The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1912-12-19
MATCHES CHICKS
BY The MILLION
Expert Establishes Largest Of
Single Unit Plants,
ADOPTS SOME NOVEL IDEAS.

FNtS
cultural Department, Applies System
Of "Cold Storage Reversed" In His
"Chicken Factory at Port o'Connor,
Tex.-Heats Up and Cools Down.
Milo Hastings, formerly p~oultryman
at the Kansas state experiment sta
ton and who occupied a similar posi-
ton in the United States department
Of agriculture, has established a mil
lion egg incubator at Port O'Connor,
Tex. 1t Is the largest single unit chick
en- hatchery in the world. 1t accom-
modates 10000 eggs al n time or
100000 eggs during the five months
Matching season.
The Bihn hatchery at Petaluma, Cal,
exceeds the Port O'Connor plant in
capacity by 1900 eggs, as it accommo-
dates 165, but the Bihn plant con
sists OF many unit ~incubators and is
not a single incubator such as Mr..
Hastings has installed. In his chicken
factory he has adopted some novel
ideas.
1t has long beeu evident that an in
cubator In which many layers of eggs
are placed one above the other would
be economical. A number of early ex-
p~erimenters tried to construct such
plants, but found the warm air rose to
the top and the cold air settled at the
bottom.
While poultryman at the Kansas ex-
pertinent station in 1905 Mr.. Hastings
first conceived the idea Of overcoming
this u-nevenness of temperature in a
large Matching room by blowing air Of
known temperature and humidity
through the Matching chamber. In
1908, while in the employ of the de
partment of agriculture, he conduct
ed Investigations of the evaporation of
eggs in cold storage.
Valuable Cold Storage Wisdom.
The cold storage engineer must main
tain an yer temperature regardless OF
the weather outside. He must keep all
parts of the room at an ven tempera-
ture or the colder eggs will be frozen.
He must maintain a given rate of evap-
grafton. Except that 1t Is a different
point on the thermometer scale, these
are the same problems met In incuba-
ton, and the cold storage man had
solved them.
The application of these same princi-
pies seemed easy to Mr.. Hastings. Re
signing from the government service,
he tried to secure financial backing.
But the incubator manufacturers were
not interested.
Finally, In the latter part of 1910, q
small plant was constructed on the Da-
Wis poultry farm In Brooklyn and the
idea fully demonstrated. This plant
was not opened TO the public. The
summer following Mr.. Hastings went
to eastern Oklahoma.
At Muskogee a hatchery was con
structed holding 10000 egg This ma
chine was filed by March 1. The sea-
son was severe, and the matches were
disappointing to many customers.
ExceIs All Previous Efforts.
From Muskogee Mr.. Hastings went
to Petaluma. CAL, and then to Texas
and located at Port O'Connor. With
more experience and more funds he
excelled his previous efforts.
Perhaps the most striking feature of
this plant IL the fact that all the eggs,
together with the rooms for Gambling,
packing and all engines, fans and equip
ment, occupy but a single floor 10 by GO
feet.
Furnished with common %incubators
such room would turn put about the
same number Of chicks In three weeks
that Mr.. Hastings plant can In a single
day.
Power is supplied by gasoline engines
provided In duplicate to guard against
accidental breakdown. The machine Is
also heated with gasoline. When the
building Is once thoroughly warmed
and full of eggs at the various stages
Of incubation the plant requires no heat
at all, but only to be cooled to the
proper degree to keep the temperature
from falling below the incubating point.