"•"■. J INCUBATION 167 



amount of evaporation. An egg contains about 85 

 per cent water, the body of a chick about 80 per 

 cent, therefore a slight driving out is wanted and 

 not an atmosphere always saturated. 



METHODS OF MANAGEMENT 



Every reputable maker sends out instructions 

 with his machine, and the purchaser should follow 

 these implicitly. If he does not, he is running a 

 risk for his own pocket, and he is not doing justice 

 to the maker of the machine. He must also bear 

 in mind that the instructions sent out with any 

 machine are the result of experience with that par- 

 ticular make, and as the manufacturer's interest 

 lies in obtaining satisfactory hatching, so the direc- 

 tions are to that end, and should be valued. 



The incubator should be placed in a sunless room 

 or cellar, or any place where the temperature is 

 equable day and night, or fairly so. It is not an 

 indication of good working in a machine if one 

 running gets perhaps 80 per cent and on the next 

 occasion only 50 per cent. There is something 

 wrong somewhere. It has been rather the rage 

 with advertisers to make a great fuss about 100 

 per cent results. Novices thinking about taking 

 up the incubator must not be misled ; 100 per 

 cent results are exceedingly rare. If one gets 80 

 per cent on a six months' working, he may conclude 

 that he made a very profitable deal in his machine.: 



One may have as good a machine as it is possible 

 to get, but unless the eggs are right he cannot hatch 

 them. Eggs must not only be fresh, but they must 

 contain all the elements and the germs that go 

 toward making good, strong chicks. Unless they 



