all the eggs in one tray or dra^ver, can be turned simulta-
neously by one revolution of a crank or key, and without the ne-
cessity of opening the Incubator.

The regulating mechanism for opening and closing the valves

106

KENWICK S THERMOSTATIC INCUBATOR.

which regulate the heat, contains various new features which are
fully described in Mr. Renwick's patent, No. 210559 ; but a full de-
scription of them, would occupy more space than we have to give
to the subject. Those who wish information on the subject, can
readily obtain it by procuring a copy of his patent.

The last pattern of Thermostatic Incubator used by Mr. Ren-
wick, has the heat distributed through it entirely by the air em-
ployed for ventilation, and dispenses with the use of the water
vessels generally employed to distribute the heat by the circulation

Fig. 82.
of hot water. It has an incubating chamber divided by four up-
right partitions, which form the slides for the four drawers B, B,in
which the eggs are placed. If the mechanical system of turning
the eggs is used, three of the drawers are traversed by series of
rollers about an inch in diameter, and about two inches from cen-
tre to centre ; and the eggs are laid in rows upon these rollers. If
the rollers are not used, the bottoms of the drawers are formed of
wire gauze, or of perforated zinc, so that the air may readily cir-
culate downward through the egg drawers. The central two par-

KBNWICK's mClTBATOE. 107

titions between the drawers, are separated by a space H, in which.

the thermostat, which controls the temperature, is placed. This
space communicates by a ventilating nozzle G, fitted with a valve
K, with tlie casing of a chicken drawer, arranged on the top of
the Incubator ; and the top of this casing has ventilating holes in
it for the escape of the foul air.

Tlie Incubator is heated by means of two kerosene lamps T,T,
supported upon a counterbalance lamp gallery, which is suspended
under the Incubator, so that either lamp can be readily removed
and replaced by depressing the gallery and allowing it to be raised
by the counterbalance weight. Each lamp is provided with a
short chinmey gr, which is applied to the lower end of an upright
flue d. The upright flue connects at its upper end with a hori-
zontal T shaped flue, e, which extends through the top of the in-
cubating chamber, and has an escape pipe, I, from which the
spent products of combustion escape. Each upright lamp flue d
is surrounded by an air flue J, which is open at the bottora so as
to receive the external air ; it is also opened at the top so that the
air which draws through it escapes at its upper end into the upper
part of the incubating chamber. The air flue, and the lamp flue
within it, form a small hot air furnace, so that the air which thus
enters the Incubator is warmed in its ascent. The entering air
distributes itself in the top of the incubating chamber, forcing
the air therein downward through the e^^ drawers and into the
bottom of the central space which forms a chimney, by which the
air escapes. Hence, when the Incubator is in operation, there is
a constant circulation of air from the upper part of the Incubat-
ing chamber downward, against the natural tendency of hot air
to rise. This downward circulation gives time for the particles
of air of equal temperature to arrange themselves in strata of
practically equal temperature horizontally, but progressively
cooler as they approach the bottom of the Incubator. Hence, the
eggs are heated hottest at their upper sides, while the tempera-
tures at different parts of Incubator of the same level, ho w&ver
widely separated, rarely differ more than a degree ; and are gen-
erally within half a degree of each other.

In order that the heat may be regulated, each xxpright heating,
flue, d, is traversed centrally by a waste heat chimney, I, whose
upper end is controlled by a valve, E. When these valves are
dropped the waste heat chimney is closed, and the hot gases from
the lamps are compelled to traverse the heating flues and to heat
the interior of the Incubator. When, however, the valves are
raised, the waste heat chimneys are opened, and the hot gases
take the direct course through the chimneys and escape without

108

KENWICK's rNCUBATOB.

heating the Incubator. Hence, the opening and closing of the
valves of the waste heat chimneys determine the heat; and
these operations are effected by the valve mechanism arranged
under a glass shade, U, on the top of the Incubator. The opening
of the waste heat chimney is attended with another useful effect ;
thus, when it is open, the draught is stronger than when it is
closed ; and in the former case the current of cold air in the cone
or deflector of the lamp infringes upon the flame with greater
force and reduces the volume of the flame; thereby producing
the same effect upon the flame as the lowering of the lamp wick ;
while the reduction of the force of the draft incident to the clos-
ing of the valve, permits the flame to increase in volxune. The

Fig. 83.
valve K of the ventilating chimney nozzle G- is made smaller than
that nozzle, so that it can not wholly prevent the escape of air,
and consequently the ventilation can never be stopped. This
valve is connected with the same shaft that operates the waste
heat valves E, so that when they are opened the ventilating valve
is also opened, and the ventilation is increased ; and when they
are closed the ventilating valve partially obstructs the chimney
nozzle, and reduces the quantity of air escaping from Incubator ;
thus facilitating the rise of temperature.

The valve mechanism is operated by a weight, and the times
when this weight is permitted to open or to close the valves of the
waste heat chimneys, and of the ventilating chimney, are deter-
mined by a compound thermostat composed of bars of brass and
vulcanite. Two compound bars arranged back to back are used ;

EENWICk's rCfCUBATOK. 109

each bar being composed of a strip of brass and a strip of vulcan-
ite, 24 inches long and 1 inch broad, rivetted together at intervals
of an inch. These compound bars are supported at both ends, and
are connected at their cenrtres with a series of two multiplying
levers, the fulcrmn of the first of which is connected with one
compound bar, while the shorter arm of the same lever is connect-
ed with the other compound bar ; hence, the lever is moved simul-
taneously in opposite directions by the greater or less curvature
of the two compound bars ; and the extent of movement is about
double as much as it would be with one bar. A counterpoise for
the weights of the thermostatic bars is employed, so that they are
relieved of the strain of moving their own weights, and are conse-
quently very sensitive to changes of temperature. The end of the
second multiplying lever is connected by a light rod, with a detent
which releases the valve mechanism whenever the valves are to
be opened or closed. Mr. Ren^\dck uses a weight heavy enough to
open the valves with absolute certainty, and he found that the
friction incident to the strain of this weight, affected the sensitive-
ness of the mechanism, hence he interposed a detent shaft (turned
by a light spring,) between the main valve shaft and the detent of
the the*cnostat, so that the detent is relieved of the strain of the
operating weight. A light shifting weight also is employed, to
counteract the effect of the slight residual f rictioii, by helping the
thermostat to move the detent in alternately opposite directions,
as the heat rises and falls. To prevent the valve mechanism from
moving so rapidly as to create a jar, a speed regulator is employ-
ed, consisting of a small paddle wheel, running in a semicircular
trough containing glycerine. Tliis contrivance effectually pre-
vents excess of speed, whUe it is practically frictionless.

