Tested Only on Eighteenth Day
Until this season, on The Corning Egg Farm, we had made it a rule to test the eggs on the 14th day. Many operators believe in testing the eggs from the 5th to the 7th day, again on the 14th, with the final test on the 18th day. In operating one of the old style machines, with the large trays, it was expedient to remove the clear eggs and those with dead germs to facilitate the turning of the eggs in the trays, but all this arduous labor is done away with in the hot water machine. The trays hold seventy-five eggs, and are so constructed that one tray fits on top of another, and then the trays are simply reversed and the turning is accomplished. This makes it necessary to have a full tray to prevent the eggs rolling and breaking when they are turned in the manner described. Testing the eggs is, therefore, deferred until the 18th day.
When one sees the tremendous saving of time which the coal-heated, hot water machine accomplishes for the operator, it produces a feeling bordering on mirth in the man who has labored with the old style machine and big tray, when thousands of eggs were turned by hand twice a day. Ten thousand eggs in one of the modern machines are handled with less effort and in less time than three thousand could possibly be cared for in one of the other styles of incubator.