The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-22
By MRS. JOHN C. MOSES. Mississippi City. Miss.

Mississippi City, Miss.
 when only small number of hens
 are kept it is doubtful whether an in-
 chbator is a profitable investment, but if
 two or three small poultry flock owners
 iiving near each other buy and use one
 co-operativeiy, it doubtless would be. Es-
 pecially is this true if the hens kept are
 or nonsitting breed like the White Leg
 horn- Even hens that come from type supposed to be good sitters, may prove notlonal about it some years Being feminine they doubtless have a right to
 be tempernental, but the exercise of that right is likely to upset the plans of their owners, and an incubator at such times comes in very handy.
 1 IL often pays with hens that brood late
 to us- machine for inbucation and then | turn the chicks ever to a broody hen.
 Hens that have been broody for four or | fiVe days are usually willing to mother l lncupator chicks. especially if two or | three eggs are rlaced under her and al- lowed to hatch there.
 mere are many different types of in- cuhatcrs on the market, but they may all 1 De roughly classified as hot-air hot | water. or very large machines Both moisture (those providing means of adding moisture to the air of the ma lchine) and "nonmoisture incubators those which is is claimed require no added r'oisture) are made ia the differ- 1 ent styles of hot-air and hot-water ma chimes. Most of the small machines are heated by burning kerosene oil or gas, while the majority of the very large ma chimes us a coal stove for supplying
 heat. Electricity is also used for heat ing both in the small and very large ma chimes.
 Ind 4t.-
 l to the best incubators and breeders to use, and asking my advice as to the size 1 to purchase under certain conditions, a great many fanciers intend to purchase new machines this season This should be done as soon as possible, as spring will be upon us before we realize the fact l Both the hot-ar and the hot-water type of incubator have been used successfully throughout the country, but I prefer the former. The large machines are used both in the day-old chick business and in cus- tom matching. Their capacity varies from l5oo to 10000 or more eggs. The machines are built in sections of about 2000 eggs
 each, the size varying in different makes. There are a large number of reliable makes manufactured in this country Some kinds have become popular in cer- tain sections because they have been ad- vertised extensively in that locality rather than on account of adaptation to clma tic considerations. Cheap machines are less reliable, require more attention and wear out much quicker than higher-priced in- cubators As the value of the machines is small compared with the value of the eggs used during the normal life of an incubator, it is poor economy to purchase a machine which is not reliable. When ever possible it is we'll to select an incu- bator which is giving good satisfacvfon, so that you may have the benefit of the experience of the other operators.
 Circumstances must govern 10 a large extent the size of machine to buy. It takes about as much time to care for
 60 as it does 360-egg machine. so that it is advisable to get one of at least 15G- egg capacity.
 A small machine Is often used in con nection with a larger one. placing all the eggs in the large machine after the first or second test. Incubators of 300 to 4e0-agg capacity are commonly used on farms which use individual lamp in- cubators. When an incubating capacity of less than 5000 to 4000 eggs is desired,