The supply of moisture to the Incubator is furnished by two
glass fonts NN set upon the top of the Incubator. Each font has
a discharge pipe 7i, whose point dips into a smaU basin Q, which
is connected by a tube a with an open topped pan M, surrounding
the head of the upright lamp flue. The water stands at the same
level in the internal pan M, and in the external basin Q ; and as
the water in the former evaporates, a supply runs in from the lat-
ter. Whenever the water sinks in the external basin sufficiently
to unseal the end of the dip pipe h, a little air enters through this
pipe into the font, and a corresponding quantity of water descends
to keep the water in the basin and in internal pan at the proper
level. The Incubator consumes nearly four quarts of water in 24
hours. The fonts are filled once a day, by closing the point of the
dip pipe with the finger, withdrawing the cork of the font, pour-
ing in the water, and replacing the cork ; after which the finger is

110

KENWICK S IvOUBATOR.

withdrawn to open the dip pipe. The greater the heat, the greater
the quantity of water -which is evaporated; so that the supply
from the fonts is varied automatically. Mr. Renwick in his first
Incubator, used stop-cocks adjusted by hand to regulate the sup-
ply of water directly to pans, as described in his patent No. 193816 ;
but the plan above described operates perfectly, and obviates the
necessity of any other operation than replenishing the fonts once
a day.

The temperature employed by Mr, Renwick varies continually
from about 98° to 106°, these extreme temperatures occurring from
half hour to two hours apart. His mechanism can be adjusted to
run within an extreme variation of three degrees, as indicated by
a sensitive thermometer, but he believes that a greater variation
of temperature is more in accordance with the variations that

occur when
ed under a hen,
of position of
the centre to the
He finds that
inside the egg
more than two
variation of
'grees in the sur-
provided the
peratures are
duration ; and,
use of his In-
riation in the

^

nir%r\

K

te

m^m^^mmmmm)i

eggs are hatch-
by the change
the eggs from
rim of the nest,
the temperature
does not vary
degrees with a
eight or ten de-
rounding air,
extreme tem-
not of too long
in the practical
cubator, the va-
temperature of
He also finds

Fig. 84.
the eggs themselves does not exceed one degree
that, with the ample ventilation and supply of moisture niain-
tained in the incubating chamber of his apparatus, an occasional
increase of temperature to 110° is not fatal to the eggs.

Mr. Renwick's system of turning the eggs is represented in Fig.
84, the eggs being supported on rollers, which are connected by
endless bands of tape or of India-rubber ; the pivot of one of the
rollers is extended through the front of the egg drawer, and is
fitted with either a crank or with a clock key, by turning which
all the eggs in the drawer are turned simultaneously. This sys-
tem of turning by rollers was patented to Mr. Renwick in Patent
No. 224224. The eggs are left on the rollers for nineteen days,
'Vhen they are by preference transferred to a drawer having a
j)erforated bottom, upon which the chickens are supported with
ease to themselves, and with the capacity of moving about, whea
they emerge from the egg shell.

smith's and BATCHELLEe's DfCTTBATOES. Ill

After the chickens are hatched, Mr. Eenwick brihgs them up in
what he calls a '' Ventilating Brooder", in which the chickens are
kept warm by hot air heated by a small lamp. The air is intro-
duced through a perforated floor, on which the chickens are sup-
ported, and they are covered by an inclined board whose under
side is lined with plaited carpet. The covered brood chamber
communicates at one side with an enclosed run in which the
chickens are fed. This " Brooder " is fully described in Patent No.
216,070.

smith's incubator.

This is one of the latest inventions, and was exhibited the past
winter for the first time. In general shape it resembles the
Eclipse. It consists of a case enclosing two tanks of water, an
upper and a lower one ; the first to give heat by radiation to the
top of the eggs ; the second to vaporize water and keep the air
charged with moisture. Each tank has a capacity of about fif-
teen gallons ; the large amount of water being used to prevent
sudden changes of temperature in the egg drawer, which is be-
tween the two tanks. These tanks are both open at top, so that
the evaporation of water is constant and copious, and renders
necessary frequent replenishing.

The regulation is effected by electricity. A "pyrometer"
(another name for a thermostatic-bar) is used as a circuit-closer,
and the electric current acting on a magnet, opens' and closes the
ventilator.

Over the top of the machine is an enclosed space which is used
as a temporary artificial mother. This is warmed by the waste
heat from the machine.

The cost of running a machine of two hundred egg capacity is
said to be about eight or ten cents per day.

batcheller's perfection incubator.
Of this machine we know nothing, save that it is offered for
sale by the inventor in one of the "Western poultry papers. We
have been unable to get a description of it from either the inven-
tor or any one e\se, hence conclude that it will not bear investi-
gation.

112

THE FAVORITE IKCUBATOE.

THE FAVOBITE INCUBATOR, (See Fig. 85),

is a Yankee adaptation of ideas gleaned from other machines.
The Boiler and lamp are taken from the Centennial ; the tank
and egg-tray from the Novelty or Carbonnier's ; and the regula-
tor is an adaptation of Guest's patent fire alarm or heat-indica-
tor. The following description is taken from the circular of the
manufacturers.

" The heat in the machine is applied from the top, with per-
fect uniformity throughout the egg-drawer, no greater in one
part than in another, and under the control of an automatic
regulator.

