The number of eggs to be set under a hen must be according to the extent of her wings and the temperature of the weather. Some say that the number may vary from nine to fourteen, but others would never give more than nine in winter and early spring, and eleven in summer, to the largest hen, and two fewer to the smaller fowls. A Cochin-China may have fifteen of her own in summer. A hen should not be allowed more eggs than she can completely cover; for eggs that are not thoroughly covered become chilled, and fewer and weaker chickens will be hatched from too large a number than from a more moderate allowance. It is not only necessary to consider how many eggs a hen can hatch, but also how many chickens she can cover when they are partly grown. In January and February, not more than seven or eight eggs should be placed under the hen, as she cannot cover more than that number of chickens when they grow large, and exposure to the cold during the long winter nights would destroy many. "The common order to set egges," says Mascall, "is in odde numbers, as seven, nyne, eleven, thirteen, &c., whiche is to make them lye round the neste, and to have the odde egge in the middest." Eggs for sitting should be under a fortnight old, if possible, and never more than a month. Fresh eggs hatch in proper time, and, if good, produce strong, lively chicks; while stale eggs are hatched sometimes as much as two days later than new laid, and the chickens are often too weak to break the shell, while of those well out fewer will probably be reared. It is certain, as a general rule, that the older the egg the weaker will be its progeny. Every egg should be marked by a pencil or ink line drawn quite round it, so that it can be known without touching, and if another be laid afterwards it may be at once detected and removed, for hens will sometimes lay several after they have commenced sitting. Place the eggs under the hen with their larger ends uppermost.