THE INCUBATION OF THE EGG 183 



than the desirability of having a cream separator, seed 

 tester, or any similar piece of modern farm equipment. 

 Hens are uncertain hatchers. Broodiness depends very much 

 upon the season and the condition of the hens. A late spring 

 means late laying, late setting,' and hatching. The time of 

 hatching determines quite largely whether pullets are in 

 laying condition by the following winter. And further, it 

 is usually difficult to secure enough broody hens at one time 

 to handle a very large number of eggs. 



Concerning the efficiency of incubators as hatchers, 

 Pearl^ makes the following statement, which would be 

 concurred in spirit by the majority of practical poultrymen 

 and investigators. 



"In the experience of this station, with proper manage- 

 ment during and subsequent to incubation, the chicks so 

 produced are fully the equal in constitutional vigor, average 

 duration of life, and productivity, of hen-hatched chicks. 



"For more than ten years past all chicks in the Maine 

 Experiment Station's poultry plant have been hatched in 

 incubators. There has yet to appear any reason for going 

 back to the old system of hatching with hens." 



Natural Incubation. — ^The principles involved in natural and 

 artificial hatching are the same. While the effort in artificial 

 hatching is to furnish the conditions found in nature, it should 

 be recognized that nature rarely furnishes optimum degrees 

 of all conditions at the same time. Recognizing the proper 

 conditions of successful hatching, one may assist nature in 

 combining all conditions at their best. 



Kind of Hen to Set. — The best hens for setting are those of 

 medium weight, such as are found among the American and 

 English breeds. They are fairly persistent setters, but are 

 not so heavy as to be clumsy, nor so heavily feathered as to 

 make the eradication of vermin difficult. The Asiatic breeds 



' The author takes the position with reference to the use of the terms 

 "sit" and "set," or their derivatives, as describing the act of a broody hen 

 in incubating eggs, that good use, rather than any rule of technical gram- 

 marians, should be the test applied. The tertas "set," "setters," and 

 "setting" are used throughout this work. 



' Poultry Management at Maine Station, 1913. 



