INCUBATORS. 



THE HATCHING AND REARING OF CHICKENS BY ARTIFICIAL MEANS 



has not received that attention which its importance demands. The business 

 of raising poultry in this country has been very limited and its operation^ 

 very primitive. It is only for a few years past that farmers and fanciers have 

 taken hold of it with any degree of earnestness ; and for the very short 

 time they have given it their attention their success has been wonderful, 

 and plainly shows what can be done by a little attention and perseverance. 

 Poultry and eggs should be one of the staple articles of subsistence for the peo- 

 ple, where now only a few, comparatively, share in these luxuries, on account 

 of the high prices these necessities of life command. Chickens should never 

 sell for over twelve cents per pound, and eggs twelve cents per dozen ; and 

 the present prices could be reduced to the above standards by means of the 

 artificial methods of hatching and raising them. If each individual who 

 takes an interest in 



RAISING POULTRY EITHER FOR PLEASURE OR PROFIT 



had the means of hatching out only one hundred and fifty chickens every 

 three weeks it would quintuple the stock of the country. And what a saving 

 of time and labor ; and especially when such an instrument could be man- 

 aged by the younger folks. An incubator that would hold two hundred eggs 

 would produce in six sittings, on an average, nine hundred chickens, even 

 allowing for the loss of fifty eggs by various means at each sitting and 

 would perform the work of sixteen hens every three weeks ; and the 

 hens could be brought back to the business of laying again in a very 

 short time. Of course we do not mean to keep the hens from having one 

 good sitting a year, which is so necessary for their rest, comfort and health. 

 We have not in this estimate taken into account the length of time it takes 

 the hen to raise her brood so that they may look out for themselves. This 

 will be treated of more fully under the title of " Artificial Mothers." 



THE DIFFERENT INCUBATORS. 



From the number of successful experiments that have been made by dif- 

 ferent inventors and scientific men, we are more fully convinced of the 

 practicability of the plan, and that it wants only encouragement from the 

 people to make it a success. 



