354: QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1899. 
look at small fish. So it is with the fruit dealer; in fact, in almost any trade in 
animal and vegetable products size is a consideration. Why should a different 
practice obtain with eggs? Go to any grocer for a dozen of eggs. He gives 
you indiscriminately large and small ones. You grumble at the smail ones. 
** All the same to me,” he says, “take big ones. Hggs are eggs.” But where 
does the sense of this come in? Surely a dozen pullets’ eggs are not equal in 
food value to a dozen black Spanish hens’ eggs ? 
I have known even large duck eggs, double-yolked hen eggs, and pullets’ 
eggs to be included in a dozen shop eggs—all sound and fresh—but surely an 
absurd mixture. If the housekeepers would rise in a body and demand that 
eggs should be sold by weight, everyone would benefit, and certainly the good 
laying breeds of fowls would take the place of many of the miserable 
“Egyptian” looking scarecrows which disgrace many a homestead, and would 
be dear at 6d. each. 
T have been led away from the subject of the sitting hen and her manage- 
ment by an insensible train of thought; but will conclude these remarks by a, 
quotation from “ Lloyd’s’”’ on the subject, which may be read with profit by 
those who are rearing poultry in the city and in fowlhouses:—* The sitting 
hen requires no yery elaborate treatment; but a few suggestions may be 
acceptable to the beginner. It is always better to remove the broody hen from 
the nest in which she has been laying, which is also frequented by other hens. 
She should be placed, if possible, in a shed or outhouse away from the layin 
stock ; or, if this cannot be done, a piece of wire-netting must be arranged in 
front of the box in which she is to sit, so that the other hens cannot interfere 
with her. To ensure a sufficient supply of moisture the nest should be on the 
earth. Nest-boxes without bottoms are preferable, or in lieu of these several] 
inches of moist soil should be put into the box. About 15 inches square is a 
good average size for a nest. A small quantity of hay should be used to make 
it with, and the earth should be slightly hollowed out, so that the eggs wil) 
incline towards the centre. When a hen becomes broody she will remain jy 
the nest both night and day. When touched she will scream and cluck ag if 
calling chickens. 
In removing her to the nest in which she is to sit, it is recommended thay 
she be gently lifted off the nest in which she has been laying, and then replaced 
quietly ; this being done two or three times before she 1s removed to the fresh 
nest. This will help to tame her, and cause her to take less notice of the 
move. After she is removed to the fresh nest, she should have a good feed of 
grain, and then be left for thirty-six hours. By that time she will be wel} 
settled. When the eggs are given her for incubation, if she is tame enough to 
allow herself to be touched and stroked with the hand, the eggs can be placed 
under her, two or three at a time, and she will tuck them away with preat 
delight, pushing them gently with her beak.’ But should she be wild, it jg 
better to put the eggs in the nest, the hen being first lifted off, and then to 
stand her at the edge of the nest, when she will walk on. The eggs selecteq 
should not be greasy or dirty, neither should any abnormally large or smal] 
ones be selected. ‘There are many people in the country who assert that the 
ean pick out eggs that will hatch out cockerels or pullets, as desired, the shape 
of HG egg, or the position of the air cell in the egg, being stated to be the 
guides ; 
It is difficult to understand how this theory can be relied on, for the 
interior of the egg, which contains the germ, is determined before it jg 
enveloped by either the albumen or the shell. The germ has, therefore, no 
effect on the conformation of the egg. So with regard to the air-cell. This 
has for its function the supply of oxygen to the embryo chick, and this expands 
as the chick grows, by the evaporation of the surplus moisture within the ege. 
The position of the cell would appear to be immaterial. 
The hen need not be taken off the nest the first day of incubation, but if 
she does not come off the second day, when the front of the box is opened, she 
should be removed gently, great care being observed not to take up any of the 
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