The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-04-25
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL.
Care of Valuable Eggs.


Now that the season for setting and
Matching eggs has fairly opened, it is
well for US to consider what we should
do in order to attain the greatest sue
cess.
The person who sells fine eggs, and
the person who buys them, are equally
anxious for them to hatch we'll A
good hatch makes them feel kindly to-
wards each other, but bad hatch
causes them both to think that some
thing was wrong.
While it is the duty of the breeder
to mate his fowls so that he will be
reasonably certain that all his eggs
are fertile, and to ship out none of in
terior quality, yet the full accom-
plishment of his duty as breeder and
shipper does not insure all his eggs to
hatch. In fact, in the usual order of
things, very few eggs are unfertile.
bad" eggs, which do not hatch, are
fortified eggs in which the germs, in
stead of budding into life and activity,
died from some local cause in the nest,
and decayed.
Eggs which have received no inn
press from the male, are usually as
clear and fresh looking, and if there
are no decayed eggs in the nest, quite
as sweet as when fresh laid. This is a
good way to tell where some of the
fault lies, when valuable eggs do not
hatch. If, after being sat on three
weeks, they are clean and fresh look
ing, when broken, the shipper sent
out unfertile eggs But if, on the
other hand, they are discolored and of
bad odor when broken after trial of
/ three weeks, then the breeder sent
| fertile eggs, and they were ruined in
the nest where they were set.
How important then, that we should
know how to handle eggs from abroad,
| after receiving them, in order to ac-
| complish the best results. We
do not believe it Injuries eggs
to ship them any distance by ex-
press, if they are properly packed,
/ and handled judiciously after arrival
at destination. In the first place. they
must be put up so as to prevent con-
cussion. To accomplish this they
should be wrapped in paper and pack
ed close together Qittle end down
ward) in basket lined on the bottom
and sides, to depth of two inches.
with soft hay or straw. Then they
should be covered to the same depth
| on top, and stout piece of light
domestic sewed tightly down over the
hay on top. In this condition they
will go safely any distance, unless
crushed through carelessness by a
heavy substance. Upon arrival at
destination they should not be set at
once, but unpacked and placed in a
cool spot for twenty-four hours, rest
ing upon their large ends in order to
recover their equilibrium. after hav-
ing been shook up by the journey. If
set at once they are much more likely
to rot than if handled as suggested.
1t is well, always, to have the hen in
readiness before the arrival of the
eggs. 1t is really best to have the hen
on hand before the eggs are ordered.
She will set all right on common egg
or two, and it does not matter if she
has to set week or two extra. She
will not desert the nest if it is clean
and free of parasites, and it will not
hurt her to set little overtime, if she
is fed daily.
Another point. We must never put
fine eggs under hen whose nest the
general flock has access to. If we
should, a loss of several fine eggs
would certainly result. A pen six feet
square, with a waterproof cover, with
the nest box in one corner and the
dust-box in another, is the best place
in which to domesticate our hen and
her valuable charge. There she would
be apart from her enemies, with moth
ing whatever to modest her, and under
such circumstances she would not be
likely to disappoint us as to results
H. B. Geer, in Southern Cultivator.