136 Artificial Hatching of Chickens. [june, 



Where operations are upon a small scale, the recommendation 

 has generally been made that an incubator should be placed 

 where variations of atmospheric temperature will be minimised 

 as far as possible, and sweet, well-ventilated cellars are fre- 

 quently used as hatching chambers. No place could be more 

 suitable where only one or two machines are worked. These 

 machines may be depended upon to maintain a fairly even 

 temperature in the egg chamber, provided that the range of 

 variation to which they are subjected is neither wide or abrupt. 

 But they have their limitations, and are unable automatically to 

 provide for sudden rise or fall in atmosphere. For that reason 

 a slightly built structure, exposed to cold or heat, involves 

 greater attention in working incubators placed in them on the 

 part of the operator. With the increased use of incubators, and 

 the need for a much larger egg capacity at one time, special 

 buildings are required, and these are now to be met with to an 

 extent not anticipated a few years ago. In America huge plants 

 are to be found, where 30,000 to 40,000 birds are hatched 

 annually, and there are in this country establishments which are 

 not far behind. Across the Atlantic, however, the climatic 

 influences are very different from those met with in the United 

 Kingdom. To meet the extreme cold of winter and the great 

 heat of summer in America it has been found desirable to place 

 incubator houses partly underground, for the reason already 

 given. But with the more equable climate of the British 

 Islands, above ground erections, provided they are well built, 

 yield satisfactory results, and the expense of excavation is thus 

 avoided. A reference to Table I. will show that the variations 

 are by no means so great as might have been anticipated in 

 what may reasonably be termed the hatching months of the 

 year, although it must be remembered that the summer of 1903 

 was marked by the absence of high temperatures. 



To meet the demand for increased accommodation and the 

 requirements of students, the University College, Reading, 

 erected upon the College Poultry Farm, in the early part of 1903, 

 an incubator house designed by Mr. Edward Brown, F.L.S., the 

 Lecturer in Aviculture. This house is 32 ft. long by 16 ft. wide. 

 It has double walls of inch deals, between which telting is placed. 

 The roof is of inch deals, covered with felting first, and finally 



