650 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 15 



does it come that the one I sent for cost 

 $3.00? It is true it did have one coat of 

 paint; but the lumber was altogether too 

 rough to do a good job of painting on it 

 Inside there is a circular cushion having a 

 big hole in the center, making it look like 

 an enlarged doughnut. What is this big hole 

 right over the chickens for? The book does 

 not mention it in any way. I thought it was, 

 perhaps, where they put' their jug of hot wa- 

 ter or heated brick or soapstone; but if these 

 heavy articles are to be in that hole Ihey 

 will push the burlap sheet down in the bot- 

 tom, and how then could the chickens get at 

 the jug? 



Before coming out in print as I have in the 

 above, I wrote two pleasant letters to the 

 Curtiss Brothers, askmg for information; but 

 about all I can get from them is to "follow 

 the directions ;" that it is giving good satis- 

 faction, etc. Very likely 1 am stupid in this 

 respect; but I am sure there are a good 

 many stupid people in this world of ours. I 

 do not mind so much paying a good large 

 price for things — that is, I am willing to pay 

 even an extravagant price providing I can 



fet a good well-fmished up-to-date book or 

 rooder. 



Later. — I have finally received the follow- 

 ing: 



The Universal and Adaptable hovers mentioned in 

 our circular are manufactured and sold by the Prairie 

 State and Cyphers Incubator Co. We have the agren- 

 cies for these goods, and sell them delivered to our 

 customers at factory prices, thus savinc the freight. 



The cushion with the hole in the center is one that 

 we use in winter, and insert a jug or can of water in 

 the center of the hover through tlie cushion and burlap. 

 In summer this hole can be filled with cotton batting 

 or any material. This cushion was sent you by mis- 

 take. You should have had the solid cushion for use 

 at this time of the year. 



Let us now do a little summing-up, or 

 have a little summary in regard to the $3.00 

 that we have to pay for the fireless brooder. 

 After you have paid the $3.00 you must buy 

 a lamp brooder (that will cost a good deal 

 more than $3.00) of the Prairie State (price 

 S7.00) or Cyphers people in order to have 

 the fireless brooder start out and do good 

 work. Of course, you can have a hot-water 

 jug or a soapstone; but is it not ridiculous to 

 call it a fireless brooder and make such great 

 claims for it? 



Here is something from the Petaluma 

 Weekly in regard to the matter of fireless 

 brooders: 



A lack of warmth will certainly cause bowel trouble, 

 while too much heat will cause ana?mia. Some think 

 that chicks brooded in fireless brooders get along with 

 little or no heat. Such is not the case. When chicks 

 are in a properly constructed fireless brooder the tem- 

 perature, on a line with the chicks' backs, will be found 

 to be found to be 100 degrees or more. The only real 

 danger in the use of fireless brooders is that the chicks 

 may become chilled when out of the brooders. In that 

 case they will have bowel or some other trouble. So 

 far I would rather risk the fireless brooder than the 

 old style hot-hover box brooder heated by a lamp. 

 When T pla''e chicks in a fireless brooder I allow them 

 out of the brooder but a little while at a time. I drive 

 them back under the hover and close the brooder. 

 When they have had time to warm up well I let them 

 out again. I watch them closely and do not allow them 

 to bunch up outside the brooder. When they begin to 

 do this I drive them back into the brooder again. This 

 requires that chicks be w;)tchcd for the fir.=t two or 

 three days quite closely, and by this time they will have 

 learned to go into the brooder when cold. Chicks in 



fireless brooders act differently from those in heated 

 brooders. In cold weather they will run out and exer- 

 cise; and when they begin to get cold they will go to 

 the brooder. If one or two chicks go into the brooder 

 the rest will follow, so tliey are all in or all out of the 

 brooder at the same time. 



I think the above is correct, judging from 

 what experience I have had with tireless 

 brooders in Florida. When there cotnes a 

 cold morning you can get along without a 

 hot brick or hot-water jug if you make the 

 chicks all stay inside or outside. If it is so 

 cold that they get to huddling outside you 

 will have to make them go in. And there is 

 still another plan to obviate fussing with jugs 

 or hot bricks. If the sun is shining, remove 

 the cover of your brooder and siibstitute a 

 glass sash or large pane of glass. The chicks 

 will be very comfortable in the sun if they 

 are out of the wind under a cover. 



NOT ONLY FRESH AIR FOR CHICKENS AND 

 PEOPLE, BUT MOIST FRESH AIR. 



T. B. Terry has for years past been insist- 

 ing that, in order to have the best of health, 

 huinan beings as well as plants must have a 

 moist atmosphere. I have described his 

 huinidifier, and told you how beautifully the 

 house-plants thrive, even in an atmosphere 

 that was warmed by a furnace; and I have 

 reason to believe that one of the great bene- 

 fits of outdoor air over the air of the general 

 living-room is because the outdoor air is 

 more likely to be a moist air. Where we 

 have artificial heat of any kind, unless mois- 

 ture is supplied the air gets to be altogether 

 too dry for plants, domestic animals, or hu- 

 man beings. Artificial heat for grown-up 

 fowls is being gradually dropped every- 

 where; and the new fireless brooders are 

 demonstrating that artificial heat can be, at 

 least to a great extent, dispensed with, even 

 for baby chicks. Now, I wish I could get 

 you all to take the time to turn to page 383 

 of our issue for June 15, and read what I 

 said about the Root incubators and brooders. 

 Since that article was written, Hubor and I 

 have been trying to remedy the defect in 

 this incubator. I have told you elsewhere 

 how I was succeeding with our new egg- 

 tester in getting the incubator full of tested 

 eggs. I commenced the 17th of July, put- 

 ting 16 eggs (on two shelves) in the machine 

 the day tney were laid. The next day I put 

 on 16 more, and so on until I had the incu- 

 bator full — 124 eggs. As soon as I could de- 

 tect unfertile eggs they were taken out and 

 replaced by others until I had very nearly 

 124 tested eggs in the machine. Then I be- 

 ^an watching them almost daily, and every 

 uiing went along finely until the first 16 had 

 come up to the 18th day. Then they com- 

 menced drying up in the shell. At this time 

 we were havmg hot dry August weather; 

 and the manufacturers of incubators, I be- 

 lieve, all agree that there is always a risk in 

 running an incubator when the thermometer 

 keeps pretty near SO or 90. 



After I had lost a part of the eggs I began 

 experimenting with moisture. At this peri- 

 od many of the eggs that were pipped con- 



