Some years ago I was mustering around Alice springs in mid winter some mornings were 0 to -8 , In remote areas you dint get many go's at starting and we put approx 150mils of fuel strait down the air intake and started cranking with mixture out and when it kicks push it in and it was very affective it was not common practice only on cold mornings.
It is a number of years when I last flew an R22 and never have flown the 44 but Whirlybird is probably referring to the retard points that provide a shower of sparks to all pots on start if its turning over and will not kick the retard points that you start on are probably U/S, you just pull the retard lead from the left mag if my memory is right and it will start on the mags but talk to your engineer before any of these practices.
If your battery is all but flat be careful you don't boil it when you get going.