The Machine as a Mother. 



33 



time and fail at another time because of inferior eggs ; and 

 even the fact of the eggs being fertile does not insure a hatch, 

 as the parents of the chicks may be lacking in vigor, and may 

 transmit their constitutional defects to their progeny, thus 

 rendering the process of incubation a matter of individual 

 treatment, each chick requiring warmth, air and moisture of 

 a degree requisite for its own progress. It is impossible to meet 

 these wants separately, and hence some chicks will come out 

 strong and vigorous, while others are weak, or die in the shells. 

 Until the operator becomes capable of so managing his hens 

 and selecting his eggs for incubation as to enable him to an- 

 ticipate the results, he will succeed with some hatches and fail 

 with others. As long as operators buy their eggs for incuba- 

 tion the work will be uncertain, no matter which make of in- 

 cubator may be used. 



There are some who rely too implicity on regulators, and 

 thus fail to bestow that attention which would be given if the 

 incubator depended exclusively upon observation. Regu- 

 lators are intended to assist the operator to lessen his care, 

 not to relieve him entirely. Many hatches have been ruined 

 from the lack of attention to the incubator when the chicks 

 were coming out, the animal heat of the chicks raising the 

 temperature to a degree beyond the capacity of the ventila- 

 tor to lower, and yet every part of the incubator worked 

 regularly. The farmer is willing to sit up all night to save a 

 litter of pigs from a sow that is expected to farrow, and many 

 hatches of large incubators require the same care and assist- 

 ance at the critical period instead of reliance on the automatic 

 appliances of the incubator. Intelligent supervision is as 

 important in the management of an incubator as with the 

 steam-engine that is regulated by a governor. 



Much has been written in regard to the necessity of air and 

 moisture in incubators ; and some manufacturers, who are 

 unexcelled as expert mechanics but who may be lacking in a 

 knowledge of the requisites in hatching, make a specialty of 

 providing amply for the ingress of fresh air, previously 

 3 