The moist-
plied from
eggs, in just I
quantities,
proper de-

The venti-
dy and un-
constant cur-
passing
egg - chamber

The case of
is of wood;
of pine, and
of black-wal-

ure IS sup-
below the
sufficient
and at the
gree.

lation is stea-
changeable, a
rent of air
through the
at all times,
the machine

an inner one
an outer one

Fig. 85. — THE FAVORITE INCUBATOR, ^^t.
The regulator governing the heat in this Incubator, is com-
posed of a group of bars in the top of the egg-chamber, and made
of a material that is very sensitive to heat and cold ; its action is
positive, opening and closing the ventilator, and graduating the
flame of the lamp, thus checking the advance or decline of the
temperature. The mechanical part is regulated by a thumb
screw on the outside of the machine, which allows the tempera-
ture in the egg-chamber to be fixed at any desired point. When
properly adjusted, the expansion bars afiected by the heat, act
upon an escape lever, releasing an arm, which passes from one
side of the lever to the other, at the same time turning down
the lamp flame, and opening the ventilator, allowing the hot air
to escape from the egg-chamber. It remains in this condition
until the heat has fallen one to three degrees, when a reverse ac-
tion of the escape occurs, causing the arm to return to its former.

THE SUFFOLK IlfrCUBATOR.

113

position, the ventilator to close, and the flame of the lamp to be
turned up; this movement takes place every fifteen to thirty
minutes, and goes on continually, by means of power transmitted
by a simple reel and weight."

The machine is a very good one, but being a plain infringe-
ment on several other patents, it has never been patented, and
its use may at some time bring trouble from that cause.

THE SUFFOLK lifCUBATOR (See Fig. 86.)

finds its birth-place on Long Island, New York State. It ia
described by the inventor as follows : —

"The Incubator is strongly made of yellow pine and walnut.

There is ab- ^"" \ i , solutely noth-

ing to get out
give trouble in
cubator ; can
any person of
ligence; it will
eggs that would
the most favor-
stances in the
The incuba-
hot water in

of order and
the whole- in-
be managed by
ordinary intel-
hatch all the
hatch under
able circum-
^ natural way.
tor is heated hj
galvanized iron
tanks, with per- ^'g' ^S-the Suffolk "f cubator f^^^ uniformity
of heat through the egg drawers.

Two drawers are arranged at the side of the lower section of
the tank and receive the young chickens directly after they are
hatched, the chickens being dried in these drawers.

The moisture, which is a continuous evaporation supplied by
an earth drawer from below the eggs, and at the proper de-
gree of heat, so that the eggs do not require sprinkling at any
time.

The ventilation is steady, as a constant current of air is pass-
ing through the egg drawers at all times, the air passing in at the
bottom and around the lower tanks and over the moisture pan,
keeps the air at an even temperature, before it passes through
the egg drawer and out at the top of the incubator through the
air chamber, giving a constant current of air without chilling
the eggs.''

The last paragraph of this description is rather vague ; but we

114 THE WHITE MOUNTAIN IN"C1TBAT0R.

give it as we find it. The machine has no regulator and Hke
•others of its class requires more or less watching.

THE WHITE MOUNTAIN IKCUBATOR (See Fig. 87.)

is another adaptation of other people's ideas. In all the essential
points it is a minature " Eclipse " differing simple in shape and
and arrangement of egg- trays, etc. It is regulatecTby a, (battery
and electric circuit. As its name indicates, it was "^hatched"
out in the " Old Granite State."

THE ACME IKCUBATOE (Sliown by Fig. 88.)

is the invention of the writer. It is a iiot-air machine, and was
designed to meet a call for a cheaper machine than the Old Cen-
tennial.

Fig. 87. — THE WHITE MOUNTAIN INCUBATOR.

Fig. 88 shows a one-hundred and fifty egg machine with doors
closed.

Fig. 89 shows the inside of egg-chamber which is explained as
follows : —

The heat is generated by the lamp L, which has an ordinary
'* B " burner (one inch wick). A copper drum is heated by this
lamp, from which the warm air radiates and passes upwards
through the hot-air chamber E, where the evaporating trough
H, divides the current, and charges it with moisture. The shield
U, deflects the rising air over the drawers D D, in which the
eggs are placed. By a peculiar aiTangement, the air is caused to
pass out of the sides of the egg chamber at Y Y, and thence
through the ventilators V Y.

THE ACME lifCUBATOR.

115

The smoke and gas from the lamp are carried off outside the
Incubator and cannot by any possibility enter the egg chamber.
Here has been a great scource of failure in machines of this class;
the fumes from the lamp entering the egg chamber and killing
the chicks.

The hot-air chamber is closed by the small door E ; the inner
door B, is then closed 'and fastened, and then the outer door A,
which is double and packed. By this construction the eggs in
the first row next the door are equally warm as those in the back
of the machine.

The small windows Q G, glye light enough to see the thermom-
eters, and also to examine the eggs when hatching, without
opening the inner door, and thus cooling off the egg chamber.

The lamp L is attached to and suspended under the heating
box by spring catches, one of which is shown at X, and can be

detached or put
seconds. It can
being taken off.
lamp is detached,
also slides out,
ken out of their
are packed inside
thus reducing the
toabout half that
cubator of the
As before sta-
constructed en-

THE

Fig.

ACME IlSrCUBATOR.

in place in a few
be filled without
In packing, the
the heating box
the legs are ta-
sockets, and all
the machine;
size of the box,
of any other in-
same capacity,
ted, the Acme is
tirely of metal;

is double cased, with a space of three inches non-conducting
packing between the cases.

It is fitted with the same kind of thermostatic or regulating-
bar which has proven so successful in the Centennial. The
regulating apparatus is also similar, but much more simple.

The egg-drawers are an entirely new invention of my own, and
can be used throughout the entire time of incubation. With the
egg-turning- trays heretofore offered, it was necessary to substi-
tute a plain drawer or tray with a tight bottom when the chicks
were hatching. Another advantage of the Acme turning-trays
is that they will hold one more row of eggs than those of any
other make. In an incubator, the size of the No. 1 Acme, this
would make a difference of fully twenty eggs. The entire con-

116

HAIGHT'S INCUBATOR.

ients of both drawers in the Acme — 150 eggs — can be turned in
ten seconds. A broad patent was granted on this machine May
E3d, 1882.

haight's patent incubator
is the invention of Henry J. Haight, of Goshen, N. Y. "We have
no full description of it, Mr. Haight, not yet having placed the
machine on the market; although rather complicated it is said
to achieve good results. It is regulated by a thermostat.

