66 PROGRESSIVE POULTRY CULTURE 



windows should be provided with shades if the sun 

 is liable to shine directly upon an incubator while in 

 operation. 



SETTING UP AND OPERATING THE MACHINES. 



If it is desired to hold, the manufacturer of the in- 

 cubator responsible for the results in hatchings, his 

 directions should be followed in setting up and running 

 the machine. 



See that the incubator stands firm and level in its 

 place. The lamp should be clean, full of good oil and 

 have a new, nicely fitting wick. In starting up use a 

 small flame and heat the egg-chamber gradually. Adjust 

 the regulator in time to prevent the temperature rising 

 so high as to crack the bulb of the thermometer in the 

 egg-chamber. Fill the lamp with oil daily and use a 

 knife-blade to remove the crust at the top of the wick. 



It is well to run the machine without eggs for several 

 days, especially if it is a new one, so that it will be- 

 come nicely warmed through, well regulated and under 

 complete control of the operator, who by this means 

 also becomes familiar with the peculiar characteristics 

 of the hatcher. 



Incubator thermometers are liable to be inaccurate 

 and to change in the course of months. They should be 

 tested and corrected once a year. This is readily done 

 by obtaining a physician's tested, guaranteed thermo- 

 meter and comparing it with the incubator thermometers. 

 Place the bulbs of all of the thermometers in water of 

 about one hundred degrees warmth on the same level 

 and note any variation of an incubator thermometer as 

 compared with the clinical thermometer (Fahrenheit). 



If convenient test the temperature of the egg- 

 chamber of the machine on the level of the tray by 

 placing several thermometers in different positions all 

 on this level. If the temperature at one side of the 

 chamber is shown to be lower than elsewhere, raise that 

 part of the tray until its temperature is regulated as 

 near as may be to correspond with the readings of the 

 other thermometers. 



