1905.] 



Artificial Incubation. 



37 



of each Branch as salary, and a contribution from the funds of 

 the Club is made towards the annual supper. This contribution 

 amounted in 1904 to £11. 



The provision of allotments for cottagers and labourers has 

 caused a rapid increase in the number and membership of 

 Pig Clubs ; and it is now a very unusual sight for a cottager 

 to be seen taking round a " brief," drawn up by the village 

 schoolmaster, asking his neighbours to help him " towards 

 defraying the serious loss sustained through the death of a 

 valuable " — cow or pig. 



J. H. DlGGLE. 



ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 

 A series of observations on the artificial hatching of 

 chickens made during the twelve months ending March 31st, 



1904, at the Reading College Poultry Farm, Theale, showed 

 that out of 3,647 fertile eggs placed in 13 incubators (62 

 hatchings) there were brought out 2,572 chickens and duck- 

 lings, an average of slightly over 70 per cent. Of these the 

 highest percentage (92*10 per cent.) was obtained in April, 1903, 

 and the lowest (50 per cent.) in March, 1904. The tank incu- 

 bators (38 hatchings) gave an average during the year of 

 70*89 per cent., and the hot-air machines (24 hatchings) of 

 68*95 P er cent. A full report of these experiments, together 

 with description of the incubator house in which the operations 

 were conducted, and the temperatures outside and inside the 

 hatching chamber, was given in the Journal of the Board of 

 Agriculture, June, 1904 (pages 135 to 143). A further series of 

 observations, made in the twelve months ending March 31st, 



1905, are now available. 



In the previous article it was mentioned that an incubator 

 house had been specially built at Theale, and that careful 

 records were being kept of the temperatures both outside and 

 within the house to see how far variations of temperature could 

 be avoided in a building of that description. Similar records 

 for the later year are given in the table on the following page. 



The records in Table I. are given at intervals of fourteen days 

 during the entire period, as the complete figures would occupy 

 too great an amount of space, but they may be accepted as fairly 