The egg-tray is worthy of particular mention; it is a rack

Fig. 89. — THE ACME INCUBATOR. (Inside View).
covered with course muslin or sacking on which the eggs lie ; this
rack is suspended by a bar or axle across the centre, the ends
working in journals ; one end of the rack being held in place by
a spring bolt. A duplicate rack of same construction is laid
over the first and secured to it, thus placing the eggs between
the two trays ; the bolt is then drawn and the two trays revolve,
or turn half of a revolution, thus turning the eggs upside down,
and leaving them resting oh the sacking of the second tray : the
first tray is then unfastened and taken ofi", and the eggs put
back in the machine.

The machine and turnmg-rack are both patented.

HALSTED'S SELF-REGKLATIiTft INCUBATOR.

117

J. M. halsted's kew self-eegulating incubatok
(See Fig. 90),
is a California product, hailing from Oakland, and was patented
Aug. 8th, 1882.

The inventor says of it : —

The Incubator is a hot-air Machine, warmed by a kerosene
lamp, and burns about 1^ gallons of oil to hatch 100 eggs, or 3
gallons to 350 eggs, in this climate.

It is made of five of the best non-conducting substances and
constructed so thoroughly that years of constant service will not
impair its efficiency. The front is furnished with double glass
doors through which the eggs and thermometer are visible with-
out opening the machine. By the scientific manner in which
the heating apparatus is constructed, every particle of heat is
utilized and a great saving of oil is effected. The air thus warm-
ed is automatically moistened by an ingenious device, before en-

tering the egg cham-
it passes in a con-
the eggs and then
tors, which are al-
in such a position
enter. The moist-
or decreased as de-
done automatically,
of sprinkling the
The lamp gives

Fig. 90.

J. M. halsted's

KEW SELF-REGULA-

TIKG INCUBATOR.

ber, througli which
stant current over
through the ventila-
ways open, yet placed
that no cold air can
ure can be increased
sired, which being
avoids the necessity
eggs daily by hand,
sufficient heat to use

the machine successfully in the coldest climate, and yet is so
constructed that it works equally well in the warmest.

The formation of the heating apparatus is such that neither
smoke nor gas can enter the egg chamber, in which the air is
constantly changing, therefore it must always be pure and whole-
some. Underneath the eggs a current of cool — not cold — air is
kept circulating, which, as it becomes impregnated by carbonic
acid gas from the eggs, passes out through the bottom ventilators.

The new Patent Eegulator is the Perfection of Simplicity, is
strong, reliable and will last a lifetime ; it is connected directly
with the lamp and turns the flame up or down with the least
variation of temperature. >

Above the egg chamber is an artificial brooder, in which the
young chicks can be placed as soon as dry.

118

THE PACIFIC lifCUBATOK.

LA BAEGE'S INCUBATOE

comes to us from Missouri. It was patented Dec. Sloty 1880,
It is a rather complicated affair, regulated by electricity.

Its chief claim to notice is in its egg- turning, arrangements.
The eggs are placed in what the inventor calls ''liammocks""
which are suspended from frames or '^ cradles." These are in
tiers, and are hinged at one end, and the other connected with
levers, which, elevating the free end causes the eggs to roll in one
direction, and lowering it, they roll the reverse way. The move-
ment is caused by a clock, set to act every twelve hours.

THE PACIFIC INCUBATOE (Fig. 91.)

as its name indicates, originated on the Pacific Coast in California.

" The boiler and
constructed of hea-
and the heat gen-
water circulation
eggs from above,
ture as far as pos-
perature is ascer-
the thermometer
ber at the top of
shown in the ac-

The exterior case
Pine, and finished
cabinet or chest of
reasonable hand-
twenty years,
plied from one ker-
ted under the cen-
the two smaller si-

Fig. 91.

THE PACIFIC I]isrCUBATOE.

water chambers are
vy galvanized iron,,
crated by the hot
is applied to the
thus imitating na-
sible, and the tem-
tained by inserting
in the water cham-
the machine, as
companying cut.
is made of Sugar
so as to resemble a
drawers, and with
ling will last for
The heat is ap-
osene lamp, situa-
ter of the boiler in
zes, and from two

lamps (one on either side) of the largest sized Incubator.

The temperature is regulated by turning the wicks of the
lamps up or down as may be necessary ; but this requires very
little attention, and the machine can be left to itself for hours
together, and there is no necessity for touching it during the
^night, a slight turning down of the wicks in the evening being
.all the care that is required, as a fall in the temperatuie of two
or three degrees during the night does no injury."

As will be seen from the foregoing description, this machine

THE PARKET INCUBATOR.

11&

has no regulator. While it might run -with comparatively uniform
temperature in the climate of California, in the country east of
the Rocky Mountains, it would be absolutely impossible to con-
trol the temperature within ten or more degrees, unless it wa&
constantly watched. We understand the maehine has accom-
plished good work in the hands of its inventor. It was patented
January 20th, 1883.

THE PARRET INCUBATOR (Fig 92.)

hails from Michigan. It is a Hot- Air Machine. The following
description is taken from the circular of the manufacturer :

''The oven or egg-chamber is a wooden frame covered with the
heaviest straw-board, both inside and outside, with a space be-
tween of an inch
is left on the sides
air space, but on
non-conducting

The doors, of
two, close against
jams, thus mak-
air-tight joint,
doors is a win-
which the ther-
Been without
oven.

oven is the heat-
cylinder of iron.

Fig. 92.

THE PARRY INCUBATOR.

and a half, which '
simply as a dead-
top is filled with
material,
which there are
india rubber
ing a perfectly
In one of the
dow, through
mometer may be
opening the
Beneath the
er, a compound
in fact three cyl-
inders, so arranged that though no smoke or fumes from the
lamp can get to the eggs, there is a current of hot, pure air, con-
tinually ascending into the oven, and in so ascending it has to
pass through a zinc tube, from which it is discharged near the
top of the oven, from whence it is, by means of a radiator above
and (in the large ovens) a distributer lower down, brought down
to the eggs in such a way as to give a very uniform heat in all
parts of the oven.

The lamp is below the heater, and for the smaller sizes of

machines, is a lamp of tin, made expressly for the purpose. For

the larger machines I use an oil stove of the most approved style.

In the zinc tube above mentioned, is a valve or damper, so

hung, that as the regulator expands with the increase of heat, the

120

THE MONPAREIL HYDRO INCUBATOR.

Yalve drops shut by its own weight, and is again opened by the
contraction of the regulator as the heat decreases.

