The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 8, 101b 
4 4 
CONCRETE 
Manure Pit 
will cost you 
nothing 
The horses and cows 
will pay £or it. 
Unless stable manure 
is kept so that the val¬ 
uable liquid contents 
are saved, 50 per cent 
of the fertilizing value 
of the manure is lost. 
An average horse or 
cow produces annual¬ 
ly manure worth $35. 
The liquid portion is 
worth nearly half of 
this. A concrete ma¬ 
nure pit will save it 
all. So you see how 
the horses and cows 
can present you with 
a concrete manure 
pit free of charge. 
Build one now and get 
the profits from this 
form of saving. 
Ask for our free booklet tell¬ 
ing how to build Concrete 
Manure Pits. Write our near¬ 
est district office. 
PORTLAND 
CEMENT 
ASSOCIATION 
Atlanta 
Chicago 
Dallas 
Denver 
Detroit 
Offices at 
Helena 
Indianapolis 
Kansas City 
Milwaukee 
Minneapolis 
New York 
Parkersburg 
Pittsburgh 
Salt Lake City 
Seattle 
Washington 
Concrete for Permane 
Giving the Hatching Eggs a Chance 
Careless Handling. —A large number 
of poor hatches are due to the fact that 
the hatching eggs have not been properly 
handled prior to the time that they have 
been placed in the incubator. One must 
remember that no matter how good the 
incubator, and how well it is taken care 
of, no incubator will batch anything but 
the best eggs, and when one considers the 
complications which euter into incubation, 
and the many factors which are involved, 
it is surprising that as many eggs batch 
or that as large a proportion of chicks 
are obtained from the number of eggs 
set. Because of these many difficulties 
which are involved in incubation, and be¬ 
cause everything has to go along abso¬ 
lutely right, it is quite necessary and 
very important in order to secure good 
hatches, which means, of course, strong 
chicks, one must be careful in handling 
the eggs before they are ever set in the 
machine. 
The Germ. —In considering the hatch¬ 
ing egg as it should be, both as the germ 
from which the chick develops, and as the 
food from which this germ grows, let us 
first discuss the germ itself. When the 
egg is laid the germ is in what is known 
as the dormant stage. This is a condition 
which nature has provided to protect the 
germ while the clutch of eggs are being 
laid in the wild state, before the real in¬ 
cubation period starts. The germ in this 
state is able to withstand adverse condi¬ 
tions of temperature ; quite low tempera¬ 
tures and quite high ones for a short 
time; it is able to stand quite a bit of 
jarring, and many other conditions which 
are very detrimental to the embryo chick 
as it later develops in the. egg. It can 
be compared graphically to the buds on. a 
tree during the Winter tune. I or in- 
stuucc, it is o. well-known fflct that buds 
on a peach tree will stand quite severe 
cold weather during the Winter. In the 
Spring, when the warm weather comes 
along and conditions are right for these 
buds to start swelling or developing, they 
leave this dormant stage. They leave 
the stage in which they are protected, 
and it is equally welt known that should a 
cold snap come along after these buds 
have swollen or left their dormant stage, 
that these buds will be killed by tempera¬ 
tures at this time which woukLuot afreet 
them in the least during the Winter or 
during the dormant stage. The germ in 
the hatching egg is very much the same 
in this' respect, and in the case of many 
eggs, which do not hatch, the trouble can 
be traced to this fact. Sometimes these 
weakened germs will develop for the first 
seven days, hut are not strong enough to 
go on farther. Occasionally they will 
hold on until about the fourteenth or fif¬ 
teenth day before dying, hut a great many 
of the germs weakened in this way die as 
full-developed chicks, just about the tune 
when thev are ready to leave the shell. 
Many have had the experience of having 
incubators almost full of eggs in which 
the chicks had reached full development, 
but lacked the strength to come through 
the shell, and they have beeu at loss try¬ 
ing to find a fault in their method of 
handling incubators because their mis¬ 
take had been made in improper handling 
of the eggs before they were put in the 
machine. Many cases of poor brooding 
can be laid at the door of improper han¬ 
dling of hatching eggs prior to incubation. 
Causes of Weakness. —Two of the 
most common causes for these germs be¬ 
coming weakened are. first, leaving the 
egg in tlie nest all day before gathering. 
