290 AN EGG FARM. 



" Yes, dear friend, wiser heads than yours or ours thought of that 

 years ago, but it would not work then, and it will not work now. 



"Why? For various reasons; among them : The Great Ruler of the 

 Universe will not permit us to slide the covers of His moisture pans; 

 and while we are obliged to circulate fresh air in the egg chambers of 

 our machines, we are obliged to have it more or less humid or dry, just 

 as it comes from the breath of nature. The hygrometer is useful to 

 experiment with, provided it is a good one, but few of those which are 

 sold to poultry men are reliable. Still some one says, ' Well, I know 

 that the humidity of the atmosphere varies some, but I still believe I 

 can work it with the moisture gauge and the sliding covers on mois- 

 ture pans.' 



" Very well, we will ask you for one demonstration, and if you make 

 that satisfactory, we will ask for one or two more but one will prob- 

 ably be all you want at a time. 



"Let us suppose that you conclude that you want thirty degrees of 

 moisture in the egg chamber the first week, thirty-five the second and 

 part of the third, with ninety degrees from the pipping of the first 

 egg? All right. We will take for granted that your gauge is correct. 

 Well, here we are at the beginning of the first week. You have not 

 yet put any water in your pans but your moisture gauge indicates 

 sixty-five degrees of humidity, and your thermometer one hundred 

 and three degrees of temperature. What is the matter; why don't 

 you reduce the humidity? You place another moisture gauge in the 

 room where you operate your incubator, and you find that the humid- 

 ity there is ninety degrees. You hang a gauge in the open air out of 

 doors and it registers ninety-five degrees. You only want thirty 

 degrees in the egg chamber; how are you going to reduce it to thirty?" 



Allowing the incubator to approach a too high tem- 

 perature and then reducing it by having valves opened 

 by an automatic regulator, lowers the heat effectually, it 

 is true, but at the same time carries off moisture at a 

 great rate and the embryo is in danger of becoming too 

 dry, a condition as fatal as the opposite one. Relying 

 on ventilation to govern the temperature is dangerous. 

 The regulator should check the heat when there is risk 

 of too much, not by letting out warm air, which has 

 received and holds moisture imparted by the eggs, and 

 letting in cold air to suck still more moisture from 

 them (for air in becoming warmed becomes thirsty ; 

 that is, its capacity for taking water is increased and it 

 will dry out the eggs fast), but by lessening the flame 

 of the lamp. The flame may be lowered by having the 

 regulator work an apparatus to check the draft of the 



