rays we start with all the "O" marks up, for instance, and at the
time of the first turning leave all the "X's" visible, alternating
this twice every day.

In order to operate an incubator successfully, we shall also need a
brooder, which is really an artificial mother. There is a standard
make of brooder costing five dollars that will accommodate fifty
chicks. Brooders are very simple in construction and can be made at
home. A tinsmith will have to make the heating drum. The rest of it is
simply a wooden box with a curtain partition to separate the hot room
from the feeding space. Ventilating holes must be provided for a
supply of fresh air and a box placed at the bottom to prevent a
draught from blowing out the lamp. In a very few days after we place
the chicks in a brooder they should be allowed to go in and out at
will. In a week or two we shall be able to teach them the way in, and
then by lowering the platform to the ground for a runway we can permit
them to run on the ground in an enclosed runway. On rainy days we must
shut them in.

There is always a temptation to feed chicks too soon after they are
hatched. We should always wait at least twenty-four hours to give them
a chance to become thoroughly dry. The general custom of giving wet
cornmeal for the first feed is wrong. Always feed chicks on dry food
and you will avoid a great deal of sickness. An excellent first food
is hard-boiled egg and corn bread made from cornmeal and water without
salt and thoroughly baked until it may be crumbled. Only feed a little
at a time, but feed often. Five times a day is none too much for
two-week-old chicks.

One successful poultryman I am acquainted with gives, as the first
feed, dog biscuit crushed. All the small grains are good if they are
cracked so that the chicks can eat them. The standard mixture sold by
poultry men under the name "chick food" is probably the best. It
consists of cracked wheat, rye, and corn, millet seed, pinhead
oatmeal, grit, and oyster shells. Do not feed meat to chicks until
their pin feathers begin to show, when they may have some well-cooked
lean meat, three times a week.

There is quite an art in setting a hen properly. They always prefer a
dry, dark place. If we are sure that there are no rats around, there
is no better place to set a hen than on the ground. This is as they
sit in nature and it usually seems to be the case that a hen that
steals her nest will bring out more chicks than one