62 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 
a satisfactory number of chickens from under the 
three hens remaining, while if 70 eggs are put into 
a machine and anything goes wrong, the loss prob- 
ably will be total. Such loss becomes greater in 
proportion to the increase in the size of incubator 
used. 
Setting a hen should be a matter of some care, 
but it need not be the solemn rite some people 
make it. A common and simple plan is to arrange 
a row of commodious boxes in a quiet place and 
make the nests for the sitting hens in them. Lhe 
boxes may be set upright and in a row with one 
board over all of them to confine the hens, or they 
may be set on their side with a board in front. 
The use of a single board makes lighter work than 
the construction of a door for each box. The 
board may be removed at a certain hour each day 
and the hens allowed to eat and drink and to dust 
themselves in the box of earth or ashes which should 
be provided for them. 
Some breeders have a little pen in front of each 
nest and allow the hens to come off when they 
please, which means the saving of a little time. 
Sometimes, though, a hen will not voluntarily leave 
the nest as often as she should, in which case she 
