The Green Forest tribune., 1901-08-10
HOW TO PRESERVE EGGS.
Some Eminent Authority on the
 Important Subject.

H. B. Hite, chief chemist of the agricultural experiment. station of the West Virginia University, has been carrying on series of eX- periments with a hope of discov- ering a method for the pres erva- tion of eggs so that eggs collected during the early summer, when they are cheap, could be kept un- til late in the winter, when the price has advanced, often as much as two or three hundred per cent. In view of the fact that eggs can be kept about as well in certain we'll known solutions or mixtures, as for example, lime water and brine solutions, might lead one to think that the problem of preserving eggs in a more per- feet condition ought not to be very difficult one. The fact re- mains, however, that methods in general use, such as those just mentioned, are far from perfect and always impart to the egg more or less disagreeable odor and taste, and it is always an easy matter to detect such eggs, even after they have been cooked.
 1t will be observed that in most of our methods in general use, the eggs are stored in some liquid, and no liquid has yet been dis covered that will not find it's way through the shell, affecting the contents to greater or less ex- tent. Recently solutions of wa terglass have been tried in cer- tain of the western stations, the reports thus. far being rather fa- vorable; but as the test only ex- tended over comparatively short period, it is hardly safe, as yet, to say whether this method could be relied on to keep eggs in good condition from early summer until late in winter.
 A great many methods have been tried at West Virginia Sta tion, tests in each case being made with methods already in use. The limits of this article, however, will preclude the men, ton of any of these, except a method which, at the present, promises the best results.
 This method consists in simply dipping the eggs in an alcoholic solution of salicylic acid for a few minutes, and then, while still moist, wrapping them in cotton and storing them away in boxes, barrels or other convenient ves- sels. The object in dipping them in the solution is to destroy any germs or microbes that may be adhering to the shell, and which, if they should gain access to the egg, would affect it's de- composition. The object in wrapping the eggs in cotton is to prevent the access of other germs from the air, the cotton simply acting as a filter.
 Alter the eggs are wrapped in cotton and stored away there is every opportunity for access of air, which is generally so desir- able for preventing the formation of musts and musty odors.
 Again, eggs that are stored in lime water and waterglass solu- tions will almost invariably crack OF burst on boiling. This is usu- ally attributed to the small quan- tity of air inclosed in the shell, and as a matter of fact it is the expansion of this small quantity of air that cracks the shell; but there is also contained a small quantity of air in fresh eggs, and they do not crack on boiling. The explanation is to be found in the fact that the solutions referred to invariably weaken the shell of the egg, so that packed eggs can be detected by the character of the shell. The fresh eggs that are treated with the alcoholic so- lution of salicylic acid and wrap ped in cotton are not weakened in any way, and behave just like fresh eggs when boiled. Tests of this method have extended