The Portland daily press., 1900-06-09
EGG CANNING INDUSTRY.
How II Is Carried oa by the Cold stor-
age Warehouses.


(From the New York Times.)
When the coid-storage houses begin to
stock up with the eggs In summer they
have to buy in such enormous quantities
that there Is naturally n great loss In
cracked s-and broken eggs. In handling
several million eggs n day no amount of
care could prevent breakage. Indeed,
thousands of them are broken in transit
to the city, and others are cracked In
IN owing from the railroad cars to the
stores. II these cracked and broken eggs
were all thrown away the annual loss
would easily mount up into the millions.
To offset these losses the storage houses
have invented all sorts Of ways to utilize
the broken eggs. The most successful so
far is to can the broken eggs and sell
them to bakers and confectioners.
Canned eggs keep just as well and fully
as long as canned meat, fruit or vegeta-
bles When put in cans that are rendered
absolutely alright there Is no chance OF
their decaying. 1t Is the air which en-
tiers through the shell OF an egg that
causes its meat to decay. This Is proved
by the many methods of preserving eggs.
Fresh eggs coated thoroughly with para
fine and then stored away in lined water
viii keep for months in u comparatively
fresh condition, and their keeping powers
will be in proportion to the success in
excluding the air. or course, certain
amount of air will reach the eggs even
In this condition, and gradually they
will show decaying tendency, although
eggs have been preserved for SIX months
and "a year.
Before the eggs are canned, however.
they are separated, and the whites and
yolks are put up In different cans. When
the baker or confectioner wants TO make
white frothing for his cake he opens
can of the whites of eggs, or il he wishes
to make custard for his pie or buildings
he takes the canned yolks Thus there
is no waste, and time and labor are saved
also.
In the middle Of winter, when eggs are
soaring away up in price, these canned
eggs make it possible for the baker and
confectioner to serve us with cakes, pies,
candies and creams at the same price
charged in summer. Thus the storage
warehouses which have canned the eggs
for us save the consumers considerable
In the winter, and also tighten the labors
of the bakers and confectioners. There
is nothing disagreeable or unpalatable
about these canned eggs. They are fresh
and sweet when canned, and they do not
deteriorate in the least, unless the cans
happen to be imperfect, in which case
they SPOIL the same as canned fruit or
vegetables.
IN hot countries canned eggs are used
quite extensively, and the storage houses
can considerable quantities for export.
In some years the cheap eggs in the
height of the laying season are actually
broken for canning. In hot countrie s the
canned eggs will keep a long time, espec-
tally If stored away in cool places, and
the people can use them as needed. In
many tropical countries fresh eggs are
difficult 10 secure, and the natives often
prefer the cannei northern eggs to the
so called fresh eggs sold in the markets.
The Americans are the only people so far
who have entered into this egg-canning
industry, and American canned eggs In
the South American countries and the
West Indies have no competition from
similar goods from Germany, England
or France
But sometimes the decayed and cloudy
eggs are canned. In fact, all that come
to the market are handed over 10 the
Gamers il they cannot be sold as fresh
eggs. These rotten and cloudy eggs,
however, are never put on the general
market, nor is there any chance OF their
being sent to bakers by mistake. They
are canned for the leather trade, and rot
for the consumptive market. In tanning
leather and especially in putting on the
fine gloss of expensive leather, eggs have
long been recognized as Indispensable
articles. But good eggs are too expensive
for the work, and tanners do not like TO
accumulate rotten eggs, owing to their
odor.
The eggs that reach the market in
cloudy or decaying condition are not so
far decayed rs to have very disagreea-
BILE odor. Ii canned Immediately they
become no worse. When the tanners
open can of such eggs the odor kmay be
u little offensive, but not so overpowering
as might be the case If IA few dozen eggs
were stored away for use in hot weather
A can of eggs Is opened only when need
ed and the contents immediately used.
Thus the cloudy and decaying eggs find
a market at prices that pay the Gamers
and save the tanners money.
The vast quantities OF egg-shells OBJ
tanned from these canneries are also sold
for various purposes. They are both util-
izedsfor making commercial : fertilizers
and for manufacturing some OF the
numerous hen foods that are now put ON
the market. In order to make the hens
lay more eggs in winter 1t Is necessary
to feed them with lime-forming food,
such as green-bone, clam and OYSTER
shells. The egg-shells are even better
than any of these, for they contain the
exact substances that the hens require In
their systems to facilitate the work OF
nature In producing eggs. So hen food
that contains q fair amount OF ground or
powdered eggs-hells Is excellent for sfimu-
lating the birds to greater energies In
winter.