828 
Unt TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June 2, 1902. 
occupy alternately tlie warmer and cooler parts of 
tiie apparatus, and are never tv.'ici; in succession in 
tlie same place or on the same s'de. Ari iiijjjeuioiis 
contrivance lias been 'Revised for eil't'ctiiig tliis 
operation, wliicli, liowever, does not ajipear to 
require any great expenditure of time, a-i il i« said 
lliat as many as 290 eg^s can be turned in five 
minutes, or in ten minutes by an inexperiencort 
hand. After the lapse of ten more minutes the 
eggs are returned to Iheir places, having beeti o\il 
a sufWcieht time, if it is summer, for aeration 
and cooling ; the water is I hen re-healed, or ttie 
biiquette replaced in the app iraius ; tlie whole 
then I'emains undisturbed nniii 7 p.ni. ; tlie doors 
are, li')\vever, opened at 1 30 p m., and ;lie eggs 
are gently fanned so as to renovate tlie air, tiius 
also imitating tiie hen flapping her wings ; at 7 
p.m. tiie temperature is taken, to see if any 
water has to be drawn oil and replaced by a 
further supply. The eggs are t'len once more 
turned and ilieir places changed, as in the morn- 
ing, and the whole is at once closed. JSuch is the 
procedure during tiie whole period of incubation. 
'J'o recapitulate :—( 1 ) Temperature 39° to 4j° 
(Centigrade) during the course of incubation ; 
(2) re-arrangement of the eggs, as deseriljcd, 
morning and evening ; (3) maintenance of the 
temperature by the addition of lioiliug water, or 
of the biiquette, and (4) testing the eggs. With 
regai'd to the last item, it is estimated thali 
in dealing with a large number of egg?, 
SOME 20 TO 50 PER CENT. ARE STEEILH, 
hence the necessity of testing. 'J'liis is done on the 
fifth day (120 hours), a special lamp tester being em- 
ployed for that purpose, for the operation must 
be performed in a darkened room. In this case, 
the light is })laced at a iieight of about five feet, 
the egg being held with the fingers of the right 
hand, the large end ui>permo3t, while the left 
placed over the e£'g acts as a sliade. A practised 
eye can then readily distinguish the fertile egc. 
After 120 hours in the incubator, if fertile, the 
yolk is seen to be dilated, tornnng a semi-circle 
shaded at the base. The embryo is seen in the 
centre, and resembles somewhat a spider, the legs 
of which are represented by the blood vessels, now 
plainly apparent in proximity to the embryo, and 
increasing' in distinctness as they approach the 
perimeter of the egg. If tlie embryo is alive, it 
oscillates from right to left, from the bottom up- 
wards, every time the egg is moved. If on the 
other hand it is without life, the vessels are dull 
and ill-defined, and the embryo will be seen 
clinging to the sides, and remains motionless, having 
the appearance of a spot of ink. Before being 
placed in the incubator, eggs are also tested as 
to freshness. The air chamber is barely visible on 
the first day. but goes on increasing in dimen- 
sions. Eggs should not be more than a week old. 
They are collected in bo.xes with partitions, so 
that each egg is in a separate compartment 
and cannot receive a shock or get cracked. 
They are then jilaced in a box and covered with 
bran or dry sawdust. Shaking caused by con- 
veyance in carts or by railway is prejudicial ; it 
cannot, however, always be avoided and in these 
cases the eggs .nre laid on grain, in a cool, dry 
place, for 24 to 30 hours. Fertile eggs cannot be 
re''ogiii«ed until after live days' incubation. The 
2lHt day having been reached, the drawers of the 
incubator are opened at 7 a m and the tempera- 
ture note ! as usual ; the chirping 'of the" young 
liroodv^iU now probably be audible. Eggs not 
hatclifid out are, however, turned as usual, any 
s'lells .-^bowing si^ns of perforation being placed 
wirli tlie perforated side uppermost, .so that the 
you ig chickens may ni ire readily breathe. 
(Jiiiekens already hatched out are now transferred 
10 the dryitig box. At noon the incubator is agalu 
«|)e;ied, and the operation proceeded with as 
before, the chickens being covered with a soft 
woollen cloth m sumn;er, and with a small eider 
down in winter ; the more numerous the brood 
the less sujceptible will they be to cold. The 
young birds are never helped out of the eggs, 
except perhaps when one adheres only by a fe v 
stiaudi of membrane. If the chicken is assisted to 
emerge from Die shell there is every danger of the 
blood vessels being Lacerated and the loss of a 
.single droj) of blood at this stage is, it is said, 
sufficient to cau^e the death of the chicken in 
from three to four days. Tlie drying-box is prepared 
with a 1 lyer of soft straw or hay, barley stiaw 
being preferred ; 40 tu 50 chickens are placed in 
it and covered as already described. The next day 
1 hey are brouidit out into tlie open compartment; 
but at this stage no food is given. After being 
out for from fiveto ten minutestliey are restored to 
the box, to betaken out again two hours later. This 
time they are given a few crumbs of very dry bread. 
After a day in the drying-box, they are transferred 
to the artificial mother or breeder ; two of these 
suffice for some 450 chickens. During the first 
week ibey receive constant attention ; on the third 
or fourth day they are given some liberty, b'.ing let 
out into an enclosed space a few yards square, but 
the moment they .^how signs of chilliness they are 
driven back under the protection of the breeder. 
The food during this early period consists of a 
paste made of barleymeal and milk, sufficiently 
consistent to adhere to tlie wooden billet employed 
lor that purpose. Instead of waiting, as is usual 
in the Bresse and Maine, until tiie birds are from six 
to eight months old, at Gambais the operation of fat- 
tening for the table begins as soon as the pullets 
have reached the age of three-and-a half months. 
Cages c^^ntaining fifty birds are arranged along the 
walls of the building devoted to this purpose, 
wdiich is kept warm in winter, and, as far as pos- 
sible, cool in summer. The floor of these cages is 
covered with a thick layer of straw', which is 
renewed every morning. Three meals are given 
every day for a fortnight. The first consists of a 
lukewarm liquid mash, composed of barley meal 
and water ; the second is the same ; but for the 
third the mash is made with milk or " petit lait." 
The latter is the milk running from cheese in pro- 
cess of manufacture, and fetched in barrels from 
the manufactories. At the end of a fortnight the 
fat begins to make its appearance. In order to give 
the finishing touch, asmall quantity of lard is now 
gi>'en to each bird at each meal. This is con- 
tinued for four or five days, when the bird will be 
so fat that, if the regime were maintained for 
two days more, it would inevitably succumb. If 
it is sought to attain the extreme limit of perfec- 
tion, for the hist three days eggs are added to the 
mash in sufficient quantity for each bird to have at 
least one per Jay. The food is given by means of 
a funnel specially made for the purpose. Two 
jiersons, it is said, can thus dispose of sixty fowls 
in an hour, one in a minute. — Journal of tliQ 
Society of Arts, April 11, 
