INCUBATING. Incubating is carried on in B.E.A. with very- 



varied success. The chief difficulty arises from 

 extremes of temperature between night and day, 

 causing great difficulty in regulating the temperature 

 of the machine. This is a branch of poultry farming 

 where practical experience combined with careful 

 study is the only way to success. 



A SUITABLE An incubator house should be a building by 



INCUBATOR itself and the best material is stone. A house to hold 

 HOUSE. one medium sized machine should have a f^oor space 



of about 8 ft. square, which will allow space for the 

 attendant and the accessories. The floor should be 

 two feet, or even more, below the outside ground level, 

 to prevent vibration and to keep the temperature 

 even. The foundations should be of cut stone, two 

 stones thick from the base to two rows above the 

 outside ground level and fixed in cement. After this 

 the walls can be built of small rough stones and mud, 

 but all corners shoiild be of cut stone. 



The roof should be built on four posts, firmly 

 fixed in the ground outside the house and not touch- 

 ing the walls, to avoid vibration when the wind is 

 strong. The four posts are connected by cross pieces 

 and from these is built a well thatched conical shaped 

 roof of reeds, with a one in one slope. A house built 

 in this manner will show a practically unvarying 

 temperature, and materially contribute to the succesB 

 of one's efforts at incubating. 



A. M. BUMPUS. 



FLAX. 



HISTORY. 



TT is now some 5 years since the first experiment in 

 -^ growing flax for fibre was made at Gilgil by the 

 East Africa Syndicate. The results were so encourag- 

 ing that after some further experiments by the 

 Director of Agriculture at the Government Farm, 

 Kabete, one of the leading authorities on fibres in 

 England, was invited by the Government to visit 

 and inspect the whole country and report on its suit- 

 ability for growing this crop on a commercial scale. 

 The impression formed by this tour may be gathered 



44 



