The Owners of The Corning Egg Farm were somewhat taken aback one day by the statement of a young man that he must evolve a theory of incubation for himself, and carefully carry it out. In incubation one does not want theory, but the knowledge which comes from long practice and the most scientific study of the art. After all these years, the hen, as a hatcher, reigns supreme. There is nothing which approximates her ability to turn out strong, vigorous chicks, and yet it is unfortunately necessary to abandon the hen when large numbers of chicks are to be produced. So Man has struggled in his vain efforts to reach something which will, at least in a measure, become a competitor of the hen. Livable Chicks--Not Numbers In 1911, the readers of advertisements in the Poultry Magazines were confronted with the statement that a certain incubator was the only competitor the hen had. But, it is sad to state, there must have been some mistake, for this incubator could not live up to the claim in the advertisement, nor, so far as it is known, is there any incubator which approximates that claim. Some marvelous hatches are written of, but the question is not one of marvelous hatches, so far as it means the number of chicks which manage to come through the strenuous act of exclusion, but the real question of incubation is as to the number of strong chicks, capable of living and growing into an animal which will become a money maker for the man who hatched and raised it. Many people stand in great awe of an incubator, no matter what its make, and have the feeling that to hatch a fair number of chicks in a machine is almost a miracle. The fact is, however, if the purchaser of any incubator will realize that the manufacturer knows more about the proper way to run it than Tom Jones, or Bill Smith, who may be neighbors, and will follow the instructions as given by the manufacturer, with good fertile eggs, it will be almost a miracle if he does not get at least a fair hatch. There are so many different makes of machines it is quite impossible to write a chapter on incubation which will cover the needs of all phases of it. The above advice, however, if followed, will certainly be more apt to bring about successful hatches than anything else that can be done. On The Corning Egg Farm the problem of incubation has been most carefully studied from the inception of the Farm. Uniform Temperature Most Important A thermostat and regulator which will absolutely insure an even temperature in the egg chamber, and a thermostat so sensitive, with an adjustment of the regulator to such a nicety, that it will insure the maintaining of an equal temperature in the egg chamber even if there is a variation of atmosphere in the Cellar of from 10 to 20 degrees, is perhaps, the first great essential in incubation. Ventilation and Moisture Next