Money in Broilers and Squabs. 43 



hood of the large cities of the East, it might be supposed that there 

 would be no sale for incubator eggs in the West. This writer lives 

 in northwestern Iowa, and we are just finishing out a contract for 

 five hundred incubator eggs to go to New York. When that is 

 completed we have another to begin on for California. We get five 

 dollars a hundred for the eggs delivered to the express office here. 

 We look upon it as a good winter business, and propose to put our- 

 selves in a position for carrying it on on a larger scale. The New 

 York order would be duplicated if we had the facilities for filling it. 

 We have the breed which exactly suits this customer and the ship- 

 ments which we have sent to him heretofore seem to have been 

 very satisfactory. If this were not the case he would not send 

 eight hundred miles for our eggs. There must be scores of egg 

 farmers in his own neighborfiood who keep the same breed that we 

 keep. We are not telling what breed we keep, as that would lay 

 us open to the suspicion of trying to use the reading columns of 

 the Farmer to further our private interests, and, as a matter of fact 

 the breed cuts no important figure in the case so long as it is 

 confined to the list which is generally endorsed by those in the 

 broiler business. The broiler raisers, like the egg farmers, are not 

 a unit in their opinions as to which is the best breed for this pur- 

 pose. Some of them no doubt would not accept our eggs as a 

 present, as they have an established trade with calls for a product 

 altogether different. The thing for the egg farmer to do is to find 

 out who wants eggs of his kind, and then be so careful and pains- 

 taking in filling the orders when he has succeeded in getting them 

 that the customer will feel secure in giving him more of them 

 every year. You cannot put a business of this kind solidly on its 

 feet in one or two seasons, but in the course of time it will be'some- 

 thing worth striving for if the power behind it knows how to make 

 it go." 



The Maine Experiment Station, Oronto, gives some good mat- 

 ter in its reports of trials made with artificial methods. Its report 

 says: 



"Incubators have been so much improved that there are 

 several kinds on the market that we feel sure will hatch as many 

 chicks from a given lot of eggs as can be done by selecting broody 

 hens. They require little care, maintain an even temperature, and 

 are easily adjusted to meet the increase in temperature arising 

 from developments going on in the eggs. In some machines the 

 moisture supply is automatic and adapted to the requirements. In 

 others it has to be supplied, and skill is necessary in determining 

 the quantity needed. The economy of the incubator is very great. 

 A 360-egg machine will do the work of nearly thirty broody hens, 

 and can be kept at work continually, if desired. 



"We use indoor brooders, mostly, and very much prefer them 

 to any outside brooders we have ever seen in use. The portable 

 brooder houses are built on runners so that they may be readily 

 moved about. The houses are twelve feet long, some of them are 

 six and others seven feet wide. Seven feet is the better width. Thev 