The regulator (not shown in the cut) is a double bar which

expands and contracts as the heat rises or falls, and operates a

|Yalve as described above. The bar is so arranged that by simply

turning a thumbscrew, the yalve can be made to open or close at

any desired point."

This machine is not patented.

THE NONPAREIL HYDRO INCUBATOR (Fig. 93.)

which has its origin in Wisconsin, belongs to the class represent-
ed on pages 100 and 101, viz:— " Ohrysty's," " Howells," and
<*The Voitellier."

Fig. 93.

It consists of a large tank, packed down in some non-conduct-
ing substance ; the tank being partially emptied, and re-filled
two or more times daily with hot water, to keep up the heat, no
lamp or regulator is used. It was patented Oct. 18th, 188l>
and described in circular as follows: —

The form of the " Nonpareil " Hydro Incubator is seen in the
cut, and is furnished with a large galvanized iron tank. The
tank is six inches smaller each way than the outside frame, which
space is packed with non-conducting material, as is also a three
inch space on the top of the tank, which retains the heat in the
tank a long time. The egg drawer, G, is below the tank, and i»

THE KEW CENTENJSriAL INCUBATOR.

121

one inch smaller each than the tank. The bottom of the drawer
is made of perforated zinc, this is covered with flannel, on which
the eggs rest. Under the eggs are the trays of water, E, with
cool air circulating over them, which evaporates the water, caus-
ing a moisture to arise which keeps the eggs moist. B B shows
the air tubes which passes through the side of the machine
through the packing and into the centre of the egg drawer, over
the eggs. Over the tank is the brooder, where the chickens
should be placed as soon as they are hatched. The brooder is
kept sufficiently warm by its position over the tank, thus mak-
ing one machine do the work usually done by two separate ma-
chines, thus reducing the expense of raising the chicks. A, is

Fig. 94. — THE NEW CENTENNIAL INCUBATOR.
(Patented Nov. 14, 1882).

JL — Thumb piece, or crank, on roller of turn-
ing-tray,
5— Boiler.

C'— Connecting rod from outside lever of

rock-shaft to lamp.
Z*— Outer door.
_E^-Moisture pan under egg tray.

(?— Egg tray.

^—Ventilator to nursery.
7— Lamp lever.

K — Outside lever of rock-shaft.
Z — Lamp.

iV— Door of nursery.
jP — Eods or wires of adjustable egg tray.
/y— Sprin;;s that hold lamp in place,
r— Moisture trough.
F— Ventilator flues from egg chamber.
Z — Inner door with glass window, (shown
open).

the faucet for drawing off a portion of the water; D, false front
that closes up after the egg drawer and water trays are pushed
into their place; I, large air tube passing down into the egg
chamber ; J, shelving for the chicks to run out on ; K, lattice work

123

THE NEW CENTENKIAL INCUBATOR.

to keep chicks on the shelves ; L, flexible curtains to allow chicka
to run out and in under the brooder.

THE NEW CENTENNIAL INCUBATOE (Fig. 94.)

is the invention of the author of this book. It is the culmina-
tion of nearly twenty years' study and exp-r-rinieiit. Point by •
point has been worked out, tested and adapted, until the pres-
ent machine is offered to the public, with the firm belief that
there is nothing better to be had in the market either at home or
abroad.

The reader will please observe that I do not claim — as do some
of my modest competitors — to have the only incubator in the

Fig. 95. — THE EUEEKA INCUBATOR.

(See Page 96).
market that will hatch a reasonable percentage of the eggs.
Neither do I claim to have a perfect Incubator — as do others —
for there is no work of man's hands that ever was or can be per-
fect ; and he who claims his invention or creation as such, is too
well satisfied with himself to see wherein he has made mistakes,
and too obtuse to correct them or improve his work.

The inventor who considers his creation as perfect, and then
rest upon his oars, soon strands upon the shoals of ignorance and
self-conceit ; while his wide awake rivals are carried onward by

THE KEW CEKTBNNIAL INCUBATOR. 133

the tide of improvement^ to success and fortune. Eecognizing
the above facts, I have made it my aim to give as perfect a machine
as possible, to improve wherever I saw a necessity or an oppor-
tunity ; to add every convenience essential to success, and to
turn out a thoroughly good and practical Incubator, at the low-
est price consistent with good workmanship. ij

THE JSTEW CENTENiflAL IKCUBATOR

is made in two parts; an inner case of galvanized sheet iron, cov-
ered by an outer casing of wood ; with a dead-air space between
the two cases. It has double doors — an inner and outer one —
the inner one being provided with a glass window through which
to examine the thermometer and the eggs. The outside case is
held together by screws, and long bolts bind the whole machine
firmly together, so that if a leak should occur at any time, it can
easily and quickly be taken apart, the necessary repairs made,
' and the machine put together again without bruising or defacing
the case.

There no electricity,, no clock work, no weights, pulleys, or
double levers. A simple rock-shaft passes through the side of
the machine, with a lever on each end of the shaft j one of which
is connected with the Regulator, and the other with the lamp, j

A thumb-screw in the back of the machine, on the outside,
adjusts the regulator to any required degree of heat.

The Regulator is a combination of Thermostatic bars, so pivot-
ed and linked together, that they multiply power and motion. In
other words, in the No. 1 machine, I use four bars, each two feet
long ; but my arrangement of them makes them equivalent in
movement and strength to a bar sixteen feet long. I thus get a
motion and power sufficient to act directly upon the lamp and
ventilators through a single lever, and do away with all clock
work, weights, reels, pulleys, etc. This regulator is placed in
position before the machine leaves the factory, and all the pur-
chaser has to do is to connect it with the lever and adjust it. It
is placed above the eggs, out of the reach of the young chicks.
It is sensitive to the least change of heat, and instead of chang-
ing the flame from one extreme to the other — either very high or
very low — as is the case in other machines, it regulates the
lamp to give the required heat. The action is regular and
graduated to the needs of the machine : if in a very warm room^

12* THE NEW CENTENNIAL INCUBATOR.

a low flame is produced : if the room grows colder the flame in-
creases; and if the temperature of the room continues to fall, the
flame is increased until the full power of the lamp is turned on.

