30 The Business Hen. 



thoughts can hardly equal the instinct of the hen. Yet after long experi- 

 ence and observation a poultryman comes to acquire an instinct nearly 

 equal to that of the hen. We do not attempt to give here a scientific 

 essay on incubation. A few practical rules follow, but we know from 

 experience that this is one of the operations that a man must grow into 

 by his own study and practice. Some natural mechanics have made incu- 

 bators of their own which give fair satisfaction, but our advice is to buy 

 a good one rather than to tinker with a home-made afifair. There is no 

 other machine now offered for sale which is so fully explained in the 

 catalogues of manufacturers, and one can hardly go wrong if he will 

 follow the advice given him there. It is a wise plan, when starting with 

 an incubator, to set a hen and compare the eggs under her with those in 

 the incubator. Wliere this is done day by day we get a clearer idea of the 

 way our incubator eggs should "test." While an egg can be tested by 

 an expert by holding it up in a dark room before a light, it is better foi 

 the beginner to obtain a "tester" made "for the purpose. As all know, the 

 egg is tested by holding it, surrounded by a dark background, before a 

 flame, so that the light will shine through it. The light of the candle or 

 lamp reveals to us, in the egg, what the X-Ray does in the human body ! 



HATCHING UNDER HENS.— There are many poultrymen who de- 

 pend upon hens to hatch most of their chicks, in spite of the ease with 

 which incubators are handled. When given a tair chance the hen does not 

 need regulating. The hens of the larger breeds lay their clutch of eggs and 

 then show by their actions that they are ready to sit. Everyone who has 

 handled hens knows how they act when broody. They get on the nest, 

 ruffle up their feathers, come as near as they can to growling when ap- 

 proached, and strike with their bills. The whole nature of the hen changes, 

 and if she be given a comfortable nest with the eggs that she can cover 

 with her body she will usually stay by them until they are hatched. Mr. 

 Cosgrove, of Connecticut, gives the following account of his method of 

 handling sitting hens: 



"I have a little house 6 x 10 feet, with two rows of nests, one row 

 above the other; the ground forms the bottom of the lower nests, and in 

 the upper ones I put a large shovelful of sifted earth, pushing it up into 

 the corners so as to make it concave enough to keep the eggs together, 

 but not too much so. If the center is an inch lower than the outside edge, 

 it is sufficient. A board six inches wide by 10 feet long forms the front 

 of the nests, so the hens can step into them; they do not have to jump 

 down on to the eggs. 



"The earth floor of the house dug up, and the stones taken out, makes 

 the best dust bath, and a feed trough and water pail are all the furniture 

 required. T keep feed in the trough all the time, also some grit and oyster 

 shells in one end of it. The trough is made with a cover to it so the hens 



