Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-02-20
BUYING AN INCUBATOR

Inc Tune Of year is drawing near
when the prospective buyer should be
considering the incubator question for
the coming season. We all want TO
get off nice lot Of chicks early in
the spring, and it will be impossible
TO do 1t successfully without the use
Of the incubator and brooder. The
question with great many is, do 1
need an incubator" And feel conf
dent from experience this question
should be answered in the affirmative
| shall endeavor to give you the bene-
fit Of investigations and experience in
this line
We know Of nothing we have ever
investigated and used that pays so
well for the capital invested as an in
cubator. We should not consider the
price so much, but look for the best
machine according to the light we
have. We have received a number of
inquiries asking if we thought an in
cubator would be better to depend on
for fair hatch with high priced eggs.
We would say an incubator is as far
superior, to hatch any priced eggs, to
the old hen as the modern binder is
10 the ancient reap-hOOk Of our fore
fathers We have paid high prices for
eggs and placed them under hens we
had great confidence in-henS that
had always proven to be good settlers
and quiet, but for some unknown cause
as soon as our fancy eggs were placed
In their care they became very timid
and inclined to leave the nest, result
ing in a total loss. OF course we are
not superstitiOus in regard to this,
but it happened to turn out that way.
II we had placed the eggs in the incu-
batOr and maintained an even temper
allure, which is the first thing to look
after in operating az incubator, we
would have brought off chicks that
would have brought US enough to have
paid for dozen incubators.
So many people who have never OPP
that an incubator is an everlasting
task. 1t was but few days ago a
friend was looking over our machines
and remarked: "An incubator is so
much trouble to run and so apt to
result in poor hatch. Strange, in
deed If we fail to hatch half of the
eggs we set under hens nothing is
said about it, but if the incubator fails
to bring forth every egg, and Ofttimes
every chick a prize winner, the fault
is attributed to the incuabtOr. Nine
times out of ten the eggs are the di-
rect cause Of good or poor matches,
and the hens that lay the eggs are
at the root of the whole matter and
the incubator is no at fault at all.
1t would be safe to say that the in
cubatOr is the magnate in the great
poultry industry, for how could the
large poultry plants of our country
put out the millions Of pounds of brOiI-
er meat each year if it were not
through the agency of the incubator?
Again, it has been abundantly demon
strated by the fancy pOultryman that
the incubator matches stronger chicks
and these develop into finer fowls
when reared by breeders, as they are
absolutely free from lice. We notice
this being true in our own flOcks, so
we cannot afford to dispense with the
use of the incubator as we can hatch
and care for 500 chicks easier than 80
chicks with the old hen method, and
on much less area of land
Artificial incupatIon was practiced
by the ancient Egyptians, and today
by Egypt and China Germany and
France have used incubators for a
century. but this country has used
them only about thirty-seven years
50 the incubator is not an experiment
by any means We would almost guar
aItee the incubator to do 20 per cent
better than the average hen. if the
fertility of the eggs is the same 1t
does not take an expert to operate an
incubator as some suppose. but any
sane person that will follow the di-
rections that come with the machine
will be successful with almost any
machine now manufactured and adyer-
tised for sale.-J. @. Clipp in Stock
man and Farmer.
Proper Care of Horses.