This is as true iu warm weather, or per¬ 
haps more so than iu moderately cold 
weather. For example, should an egg, as 
very often they are, be laid early iu the 
morning, soon after the hen coines from 
the roost, and should there be a hen al¬ 
most continually on that nest for the rest 
of the day, either from broodiuess or from 
the fact that quite a number of hens are 
laying iu the same nest, the temperature 
of this egg would be kept at a sufficiently 
high point (over 80° F.). so that the 
germ would start to leave this dormant 
stage. We know this condition happens 
very often, as we are quite apt to find 
that a few of the nests in the house arc 
the most popular. A hen prefers to lay 
iu a warm uest, and this induces, iu many 
cases, the nest to he used continually for 
the whole day. When this egg is gathered 
in the late afternoon and held for a tew 
days prior to incubation, the egg has a 
chance to cool down again to a point in 
temperature at which the development of 
this germ ceases, and then the jarring 
and handling of the egg is quite detri¬ 
mental. This is especially true when eggs 
are sold for hatching and transported by 
express or even when they are carried 
in automobiles. Had these eggs been 
gathered at least twice during the day, 
and. better, three or four times, this germ 
would have remained in the dormant 
stage and in holding it for incubation, or 
in shipping it prior to hatching, it would 
hot have suffered from the handling or 
holding, and the chances are that the 
hatches .would have been a great deal 
better, and that the chicks would he of a 
correspondingly good quality. Many re¬ 
ports of shipments of poor hatching eggs 
are due to these conditions, and the idea 
that a great many poultrymeu have that it 
is very detrimental to hatching eggs to 
ship them, often comes from cases of this 
kind. If eggs are properly handled from 
the time they are laid until they are 
shipped, they will uudergo the ordinary 
transportation by express, and hauling in 
automobiles, in good shape. It must be 
realized, of -course, that it does not im¬ 
prove the egg to ship it, but the detri¬ 
mental effects are often iu direct relation 
as to the way these eggs were cared for 
before shipment. • 
Moisture in Incubation. —Consider¬ 
ing briefly the part of the egg from which 
the germ gets its food, this also is often 
materially affected by improper handling 
before incubation. The factor of moisture 
is principally affected here. Many people 
have the craze of waiting until the last 
few days of incubation, and then soaking 
PILLING 
<£74 
the eggs in every way possible, with w; 
tor, in the belief that the chieks need very 
much moisture at the time of hatching iu 
order to come through in good shape. 
This method is only sound in a few cases 
where the eggs have been dried previous 
to incubation, and during incubation, to 
such a point that there is an insufficient 
amount of moisture left iu the eggs, or at 
least that there is not as much as nature 
has deemed it necessary to have at that 
time. Once must remember that once 
moisture or water has been drawn from 
the egg, due to holding eggs or incuba¬ 
tion, it is an impossibility to get that 
moisture back iu the.egg unless put there 
under pressure. 80 it should be the “slo¬ 
gan” of poultrymen. when handling 
hatching eggs, “to hold the moisture,” or 
at least to lose as little as possible prior 
to incubation. Among farmers, it is espe¬ 
cially true that hatching eggs are usually 
gathered and kept in the kitchen. This 
perhaps is the worst place on the whole 
farm iu which to -- hold hatching eggs. 
Usually the best place is in the cellar, 
where the temperature is cool, and even 
where the air contains plenty of mois¬ 
ture. 
Holding Hatching Eggs. —The length 
of tiirie. that it is possible to hold hatch¬ 
ing eggs prior to incubation varies almost 
entirely with the way they have been 
handled. In other words, many hatching 
eggs are in a better condition to hatch 
when they have been properly held for 
two weeks after they have been laid, than 
others which have been improperly han¬ 
dled for only two days after they have 
been. laid. All conditions being equal, of 
course, the fresher the egg. prior to plac¬ 
ing it in the incubator, the better. In 
other words, it does not improve hatch¬ 
ing eggs to hold them, but they can be 
held for 10 days or two weeks without 
materially affecting them. After this time, 
with the best of care, one may expect 
them to deterioriate more rapidly, but 
they can be kept, when necessity demands, 
for*three weeks, and good results may be 
expected. 
Ideal Handling. —Eggs should not he 
placed on their ends, but should be placed 
on the side, tilting slightly towards the 
point. It has been advocated by a great 
manv, and it is being practiced still by 
many, to hold hatching eggs on then- 
points. This is an unnatural position for 
an egg, and the saying goes that the only 
man who could stand ail egg on its point 
was Columbus. As eggs naturally lie in 
a nest, they are on their sides. Had na¬ 
ture wanted these eggs held on their 
points, she would have given them an¬ 
other shape. The yolks in these eggs are 
held iu place by the heavy, more tenacious 
part of the white known as the chalaza, 
and when the egg is placed on either end 
it is impossible for this chalaza to operate 
properly. The ideal way to handle hatch¬ 
ing sggs. previous to . incubation is to 
gather them at least three or four times 
a dav, and to place them iu a cool moist 
place (40° to G0°F.). As mentioned 
above, the cellar is usually the place hav¬ 
ing these conditions. In holding eggs, it 
is well to keep a cover over them, as the 
dust which often comes from coal ashes or 
other sources is quite detrimental to them. 
