FOR SITTERS 1^ MILD CLIMATES. 89 



of the nests and passages can be cheaply sawed by power. 

 The pipes should be put in position and screwed 

 together and the places for holes, of one-eighth inch 

 diameter, marked, after which the drilling should be done 

 by power and by means of these holes the arms can be 

 readily attached in the main building and the gates 

 fastened on at' the covered yards. In comparison with 

 this simple and cheap equipment, an equivalent in incu- 

 bators and suitable incubator rooms or cellars is compli- 

 cated and costly. 



It is a matter of no consequence whether or no a sit- 

 ter returns to the identical nest she left, but it is desira- 

 ble that she should return to one not far away, and she 

 will always do so. If her nest is near the center of 

 the row, she will not go to either end of the row, and, 

 if she belongs near the right-hand end of the row, she 

 will not mistake the left-hand end for it. To facilitate 

 matters, layers' nests are mixed with those of sitters the 

 whole length of the row, and localities are designated by 

 barrels, boxes, sheaves of straw, boughs, etc., placed 

 just outside the building. See Chapter XIV. 



Just before opening the nests of the sitters, a feed 

 shelf in one of the small yards is operated, and, after 

 waiting a short interval for the layers to get in they 

 make tracks at a rate not to hinder you long they are 

 shut in by operating the gates. The shelf and gates at 

 the opposite small yard are next used to catch any layers 

 not captured the first time, though probably ninety- 

 eight per cent or more were caught. If one or two or 

 three in a hundred are not entrapped at all there will be 

 no particular harm. The principal object in separating 

 the layers is to prevent them from devouring the feed 

 designed for the sitters. Troughs, ample for a full day's 

 supply of water for both layers and sitters, are in the 

 large yard. Of course, labor saving requires that this 

 be conducted by pipes and the flow governed by simply 



