Evening star., 1917-01-14
POULTRY YARD NOTES.

Some poultry raisers claim that an
incubator can be operated anywhere
in the barn, attic, cellar. loft. shed.
springhouse, in the kitchen, parlor or
in a tent. Be that as il may, authori-
where the atmosphere 10 more or less
moist. where the temperature is to a
great extent uniform and cool. and
where 1t is possible to obtain plenty
of ventilation at the same time. The
air in the room for an incubator must
be sweet and fresh, or the eggs Will
not receive the oxygen which they alb
solutely require.
The ideal cellar or structure in which
to run a machine is built about two
thirds below the ground level. which
affords a fairly uniform. cool tempera-
ture, and one-third above the ground.
which permits of adequate ventilation.
In selecting a site the first thing to
consider is drainage. and on this ac-
count a hillside or high. dry ground
is preferable. 1t Is well, also, to con-
slider the location of the cellar In rela :
ton to the brooder house, dwelling and
other conveniences. Remember that IL
will be Visited often, from early In the
| morning until late Mt night. and In
every kind OF weather, which means
some very bad weather. consequently
II should be built with the idea OF
accessibility.
The cellar may be erected in conjunc-
ton with a brooder house. laying house.
granary or other building. or IL may
be built as a separate unit. with ga
BILE roof.
The cellar should be large enough to
allow the attendant to work around the
machinery conveniently. II small ma
chimes are being used at the time OF
building the cellar, 1t Is best to pro-
| vide for the installation of a mammoth
machine at some future time-that is.
to make the cellar wide enough to ac-
Icommodate one of the large coal-burn-
| ing types. Mammoth machines re-
quire a cellar width Of about twelve
! feet. Eight feet is better. Most ma
chimes are of the two-sided type-with
compartments on both sides. Passage
ways at least three feet wide should be
allowed for the handling of egg trays.
Two mammoth ma achines may be set up
| side by side in a cellar twenty feet
wide, with plenty of room for convent
| ent operation. A 1,200-egg machine re-
quires a cellar length of eighteen feet.
and each additional section of about
800 eggs requires four extra feet.
In order to save on the labor of eX-
cavating, make the finished floor level
about three feet below the natural
grade, and use what earth is removed
from the mole TO throw up an tHiodhh-
ment around the cellar. This Will Sc
cure the desired depth below ground
at the least expense. The walls should
be built of stone, brick or concrete. and
the floor should be made of cement,
also the entrance steps and areaway.
The work of keeping the. floor water
proof should be taken up in connection
with the excavation. EXcavate 10
dept of nine inches below the finished
floor level and fila 1t in with six inches
of broken stone, cinders, broken tile,
brickbats or any other hard. porous
material that will obtain perfect drain
age. Never use ashes. lamp this foun-
dation material to solid bed. and II
is then ready for the concrete floor slab.
which should be about three inches
thick. The floor should be pitched to
drain. for cleaning purposes. And II
the cellar is located in particularly wet
ground, a line of agricultural tile may
be laid through the foundation mate
rial and led away from the building to
lower ground or to a dry well Use a
finishing coat of cement on the floor.
| or else trowel the concrete to smooth
surface.
The walls should be about eight