Ventilation is proyided for, hj taking in a current of pure air,
which passing close to the tank, is heated before it comes in con-
tact with the eggs. It is then drawn to the four corners of the
egg-chamber and thence carried by tubes outside of the machine.
By this device the sides of the egg-chamber receives the same
amount of heat as the centre, and there are no cold-corners.
The ventilation is constant, not fitful, and the air is always pure
and sweet. The method of ventilating solely through an open-
ing in the top of the egg-chamber has been modified. In using ^
that system exclusively, the egg-chamber is alternately over-
heated by turning on the full power of the lamj), and then cooled
down by opening the valve and allowing the hot air to pass off;
thus making an unnecessary waste of fuel, as well as a constantly
changing temperature.

Moisture is provided, first by an evaporating pan so placed that
it receives a gentle heat from the return flue, and thus supplies
a moderate amount of vapor constantly under the eggs, and sec-
ond by a trough suspended above the eggs, where it receives the
•direct heat of the tank.

The turning-trays which were patented in the "Acme" In-
cubator, have been adapted to this machine. It is a very simple
device : a band of any suitable material is laid upon the bottom
of the egg-tray, and attached to, or passed over rollers at either
end of the tray : rods are placed across the tray at proper dis-
tance apart to allow the eggs to lie between them : by drawing
this web or band in either direction the eggs are rolled or turned.
The entire contents of the tray can thus be turned in from three
to five seconds, and without taking them from the machine.

These rods are movable and can be placed at any desired dis-
tance apart, thus adjusting the spaces to suit eggs of any and all
sizes.

The egg trays are all on one tier; not one above the other. It
is a well known scientific fact that heat always rises, and that
therefore it is impossible to keep a room or chamber at the same
temperature at varying elevation. Hence a box or chamber
heated to 103® at a certain height, will vary three to eight degrees
^t six inches above or below.

THE ISTEW CENTENNIAL INCUBATOK. 125

The space under the egg-chamber has been utilized as a nursery
or temporary brooder for the newly hatched chicks, in which
they may be kept for a week, or longer, if desired. This is
heated by the flue which carries the hot water from the tank
back to the boiler, and supplies the heat to the chickens' backs
as designed by nature — not under their feet, as is the case with
many machines, making the chicks weak and sickly.

Another new feature is the an'angement of the heating appa-
ratus, so as to use the same lamp in either winter or summer.
A movable cap over the boiler, when removed, creates a draft of
cooler air which carries off the surplus heat : when in place it
reverses the draft of air, causing a heated current, and doubling
the heating surface of the boiler. This arrangement is applied
more particularly to the No. 1, or one hundred egg size. The
larger sizes. No. 2, three hundred eggs, and No. 3, five hundred
eggs, are fitted with several burners so arranged that only one or
more may be used as needed. Both the No. 2 and No. 3 ma-
chines have been run in a cool room with only one " D " (one-
and-a-half inch) burner, showing a very small consumption of
oil.

These several features are all secured by patent.

For further description and prices, address the inventor, A.
M, Halsted, Rye, New York.

CHAPTER XI.
Houses, Yards, Loc^.tioit, etc.

It is not every location that is suitable for poultry raising. A
low marshy place should be avoided ; it will be almost certain to
cause disease in the flock of old fowls, and make it nearly im-
possible to raise a paying percentage of the young. Place the
buildings on an elevation, if possible ; the grounds dry, and pre-
ferably with a southern or south-eastern slope. If the yards are
bordered by water — a pond or stream, so much the better.

A rough piece of land well sprinkled with underbrush and
rocks makes an excellent poultry yard, provided the rocks are
not broken and piled, so as to afford a harbor for rats, weasels
or other vermin. Small trees or bushes are desirable for shade
and shelter. I advise planting currant bushes — also low grow-
ing evergreens. In my own yards I have peaches, plums, pears,
and quinces, and find the fowls are beneficial to the trees and
fruit; I have good crops every year.

On new ground for immediate shade, I would plant quick
growing vines — gourd, morning glory, etc., and train them on
brush stuck into the ground so as to form a sort of low arbor.

In the yards for young chickens, set out tomato plants (or
plant the seeds) and protect them until the vines begin to set
their fruit ; train them the same as advised above, and you will
have a good shade for the chicks, as well as a bountiful and
wholesome supply of vegetable food for them during the fall,

Regarding the size of the yards, we have to be governed by
our limits: in other words, '"cut our garment according to our
cloth." If the land is available I would advise abundance of
'Voom; if not, do the best we can. I do not say it is impossible
to raise a great number of chickens on a small piece of land, but
the smaller the yard or yards, the greater the care, and the more
■ work required necessary for success.

HOUSES, YAEDSj LOCATION', ETC.

137

r would not recommend less than one-eighth of an acre for
fifty hens and four cocks; I would prefer one-quarter acre for
that number — yet I can (and have) done well with that number
on a yard of less than one-sixteenth of an acre. I consider it
possible to raise to the age of broilers, and market from a quar-
ter acre of ground, fifteen hundred to two thousand chickens per,
year; but to do this, requires unceasing care and watchfulness,
and the most thorough sanitary precautions.

To the beginner I would say, do not try to keep over fifty lay-
ing hens to a quarter acre of ground ; nor to raise over five hun-
dred chickens per season on the same limits, To do even this,
the runs for the young stock should be divided into sections —
about four will answer, and one of these sections spaded or

Co

Ukjh

A/

/V

7l':t

w

4

5p

Fig. 96.
plowed, at least as often as once a week; and semi- weekly would
be better. Sow this plowed ground with wheat, oats, barley or
buckwheat, harrow or rake it in, and let the chicks scratch for
it. One quarter to one-third of the run should be kept in sod —
grass — unless you have a meadow or grass plot to turn them on
p^rt of each day. The portable fence, illustrated by fig. 101,
page 132, will be found very convenient in this work.

In the buildings to shelter the fowls, I would advise a n.umber
of small houses, rather than one of large size, for the breeding
stock. A convenient as well as economical way, would be to
build each house double; that is, to shelter two yards of fowls,-ii
letting the dividing fence join the house in the centre. Houses
twelve feet long, by six feet wide, will make two apartments,

128

HOUSES, YARDS, LOCATION, ETC.

each large enough to accommodate fifty hens and four cocks,

which are as many as had best be kept together.

