CARE OF THE EGGS. 289 



provided means of checking evaporation from the eggs 

 by means of this glazing during the early stages of incu- 

 bation, yet considerable drying out of the water in the 

 egg is useful at the later stages, and accordingly the 

 shell gradually dissolves away from the inside, the lime 

 in its composition being used to form the bones of the 

 embryo. Water must now escape quite fast or the chick 

 will have no room to grow or breathe. 



Often the incubator operator after testing the eggs 

 and removing all but the promising ones and finding 

 everything going well, apparently, up to the eighteenth 

 day, finds finally a disheartening per cent dead in the 

 shell. In such cases the embryos are almost fully devel- 

 oped and very large and moist, packing the shell tightly, 

 they having been waterlogged, swelled and literally 

 drowned. They appear so large and strong that the 

 operator is puzzled to know what has happened to kill 

 such promising, healthy looking chicks. Of course the 

 true cause of such a state of things was that the water 

 pans in the incubator contained too much evaporating 

 surface. 



Those people who claim that it is as easy as falling off 

 a log to run a good, properly constructed incubator and 

 that "a child can do it," should read the following 

 statement of Mr. Rudd : " It is practically impossible to 

 delegate the care of incubators to hired help. ***** 

 Although employing from five to eight men on the farm, 

 some of our own family always take entire charge of the 

 machines." And in regard to moisture, which is only 

 one of several tilings which must be right, Yon Culm 

 says : 



" Some one will say, ' what a lot of fuss about moisture ! Let me give 

 you thd whole thing in a nutshell. Find out just what degree of 

 humidity is needed in the egg chamber for each week or day, make 

 slide covers for your moisture pans, place a moisture gauge in the egg 

 chamber and hang up your, moisture schedule beside the machine. 

 When you want more moisture slide open the covers, and when you 

 want less, close them. Isn't that simple ?' 



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