Turning the Eggs. —Eggs which are 
being held for hatching should be turned 
regularly, two or three times a week, at 
least, and every day once, if possible. A 
handy way of holding them is to place 
them in ordinary dozen cartons, or in 
ordinary egg-shipping crates, point down, 
and then to turn tlie crate, after filling, 
over 011 its side or end, so that the eggs 
will have a horizontal position, and then 
tilt the case slightly, so the points of tlie 
eggs will be a trifle lower than the big 
ends. In conclusion, one should consider 
his hatching eggs from the time they are 
laid until they are hatching, as live things, 
and should give them the best of care. 
One is very prone to believe that eggs are 
eggs, and that they can be haudled almost 
in any way, until they are placed iu an 
incubator. ‘ From that time on. most peo¬ 
ple are quite careful and give tlie eggs 
the best of care, but many of these eggs 
have already beeu spoiled previous to iu- 
CUbatipU VICTOR G. AUBREY. 
■New Jersey Experiment Station. 
PON 
TOOLS 
Double the Weight 
From theSameFeed 
wfi’JjJ* So great has been the de¬ 
double the mand for these practical, 
price per lb. 1 
ready - to - use capomzing 
tools that most dealers exhausted 
their stocks. The fact that the Pilling 
factory .was working 1007(9 on Gov¬ 
ernment orders for surgical instru¬ 
ments prevented us from refilling 
their shelves. 
But next Spring we shall be able to 
supply dealers who order early. Get 
your order in now—any poultryman with 
Pilling caponizing tools and our complete 
illustrated instructions can make each dol¬ 
lar's worth of feed produce • four times as 
many dollars a: with roosters. Capon 
Book FREE. 
G. P. PILLING & SON CO., Phila., Pa. 
r , Q , , America's Pioneer Maker ot 
tst. I c 14 Caponizing Tools 
LIBERTY MARVEL 
Oil'Burnin^ BROODER 
Blue Flame Wickless 
Oil Heated Colony Brooder 
Automatic Regulation 
The Liberty Marvel is de¬ 
signed to meet the emer¬ 
gency in the existing coal 
crisis. 
Change Your Coal 
Burner Into a 
Liberty Oil Brooder 
Big 
m 
saving 
in 
operating 
expense. 
Brooding ' 
50 
to 
1000 
chicks _ ___ 
for less than 6c per day. Perfect satis¬ 
faction guaranteed or money back. Send 
for circular on “Scientific Brooding.” 
800 Ohestnnt 4t.« 
Philadelphia, Pa- 
Liberty Stove Co. 
30 Days ’ ^ Free Trial 
HILL COLONY 
and MAGIC 
BROODERS 
J Noted for 
{/quality 
and e f fi - 
--—— ciency; 
self-regulating; gas-proof; maintain an 
even temperature of heat; fires never 
go out. We guarantee them and will 
cheerfully refund the mone“fter thirty 
days’ trial, if they do not do all we claim. 
SEX D FOR FREE CATALOGUE 
United Brooder Co., 
Raised on H-O 
Steam-Cooked 
Chick Feed 
We entrust it with our reputation. 
“H-0 ,, means too much every¬ 
where for us to produce anything 
unworthy of this valued name. 
If you cannot get it from your dealer, 
write for sample* and we will arrange 
te have you supplied. 
THE H-0 COMPANY, Feed Dept., Buffalo, N. Y. 
Members U. 8. Food Administration 
License Mo. 0-12996 
John J. Campbell, Eastern Sales Agt., Hartford, Conn. 
ONE TURN of CRANK 
TURNS 
EVERY EGG 
Without opening incubator 
Best Construction 
Simplest to Operate 
60—100—150 and 
200 Egg Sizes 
Write for Catalogue 
ROLLER TRAY INCUBATOR CO. 
300 Grant Ave.. NUTLEY. NEW JERSEY 
Chicken* Sick or Not Laying? 
Most poor layers are "OUT OF CONDITION* or have 
Colds. Koup. Bowel trouble. Sore head,Chicken pox, etc. 
GERMOZONE is the best remedy for all these disorders. 
At dealers or postpaid 76c, with 5 
GEO. H. LEE CO., Dept. 463. OMAHA. NEB. 