This, however, is not always feasible, and it is more convenient
to put each yard by itself. In such a case I would recommend a
building planned like Fig. 96. The roof of this may be either
double-pitch or lean-to, and the outside construction to suit the
r

taste and means ol
house is eight bv
into an open shed
one side of which is
on the other side
single fowls. From
opens into the pas-
that a door opens
room; the perches P
made movable. The
so as to protect the
and open by a hang-
passage B, so the at-
the eggs without go-
room ; a large win-
small one in the rear
light and air; an
fowls to pass m and
A building of this
with 4x6 sills, can
any part of the

Where it is de-
breeding stock un-
the yards sub-divi-
enclosure, the inte-
may be arranged as

This was designed
gentleman in New

It'is a double roof

the builder. The

twelve feet, divided

A, five feet wide, on.

a dust bath D, and

coops C, for penning

the shed, a door D'

sage B, and from

into the roosting

P are simple horses,

nests iVare covered

hens fouling them,

ing door into the

tendant can gather

^ ing into the roosting

^ dow at W, and a

^ of the passage, give

opening for the

out is made at H.

size, by being made

be moved at will^to

yards.

sired to have all the
der one roof, and
sions of one general
rior of the building
shown in Fig. 97.
by the writer for a
Jersey.

house, twenty-four
passage way A A, five

feet wide, and ninety-six feet long. A

feet wide, extends the length of the building, opening into the
yards at either end. There are eight apartments for fowls, B B,
each 9|sl8 feet, with nests N N, arranged as in previous plan to
be opened from the passage way. The perches Y T are movable

HOUSES, YAEDS, LOCATIOKT, ETC.

129

trestles, all on a ?evel, and about twenty inches above the floor.
There is a large window in each room as shown at w w, and
boles for the egress and ingress of the fowls at v v.

The centre of the building, twenty-four feet square, is two
stories high. On the ground floor it is divided into an office H,
which may be divided from the passage a a, or not, as desired,
and which opens by a door into the yards in front of the build-
ing. A room G, which can be used as a setting room, the nests
shown at N N, and an opening into an out-door run at v, (it
was designed for that purpose,) an egg room E, with egg cabi-
nets or closets at e e e, and a cook room provided with a steamer
or large kettle h. x xx are spouts to bring the grain and feed
from the feed room above. D is the chimney passing straight
up through both stories.

The second floor, (see Fig. 98), is entered by the stairs S,

which land in the
are bins for grain,
this room a door
cubator room I, in
L L for the Incu-
nursery for the ear-
— a room 12 x 24
ered with sand, and
twenty feet long,
give snnlight. Z» h
the young chicks.

ift

1

i- 01

f T

1

I ""

cr'

T

s U

O-

d d d

"^

rT

d

iSi

'14t

\

feed room ^. FPP,
feed, etc. From
leads into the In-
which are tables
bators. R is the
ly hatched chicks
feet, the floor cov-
^ one large window
on the east side to
are brooders for
Other windows are

Fig. 98.

shown at w w in the difi'erent rooms.

If I were to build after this plan, I should re-arrange the sec-
ond story, so that the nursery would come across the front or
south side, and the Incubator room on the north side of the
house. A room which does not get the noon-day sun is much
the best in which to run any Incubator.

Fig. 99 is still another style of building which was designed
for a gentleman living near Philadelphia. It is octagonal in
shape, one story high, and twenty-eight feet in width. The
ground plan is shown in Fig. 100. The door ff opens into the
passage leading into the central room M, which is lighted by
small windows under the eaves of the cupolo. These sashes are
pivoted so as to swing open for ventilation. There are six rooms
for the fowls, and one room ^S' which may be used, either for a

130

HOUSES, YAED6, LOCATION, ETC.

setting room or an Ineubator room. In case it is preferred to
use the central room if for Incubators, S can be used for fowls,
or a nursery for the chicks. In this plan the arrangement of the
nests are shown at JVJV, the windows at W W, and doors at D D-
the nests are facing the wall, and entered at e e. The fences
from this building radiate, and allow the yards to be made any
size desired.

"Whatever the style of building, ample provision must be made
for ventilation.

In each of the yards, a small shed, not necessarily over two or
three feet high — (a few boards held by a light frame will answer)
— should be provided, under which fix a dusting place of fine

Fig. 99.
sand, wood ashes, and some tobacco dust. It is thus dry m all
weather. In exposed situations, I would make this shed for win-
ter use, by raising the front three feet high, and letting the back
down to and into the ground, having it open toward the south.
In another part of the yard, place a trough or shallow box, in
which keep a supply of fine gravel — unless the soil is gravelly —
in which case it is not needed.

For the young chicks accommodations must be made accord-
ing to the number intended to be raised. If not over one thous-
and, an ordinary shed facing south or east, with several brooders
of capacity suflacient for that number of chicks will be found all
that is necessary. But if it is intended to go into it on a more

HOUSES, YARDS, LOOATIOiSf, ETC.

131

extensive scale, in addition to the buildings for the breeding
stock, there will be required an Incubator house or room; a nur-
sery for the young chicks, which should be partly covered with
glass, and a second building, into which they should be placed
when four or five weeks old. The size of these buildings is to
be governed by the extent of the business. Beside these, there
might be profitably used one or more sheds, peaked roofed, open
on all sides, with perches placed not less than four feet from the
ground. After the middle of April, the chicks that are old
enough, should be made to roost in these.

Fig. 100.
A good size for one of these sheds, is six by twelve feet. To
build one, set six posts into the ground, three on a side, six feet
apart each way; let the posts stand six feet out of the ground.
On the top, spike 3x4 joist, all around for the plate; three
feet beloAV let in another tier of joist on which to rest the floor,
which may be of hemlock boards or any material wished ; from
the centre of each end erect a stud, on which nail a ridge pole
two feet above the plates. Make the roof of tongued and grooved
pine boards, battened, letting the eaves project a foot or more.

133

HOUSES, YARDS, LOCATION-, ETC.

Lath the sides and ends, or put on wire netting if preferred, from
the floor to the roof, making a door two feet wide and three feet
high at either end. Set the perches about two feet above the
floor, and as close together as deemed best, perhaps about sixteen
to eighteen inches is near enough. Put a small lath ladder from
each door to the ground for the chicks to get up on, A shed of
this size will house nearly three hundred chickens, and when shut
in at night they are safe from cats or other nocturnal enemies.
The space under the floor affords a dry shelter during rainy days,
or it might be enclosed and utilized for brooders and younger
chickens.

