38 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, fl Jaw., 1902. 
have still much to learn, and probably the many failures that take place, the 
fertile eggs that fail to hatch, are largely due to too much or too little moisture. 
At one period it was thought almost impossible to give the eggs too much 
moisture, but it is now recognised that too much is as bad as too little. Every 
make of incubator has its own method of providing moisture. In the hot water 
or tank machines a tray is provided, standing under the egg drawer, and this 
must always have boiling water in it. Beginners will be surprised to notice 
how quickly it evaporates. In hot-air patterns moisture is also present, though 
not usually in the Soon of a water tray. 
A fault frequently committed by beginners is opening and shutting the 
incubator drawer too often. It is very easy to jar the eggs on such an 
occasion; indeed, those patterns that dispense with a drawer entirely are 
superior to those that have them. Especially at hatching-time should the eggs 
be meddled with as little as possible. 
The heat is nearly always supplied by means of a lamp, but gas, if it can 
be had, is less trouble and far better, but few of us have the opportunity of 
choice. The lamp should be carefully tended and cleaned daily, and the lamp 
chimney kept clean and free from soot. If these simple rules are followed and 
the incubator works satisfactorily, we can count on producing chickens at any 
time of the year, the successful hatches being at least as good as if reliable 
sitting hens were employed.— Farmer and Stockbreeder. : 
FOWL MANURE. 
There are not many people who keep fowls who recognise the great value 
of the cleanings of poultry-houses, and yet the manure is far richer than that 
of any other farm animal, as will be seen from the following analyses which we 
take from a southern exchange :— 
SELECTED ConsTITUENTS CoNnTAINED IN ONE Ton or ANIMAL MANURE AND 
One Tow or Farmyarp Manure in a Fresn Conprrion. 
Nitrogen as Phosphoric 
Ammonia, Potash, Lime. Acid. 
b. 1b. 1b. Ib. 
Fowl manure ww. 43 19 58 39 
Sheep an an Zw 14 33 18 
Horse 0 ir Aly 13 10 9 
Cow... == an 8) 8 10 3 
Farmyard manure... 10 13 39 6 
It is not many months since a farmer sold to another twenty-five sacks of fowl 
manure at 1s. per sack, imagining that he had made a good bargain. Air- 
dried hen manure is worth from £1 14s. to £2 2s. per ton of 2,000 Ib. Every 
fowl will produce, on an average, 6d. worth of high-class manure, so that the 
owner of 100 fowls can save as much as would buy half-a-ton of super- 
phosphate. In Vol. VIII. of this Journal we explained how to utilise this 
manure. ‘The plan is to spread a layer of dry soil, black or swamp soil for pre- 
ference, on the ground or barn floor, cover this with the fowl manure, and beat 
the whole to a fine powder with the back of a spade, then add hardwood ashes. 
Some add gypsum, but this is better left out. Mix the lot together in the pro- 
ortion of 3 bushels of soil, 2 bushels fowl manure, and 1 bushel of ashes. 
hen required for use, moisten the heap a little time before planting with 
water. Cover it up with bags and let it lie. The best way to apply it to the 
soil is to put about 2 lb. of the mixture in a hole, watering it well. Then mix 
it well with loose soil, spread it, and cover with 3 or 4 inches of soil, in which 
sow your seeds. In the evening water with a solution of the manure, i lb. to. 
4 gallons of water. 
