A HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GASOLINE- 

 HEATED COLONY BROODER-HOUSE DESIGNED AND 

 USED BY THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE, WITH THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVAN- 

 TAGES OF ITS USE. 



The most difficult problem in successful poultry keeping is to raise 

 the chickens to renew the flock. The most expensive factor in rearing 

 chickens is the labor required to handle the large number of brooders 

 necessary where chickens are kept in small flocks. 



This bulletin presents to the public a method of brood- 

 ing which, it is believed, eliminates at least three-fourths 

 of the labor required to brood chickens. The system has 

 been thoroughly tried for the past seven years, during 

 which time it has been improved until we feel warranted in 

 the statement that it is a practicable, workable, economical 

 and safe method of rearing chickens in large numbers. 



I. The History. 



So far as the writers know, the idea of using gasoline 



to heat brooders was 

 first suggested in 1901 

 by Fred Graham, who 

 was then a poultry help- 

 er in Cornell University. 

 Mr. Graham at that time 

 had not tried to use gas- 

 oline but told the senior 

 writer of this bulletin 

 that he had seen a gaso- 

 line burner which he 

 thought could be 

 adapted to the heating 

 of brooders. A year or 

 so later, after trying 

 some experiments with 

 gasoline, Mr. Graham gave to White & Rice, Yorktown, N. Y., permis- 

 sion to use the heater which he had devised. The attempt to use gaso- 

 line was a failure owing to faulty principles in the construction of the 



183 



Fig. 62. — The Gasolirte heater complete as designed 

 and used by the New York State College of Agricul- 

 ture. B B, burner box. C G, chick guard. S, 

 stem. R, radiator. 



