44 POULTRY FATTENING. 



but during the last fifteen years they have become a 

 practical success, if not an absolute necessity wherever 

 poultry keeping is carried on, either out of the regular 

 season or upon a large scale. We are presuming here 

 that fertile eggs can be obtained even in the winter 

 months, and to that end it is essential that early 

 bred pullets and vigorous male birds be kept, rigidly 

 weeding out the older birds, or great disappointment 

 will be the result. This is a question which cannot 

 be discussed here, but, unfortunately, hens are not as 

 amenable to reason as incubators, yet the latter would 

 be absolutely useless unless the former could be induced 

 to give eggs when required. 



There can be no doubt that an incubator is a most 

 valuable help in the work of poultry keeping, and it 

 may be desirable to discount a criticism which is often 

 passed, namely, that artificial methods must in process 

 of time lead to enfeeblement of the stock. This -is 

 absolutely erroneous. Examples could be cited where 

 incubators and brooders have been employed for many 

 years without any ill effects, and it may just as well 

 be contended ' that cows will suffer in constitution 

 because they are milked by hand instead of the 

 natural method originally intended. The advantages 

 of artificial methods are apparent, and, as showing 

 what can be done in this way, we recently visited 

 two poultry establishments in France, at one of which 

 40,000 chickens had been hatched, and at the other 

 30,000, during the year. The natural method is 

 scarcely used at all, and incubators are kept at work 

 all the year round, as they have Ijeen for more than 

 twenty years past, or whenever eggs can be obtained, 



