36 California Poultry Practice 



him. As they were hauling him to his final resting place a man 

 inquired what he was to be buried for, when he was apparently alive. 

 On being told, he said: "I will give the man some corn. Take him 

 back." The lazy man was told of this offer and he softly inquired: 

 "Is it shelled?" "No," the charitable man said, "but you can shell 

 it." To this the other merely said: "Drive on." He preferred to die 

 rather than shell the corn and I believe that is the case with over- 

 grown chicks, they prefer death to the effort of pipping the shell. 



Now as I have already said the elements for growth are light, 

 heat and moisture. The eggs contain enough moisture under natural 

 conditions to incubate and bring to a successful hatch the germ 

 within them. Now if the eggs are put in the incubator, the glass 

 doors covered or darkened so that no light penetrates to the egg 

 chamber except when the eggs are being turned and aired, the heat 

 kept at la rather lower temperature than usual, say 102}^ for a few 

 days, then if it is desired run them at 103, providing moisture ac- 

 cording to directions sent with the incubator. I believe you will 

 not have so many "chicks die in the shell." 



If, in addition to these precautions you will set the incubator 

 when practicable, so that the chicks will come out during the growing 

 moon, you will not only reduce the dead in the shell chicks but the 

 chicks you hatch will grow so fast that you will wonder why some 

 crank did not put you wise before this. 



I told you in the first place this would be a different kind of a 

 poultry book, and I am going to make good. If you have a baker's 

 dozen of poultry books you still need this, because it will tell you 

 things you will not find in any other. I am strictly unorthodox, I 

 never travel in ruts; when it so happens that I fall into a rut, some- 

 thing comes to jerk me out. 



