1910 



GLEANINuS IN BEE CULTURE 



239 



This is a bad place to stop, I know; but I 

 think I must digress a little right here. Cy- 

 phers and other incubator manufacturers are 

 ver)^ emphatic in saying you must not open 

 the incubator to help chicks out of the shell, 

 etc. They say, "On the 18th day shut up all 

 ventilators tight, and don't open the door un- 

 til the hatch is over." Over against this ad- 

 vice the folks on the "baby-chick farms" 

 open the machines any time to get chicks 

 that are dry enough to fill orders, etc.; and 

 Philo's "trick of the trade" is by helping 

 chicks to break the shell, etc. Who is right? 



This is what I did: I reasoned that, if Cy- 

 phers' machine was so much better after the 

 18th day, I would open the door and put 

 another shelfful in. I reasoned it could not 

 hurt those already out and mostly dry, and 

 the one almost out could stand it, and so I 

 made the transfer. At this time, besides the 

 two chicks on the 19th day, only about half a 

 dozen were hatched in my incubator, and 

 almost at once, so it seemed, every chick in 

 both incubators "died in the shell."* The 

 one that was part way out stopped work 

 when that door was opened; and, although 

 the temperature was kept right up, and the 

 door was open only a second or two, he never 

 made any more progress until I removed the 

 shell after the hatch was all over.* Some of 

 you may think all this a trivial matter, but in 

 it I see two glimpses of God's wonderful laws 

 and traces of his handiwork. First, what 

 did that sitting hen do to those eggs during 

 the 24 hours she had them that gave them 

 the "send off" so they went through my 

 clumsy machine and gave those two bright 

 chicks so promptly? 



The editor of one of the poultry-journals 

 said it was of great importance that the tem- 

 perature be pretty exact for the first week, 

 but that it didn't matter so much about vari- 

 ations during the latter part. In connection 

 with this it may be well to mention again, 

 that, after a hen has been on eggs for about 

 a week, they may be out of the nest as long 

 as three days and two nights, at a temperature 

 of 50 degrees or lower, and still give a good 

 hatch of healthy chicks. Over and over 

 again I find people throwing eggs away be- 

 cause the hen deserted them and they "got 

 cold." 



Well, my experiment, or, if you choose, 

 experience, calls out two questions: First, if 

 my 57 eggs had all been under a hen 24 

 hours (like the two) would I have had a good 

 hatch? 



Second, if I had shifted the whole 57 (in- 

 stead of just the 11 on the top shelf) into the 

 Cyphers machine, where there was plenty 

 of room for all, would all or nearly all have 

 hatched as did the 11? Even if I have not as 

 yet had a really successful hatch with the 

 " simplicity, " have I not come pretty near 



* As the whole incubator cellar was close to 80, 1 

 don't think you can say I chilled the eggs by opening 

 up, etc. 



* After it seemed likely no more eggs were going to 

 hatch, I placed them all on a looking-glass, as I have 

 explained, and only two "wobbled " to indicate life. 

 These two I'helped out of the shell, but will hardly 

 make a " live " of it. 



it? I am now satisfied a thermostat to con- 

 trol the temperature would be a decided ad- 

 vantage, for, in fact, just before I removed 

 the 11 the heat went up one night so I feared 

 all were injured; but as //?ese hatched so fine- 

 ly I was forced to conclude none of them 

 were harmed. 



There is another beautiful text in line with 

 the one at the head of my talk to-day. "But 

 the path of the just is as the shining light 

 that shineth more and more unto the perfect 

 day . ' ' — Prov. 4:18. Now, suppose we change 

 the word "just" to the words "honest, un- 

 seltish investigator " (and I think we have a 

 right to do this) , and see what a grand incen- 

 tive we have to push on. My "pathway," 

 both in bees and poultry, has been blessed 

 all along by additional "light," pointing con- 

 tinually to the more "perfect day "ahead; 

 and I will close by giving one more of my re- 

 cent "discoveries." You will recall how 

 many have decided that the f ireless brooder 

 needs a little heat for the first few days un- 

 less the weather is very warm. Well, after 

 reading on page 166 how friend Clough kept 

 full-grown hens in his lampless brooder to 

 get eggs in winter it occurred to me a sitting 

 hen could be put into this brooder for a week 

 or ten days, and she would be cheaper and 

 better than any lamp. Well, when I recent- 

 ly took 55 chicks from my Cyphers machine, 

 I had a hen with eight half-blood Buttercups 

 only a few days old. I raised the upper part 

 of the brooder up to the highest notch, and, 

 toward night, induced the hen to go in with 

 her chicks with very little coaxing, and then 

 induced the 55, just as they came out of the 

 incubator, to run into the brooder about as 

 you would run a swarm of bees into a hive. 

 I made a little dooryard of netting around 

 the brooder for the first few days, but now 

 she goes everywhere with her "swarm" of 

 chicks, and hasn't lost one. As they are close 

 to the highway they are a delight to the eyes 

 of passersby, old and young. Say, now — 

 what's the matter with my "lampless brood- 

 er"? 



HOW TO MAKE AN EGG-TESTER; AN EXPLOR- 

 ING EXPEDITION INSIDE OF AN EGG-SHELL. 



I have visited Yellowstone Park, Mam- 

 moth Cave, Niagara Falls, and have enjoyed 

 them all; but 1 am not sure but that the 

 tracery of God's handiwork in an egg-shell 

 during incubation has not given as much 

 keen enjoyment as any or all the others. 

 The only conditions are a good egg-tester 

 and a place to use it. The card below has 

 suggested my topic. 



Friend Root:—l notice in your poultry articles you 

 speak of an egg-tester of your own invention. As I 

 am a new subscriber, and there are probably others, 

 could you not give a description of it in the next issue 

 of your poultry article? You have my sincere sym- 

 pathy in your loss of chicks by "varmints." I have 

 had the same experience; but steel traps and good 

 cats have banished them from the place. I hope you 

 will have better success with the next lot. 



Loda, 111., Feb. 4. WM. RIDEOUT. 



The invention is not mine, but belongs to 

 Mr. R. R. Root, of the Root Incubator Co., 

 Cleveland, Ohio. Get a cheap pasteboard 



