Nature-Study Agriculture 



Why 



moisture is 

 necessary 



Turning 

 and cooling 

 the eggs 



w. T. smiina 



FIG. 260. The two boys have operated this incubator with most 

 satisfactory results. 



duce the conditions of natural incubation. The burner 

 which heats them is provided with an attachment that 

 prevents the temperature from changing much. When 

 the egg chamber gets too cool this self -regulator admits 

 more heat, and when it gets too hot some~6f the heat is 

 shut off. 



To keep the eggs from drying out too much and 

 weakening the chicks, the air within the incubator must 

 be kept moist; so water is kept in a pan within the 

 incubator, or the floor of the incubator house is sprinkled 

 occasionally. Eggs for setting should never be washed, 

 for water removes a natural coating which is necessary 

 to keep them from drying out too fast. 



The eggs are turned and cooled at fixed intervals, in 

 imitation of the action of the hen. The mother hen's 