Fig. 101 illustrates a section of portable fencing made of three
upright pieces of lx2|- inch furring strips, to which is nailed a
bottom board ten inches wide and thirteen feet long; three feet
ten inches above this another furring strip is let into the three
upright pieces,
inches above
strip is nailed
uprights,
mason's lath
from the board

cross strip,^^^^^^^^^^g
length lath
this makes a

fence, six feet '^^S- 101.

high. The sections are bound together with old telegraph wire,
and are kept upright by braces of the same, fastened to stakes
which are driven into the ground until the wire is pulled taut.

In fencing the yards, the height will have to be regulated by
the breed of fowls kept. The Asiatics require only a fence of
three feet to keep them within bounds, while the Leghorns, and
other light-bodied kinds will readily go over a board or picket
fence six or eight feet nisfh. A few years since I put up some
fencing of wire-netting five feet wide, with a board underneath,
making the fence nearly six feet high, and 1 find the Leghorns
are perfectly controlled by it; better, in fact, than by a picket
fence, two feet higher, which I had been using. In putting up
wire fencing, never use a top rail; it gives the fowls a foot hold
to light upon, and they are certain to fly over.

For the benefit of a class of fanciers who always wish the best

and eighteen
that another
on top of the
Full length
are nailed
it o the first
pa n d half
above that;
light, neat
three inches

HOtJSES, YARDS, LOCATlOK, ETC.

1S3

of everything, regardless of expense, I append a cut and descrip-
tion of a building built expressly for an Incubator house. See
Pig. 102.

The house illustrated is of stone and brick. It may be con-
structed of wood and answer its purpose equally well. It is six-
teen feet square inside ; the outer door opens into a little hall or
vestibule five feet wide, and extending from the right hand side
of the door across to the left wall of the building, and is used for
an egg room, having a case of drawers, and a folding shelf under
the window on which to place the drawers while sorting the eggs.
To the right of the door, in the other corner of the building, is
a small dark room in which the eggs are tested by means of a

Fig. 102. AN" INCUBATOR HOUSE,
large lamp, a powerful lens, and a large concave reflector. The
rest of the building is one room, ten-and-a-half feet by sixteen,
and is entered by a door from the hall, right opposite the outer
door, and lighted by one window on the north side, opposite the
door. The room is provided with tables or stands for Incubators,
and a large folding shelf under the window on which to place
the egg-trays while they are out of the machines. It has ample
ventilation through the cupolo. The building is lathed and
plastered, with a dead air space between the inner and outer
walls, and also between the wall and the roof. Such a building
would .have an Incubator capacity of about sixteen hundred
eggs; and if of wood, would cost from seventy-five to one hund-
red and fifty dollars, according to the material and finish. ,'

INDEX

niitstration
Page.

General Eemarks— Economy, Cleanliness 6

Artificial Incubation — Moisture ; 9

" " Temperature ' 11

Management of Incubator 14

The Egg— Germination, nine illustrations 21 19

" Growth and Development 23 21

" Fertility 24

" Time of Impregnation 25

" Duration of " 26

Testing Eggs 31 80

Living and Dead Embryos, seven illustrations 32 31

Tests for Life 35

Care of Chicks— Feeding 38

" " Maggot Pits 40

" " To adult age 44

Mr. Baker's Establishment 47

Incubators vs. Hens 49

Brooders vs. Natural Mothers 50

Egg Testers, four illustrations 51 53

Brooders — "The Centennial," 54 37

" " Bonnemain's," two illustrations • f4 55

" "Graves," 55 5(1

" " The Eclipse," 56 55

" "Reaumur's," 56 57

" "Mrs. Cheshire's," three illustrations 56 57

" "Christy's" Hydro 57 58

Incubators — Egyption Fgg Oven, two illustrations 60 61

" Chinese Hafchiiig Baskets 62

" Reaumur's Hatching Apparatus 64

" Bonnemain's ; 64 63

" The Eccaleobion 65

" The Potolokian 65

" The American Egg Hatching Machine 65 64

" Cantelo's 66

" Minasi's ^ 66

" Adrien & Trioche's 66

" Carbonnier's, two illustrations 67 65

Vallee's 69 67

Brindley's 70 68

" Col. Stuart Wortley's 70

" Schroder's 71 69

Moll Pitcher 72 70

" American 73

Index. 135

Illuitraikm.

Page. Page.

Incubators — Halsted'B Automatic, four illustrations 73 71

" Graves' 75 73

Halsted'sHot Air 76 74

" Day's Automatic, two illustrations 78 75

Bakers' 68 77

" Myers' 79

The National 80 79

Hyde's 80

" The Centennial 81 81

The Eclipse 85 82

Weston's 87

" Corbett's Apparatus 88 84

" Boyle's, two illustrations 89 86

" Jaques' 90 88

" Perfect Hatcher 91 90

" Waterhouse's 93

" Egyptian 93 92

" Masterton's 93

" Davis' ■. 94

TheEeliance 96 93

" Mead's 95

" Oneida Community 95

The Novelty 95 95

TheEureka 96 132

" Penman's, three illustrations 97 96

Tbe Scotia 99

Chrysty's Hydro 100 100

The Gem 101

" The Voitellier 101

Cashmore's 102 102

" Truesdale's 103

" Tatham's 103

" Ken wick's, f'>ur illustrations 105 104

" Smith's Ill

" Perfection Ill

" The Favorite... 112 113

" TheSufEolk 113 113

" The White Mountain 114 114

" The Acme, two illustrations 114 116

" Haight's 116

" J.. M. Halsted's Self -Regulating 117 117

" La Barge's 118

" The Pacific 118 118

" Parrey's 119 119

" The Nonpareil Hydro 120 120

" The New Centennial 121 121

Location for Yards 126

Poultry House for fifty hens 127 127

" " larger number 128 128

Incubator Room, Nursery, etc 129 129

Octagonal Poultry House 128 130

" **' " ground plan 131

Buildings necessary for Poultry Breeding for Market 121

Portable Fencing 132 132

An Incubator House 133 138

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