ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 473 



"Cliicks hatched uiulei' Ikmis weighed heavier than chicks hatclied in iucuba- 

 lors. 



"The mortality of hen-hatched chicks brooded in brooders was 10.8 per cent 

 in four weeks, and of incubator-hatched chicks 33.5 per cent. The mortality in 

 hen-hatched chicks brooded under hens was 2.2 per cent, and of incubator chicks 

 49.2 per cent. In other tests the mortality was 46.5 per cent for incubator 

 chicks brooded by hens and 58.4 brooded in brooders. 



'• Hen-hatched chicks made greater gain in weight than incubator chicks, 

 whether brooded by hens or brooders." 



Moisture tests were made in which incubators were operated according to the 

 directions of the makers with the exception that moisture was used in different 

 amounts. In the machines with '' no moisture " a tray of dry sand, correspond- 

 ing to the tray in the "maximum moisture" machines w'as kept under the egg 

 tray. The sand in the " maximum moisture " machines was kept wet all the 

 lime, or as wet as it could be kept without the water standing on top of the sand. 

 The " medium moisture " machines had a tray of sand half the size of the other 

 trays. 



■■ There was an increase in number of chicks hatched of 32.0 per cent by using 

 moisture in incubators. 



" The wet-bulb thermometer may be used to advantage as an indicator of the 

 proper degree of humidity in the incubator. An average wet-built temperature of 

 87.6 gave 32.6 per cent better hatches than one of 84.5, and slightly better than 

 one of 91. 



" The lack of moisture does not alone explain the great mortality in incubator 

 chicks, but it is responsible for a large percentage of the losses in liatching." 



The amount of oil on egg shells was determined by washing the surface of the 

 shell with a jet of ether and evaporating. The residue was dried in a dessicator 

 ;!nd weighed, with the following results: 12 fresh hen eggs, 3 mg. oil; 12 china 

 eggs, 2 weeks under hen, 3 mg. : 12 hen eggs, 2 weeks under hen, 28 mg. ; 12 hen 

 eggs, 2 weeks in incubator, 4.6 mg. This oil is considered a natural secretion 

 from the hen, but its function has not been determined. 



Appliance and methods for pedigree poultry breeding, R. Pearl and F. ]M. 

 Strface (Maine Sta. Bill. 159, pi). 239-27.'/, figs. 13). — Descriptions ai'e given 

 of a trap nest, an egg distributing and turning table, pedigree incubator baskets, 

 a chick leg band bender, and a system of keeping pedigree records, devised 

 by the station. It is stated that by making slight changes in detail the system 

 of pedigree records can be adapted to keeping pedigree records in breeding 

 work with either plants or animals. 



Chicks: Hatching and rearing, H. A. Nourse et al. (St. Paul, Minn., 1907, 

 PI). 126, pi. I, fifis. '/'/). — Incubation, brooding, feeding, housing, fattening, killing 

 and marketing chiclveus, and other questions are discussed in this popular 

 summary. 



Egg money: How to increase it, II. A. Nourse et at.. (St. Paul, Minn., I9i)7, 

 PI). 12S, pi. I, fig.s. 'I'l). — A summary of information on raising poultry for 

 egg pi'oduction in cities and villages, as well as under farm conditions. 



Experiments with ostriches, J. E. Duerden (Agr. Jour. Cape Good Hope, 32 

 I I'JOH), \o. 0, pp. 713-721). — The best time in which to quill ostriches, the author 

 concludes, involves considerations of the age of the bird, its physical condition, 

 and climatic conditions. 



" The first quilling must be carried out when the chicks are about eight 

 months old, otlierwise irregularities will be introduced by the uneven growth 

 of the new second crop, some feathers of which can not be kept back by allow- 

 ing the quills to remain in tlieii- follicle. 



6562.". — No. r. -( )< » ( ; 



