POULTRY FOR PROFIT 27 
to be in a draft, and clean the wick every day, 
so as to prevent the lamp from smoking. 
• After the first few days, the eggs should 
be turned at least once a day, and even better, 
•twice a day. This is to imitate the mother hen, 
who does this on the nest. If the eggs are not 
turned, then the embryo of the chick will ad¬ 
here to the shell of the egg, and either die, 
or be crippled beyond hope. 
We must imitate the mother hen again in the 
artificial incubation of chicks, in regard to 
cooling. We saw in the previous chapter, how 
the hen leaves her nest occasionally to take 
food and water, with no ill effects on the hatch. 
Likewise we must cool the eggs in the incu¬ 
bator. This can usually best be accomplished 
while turning the eggs. Five or ten minutes 
a day are usually sufficient for the proper cool¬ 
ing, unless it is near the end of the hateh, 
when twenty or thirty minutes can be used 
for this purpose with safety. 
On the seventh and the fourteenth day, it is 
a good plan to test the eggs in the incubator, 
so that the infertile eggs may be removed. 
This is done by a process known as candling. 
Hold each egg up in front of a light and note 
