INCUBATING 17 



soon be apparent in the flock. These are 

 usually low fertility of the eggs, difficulty in 

 rearing the chicks, and loss of stamina in the 

 birds. My experience has proved to me that 

 it is not necessary to "line breed" in order 

 to keep up or increase the egg average, though 

 it is well to purchase cockerels from those 

 who do. 



All incubator manufacturers furnish rules 

 with their machines, so that nothing need be 

 said on the actual running of an incubator. 

 It is necessary with all machines that the 

 room in which they are placed should be 

 well ventilated, and even in temperature. I 

 now use a "Mammoth Incubator" with a ca- 

 pacity of 2500 eggs, but the management is 

 just the same as for a small one. Formerly I 

 used six incubators, each with a capacity of 

 400 eggs, and in consequence had to attend 

 to six lamps. Now I have one heater which 

 burns anthracite coal. The machine is not 

 cheap, but it saves an hour a day in labor 

 and the cost of running it for the same num- 

 ber of eggs 13 less than when I used oil. 



